
Book - A ?) H fi 



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PREFACE. 



After a year of incessant labor the History of Alameda County is now presented to our patrons. 
From the outset of the undertaking we have given the public to understand that the volume should contain 
naught but a plain and unvarnished record, as far as it was within our power to obtain, of the chief doings in 
Alameda, which have been instrumental in placing her in the proud position among the other counties of Cal- 
ifornia which she holds to-day. 

To do this has been no easy task, yet, if the task has been laborious, it still has been a toil in which we have 
received much kind and valuable assistance. 

To the pioneer settlers the following pages should be found most interesting, relating as they do the experiences 
gained in a new country; while the volume, as a whole, should be cherished by their children, embodying as it 
does the tale of hardships endured by their sires. 

In the history of the city of Oakland we have been especially careful that little that is interesting should 
lie left out; the chronicles of its early days, though lengthy, will be found replete with much valuable information. 

In conclusion we would here tender our best thanks to those who aided us with appropriate suggestions and 
valuable information. To the gentlemen of the Oakland journals, the Tribune anA Times; to Mr. Bartlett of 
the Livermore Herald aaA to Frank Moffitt of the Newark, EnUrprise are our thanks due for many kind notices 
and several other courtesies ; while we owe a delfl: of gratitude to the officials of the county and city — one and 
all — for making easy the task of gathering notes from the records, when it would otherwise have been most 
tedious and difficult. 

Mr. D. D. Faganhadan interest in the publication of this work, and during the most of the time of his con- 
nection with the firm was active in procuring subscriptions. 

Our work has gone far beyond the limits originally intended, thereby necessitating much extra expense. But 
if what has been done finds favor with the community, then our undertaking shall not have been in vain. 

M. W. Wood. 
J. P. Munro-Fraser, 

I/istoria^i. 



\ 



\: 



INDEX 



Geography .... 

Area 

Geology and Mineralogy 

Contra Costa Hills 

Monte Diablo Group 

Monte Diablo 

Topography 

Climatography 

Soil and Productions 

Pomology 

Salt-making 

Earthquakes 

Aborigines 

Early History 

The Bear Flag 

Legislative History 

Organization of Alameda County 

Original Boundary of Contra Costa County. . . 

Creation of Alameda County 

Original Boundary of Alameda County 

Present Boundary of Alameda County 

Senatorial Districts 

Congressional Districts 

Judicial Districts 

Court of Sessions 

Original Township Boundaries 

Oakland 171, 

Contra Costa 

Clinton 171, 

Eden 171, 

Washington 171, 

Murray 171, 

Present Township Boundaries 

Alameda 

Brooklyn 

Eden 

Murray 

Oakland 

Washington 

Board of Supervisors 

Election Precincts 

Road Districts 

School Districts 

Political History 

Military Government 

Constitutional Convention 

San Jos6 made State Capital 

Members of First Legislature 

Senators 

Assemblymen 

Governor Burnett assumes office 

State Capital removed 

Political History prior to 1853 

Oilman (Twelfth Street) Bridge 191, 

The Records 

1853- 



1854. 

isss- 
1856. 

1857. 
1858. 
1859. 



24 
31 
32 

34 
36 
37 
39 
40 

47 
131 
164 
165 
165 
166 
166 
167 



169 

171 
172 
171 
172 
172 
172 
172 
172 
172 
172 
173 
174 
174 
174 
17s 
175 
176 
178 
178 
182 
183 
184 
185 



187 
187 
191 
201 
196 
197 
200 
204 
207 
209 
210 
211 



i860. 
i86i. 
1862. 
1S64. 
1865. 
1S66. 
1867. 
1 868 
1869 
1870. 
187J. 
1872. 
1873- 
1874 
1875. 
1876. 
1877. 



1879. 



1882. 



Page 

221 

222 

223 

227 

230 

232 

234 

236 

238 

239 

242 

244 

253 

262 

271 

273 

275 

277 

2S0 

283 

2S5 

286 

Table of Taxation 287 

Table of County Officers 288 

Mexican Grants 297 

El Valle de San Jos(5 297 

San Ramon 297 

San Lorenzo 298 

San Leandro 302 

El Sobrante 308 

Table of Land Claims 333 

Table of Ranches 335 

Criminal History 336 

1853 338 

339 

339 

340 

340 

340 

■••■ 341 

341 

342 

342 

343 

344 

348 

351 

352 

.. 353 

360 

362 

363 

365 

365 

367 



1854. 
1855. 
1856, 
1858. 
1859 



1857- 



1865. 



1 868. 
1869 
1870. 
1871. 
1872 
1873- 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1S77. 
1878. 
1879 



1881, 1882 

Alameda Township 
Geography 



369 
371 

372 



Topography , , , , '. 372 



INDEX. 



Streams 

Climate 

Soil 

Products 

Timber 

Mexican Grants. . 
Early Settlement. 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 to 1869 

1869 

1870 

1871 

1872 

1873 

1874 

■875 

1876 

1877 

1S7S 

1879 



18S2 

Schools 

Alameda School Dislrict 

Encinal School District 

Schools under the Incorporation 

Methodist Episcopal Church 

First Presbyterian Church 

Garden City Lodge, No. 1745, K. of H.. 

West End Lodge, No 175, A O. U. W 

Alameda Council No. 192, A. L. of H 

Whidden Hose Co., No. 2, A. F. D 

Alameda Oil Works 

Pacitic Coast Oil Co 

Alameda Planing JVlill 

Encinal Lumber Yard 

Schuetzen Park 

Newport Swimming-baths 

Terrace Baths 

Long Branch Swimming-baths 

Brooklyn Township 

Geograpliy 

Topography 

Valleys . . . 

Streams 

Climate 

Soil 

Products , 

Timber 

Me.xican Grants 

Early Settlement 

East Oakland or Brooklyn 

First Baptist Church 

Church of the Advent 

East Oakland M. E. Church 

East Oakland Y. M. C. Association 

Mills' Seminary 

Brooklyn Lodge, No. 225, F. & A. M 

Orion Lodge, No. 189, L O. O. F 

Evening Star Lodge, No. 263, L O. O. F. 

Brooklyn Rebekah Degree Lodge 

Brooklyn Lodge No. 32, K. of P 

Brooklyn Lodge No. 3, A. O. U. W 

The Pioneer Pottery 

California Pottery 

East Oakland Pottery 

Oak Grove Tannery 



372 
372 
373 
373 
373 
374 
374 
374 
375 
375 
376 
376 
377 
378 
379 
3S0 
381 
383 
386 

3S7 
388 

3S9 
392 
397 
398 
399 
401 
401 
402 
404 
404 
406 
407 
40S 
40S 
40S 
409 
409 
409 
409 
410 
410 
410 
410 
410 
411 
411 
411 
411 
411 
411 
412 
412 
412 
412 
413 
417 
420 
421 
421 
421 
422 
424 
424 

425 
425 

425 
426 
426 
427 
427 
427 



Brooklyn Tannery 

East Oakland Planing Mills 

Brooklyn ^Lanufacturing Company 

East Oakland Brewery , 

Brooklyn Brewery 

Badger's Park 

Cotton and Jute Factory 

Melrose 

Castle Dome Smelling Works 

Pacific Reduction Works 

Fitchhurg 

Eden Township 

Geography 

Topography 

Valleys 

Streams 

Climate 

Soil 

Products 

Mexican Grants 

Early Settlement 



1850 

1S51 

1S52 

1853 

1S54 

Haywards , 

1876 

1877 

1S7S 

1879 

18S0 

iSSi 

I S82 

1883 

Alameda Encampment, No. 28, L O. O. F 

Sycamore Lodge, No. 129, L O. O. F 

Haywards Lodge, No. 18, A. O. U. W 

Hercules Council, No. 139, O. C. F 

Haywards IVctk/y Journal 

New York Brewery 

Lyons Brewery 

Eden Landing 

Mount Eden 

Mount Eden Grove 

San Leandro 

1872 

1873 

1874 

■875 

1S76 

1877 

1878 

1879 

1S80 

1S81 

1S82 

Presbyterian Church 

Roman Catholic Church 

E.len Lodge, K. & A. M 

San Leandro Lodge, No. 231. I. ( ). O. F. 

San Leandro Lodge, No. 12, .\. O. U. W 

San Leandro Lodge, No. 180, \. O. G. T 

Chatauqua Literary Society 

San Leandro Reporter 

San Leandro Sentinel 

Central Manufacturing t'ompany 

San Leandro Plow Company 

San Lorenzo 

Murray Township 

Geography 



428 
428 
428 
428 
428 
429 
430 
430 
430 
430 
430 
432 
432 
432 
432 
432 
-132 
433 
433 
433 
433 
435 
436 
436 
437 
43? 
438 
438 
439 
440 
441 
441 
441 
442 
-442 
442 
443 
443 
443 
444 
444 
444 
444 
444 
445 
445 
445 
446 

447 
447 
447 
448 
44S 
448 
448 
448 
449 
449 
449 
449 
449 
450 
450 
450 
451 
45" 
451 
45« 
452 
452 
453 
453 



INDEX. 



Ill 



Topography 453 

Valleys 453 

Streams 453 

Climate 454 

Soil 456 

Products 457 

Timber 45S 

Minerals 458 

Mineral Springs 459 

Mexican G rants 459 

Early Settlement 459 

Altamont 467 

Dublin 46S 

I.ivermore 46S 

First Presbyterian Church 471 

Livermore College 472 

Livermore Public School 472 

Livermore Lodge, No. 218, F. & A. M. . . . 473 
Livermore Lodge, No. 219, L O. O. F. . . . 473 

Vesper Lodge, No. 62, A. O. U. \y 473 

Livermore Lodge, No. 200, L O. G. T. . . . 474 
Livermore Council, No. 1070, A. L. of H , 474 

Livermore Public Library 474 

Herald 475 

Livermore H. & L. Company No. 1 475 

Niagara Fire Engine Co. No. i 475 

Livermore Spring Water Co 475 

Warehouses, W. Waterman & Co 476 

Lumber Yard, Horton & Kennedy 476 

Wagon Factory, John Aylward 476 

Olivina Vineyard 476 

Livermore Coal-mines 476 

Midway 477 

Pleasanton 477 

Pleasanton Lodge, No. 225, \. O. O. F... 481 

Carriage Factory, J. A. Bilz 481 

Sufiol . *. 48 1 

Oakland Township 482 

Geography 482 

^ropography 482 

Valleys, Streams, etc . j 482 

Climate 482 

Soil and Products 482 

Timber 482 

Mexican Grants 482 

Early Settlement 483 

City of Oakland 483 

Early Settlement 483 

City Lot, Abstract of Title to 485 

1852 . 487 

Incorporation of Town 487 

First Election 488 

Water Front Controversy 488-541 

Ferries 541-560 

1853- 

Streets, Bridges, etc 5^0-577 

Lake Merritt 577 

Webster-street Bridge 579 

Sewerage 5^' 

Schools 587 

Fire Depar'ment 59^5 

City Marshal Howe 602 

City Marshal Hogan 603 

Finance 603 

City Bonds 607 

Police Department 609 

1854 611 

Incorporation of City 611 

1855 620 

1856 623 

1857 624 

Railroads 626 



1858 633 

1S59 634 

i860 634 

1861 635 

1862 635 

1863 636 

1864. 639 

Street Railroads 639 

1865 645 

1866 649 

Water Supply 649 

1867 659 

1868... 663 

1869 665 

1870 674 

1871 676 

1872 677 

1874 686 

1875 687 

1876 689 

1877 ■■•■ 693 

' ■ J uly Riots '• 694 

1878 697 

1879 697 

iSSo 710 

iSSi 714 

1882-83 716 

Table of City Officers 717 

Churches 722 

First Presbyterian Church 722 

Independent Presbyterian Church 723 

St. John's (Episcopal) Church 724 

St. Paul's (Episcopal) Church 725 

St. Andrew's Mission (Episcopal) 726 

First Baptist Church 726 

Church of the Immaculate Conception 727 

First Congregational Church 728 

Second Congregational Church 729 

Plymouth Avenue Church 730 

German Methodist Episcopal Church 731 

Methodist Episcopal Church (South) 732 

Seventh-Day Adventist Church 732 

Central Mission Sunday School 733 

Young Men's Christian Association 734 

Schools 736 

Public Schools 737 

Pacific Theological Seminary 743 

California Military Academy 743 

Hopkins Academy 744 

Sackett School 745 

Ladies Schools 745 

Snell Seminary 746 

Miss Bisbie's School. 746 

Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. . 746 

California Medical College, Eclectic 747 

Ladies' Relief Society 747 

Women's Temperance Union 748 

Women's Christian Association 748 

Home for Aged Women 749 

California Sheltering Home 749 

Lodges, etc 750 

Masonic Temple 750 

Oakland Commandery, No. 11, K. T 751 

Oakland Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M 752 

Royal and Select Masters 752 

Live Oak Lodge, No. 61, F. & A, M 752 

Oakland Lodge, No. 188, F. & A. M 753 

Oak Leaf Chapter, No. 8, O. E. S 753 

Oakland Lodge, No. 118, 1. O O. F 753 

Fountain Lodge, No. 198, I. O. O. F 754 

Evening Star Lodge, No. 263, I. O. O. F. . 754 
Oakland Rebekah Lodge, No. 16, I. O. O. F. 754 



INDEX. 



Pacific Lodge, No. 7, A. O. U. W 7S'' 

Oak Leaf Lodge, No. 35, A. O. U. W 755 

Live Oak Lodge, No. 17, K. of P 755 

Oakland Council, No. 20, O. C. F 755 

Brooklyn Council, No. 50, I. O. C. F 756 

Oakland Lodge, No. 252, L O. B. 13 756 

Appomattox Post, No. 50, G. A. K 756 

Army and Navy Republican League 756 

St. Andrews Society. 757 

"Daughters of Israel" Relief Society 757 

Hebrew Benevolent Society 757 

Danish Society 757 

Oakland Guard 757 

Oakland Light Cavalry 759 

Hancock Rifles 759 

Fire Department , 7t>o 

Engine Co. No. i 760 

Engine Co. No. 2 760 

Engine Co. No. 3 761 

Engine Co. No. 4. 76' 

Hook & Ladder Co. No. i 761 

Hook & Ladder Co. No. 2 7O1 

Hose Company No. i 7^' 

Mountain View Cemetery 761 

Oakland Bank of Savings 763 

Union Savings Bank 7(>i 

Union National Bank 763 

First National Bank 763 

West Oakland Mut. Loan Association 764 

Cosmo. Mut Bdng. & Loan Association 764 

Oakland Gas-light Company. . . 764 

Pioneer Carriage Manufactory 7^5 

Western Carriage Company 7^5 

Oakland Carriage Factory 76b 

Oakland Boiler Works 766 

Oakland Iron Works 766 

Judson Manufacturing Company 766 

Pacilic Iron & Nail Company 7^'^ 

Lanz Bros. Soap Works 77*^ 

California Hosiery Company 770 

Samm's Mills 770 

Oakland City Flour Mills 771 

Williamson's Flour Mills 77' 

Kelly's Marble Works 771 

Dwyer's Marble Works 771 

Knowles & Co. 's Granite & Marble Works. . . 771 

Pacific Press Publishing House 77^ 

Oakland Brewery 775 

Washington Brewery 775 

Reuter's Dye W^orks. . . 775 

Oakland Planing Mills 775 

Trunk Manufty. of Bt. Colin 770 

Odd Fellows ' Library 776 

Oakland Free Library 776 

Oakland Daily Evening Tyibune 778 

Oakland Daily Times 779 

Oakland Press 782 

Berkeley 7S2 

University of California 7S2 

Deaf, Dumb & Blind Institution 793 

Berkeley Gymnasium 796 

Harmon Seminary 797 

St. Joseph Presentation Convent 797 



West Berkeley Presbyterian Church 

West Berkeley Methodist Ep. ('hurch 

Berkeley Lodge, No. 270, I. O. O. F 

Hearts of Oak Lodge, No 61, A. O U. W. 

Berkeley Lodge, No. 10, A. O. U. W 

University Lodge, No. 88, A. O. U. W. . . 

West Berkeley Lodge, No. 206, I. O.tJ.T. . 

Berkeley Council, No. 73, I. O. C. F 

Le Conte Lodge, No. 945, A. L. of H. . . . 

Tahoe Lodge, No. 1876, K. of H 

West B.rkeley Planing Mills 

West Berkeley Brewery 

Hofljurg Brewery 

Oakland Stockyards 

Stockyards Tannery 

Carbon-bisulphide Works 

Wheelan's Flour Mills 

Pioneer Starch Works 

Berkeley Lubricating Oil Works 

Standard Soap Works 

Wentworth Boot & Shoe Company 

Berkeley Advocate 

Shell Mound Park 

Oakland Trotting Park 

Dwight Way Park Nursery 

Temescal 

St Lawrence Parochial .School 

Silver Star Lodge, No. 2, D. of H 

N. Tem. Temple Lodge, No. 1 1, A O. U. W. 

Temescal Grange, No. 35, P. of H 

Golden Gate Council, No. 40, O. C, F 

Claremont Council, No. 74, I. O. C. F... . 

Piedmont 

Washington Township 

Geography 

Topography 

Valleys 



.Streams . 
Climate . 
Soil .... 



Products 

Alvarado 

Crusade Lodge, No. 93, I. O. O. F 

Reliance Lodge, No. 93, A. O. U. W 

Beet-root Sugar Industry 

Union Pacific Salt Company 

Centrevilte 

Centreville & Alvarado Pres. Church 

Alameda Lodge, No. 167, F. & A. M 

Centreville Council, N0.34, I. O. C. F 

Pioneer Association 

Washington ci Murray Township Water Co. 

Decoto 

Mission San Jose 

Newark 

Newark Lodge, No. 169, A. O. U. W.... 

Crystal Salt Works 

Newark Coursing Grounds 

Niles 

Warm Springs 

Washington Corners 

Washington College 



799 
800 
800 
801 
801 
Soi 
802 
S02 
S02 
S02 
803 
803 
803 
804 
804 
804 
805 
805 
805 
80s 
806 
807 
807 
807 
807 
808 
808 
808 
808 
808 
809 
S09 
809 
810 
810 
8io 
810 
810 
810 
811 
811 
821 
822 
823 
823 
824 
826 
827 
829 
829 
829 
830 
831 
831 
832 

833 
833 
834 
834 
834 
83s 
83s 



INDEX. 



BIOGRAPHIES. 



Adams, Edson icxxi 

Adams, Herbert Lester, LL.B S36 

Ager, Mark 837 

Allen, James M 837 

Andrus, Washburne R 838 

Anthony, F. A 839 

An way, Loren B 839 

Arff, Fred. D S39 

Arnold, Rawi^on, M. D looi 

Atkinson, Capt. George S40 

Babb, Nathaniel L 841 

Bal)bitt, S. M looi . 

Badger, Capt. Thomas \V 841 

Baker, J. Edward 842 

Bankhead, Hugh S42 

Bardellini, Antonio S42 

Barlow, H. S. (deceased) 843 

Barllett, W. T 843 

Barron, Richard 843 

Barry, William . 844 

Barton, John 844 

Beard, E. L. (deceased) 845 

Beard, John L 846 

Beazell, Hon. James 846 

Benedict, Benajah 847 

Benedict, Newton 847 

Bennett, Robert H 848 

Bernal, Augustan 848 

Bernal, Dennis F 84^ 

Bernal, Jos(5 849 

Bigelow, Elijah 849 

Bilz, J. A 849 

Bishop, Amasa W 849 

Black, JosephF 851 

Blackwood, William C 852 

Blacow, Robert (deceased) 852 

Bond, Capt. George W 853 

Bothsow, Christian (deceased) 853 

Bowen, William J 853 

Brannan, B. F 854 

Brewer, James A 854 

Brown, Edward 854 

Brown, Hon. L. H 854 

Brown, Samuel R 855 

Bucknell, Dr. B. F. (deceased) 856 

Bushen, D 857 

Burdick, Edwin E S57 

Burdick, 1. F., M. D 858 

Burrall, Will. H 858 

Button, Fred. L 858 

Byrne, N. B 858 

Cameron, Duncan 859 

Campbell, Edwin H 859 

Carey, T. P 860 

Carpenter, D. S 860 

Carter, H. K 860 

Cheney, Z. D, 861 

Chabot, Anthony S61 

Church, Hon. A. M 862 

Clark, Alson S 864 

Clark, Henry C 864 

Clough, B. D. T 864 

Cockefair, William H 864 

Craig, Homer A 865 

Crane, Addison M 865 

Crosby, Judge E. O 869 

Cushing, J ohn 871 

Cutter, L. H., M. D 871 

Dalziel, Robert 872 



Dargie, W. E 872 

Davis, Hiram 873 

Decoto, Ezra 873 

Delmue, Carlo S73 

Dieves, Joseph 873 

Dimond, Hugh 874 

Dixon, Ho.n. M. W 874 

Donohue, Martin 874 

Dougherty, Hugh 875 

Dougherty, James W (deceased) 875 

Dresco, Lorenzo 875 

Duerr, Carl 876 

Dugan, John 877 

Dusterberry, Henry 877 

Dulcher, N. D 87S 

Dyer, E S78 

Dyer, E. H 881 

Eggers, Harmaa 882 

Ehrman, Solomon 882 

Eiben, F. G 883 

Elliott, R. W 863 

Emerson, James 883 

English, John M 884 

Fath, Adam 884 

Fonte, Antonio 8S4 

Francis, Samuel 885 

Frese, John L 885 

Fritch, J. Homer 885 

Foster, Elijah 8S5 

Gerhardy, P. J 880 

Gibbons, W . P., M .D 886 

Gibbs, W. T 887 

Gibson, Col. E. M 887 

Gilson, J. C 888 

Glascock, Hon. J. R 888 

Godfrey, George 889 

Gorner, Theo 890 

Greene, A. J S90 

Greene, Theodore 890 

Gregory, H. C 890 

Hadsell, Charles 891 

Haines, LB 891 

Haley, C. S 892 

Haley, Sr., Ebenezer 892 

Haley, J. E 893 

Haley, W. W 893 

Hampel, John S93 

Hardy, Lowell 1 894 

Hare, A. J S94 

Haskell, W. W 895 

Hassinger, Samuel K icoi 

Hawley, F. H 896 

Hayward, William S96 

Hays, Col. John C. (deceased) ' 897 

Hayes, Timothy 905 

Hayes, William 905 

Plealey, Comfort 906 

High, W. H 906 

Hill, Otis ... 907 

Hinckley, D. B 9°? 

Hirshberg, Samuel (deceased) 907 

Holtz, Wniiam 908 

Hortenstine, 1. B 90S 

Huff, Socrates 908 

Hussey, W. H. H 909 

Hutchison, James gi2 

IngersoU, W. B 913 

Inman, Hon. Dan 9^3 

Inwall, Harry 913 



INDEX. 



Irish, Hon. John P 914 

Jacobs, Aaron 9'-A 

Jamison, John W 9'4 

Jarvis, F. C 914 

Jarvis, Howard S 9^5 

Jessiip, William H 915 

Johnson, John 920 

Jones, Andrew 9^1 

Jones, Edmond (deceased) 921 

Keller, Michael J 921 

Klinkner, Charles A , 922 

Knhler, Ernest F 922 

Knox, Lewis 922 

Knox, William 922 

Kottinger, John W 923 

Lancaster, Joseph 924 

Lawrie, A. G 924 

Lehrbass, Richard 924 

Lewis, C. R.' 925 

Lewis, Capt. T- M. R. (deceased) 925 

Liston, W. M 925 

Livermore, Robert (deceased) 926 

Livermore, Robert 927 

Luders, . Maas 927 

Lyon, John L 927 

Mack, W. H 928 

Malley, Frederick 930 

Mark, I. N, M. D 930 

Marshall, Earl (deceased) 932 ' 

Marston, I'hineas F . . . . - 932 

Mathews, John (deceased) 933 

Mathews, Peter (deceased) 934 

May, August 935 

May, CJeorge 935 

McAvoy, H. B 935 

McFeely, F. P 935 

McGovern, A. J 936 

McKeany, Peter . . 936 

McLeod, A. J 936 

McVicar, Philip H 937 

Meek, William 937 

Mendenhall, Martin 937 

Mendenhall, William M 937 

Meyer, George S 942 

Millard, Thomas Wale 942 

Miller, Albert 943 

Milton, Capt. Anthony 943 

Mitchel, John L 943 

Mofifitt, James 944 

^Mongelas, Charles J 944 

Montross, Abraham Bruyn 945 

Moody, Volney Delos 945 

Moore, Capt. John Milton 946 

Moore, W. W 947 

Morin, Francis D 947 

Morrison, Perry 94S 

Mortimer, William 948 

Mowry, Origin 94S 

Mulford, Thomas W 949 

Mulqueeny, Michael ■. . . 950 

Munyan, Emery 950 

Murphy, Edward (deceased) 951 

Myers, Frederick F 95 1 

Nebas, Henry F 951 

Newcomb, William 952 

Nicholson, John H 952 

Niehaus, Edward 952 

Nissen, J. K 953 

Nor, Andrew J ...... 95J 

Nusbaumer, Louis (deceased) 953 

Nye, Stephen G 954 

Olive, John H 955 



Osgood, Luther E 955 

Overacker, Adam A 956 

Overacker, Howard 956 

Owen, R. Owen 957 

Patten, Robert Foster 957 

Patterson, George W 957 

Patterson, Nathaniel Greene 958 

Pedrini Cipriano 959 

Pinkerton, Thomas Hamel, M. 1) 959 

Plummer, Chas. A 959 

Plummer, John Allen, Jr 960 

Pohlmann, Hermann 960 

Poinsett, William 960 

Pope, Richard T 961 

Proctor, John 961 

Prowse, fohn Harvey 961 

Pullen, C. J 961 

Pumyea, Peter 962 

Ralph, Joseph (deceased) ■ . 9^2 

Redman, Hon. R. A 962 

Reid, William W 964 

Remillard, Hilaire 9^4 

Rice, Chas. 11 9^5 

Richmond, Edwin A ; 9^5 

Riser, John J 9^5 

Roberts, William 9(^6 

Robinson, Charles Kingsley 966 

Robinson, Hon. Henry 9^7 

Robinson, Jesse, M. D 967 

Rose, A. P 967 

Rose, F"rederick 9''^ 

Rose. J. A 968 

Rosenberg. Lasery 9^9 

Rosenberg, Morris 969 

Ross, Edward 969 

Russell,' Joel 969 

Rutherford. Charles B 970 

Sackett, D. P., A. M 971 

Sanburn, Daniel Moody 971 

.Schafer, A. W 97' 

Schellhaas, Henry 971 

Scoville, Ives 972 

Scribner, George W 972 

Selna, Leopold 972 

•Siebe, Capt. Ludwig 972 

Sherk, Jacob B 973 

Shinn, James 973 

Silva, Manuel Francisco 973 

Sinclair, Duncan 973 

Smalley, David S . 973 

Smith, George 974 

Smith, Henr)' 975 

Smith, Hon. Henry C (deceased) 975 

Smith, Henry T 976 

Smith, Leonard 976 

Smith, Lewis. Cass . 976 

Smith, James Dale 97^ 

Smith, Thomas A 977 

Smyth, Henry 979 

Sohst, Henry J 979 

Stein, Adolph 979 

Stevens, Calvin J 979 

Stevens, Capt. Levi (deceased) 979 

Stivers, Simeon . 980 

Stokes, James Johnstone 9S0 

Stone, Leonard 981 

Stone, Lysander , 98' 

Sturges, Mahlon Beach 981 

Snnderer, Joseph 9^3 

Sufiol, Jos^ Narcisco 983 

Taggart, Grant 1 9^3 

Taylor, John 983 



INDEX. 



Taylor, Joseph H 9^4 

Taylor, Dr. William Stewart 984 

Teeter, Daniel M 9S5 

Thorn, George 9^5 

Thorn, Philip 9^5 

Thornburgh, M. K 9S6 

Threlfall, Richard 9S6 

Tifoche, Ivan James 986 

Tisch, David 9^7 

Trask, Charles O 987 

Tyson, William (deceased) 988 

Valpey, Capt. Calvin (deceased) 989 

Vrooman, Hon. Henry 989 

Wales, William (deceased) 991 

Walker, Jared Tuttle 992 

Webb, Otis 902 



Webster, John Nelson 993 

Waller, Conrad 993 

Wells, Thomas D 993 

Whidden, William (deceased) 993 

Wheeler, Charles Carroll 994 

Whitney, Hon. George Edwin 994 

Wiard, Edward 996 

Wicks, IVIoses 997 

Wonderlich, John P 997 

Woods, Thortjas S 997 

Woodward, Gideon 997 

WooUey, John 998 

Wyman, J. B 998 

Wynn, Watkin William 998 

Yule, John 999 



PORTRAITS. 



/Crane, A. M Title 

/Chabot, A 8 

.Aiivermore, Robert 16 

•/Marshall, Earl 24 

/Hayward, Wm 32 

/Adams, Edson 40 

• Smith, Thomas A 48 

■^Mendenhall, Wm. W 56 

,/Vrooman, Henry 64 

/Brown, L. H 72 

/Stevens, C. J 80 

/ Blacon, Robert 88 

/ Huff, Socrates 96 

y Dyer, E. H 104 

./ Meek, Wm 112 

:/ Stone, Lysander 120 

/ Dargie, W. E 128 

, Blackwood, H. B 136 

^ Whidden, Wm 144 

i/ Threlfall, Richard 152 

w Stevens, Levi 16S 

/ Sunol, Jose Narciso 176 

y Decoto, Ezra 184 

^ Mulford, Thos. W 192 

^' Daerr, Chas 200 

^ Barron, Richard 208 

,, Tysoa, Wm - 216 

, Church, A. W 234 

V Black, Jos. F 232 

. Dixon, M. W 240 

^-English, John W 248 

/Walker, J. T 256 

,, Johnson, John 264 

, Mark, I.N 272 

y Crosby, E. 2S0 

^ Redman, R. A 28S 

/Benedict, B 296 

V Pinkerton, M. D., T. H 304 

i/Cameran, Duncan .. 312 

I,- Mitchel, I. L 320 

y Hussey, W. H. H 328 

I, Mathews, John 336 

y Rose, J. A 344 

.„ Millard, T. W 352 

'^ Smith, J. D 360 



. Patten, R. F. 



uOveracker, Howard 376 

. Marston, Phineas F 384 

. Stone, Leonard 392 

■ Nusbaumer, Ls 408 

'Webb, Otis 416 

. Russell, J 424 

■ Munyan, E 432 

Smalley, David S 440 

„- Barton, John 448 

„ Knox, Wm 456 

/ Hare, A. J 464 

/Gushing. John 472 

/Davis, Hiram 480 

/ Mathews, Peter 488 

/ Hardy, L. J '. 496 

i/Jessup, Wm. H 504 

/Valper, Calvin 512 

- Meyer, Geo. S 520 

, Haines, I. B 528 

V Fath, Adam 536 

iSiebe, Capt. Ludwig 544 

; Trask, Chas. 552 

/ Bishop, A. W 560 

y Jones, Andrew 568 

„- Lancaster, Joseph 576 

/Wicks, Moses 584 

/Buhsen, D 592 

/Lyon, J. L 600 

/Luders, Maas 608 

/ Moury, Origin 616 

/Bernal, Dennis F 624 

/^Dieves, Joseph 632 

/ Nebas, H. F 640 

/ Poinsett, Wm 648 

/ Haley, E 664 

^Viard, E 680 

/Gerhardy, Phil. J 696 

1 Klinkner, Chas. A 704 

/Adams, H. L 712 

i' Taylor, John 728 

. Silva M. F 744 

/ Niehaus, Edward 760 

/Prowse, John H 776 

V Mach, W. H 792 

-Take, Geo. J 808 

/Jamison, J. W 824 



'^-^^^ 





HISTORY 

OF 

ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. 



GEOGRAPHY — AREA — GEOLOGY — MINERALOGY — CONTRA COSTA HILLS — MONTE DIABLO GROUP — MONTE 
DIABLO — TOPOGRAPHY — CLIMATOGRAPHY — SOIL — PRODUCTIONS — POMOLOGY — SALT-MAKING — EARTH- 
QUAKES — ABORIGINES. 



ALAMEDA COUNTY is bounded on the north by Contra Costa County ; on 
the south by Santa Clara County ; on the west by the Bay of San Francisco ; 
and on the east by San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. 
The immense advantages of location which the county possesses will be imme- 
diately made apparent by reference to a map of the State of California. Having a 
geographical position as near as may be about the center of the State, its entire west- 
ern front is laved by the world-famous Bay of San Francisco, while on its opposite 
shore is situated the metropolis of the Pacific, whose forest of masts, well-planned 
streets, and noble edifices, proclaim a more than ordinarily prosperous city. On its 
water front are the termini of the great overland line of the Central Pacific Railroad, 
■ connected with which are the less prominent railroads that find their way to every 
practicable portion of the State, and the South Pacific Coast Railroad, a narrow-gauge 
line going southward to the sea-coast watering-place of Santa Cruz, in connection 
with both of which, half-hourly ferry-boats carry immense loads of passengers to and 
from the parent city. What advantage San Francisco may boast of, that Alameda 
County also possesses, for in thirty minutes after arrival there from the Orient and 
Australia, Europe and Africa, the northern or southern coasts of the American Con- 
tinent — in short, all the great sea-routes terminate here — one may land on its shores,, 
while the railroad joins it with the continent of Europe, the great cities of the Atlantic 
Coast, and those of the western prairies. It is the center of travel and the half-way 
halting place for the world's commerce. 

Area. — Alameda County contains about eight hundred square miles, or five 
hundred and twelve thousand acres, nearly equally divided between mountains, val- 
leys, and plains, nearly twenty thousand acres of which, along the margin of the Bay 
of San Francisco, are overflowed by the tide. 

2 



10 History of Alameda County, California. 

Geology and Mineraloi;y. — There is perhaps no subject in the whole range of 
scientific research so fraught with interest and so sure to yield a rich harvest to the 
investigator as the study of the earth's crust, its formation and upbuilding. In this 
the careful student and close observer sees more to prove the assertion that "in the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth " than can be found on any written 
page. Indeed, it may well be called a written page — a tablet of stone on which the 
finger of God has written, in letters of life and death, the history- of the world from 
the time when the earth was "without form and void," until the present day. What 
a wonderful scroll is it which, to him who comprehends, unfolds the story of the ages 
long since buried in the deep and forgotten past ! In wonder and amazement he 
reads the opening chapters, which reveal to his astonished gaze the formation of the 
igneous bed-rock or foundation crust on which, and of which, all the superstructure 
must be built. The formless and void matter is slowly crystallizing into that pecu- 
liarly organized tripartite mass known now as granite, than which there is no more 
curiously formed thing on earth, and none could be better adapted for foundation 
purposes than this adamantine stone. Silica, spar, and mica, three independent .sub- 
stances, all crystallizing freely and separately, each after the manner and under the 
laws which govern its special formation, are so indissolubly united in one mass, that 
the action of the elements for centuries is scarcely perceptible, and the corrosi\e tooth 
of time makes but a print upon its polished surface during ages. 

From this page we turn to the one above it, for be it known that the geological 
book is arranged so that its primary pages come at the bottom. Here is found incip- 
ient life, in the form of tripolites, polyps, various classes of moUusks, together with 
worms and crustaceans. Near the close of the page there is found the record of fish 
also. All through the page is found descriptions of the primal vegetable life which 
existed on the earth in the shape of sea-weed and algae. The entire face of the earth 
was then covered with water, for this was before the decree had gone forth which 
said, " Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let 
the dry land appear." What an era of storms and tempests that must have been ! 
No continents nor even islands against which the angry waves could dash in their 
fury. What tides there must have been ! But all this great commotion was neces- 
sary, for enough of the great granite body had to be dissolved and eroded to form a 
body of matter several hundred feet in thickness in the lowest places. 

Another page is turned to view, and here is to be read the fact that the sea was 
full to overflowing with fish. And now the dry land had appeared, "and the earth 
brought forth grass." Here was the beginning of vegetable life in the world, other 
than which grew in the sea. Animal life has now ad\anced to the vertebrate, and 
vegetable life has been ushered into the world. Great earthquakes now begin to 
occur, and mountain ranges are formed. Storm and tempest rage much as in the last 
age, and erosion is going on rapidly, and detritus is forming layer after laj-er of the 
rocks now classified as belonging to this geological period. What c\-cles of time, as 
measured by man's chronology, transpired during this age, no one can tell, yet to 
man, if it could be told to him, it would seem to be not a time, but an eternitv. 

The unfolding of the next page reveals to man the most useful as well as 
wonderful epoch in the upbuilding of the earth's superstructure. It is now that the 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 11 

great coal fields are formed, from which man, in the due fullness of time, is permitted 
to draw his supplies for fuel for all purposes. How wonderfully is the munificence and 
wisdom of God exemplified in this one age in the world's formation ! Quite large 
areas of land have now been elevated above the surface of the raging Devonian sea. 
The native heat of the earth radiating continuously, expanded the waters into vast 
volumes of mist, which floated upward till it came in contact with the cooler strata 
of air, when it was precipitated to the earth in grand old thunder showers. The 
atmosphere was charged with heat and burdened with moisture and carbonic acid. 
These were conditions most favorable for the development of a gigantic and profuse 
growth of vegetation, and the surface of the earth was covered with such a forest as 
the mind of man cannot conceive. Centuries rolled by, and at last large masses of 
these trees had grown up, fallen down and formed themselves into interminable and 
impenetrable jungles. Then the continents began to exchange places with the seas, 
and water covered the great forests so lately in the full flush of their exotic pride. 
Then the salt and sand formed great bodies of shales and slate-stone upon the top of 
the forest, and the weight of the body of rock and earth pressed it till it formed into 
the mass we now find it, and the process of solidification occurred, and stone coal was 
the result In accordance with the laws of correlation and conservation of forces, the 
great coal beds are only immense reservoirs of heat in a latent state, awaiting the 
proper conditions for development and application to the uses and advantages of the 
human family. Could a man have seen the process of coal-making going on, away 
back in the almost twilight of the early, dawn of the earth's existence, he would 
■naturally have asked : To what use can that brittle, black material ever be put ? Too 
fragile for building purposes, and too hard and sterile for agricultural economics, and 
yet evidently designed by the All-wise Creator for some benificent purpose. But 
to-day the answer is written on every hand in letters of living light. The sunbeam, 
charged with heat, comes from the bosom of that great source of light and heat, and 
assimilates itself with the great body of heat and vegetation, then eveiywhere so rife. 
Ages roll on and that sunbeam and its brothers of that day, have long since been for- 
gotten. The fullness of time has now come, and a race of beings inhabit the 
earth which existed only in the will and mind of the Infinite One at the time of the 
upbuilding of these great coal measures. These creatures are called men, and they 
are delving far down into the deep recesses of the earth. For what are they search- 
ing amid the dark chambers and along the gloomy passages which they have burrowed 
out in the bosom of the earth ? We follow and find them with pick and drill dis- 
lodging a heavy, black substance, and sending it in cars to the surface of the ground. 
We follow it as it passes from hand to hand. Do you see that happy household 
band gathered around the cheerful hearth, while, without, the storm-king rages with all 
the fury of a demon ? Hark ! Do you hear the clank and whir of machinery which 
comes from those buildings, affording employment for hundreds of needy men and 
women, keeping the wolf from the door, and even making them happy ? Do you see 
that train of cars speeding over hill, through valley and across plain, bearing with it a 
host of people, hurrying to and fro from their avocations of life ? Do you see the 
mighty steamer which plows the ocean's crested main from port to port, from land to 
land, bearing the wonderful burdens of commerce in its capacious maw ? Yes, you 



12 History of Alameda County, California. 

see them all. You hear the pulse and throb of the mighty engine which drives all 
these wonders on to success, and which is conducive to man's happiness and best good- 
But did you ever pause to think that, ere time was, almost, the agent which was des- 
tined to perform all these marvels was garnered away in God's great store-houses — 
the coal fields, and that to-day we are reaping the full fruition of all these centuries. 
How grand the theme ! How the heart should echo in His praise for His wonderful 
goodness to the generations of men ! 

The next page reveals to us the fact that reptiles, frogs, and birds came into 
existence, or rather, that the two former developed into the full vigor of their genera- 
tion, while the latter was introduced for the first time upon the scene of action. It is 
not our purpose here, to make any close inquiries into the origin of animal life, and 
shall use the word developed in relation to the introduction of a new series of animal 
life, as being eminently proper, but not as having any reference to the Darwinian idea 
of development, although the day has already dawned when the human race will 
accept the truths of that theory, let them be ever so contradictory to what is now 
taught. For our purpose one theory is as good as another. The fact is that in the 
carboniferous or coal period, there are no traces of birds at all ; and in the next age 
we find their foot-prints on the sandstone formations. Whence they came we know 
not nor do we care. They were of gigantic stature evidently, for their tracks often 
measured eighteen inches long, and their stride ranged from three to five feet! Another 
phase of animal life was developed in this age, and that was the mammal, which was 
an insect-eating marsupial. 

Another page is laid open for our perusal, and on it we read that the race of rep- 
tiles reached their culmination in this age, holding undisputed sway over land and 
sea, and in the air. They were very numerous, and their forms exceedingly varied 
and strange, and their size in many cases gigantic. Some kinds, like the pliosaurus, 
plesiosaurus, and ichthyosaurus, were sea saurians, from ten to forty feet in length ; 
others were more like lizards and crocodiles ; others, like the mcgalosaurus and iguano- 
don, were dinosaurs, from thirty to sixty feet in length ; others, like the ptcrodactylus, 
were flying saurians, and others turtles. The megalosaurus was a land saurian, and 
was carnivorous. This is the first land animal, of which there is any record, which 
subsisted on the flesh of other animals. The pterodactyl was one of the most won- 
derful animals which ever existed on the face of the earth. It had a body like a 
mammal, wings like a bat, and the jaws and teeth of a crocodile. It was only one foot 
long. 

The ne.xt page does not reveal any very marked changes from the last. The same 
gigantic reptiles are in existence, but on the wane, and finally become extinct during- 
this era. The vertebrates make a great stride forward towards their present condi- 
tion, while all the leading order of fishes are developed just as they exist to-day. Up 
to this time the fish had not been of the bony kind, but now that peculiarity is 
developed. 

Wc have now perused the great book of nature until we have come up to those 
pages which are everywhere present on the surface of the earth. Figuratively, we may 
consider this page divided into three sections: the first or lower of which contains 
nothing in common with the present age, all life of that day having long since become 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 13 

extinct The second section contains fossils more nearly related to the present time, 
from ten to forty per cent, being identical with the living species. In the third section 
the percentage of similar species runs from fifty to ninety. The continents of the world 
had assumed very nearly the same shape and outline which they maintain at the pres- 
ent time. Sharks reached the height of their glory in this age, while the reptiles 
assumed their true form of snakes, crocodiles, and turtles. For the first time in the 
history of the world is there any record of snakes. And how far they preceded man 
will remain for the reader to determine from what follows farther on. The mammals 
of this age are the chief objects of interest, not only on account of their great number 
and the extended variety of forms under which they appear, but especially because 
this period marks the time of the introduction of the true mammals on the earth. The 
seas and estuaries, though rich in animal life, no longer furnish the most prominent 
representatives of the animal kingdom; but in this period the mammals assume the 
first rank. But it must be here stated that some of these species lived beyond the 
close of this age. These animals inhabited the upper Missouri section in great quan- 
tities, and comprised the moose, rhinoceros, a species similar to the horse, tapir, peccary, 
camel, deer, hyena, dog, panther, beaver, porcupine, musk-deer, mastodon, wolf, and 
fox. How like a dream it seems that these precursors of the present races of mammals 
should all be swept out of existence; still, when we come to know what climatic changes 
occurred at the close of this period, we will not wonder any longer. Not only were 
the " fountains of the great deep broken up and the rains descended," but the conti- 
nent sank deep below its present surface, and a great sea of ice from the north swept 
over its face, bearing death and destruction to all living creatures in its path. This 
was the glacial period, and its results are written on the next page. 

This page reveals a wonderful mystery! The throes of death were the travails of 
birth, and that condition of things which swept from the face of the earth an entire animal 
kingdom, paved the way for the existence of a higher and fuller life, even man himself 
Hitherto the earth had been in a process of incubation, as it were — "the spirit of the Lord 
had brooded over the earth," and this was the finality to it all. This was the long 
winter of death which preceded the spring of life. This is known as the drift or 
boulder period, and its phenomena are spread out before us over North America. The 
drift consists of materials derived from all the previous formations, and comprises all 
■ stages from the finest sand to boulders and fragments of rock of gigantic size. When 
the vast sea of ice came crushing down from the far-away home of old Boreas an 
inestimable quantity of rock was caught in its giant clutch and ground to powder. 
Others were rolled and polished till they were as smooth as glass, while others were 
fastened into the body of the ice, and carried along miles and leagues from their 
native ledges. Throughout the Mississippi Valley are numerous granite boulders, but 
no known ledge of it exists nearer than the northern lakes. As soon as the continents 
had risen from their depressed condition and the icy era had subsided, wonderful to 
relate, life sprang into existence in a fuller and stronger condition than ever before. 
The vegetable and animal life of this age was the same as to-day, except the mammals, 
which, strange to say, passed away almost entirely at the end of that era. The elephant 
during that period was about one-third larger than the present species, and near the 
close of the last century one of these monster animals was found imbedded in the ice 



14 History of Alameda County, California. 

on the coast of Siberia in such a state of preservation that the dogs ate its flesh. 
Among the many pictures which this fertile subject calls up, none is more curious than 
that presented by the cavern deposits of this era. We may close our survey of this 
period with the exploration of one of these strange repositories; and may select Kent's 
Hole at Torquay, Devonshire, England, so carefully excavated and illuminated with 
the magnesium light of scientific inquiry by Mr. Pengelly and a committee of the 
British Association. In this ca\e there are a series of deposits in which there are 
bones and other evidences of its habitation both by animals and men. The lowest 
stratum is comprised of a mass of broken and rounded stones, with hard red clay in 
the interstices. In this mass are numerous bones, all of the cave-bear. The next 
stratum is composed of stalagmites, and is three feet in thickness, and also contains 
the bones of this bear. The existence of man is inferred at this time from the pres- 
ence of a single flint-flake and a single flint-chip. Water seems to have now flooded 
the cave and the next stratum is composed of stones, clay, and dkbris, such as would 
naturally be deposited by water. But the strangest part of it is, that this flood stratum 
is rich in relics of its former inhabitants, yielding large quantities of teeth and bones 
of the elephant, rhinoceros, horse, hyena, cave-bear, reindeer, and Irish elk. With 
these were found weapons of chipped flint, and harpoons, needles, and bodkins of bone, 
precisely similar to those of the North American Indians. This stratum is four feet in 
thickness, and in one spot, near the top, there is a layer of charcoal and burnt wood, 
with remains which go to show that human beings had been there and prepared their 
food by cooking it, and it also proves that the knowledge and use of fire was known 
far down into the early dawn of man's existence on earth. It is to be borne in mind 
that this is all anterior to the present state of affairs, and that all the animals men- 
tioned as contemporaneous with these primitive men have long since passed out of 
existence, and may not the race of men to which those people belonged have passed 
away also, and another race sprung up in their stead, the same as other races of animals 
have developed to supply the place of those passed away. These are questions worth)" 
of more than a hasty glance. Another layer of stalagmite now appears to have been 
formed, in which are bones, having the same characteristics as those mentioned above, 
only the jaw-bone of a man with the teeth in it was found. Now a wonderful change 
occurs. The next stratum is black mould, and is from three to ten inches thick, but 
in it are found only evidences of modern times, both in the relics of man and beast. 
The bones of the animals are of the orders which exist at the present time, and the 
relics of men extend from the old Briton tribes before the Roman invasion up to the 
porter bottles, and dropped half-pence of yesterday's visitors. How long a time tran- 
spired between the last visit of the first race of men who knew this cavern, and the 
first visit of the old Britons, is hard to even guess. That it was many ages none will 
dare to question. 

We now come to the last page of the great geological book which records the 
present era of the world's history, which is pre-eminently the age of man. That man 
existed previous to the present order of things, there can be no question; but it remained 
for this period to fully develop him in all his glories and powers. The dark night of 
winter with its snows and ice, before whose destructive and frigid breath all things 
which had lived on the earth had perished, including primitive man, had passed away. 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 15 

and the whole face of the earth was smihng and rejoicing in the spring-time of its new 
existence. The seasons were fully established, and summer's suns and winter's ice 
assumed their appropriate offices in the grand economy of the earth. The seed time 
of spring and the harvest time of autumn followed each other through the cycles of 
centuries and will never change. The earth was all virgin soil and very rich and produc- 
tive. The air was fresh, bracing, and free from all poisonous exhalations. All nature 
was complete. Animal life had again covered the world, and all was ready for the 
crowning effort of Nature — man. Away in western Asia, there was a land favored 
far above all the countries of the earth, so much so that it could truly be called a para- 
dise. It was a table-land, at the head-waters of the rivers that flow into the Euxine 
and Caspian Seas, and the Persian Gulf Its climate was healthful and bracing, with 
enough of variety to secure vigor, and not so inclement as to exact any artificial 
provision for clothing or shelter. Its flora afforded an abundance of edible fruits to 
sustain life, and was rich in all the more beautiful forms of plant life, while its clear 
streams, alluvial soil, and undulating surface, afforded a variety of beautiful scenery, 
and all that would go to make up the sme qua non of human existence. It was not 
infested with the more powerful and predaceous quadrupeds, and animals which did 
inhabit the region had nothing to fear, for man was originally purely vegetarian in 
his diet, and in this paradise he found ample supplies of wholesome food. His require- 
ments for shelter were met by weaving bowers of the overhanging trees. The streams 
furnished gold for ornaments, shells for vessels, and agate for his few and simple cut- 
ting instruments. Such was man's estate in the first days of his existence; but the 
eternal laws of progression soon forced him out of his primitive bowers into huts, and 
thence into houses and palaces, and the end of that progression is not yet. And 
the human race has a future before it which, if it could be seen and comprehended at 
one glance, would cause the heart of man to stand still in wonder and amazement. 

We will now pass to a consideration of the geological formation of Alameda 
County, as is to be found in Professor Whitney's Geological Survey of California. 

Contra Costa Hills. — The subordinate group of elevations lying west of Mar- 
tinez and the San Ramon and Livermore Valleys is known as the Contra Costa 
Hills ; they extend through the county of that name into Alameda and Santa Clara 
Counties, and finally become merged in the Mount Hamilton Division of the Monte 
Diablo Range. These hills are separated from the principal mountain mass of Monte 
Diablo by a system of valleys, extending for about forty-five miles, and preserve a 
somewhat distinctive character for some fifteen miles farther, losing their identity 
entirely about the head of Calaveras Valley. They are made up of tertiary and cre- 
taceous strata, usually but little metamorphosed; although a belt extending along their 
western side is considerably altered from its original character. 

Beginning at the northwest extremity of the group, at Martinez, we have in the 
immediate vicinity of that place cretaceous strata, well exposed in the bluffs along the 
Straits of Carquinez. Here the rocks observed are sandstones, shales, and argillaceous 
limestones, the latter forming bands and lenticular masses in the shales, generally but 
a few inches thick, although as much as three feet. Their strike is usually N. 42° W., 
varying, however, from N. 39° W. to N. 44° W., and they dip southwest at an angle of 
from 35° to 60°. 



16 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

The rocks near Martinez have furnished a large number of specimens of cretaceous 
fossils of both divisions. 

In passing along the shore of the Straits of Carquinez, west of Martinez, the 
cretaceous strata occur for about seven miles, and are made up of shales and sand- 
stones, the former containing frequent thin layers of hydraulic limestone. These 
rocks, however, exhibit but few fossils. The dip and strike are variable, but generally 
about east and west magnetic, and the dip is also irregular, but almost always to the 
southwest, and at almost ever\' angle from nearly horizontal to vertical ; the strike is 
nearly parallel with the line of the straits. Near the upper limit of the cretaceous, 
are sandstones verj^ like those of Monte Diablo which accompany the coal, and they 
contain a considerable quantity of carbonaceous matter, but no regular coal-bed, so 
far as yet discovered. Near these carbonaceous strata, and abo\e them, is a narrow 
belt, partly altered and folded, and from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet in 
width. The Rodeo Valley marks the limit of the cretaceous going west from Marti- 
nez, the tertiary succeeding in that direction, and resting conformably on the strata 
beneath, and having the same general southwestern dip. South of Martinez the cre- 
taceous strata have a higher dip, but in the same direction. 

Southwest of the Rodeo Valley lies a broad belt of tertiary rocks, which extends 
from San Pablo Bay to Amador Valley, forming the mass of the Contra Costa Hills, 
for a distance of about thirty-five miles northwest and southeast, and ha\'ing a breadth 
of from six to eight miles. The rocks are chiefly sandstones, and in places highly 
fossiliferous. San Pablo Creek heads in this belt, and flows between two parallel ridges 
in the line of the strike of the rocks. On the west side of the creek, about four miles 
a little southeast of San Pablo, the rocks contain considerable bituminous matter, and 
a well had been bored here in 1862 to the depth of eighty-seven feet, at which point 
oil was struck, which it was proposed to purify by distillation, and works were erected 
for this purpose, as also to obtain oil from the highly saturated sandstone.* At these 
springs the rock has a high dip northeast; but farther northwest it dips to the south- 
west, while the hills in the vicinity are too deeply covered by soil and decomposed 
rock to admit of the general position of the strata being determined satisfactorily. 

To the north of San Pablo are low hills of very recent strata, which are nearly 
horizontal, and which rest unconformably on the edges of the tertiarj'. Whether these 
beds contain any extinct species of shells has not yet been determined ; at all events, 
they are no older than the post-pliocene. 

In the valleys between San Pablo and Walnut Creek, many sections made by the 
rains of 1861-62 in the superficial detritus are obser\ed. The beds are horizontally 
stratified, and made up of light and darker colored materials, the lighter ones being 
darker near the upper surfaces, and growing lighter downwards to the depth of from 
six to twelve inches, as beds usually do when acquiring a color from decaying vegeta- 
ble substances. This would indicate that the rate of deposition of this detritus has been 
exceedingly irregular, long periods having sometimes elapsed without much addition 
to the detrital deposits, and then, again, a heavy mass of materials being suddenly 

* The quantity of oil obtained seems to have been too small to pay, as the work was not profitable, and had 
been discontinued previous to the oil excitement of 1865. Whether resumed between that time and the present, 
1883, we have been unable to discover. 






^-i^IZ-e^^T^yOtC-^ 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 17 

spread over the surface, just as takes place at present during a winter of extraordinary 
storms, like those of 1861-62. The appearances indicate sometimes a heavy deposit 
during one year only ; at others a succession of them for several years. The same or 
similar facts are observed at many points in the coast ranges. 

The whole range under consideration is divided into a great number of hills and 
valleys, the latter running parallel with the strike of the strata. The valleys are exca- 
vated in the softer materials, and are frequently drained by streams running in two 
opposite directions, which connect at their sources by very low divides, so that one 
hardly recognizes the fact that he is passing over them. When streams cut across the , 
strike of the strata, as they occasionally do, the valleys become mere canons, or nar- 
row rocky defiles. 

To the southeast of Martinez there is a good exhibition of the folding of the 
strata, exhibiting in synclinal axis, which runs from a point one mile north of Pacheco 
southwest to the Canada del Hambre, a distance of about four miles. 

Walnut Creek (Arroyo de las Nueces) heads in the divide between the valley of 
this name and that of the San Ramon ; it separates the Contra Costa Hills from the 
Monte Diablo Group proper. High hills of tertiary sandstone rise to the west of it, ■ 
attaining an altitude of from eighteen hundred to two thousand feet. The high group 
of hills north of the head of the San Ramon is also of sandstone, and has about the 
same elevation. The strike of the strata here is about N. 50° W. to N. 55° W., and 
the dip 65° to the southwest. The San Ramon, heading in this group of hills, runs 
southeast, then turns and runs parallel with its former course in the opposite direction, 
having a high and steep range of fossiliferous sandstones between the two parallel 
portions. 

The foot-hills along the eastern base of these higher ridges are of strata very 
much broken, with every possible dip and strike, the latter frequently at right angles 
to that of the strata in the main ridge, and standing vertical. There are indications 
of a line of quite recent disturbances of the rocks through the San Ramon and El 
Hambre Creeks, which line crosses the general direction of the stratification at an 
angle of 35°. There are fissures in the soil along the west side of the San Ramon 
Valley, which were formed during the earthquake of June, 1861, and which may be 
considered as strengthening the probability of the recent formation of this valley. 
That extensive disturbances have taken place in the Monte Diablo chain within the 
most recent geological epoch will be seen farther on. 

Near the head-waters of the San Ramon, the hills of tertiary sandstone rise to 
the height of about two thousand feet ; the strata having a strike of about N. 39° to 
41° W.; and they have a high dip to the southwest. The same strata, as followed 
along a few miles farther to the northwest, near Moraga Valley, become more nearly 
vertical, and the strike curves around more to the west. The same belt of rocks 
extends southeast from the head of the San Ramon, through the range of hills west 
of Amador Valley, and they have a lower and more uniform northwesterly dip. These 
hills sink into the plain near the eastern end of the pass leading from Haywards to 
Amador Valley. 

Near the " Walnut Creek House," a small patch of cretaceous occurs, extending 
over a few acres, from which the overlying tertiary, forming the crown of a low 
anticlinal, has been denuded. 



18 History of Alameda County, California. 

A belt of metamorphic rock may be traced along the western side of the Contra 
Costa Hills, beginning near San Pablo, thence following the west side of Wild Cat 
Creek, and appearing in a southeast direction along the foot-hills of the range, for a 
distance of about thirty-five miles. It generally forms a narrow belt, not over two 
miles wide, and often not half that; but in some places there is more or less meta- 
morphic action observable over a width of four miles. The northwestern portion of 
this band of altered rock curves to the northwest, and seems to form the isolated 
metamorphic hills lying near the bay, apparently connecting with the range of high 
hills which run out at Point San Pedro and extend back to San Rafael. 

Near San Pablo a great variety of the results of metamorphic action may be 
obsen/-ed; as, for instance, in following a line extending from the house of V. Castro 
back to the top of the ridge. The original rock seems to have been a more or less 
bituminous slate or shale, and patches of it have almost entirely escaped metamor- 
phism, while others in the immediate vicinity are very much altered and converted 
even into mica- slate. The dip of the strata, when it could be made out, was to the 
northeast, 30° at the base of the hill and gradually getting higher towards the crest of 
the ridge, where the metamorphism is most complete. Here the rock is traversed by 
small quartz veins, and has evidently been acted on by water containing silica in solu- 
tion, as it is, to a large extent, converted into that mixture of ferruginous, jaspery, and 
chalcedonic material, which is so well known as frequently containing cinnabar, that 
we have become accustomed to call it the " quicksilver rock." Considerable masses 
of actinolite have been found lying on the surface in this vicinity, evident!}- derived 
from the rocks of this ridge. The specimens resemble exactly those obtained from 
the very much older metamorphic rocks of New England. 

The widest and highest portion of this metamorphic belt lies near the pass leading 
from Oakland to Lafayette, the summit of which is thirteen hundred and eleven feet 
above high tide. About a hundred rods west of the summit metamorphic slates stand 
vertical, having a close lithological resemblance to rocks elsewhere known to belong 
to the cretaceous system ; a short distance northwest they have a high dip to the 
northeast. A sharp ridge, half a mile in a direction N. 32° W. from the Summit 
House, is of hard metamorphic sandstone, of which the strike is N. 64° W., but curv- 
ing more to the south as we go southward; the dip is to the northeast, about 70° in 
amount. Hand specimens of this rock have a very trappean look, but they appear 
to be of metamorphic origin. 

About one mile farther north is the highest point north of the pass, called " Rocky 
Mound"; it is nineteen hundred and twenty-one feet high, forming a rounded hill, 
having a distinct stratification, although very trappean in its appearance, and a dip 
to the northeast. Between this point and the ridge spoken of in the last paragraph, 
there is a mass of trappean rock, finely crystalline and very hard, in which no planes 
of stratification can be observed. On the northeast of San Pablo, the unaltered strata 
rest on these metamorphic rocks and dip northeast. 

The ridge between Wild Cat and San Pablo Creeks is made up of strata dipping 
northeast from 30° to 35°, and having a strike of about N. 52° W. The north end of 
this ridge is of quite unaltered strata, while the southern portion is highl\' meta- 
morphosed. 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 19 

On the east side of Carlisle Creek, a metamorphic limestone occurs, in whjch all 
traces of stratification have been obliterated, the mass of the rock being traversed by 
veins of quartz, resembling semi-opal in appearance. 

South of the pass from Oakland to Lafayette, several high, dome-shaped hills 
rise, having an elevation of about eighteen hundred and fifty feet, made up of highly 
metamorphic rock, having a trappean aspect, but stratified and dipping northeast. 
Intruded in this are masses of rock which appear to be of decidedly eruptive origin, 
as the metamorphic strata are displaced in the vicinity. Here, as in many other locali- 
ties in California, it is difficult to draw the line between eruptive and sedimentary, as 
both have undergone extensive metamorphism since their formation. 

A short distance south of the pass the metamorphic strata suddenly contract to 
about one and one-half miles in width, an arm of unaltered sandstone and slates 
extending up between two branches of the metamorphic. In this region the slates are 
little metamorphosed, appearing white and easily decomposed, although much con- 
torted. Portions are highly silicious, but soft and friable, and, under the name of 
" Kaolin," are used to mix with clay in making pottery at San Antonio. This belt of 
slates and shales may be traced southeast as far as Suflol Valley, beneath which they 
dip, rising again probably and appearing in a highly metamorphic form in the mass of 
the Mount Hamilton Group. In the places where they are not metamorphic they have 
all the lithological character of the strata known to be of cretaceous age, which have 
Ueen described as occurring near Martinez, and which will be noticed farther on as 
so well developed near Monte Diablo. 

Lying to the west of this are massive sandstones, entirely unaltered, which, as 
yet, have furnished no fossils, but which are believed to be of cretaceous age. They 
form an elevated ridge, of which a culminating point is Redwood Peak, sixteen hun- 
dred and thirty-five feet above the level of the bay. The strike of these sandstones 
at this point is about N. 69° W., but they curve more to the south on the southeastern 
side of the ridge. Their usual dip is to the northeast, but near Redwood Point the 
strata are much broken, and three miles southeast they sometimes stand vertically or 
have a very high dip to the northeast. 

Beneath this mass of sandstones, and extending to the southwest, there is a body 
of coarse conglomerate, forming a series of ridges of considerable altitude. Northeast 
of San Leandro it appears in the range of hills forming the eastern boundary of the 
San Antonio Ranch. Ten or twelve miles farther to the southeast it appears in Sunol 
Peak, which rises to an elevation of over two thousand feet, on the southeast side of 
which it dips to the southwest. It passes through the Su ol Valley and becomes a 
portion of the great metamorphic belt of the Mount Hamilton Range. 

Although no fossils have been found in place in the belt of slates and shales 
alluded to above as exhibiting so well-marked a resemblance to rocks elsewhere 
determined to be of cretaceous age, yet a few boulders have been picked up which 
contained shells undoubtedly of this epoch. A more careful search will hardly fail to 
furnish some farther evidence on this point. One of these boulders was found near 
the entrance of Sunol Valley, in a locality where it is hardly possible that it should 
have come from any other belt of rocks than that indicated above. 

The metamorphic band, before alluded to as beginning near San Pablo, after 



20 History of Alameda County, California. 

narrowing near Redwood Peak, extends along the western slope of the hills, forming 
the lower ridges at their base. It does, not, however, form a well-defined belt parallel 
with the strike of the strata, nor does it appear to represent an axis of elevation. In 
a section examined from San Leandro across the summit of Monte Diablo, it was seen 
conformably underlying the conglomerates and sandstones before spoken of; but far- 
ther south its relations to the adjacent rocks become very obscure, owing to the almost 
entire obliteration of the lines of stratification consequent on the increased metamor- 
phism of the mass. As observed in the foot-hills of the range between San Antonio 
and Alameda Creek, this metamorphic belt has all the characters which are so often 
exhibited by the altered cretaceous rocks. Serpentine is abundant in it in large irreg- 
ular masses, and jaspery slates, like those of Monte Diablo. East of San Antonio 
large patches are to be seen, having all the characters of the quicksilver-bearing rock of 
New Almaden and New Idria, exactly like those noticed as occurring near San Pablo. 
Considerable masses of chromic iron occur in this position, one of which was formerly 
worked to some extent. Stains of copper are not unfrequent, and have led to several 
attempts at mining, none of which have proved successful, or are likely to repay the 
labor and capital invested. 

In the neighborhood of Alameda Caoon this metamorphic belt appears to be 
almost lost, but traces of chemical action commenced and partially completed, are exhib- 
ited in narrow streaks visible among the highly inclined and broken strata; the.se, how- 
ever, do not appear to connect through with the metamorphic mass of Mount Hamilton. 

Monte Diablo Group as Regards Alameda County. — After describing the 
Monte Diablo Group as it ranges through the county of Contra Costa, with variations 
in geology and vast coal-beds. Professor Davidson proceeds with his interesting 
description in these words: — 

The pass called after Mr. Livermore, an old settler in the valley, is on the west 
side of the eastern division of the Monte Diablo Group, and about sixteen miles south- 
east of the summit of the mountain, and here the chain is more completely broken 
through than at any other point in its whole extent; this pass has, for that reason, been 
selected for the passage of a railroad from San Jose to Stockton, for which the pre- 
liminary surveys have been made, and which is now in process of construction. The 
western division of the chain, the Contra Costa Hills, already described in this chapter, 
are entirely broken through by the caiion through which the Alameda Creek, which 
drains a large regfon in the interior of the range, finds its way to the Bay of San 
Francisco. This cauon, therefore, in connection with the Livermore Pass, furnishes a 
good and easy route for a railroad entirely across from the bay to the plains of 
the San Joaquin; it is, indeed, the only feasible one. As we issue from the Ala- 
meda Caflon, going towards Livermore Pass, we come into a valley or plain some 
twelve miles in length, but of irregular width, which extends to the western entrance 
of the pass. The western portion of this is called "Amador Valley"; the eastern, 
'• Livermore Valley." These valleys are formed by the sinking down of the tertiary 
ranges of hills which lie along the southeastern slope of Monte Diablo. The portion of 
the range, which continues to the southward, and connects the Monte Diablo Group 
with the Mount Hamilton Group, and over which the Livermore and Corral Hollow 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 21 

Passes cross, is made up of a very irregular belt of hills about ten or twelve miles wide, 
most elaborately wrought out by denudation into a labyrinth of ridges and canons, the 
minute exhibition of whose details would require a map on a very large scale. These 
ridges are nearly destitute of trees, with but a scanty supply of feed, in the shape of 
grass or forage, and poorly provided with water, what there is being generally alkaline. 
The hills in the vicinity of the pass are seldom over twelve hundred feet high, but 
they rise higher a little farther north, and " Bushy Knob," or " Las Cuevas," may be 
considered as the culminating point of this division of the group; it is one thousand 
seven hundred and forty-two feet above tide-water. 

The pass itself is, according to the Pacific Railroad surveys, four hundred and 
eighty-one feet high at its western entrance, and six hundred and eighty-six feet at its 
summit; by our measurement, the eastern entrance, at " Zimmerman's Mountain 
House," is two hundred and twenty-three feet above the sea. 

The rocks near the pass are sandstones, which are soft and easily disintegrated. 
They are of tertiary age, but contain few fossils. Along the eastern side of the 
range the dip is to the northeast, and on the western side it is in an opposite direction, 
there being a low axis running through the region from southeast to northwest, and 
passing a little to the east of Bushy Knob. The dip in both directions is quite small, 
in keeping with the comparatively small elevation of this portion of the chain. At 
Bushy Knob it was only 1 5°, the direction of the strata being N. 69° W. 

South of Livermore Valley the hills rise in altitude, but exhibit in the main the 
same features as on thp other side, until we approach Corral Hollow. They are 
rounded in outline, and the rock is rarely seen, except in the canons. As we reach 
Corral Hollow we find the strata more disturbed, and all the indications of an approach 
to another great metamorphic center. 

The pass, or cafion, usually known as Corral Hollow, extends back from the San 
Joaquin Plain and opens into Livermore Valley; it crosses the hills about ten miles south 
of the Livermore Pass, but is more elevated than that, and traverses a greater variety 
of rocks, as it intersects both the altered and the unaltered cretaceous strata in its 
upper portion. 

This upper region of the pass, which has a northwest and southeast direction, is 
a deep, precipitous canon, extending across to the Livermore Valley from the bend 
in Corral Hollow Creek. This creek, as is so often the case with the streams in this 
region, runs towards the northwest, parallel with the stratification, for a considerable 
distance, and then turns suddenly, and, crossing the strata, runs at right angles to its 
former course. The change in direction is just at the point where the unaltered strata 
are intersected. The general strike of the strata in this region is nearly mag- 
netic east and west, or N. 70° to 75° W. ; the dip is usually to the north, at 
a pretty high angle, but very variable. The metamorphic region in which Corral 
Hollow Creek heads will be noticed farther on, as it forms a part of the Mount 
Hamilton Group. The division between the metamorphic and unaltered rocks in the 
angle of the creek is well marked and easily recognized at a distance, from the varied 
character which the different rocks give to the landscape. The metamorphic hills are 
covered with a darker and thinner soil, and are more bountifully supplied with trees, 
especially the Quercus Agrifolia and Quercus Garryana, while the outlines of the 



22 History of Alameda County, California. 

ridges are sharper and the outcrops of rock more numerous. Near the junction with 
the unaltered strata the metamorphosed beds preserve their original lines of stratifi- 
cation, and are perfectly conformable with the overlying beds of rock, which have 
undergone no change. These metamorphic rocks are of cretaceous age, and are 
identical in appearance with the jaspery rocks noticed as occurring so abundantly near 
Monte Diablo. The jasper bands are from a fourth of an inch to several inches in 
thickness, sometimes very much contorted and of various colors — red, rose-colored, 
green, gray, and white ; the whole presenting, especially on the weathered surfaces, the 
most brilliant and beautiful appearance. There are also reticulations of quartz cross- 
ing the mass in small, irregular veins and threads, such as have already been described 
as occurring near Monte Diablo, forming the peculiar rock which we have followed 
from this region north as far as Clear Lake. Serpentine is also abundantly distrib- 
uted through this metamorphic region. 

Between the metamorphic and the tertiary there is a narrow belt of unaltered rock, 
of cretaceous age, the metamorphic action not having penetrated through the whole 
mass of the strata. But few fossils were found in these unaltered rocks, and these 
were distinct from any obtained elsewhere in the cretaceous, to which formation, however, 
they were referred, with some doubt, by Mr. Gabb, who described two species from 
this locality, namel}', Cyprinella tenuis -avid. Carbula primoisa ; besides these, ^w^^w/V? 
and Mytihis were observed, as also three other bivalves, too imperfect to be referred 
with certainty to any genus. Mr. Gabb considered that these fossils, which overlie 
rocks known to be of cretaceous age, and which dip under the miocene tertiary may 
probably prove to belong to a brackish water deposit of the cretaceous, although it is 
possible that the formation in which they occur may represent the eocine division of 
the tertiary. 

The dip and strike of these unaltered rocks are \ariable, but the)- usually incline 
at a pretty high angle to the north. Two sections were made across the valley in this 
region, which will serve to show the position of the strata and also the coal-beds, 
which are found here, and which have been worked to some extent. The first 
crosses Corral Hollow at the "Pacific Mine" and runs N. 20° E. [See Whitney's 
Geological Survey of California, p. 36, vol. on Geology]; it represents a length 
of five miles, and is on an equal scale of horizontal and vertical distances. The other 
one crosses at the Almaden Mine [See p. t,"], Ibid.'], and is of about the same length 
as the other. On comparing these two sections it will be seen at once how great a 
disturbance of the rocks has taken place in this region, within so short a distance, as the 
whole series of sandstones on the north side of the hollow has in one section a posi- 
tion exactly the reverse of that in the other. In the section at the Pacific Mine the 
mass of unaltered strata north of the hollow lies nearly conformable with the 
metamorphic; and, like that, dips to the north for a distance of a mile and a half ; 
then we have a mass of disturbed strata and a reversal of the dip. In the Almaden Mine 
section the reversal of the dip takes place in the strata immediately connected with the 
coal, which of course has an unfavorable influence on the working of the bed. Indeed, 
the disturbances in this district are so extensive that it is to be feared that these coal- 
beds will not be made available ; and up to the present time, at least, they have not 
been, although the quality of the coal is good as compared with other Pacific Coast 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc., 23 

coals, and the thickness of the beds sufficient for profitable working, if they had not 
been so much disturbed by the movements of the strata. 

An analysis of the Corral Hollow coal gives : Water, 20.53 ; bituminous sub- 
stances, 35.62 ; fixed carbon, 36.35 ; ash, 7.50. 

The Pacific Mine is situated near the upper curve of the stream, on the south 
side, about nine miles from the mouth of the valley, and nine hundred and fifty feet 
above the sea. The stratum of coal is in sandstones and shales ; the strike is N. 
80° W., and the dip 50° to 70° to the north. The strata are much broken, 
and frequent slips and faults occur, while the dip is quite variable. A drift cuts 
the bed from the lower side and follows it for a distance of three or four hun- 
dred feet. The bed shows at its eastern end a thickness of fifty inches of worka- 
ble coal. It was stated that, up to October 15, 1861, from two hundred to four hun- 
dred tons had been mined here. When visited again in 1862, but little further work 
bad been done here. The drift had been extended a few feet, and the thickness of 
the coal was found to be sixty-six inches. Many facts were noticed, showing how 
great a disturbance had taken place here. In the strata beneath the coal are many 
angular fragments of the coal itself, which appear to have slipped out of place and to 
have been caught between the strata while undergoing these convulsions, which in one 
place have cut the seam entirely off and brought it squarely up against the broken edge 
of the sandstone. 

The Coast Range Company was the first one to mine in this district. Their 
shaft is one and a half miles below that of the Pacific Company, in the bottom of the 
valley, on the south side. The coal seam was perpendicular, and a shaft was sunk in 
it to the depth of one hundred feet; but little good coal was found, and it is now 
abandoned. 

Some explorations and attempts at mining at the Alameda Company's mine, on 
the south side of the caiion, gave equally discouraging results, the strata being much 
broken, so that the bed could not be followed continuously in the shafts, one of which 
had been sunk to the depth of one hundred and fifty feet in 186 1. In this shaft the 
strata dip to the south at a high angle, there being a complete overturn of the strata 
here. The bed of coal exposed in this shaft was about two feet thick, and of good 
quality, although much crushed, and therefore easily disintegrated. As far as can be 
ascertained, no coal has been shipped from these mines of late, and they are probably 
abandoned. Unless the quality and quantity of the Corral Hollow coal were quite 
.superior, it would be impossible for it to come in competition with the product of the 
Monte Diablo mines, the latter being so much more favorably situated with reference 
to a market. 

To the north of the belt of cretaceous strata just described, there is an extensive 
region of tertiary hills, extending towards Livermore Pass. The highest of these are 
from two thousand four hundred to two thousand five hundred feet in altitude; the 
^highest point measured was two and a half miles north of the Pacific Mine, and its 
altitude was found to be two thousand one hundred and ninety-eight feet. The rock 
in these hills is deeply covered with soil, but is sufficiently exposed in the canons to 
.show that it has a very variable strike and dip, being much affected by the fault or dis- 
■.turbance which passes through Corral Hollow. On the hills north of the mines there 



24 History of Alameda County, California. 

are several localities of the large fossil oysters ( Ostira Titan), where these occur in 
great numbers. About one mile north of "Camp 6i," the impressions of leaves and 
silicified wood were found in great abundance in a soft sandstone, supposed to be of 
pliocene age. The strata had a dip to the southeast, and the leaves were chiefly 
found in a stratum about two feet thick. They were very numerous and beautifully 
preserved, and represented several genera of deciduous trees. In one case a stump 
was found still upright, its roots in the leaf-bearing stratum, and its top projecting 
into that next above. These indications of a terrestrial flora were obsei^ved over an 
area of several square miles, but the exact relations of the strata to the oyster-beds 
could not be made out owing to the fact that the exposures of the rocks are so poor 
in this region. 

Monte Diablo. — There was once a time when there were no human inhabit- 
ants in California, but there were two spirits, one evil, the other good ; and they made 
war on each other, and the good spirit overcame the evil one. At that period, the 
entire face of the country was covered with water, except two islands, one of which 
was Monte Diablo, the other, Eagle Point (on the north side). There was a coyote 
on the peak, the only living thing there. One day the co\'ote saw a feather floating 
on the water which, as it reached the island, suddenly turned into an eagle, who, 
spreading his broad pinions, flew upon the mountain. The coyote was much pleased 
with his new companion, and they dwelt in great harmony together, making occa- 
sional excursions to the other island, the coyote swimming while the eagle flew. 

After some time they counseled together and concluded to make Indians; they 
did so, and as the Indians increased the water decreased, until where the lake had 
been became dry land. 

At that time what is now known as the Golden Gate was a continuous chain of 
mountains, so that it was possible to go from one side to the other dry-shod. There 
were at this time only two outlets 'for the waters, one was the Russian River, the 
other San Juan at the Pajaro. Some time afterwards a great earthquake severed the 
chain of mountains and formed what is now known as the Golden Gate. Then the 
waters of the great ocean and the bay were permitted to mingle. The rocky wall 
being rent asunder, it was not long before the " pale faces" found their wa^ in, and, as 
the water decreased at the coming of the Indians, so have the Indians decreased at 
the approach of the white man, until the war-w hoop is heard no more, and the coun- 
cil-fire is no more lighted; for the Indians, like shadows, have passed silcnth' away 
from the land of the coyote and eagle. 

In addition to the above legend, the following somewhat similar tradition is cur- 
rent among the Indians, and though we ma}' not have the means of verifying it, is 
certainly full of interest. 

It is related that where the Bay of San Francisco now is, there formerly was a 
great lake, much longer, broader, and deeper than the ba}'. According to the Indian 
account this lake was more than three hundred miles in length, with no outlet except 
in the rainy season, when it would overflow its banks and a small stream would run 
to the ocean some thirty miles south of the present outlet. 

The ridge of hills along the coast was then unbroken and served as a dyke to 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 25 

prevent the waters of the lake from escaping to the ocean. Its level was many feet 
above that of the ocean, while its waters extended far up into the present valleys of 
the Sacramento and San Joaquin. On the shores, centuries ago, there dwelt populous 
tribes of Indians; indeed, if credence may be given to the tales of the aboriginals, the 
present population of California will equal that of those ancient days, when the " noble 
red-man" fish(?d in its waters and hunted through the forests. 

The hills along the coast are formed of soft sandstone, and through this, the tra- 
dition relates, the water began to make a breach, which yearly grew wider, until it 
burst through and among the hills with tremendous power, leaving steep cliffs and 
precipices to mark its way — and what was once a lake several hundred miles in length, 
is now a bay not forty miles long. This may have been the cause for such a change, 
but it would seem far more reasonable to attribute it to some volcanic commotion 
which in those days might have been as prevalent here as they are now in Mexico and 
Central America. 

How far this tradition can be corroborated must be determined by those who 
have the means ; but no one who has witnessed the steep bluffs around San Francisco, 
or has passed the singular entrance of the bay, called the Golden Gate, with its per- 
pendicular walls, or has seen the no less singular bluffs of Raccoon Straits, can for a 
moment doubt but that they were formed by some powerful agency, either fire or 
water. 

Let us now for a little turn to consider the derivation of the name Monte Diablo, 
for by such a name is it known in the early English surveys. To the old Californian, 
it is recognized as the Sierra de las Golgones, they asserting that Monte Diablo is the 
name applied by them to another and smaller peak in the neighborhood, while De 
Mofras calls the mountain Sierra de los Bolbone. 

General Vallejo, than whom few better authorities on Californian lore exist, in his 
famous report to the Legislature dated April i6, 1850, says: "Mount Diablo, which 
occupies a conspicuous place in modern maps, is the center of this county (as it was 
then and still is). It was intended so to call the county, but both branches of the Leg- 
islature, after warm debates on the subject (the representatives of the county opposing 
the said name), resolved upon the less profane one of ' Contra Costa.' " The follow- 
ing he then gives as the history of Monte del Diablo: "In 1806 a military expedi- 
tion from San Francisco marched against the tribe ' Bolgones,' who were encamped at 
the foot of the mount ; the Indians were prepared to receive the expedition, and a hot 
engagement ensued in the large hollow fronting the western side of the mount. As 
the victory was about to be decided in favor of the Indians, an unknown personage, 
decorated with the most extraordinary plumage, and making divers movements, sud- 
denly appeared near the combatants. The Indians were victorious, and the incognito 
(Puy) departed towards the mount. The defeated soldiers, on ascertaining that the 
spirit went through the same ceremony daily and at all hours, named the mount 
' Diablo,' in allusion to its mysterious inhabitant, that continued thus to make his 
appearance until the tribe was subdued by the troops in command of Lieutenant 
Gabriel Moraga, in a second campaign of the same year. In the aboriginal tongue 
'Puy' signifies ' Evil Spirit;' in Spanish it means 'Diablo,' and doubtless it signifies 
' devil' in the Anglo-American language." 
3 



History of Alameda County, California. 



It is said that there is an old Californian legend in this regard preserved in the 
archives of one of the missions, which runs thus: — 

Soon after the arrival of the Spanish padres here, about the year 1 769, to locate 
missions and civilize the aborigines, the Indians, among other tributes which they 
brought to the pious fathers in token of their obedience, produced a quantity of 
gold nuggets, which they brought from the vicinity of a high mountain adjacent to 
what is now known as the Bay of San Francisco, and which, according to their rude 
traditions, had once vomited forth both fire and smoke. The padres foreseeing 
in this abundance of " the root of all evil" the future destroyer of their pastoral plans 
of settlement and the permanence of the Roman Catholic religion among these primi- 
tive tribes, determined to prevent the use of or hunting for, the precious metal. 
They accordingly took all the gold which had been collected, and having secretly 
poisoned it, placed it in a tub of water, and told the Indians to make their dogs drink 
it. The simple natives, accustomed to yield implicit obedience, did as they were 
ordered, and the dogs that drank thereof died. The padres then pointed out this as 
an instance of the ruin and destruction which would visit them and their counti-j- if 
they meddled any more with so dangerous an agent, and from that time the Indians 
carefully avoided the place whence the treasure was obtained, and, which, as the gold 
was held to be of a diabolical origin, and especially sent to carry out the plans of his 
Satanic Majesty, they ever after named Monte Diablo, or Devil's Mountain. 

The mountain is also said to take its name from a marvelous phenomenon wit- 
nessed amongst its wild and precipitous gorges, at a time when, in the language of 
an old trapper, " Injins war plenty, and white women war not." It is related that 
once, in an expedition against the horse-thief tribes who inhabited the valley of the 
San Joaquin as far down as the base of the mountain, the native Californians came up 
with a party of the freebooters, laden with the spoils of a hunt, and immediately gave 
chase, driving them up the steep defiles which form the ascent of the mountain on 
one side. Elated with the prospect of securing and meting out punishment to the 
robbers, they were pressing hard after them, when lo ! from a cavernous opening in 
their path there issued forth such fierce flames, accompanied by so terrible a roar- 
ing, that thinking themselves within a riata's throw of the principal entrance to 
his Infernal Majesty's summer palace, the astonished rancheros, with man}- "car- 
ajoes ! " and " carambas ! " and like profane ejaculations, forgot their hostile errand, 
and turning tail scampered down the mountain faster than they had gone up. Recit- 
ing the adventure to their fellow-rancheros on their return, it was unanimousl)- agreed 
that the devil and his chief steward had fixed their abode in the mountain, and in 
compliment to the great original dealer in hoofs and horns, they gave the present 
name of Monte Diablo to the scene of their late terrific exploit and discomfiture. As 
for the Indians, who as they declared, all mysteriously disappeared as the flames rose 
in view, of course the Dons afterwards insisted that they were the favored children of 
the devil ! 

So much for these legends of Diablo. There are other stories connected with 
the mountain, bordering on the marvelous, or rather the diabolical, one of which is 
that a herdsman who had lost his way among the caiions, discovered what he sup- 
posed by the fading light of day to be a spring of clear water in a hollow rock, and 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 27 

that stooping down to appease his thirst, he was rather surprised at the marvelous 
celerity with which the supposed water shd down his throat and through his stomach, 
hke drops of real water off the back of a duck. It was afterwards supposed that he 
drank from a pocket of liquid quicksilver, a supposition which subjected the old 
mountain to a pretty rigid investigation in 1848, by cinnabar hunters. Whether the 
tradition of the burning mountain had anything to do, also, with the explorations 
which were made about the same period (just before the general discovery of gold) 
for coal mines, we are not advised, nor whether the coal-bed since discovered suggests 
an explanation, or furnishes an hypothesis by which to account for the burning pit 
which opened before the astonished gaze of the Indian scouting party, we leave it for 
others to determine, as we do also which of the above legends offers the most plaus- 
ible reason for the name Monte Diablo. 

This cognomen has, however, had its enemies. In the session 1865-66 of the Cal- 
ifornia Legislature a petition was introduced by a Mr. Dodge asking for a change in 
the name of Monte Diablo. The Bulletin, a San Francisco newspaper, thus enters into 
a little badinage on the subject: " It may possibly be a trick of the devil himself to 
get another alias, or, perchance the prayer comes from a bevy of 'out-cropping poets,' 
living at the base of the mountain, who want the name changed to Parnassus. The 
probability is, however, that the petition originated with some mining company who 
want to get the name changed to ' Coal Hill,' or some other ridiculous title, in order 
to advertise their bituminous deposits. In either case, it is an aburd proposition, and 
besides it can't be done. The Legislature is not equal to the task. They may suc- 
ceed in changing the name of Smith to Jones, or Brown to Johnson; but when they 
undertake to give a new title to one of California's grandest old mountains, they 
reckon without their host. The popular voice won't accept the change. Though the 
Legislature may say ' Coal Hill,' the people will continue to say ' Mount Diablo,' and 
Diablo it will remain. It is safe to bet that when that towering lump of earth ceases 
to be called Mount Diablo there will be no mountain there, if, indeed, there be any 
California. 

' While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand; 
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall; 
And when Rome falls, the World.' " 

The State Geologist, in his report published in 1866, says of this grand old 
mountain: — 

'' To the Survey it has served as a sort of key for unlocking the stratigraphical 
difficulties of the whole line of upheavals from Los Angeles to Clear Lake, and it 
was here that the cretaceous formation in the State was first clearly recognized. 

"Monte Diablo itself is one of the most conspicuous and best-known landmarks 
in California. But few persons in the State can have failed to recognize it from some 
point either of the coast ranges or of the Sierra Nevada. It is not its great elevation 
which has given it its pre-eminence among the innumerable peaks of the coast ranges; 
it is just the height of Mount Bache, near New Almaden, a point hardly known by 
name to those who have not made a special study of the geography of Califor- 
nia, and it is overtopped by Mount Hamilton, San Carlos, and some nameless peaks 
to which no public attention has ever been attracted. The reason why Monte Diablo 
has so marked a pre-eminence among the peaks of the coast ranges is, that it is, com- 



28 History of Alameda County, California. 

paratively speaking, quite isolated, especially on the northwest, north and northeast, 
the directions from which it is most likely to be seen. To the traveler passing up Suisun 
Bay, or the Sacramento or San Joaquin Rivers, it presents itself in all its symmetry 
and grandeur, rising directly from the level of the sea, and easily recognizable from a 
great distance by its double summit and regular conical outline, resembling that of a 
volcano, which it was generally supposed to be by the early settlers. 

"If the mountain is made such a conspicuous landmark by its isolated position, 
it becomes itself, in turn, a point from which a vast area of the State may be observed 
and studied. Rising as it does among the coast ranges, these may be traced from its 
summit, from Mount Hamilton on the south to unnamed peaks in the vicinity of Clear 
Lake on the north, and from the plains of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin to 
the Pacific, east and west. The great interior valley of California lies spread out like 
a map, extending as far as the eye can reach. To the east the view seems illimitable, 
and it is believed that there are few, if any, points on the earth's surface from which 
so extensive an area may be seen as from Monte Diablo. This is due to the pecu- 
liar form of the great valley of California and the gradual rise of the Sierra, 
which brings higher and higher points to view as the distance becomes greater. The 
eye can range over an extent of four hundred miles from north to south, and back to> 
the east, or towards the summit of the Sierra, as far as the crest of this range, the 
farthest northern point visible being Lassen's Buttes, and the most e.vtreme southern- 
most point near Owen's Lake, probably, thus affording a range over this snow-crested 
line of mountains of over three hundred miles in length. The whole area thus spread 
out can hardly be less than forty thousand square miles, not much less than that 
of the whole State of New York." 

By an easy grade the way to the summit wends through the romantic Pine Canon, 

skirted by precipitous hills, and occasionally buttressed by craggy pinnacles of rock 

whose shapes often assume the most fantastic forms. As the road ascends the flank 

of the mountain, each new curve opens up a fresh scene of beauty surpassing the one 

which preceded it, and the eye gradually takes in the added splendors of a panorama 

extending north, south, east and west, to the farthest horizon's verge. Some two 

miles from the summit we reach the building that formerly was used as an hotel, and 

near where in days of yore the toll-house stood. This point is the junction of the 

road from Danville, and from thence to the apex of Diablo there is but one route. 

As we ascend the mountain the pulse is quickened with each upward step, for each 

step adds a new glory to the scene, and when we reach and stand upon the summit, 

inhaling air, 

" Pure as the icicle that hangs on Dian's Temple," 

with our vision sweeping over the vast extent of country, we feel our hearts expand, 
while our lips, in the language of poesy, exclaim: — 

" It is a land of beauty and grandeur. 
Where looks the cottage out on a domain 
The palace cannot boast of — seas and lakes, 

And hills and forests, golden grain and waves ^ 

'Midst mountains all of light, that mock the sun. 
Returning him his flaming beams, more thick 
And radiant than he sends them; 
Torrents here are bounding floods. 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 29 

And when the tempest comes, 

It roams in all the terrors of its glory. 

And then the valleys — ah ! they are 

The homes for hearts — the cottages — the vineyards — orchards — 

The pastures, studded with the herd and fold ! 

A free — a happy, grand and glorious country !" 

The view from the summit is magnificent — beyond all description. Standing 
there on a clear day, and overlooking the craggy precipices and deep ravines, which 
impart an air of wild grandeur to the immediate vicinity, around the base of the 
mountain you behold, in all the elegance of their graceful outline and the beauty of 
their light and shadow, the admirably rounded foot-hills, gradually diminishing in 
prominence until they merge with the delightful valleys through whose groves of wide- 
spreading oaks and sycamores the eye involuntarily traces out the meandering courses 
of the sparkling waters, that after having dashed down their rugged mountain chan- 
nels, appear to delight to linger amid the scenes of dreamy beauty with which they 
are surrounded. 

Looking north you see the rich, populous valleys of Napa, Sonoma, Petaluma, 
and Russian River, and in the distance the succession of mountain ranges in Mendo- 
cino. On the east you see the Sacramento and San Joaquin Plains, with their great 
rivers coursing through them, and the snow-enveloped Sierra Nevada; and towering 
high above all, at the extreme verge of the horizon, you can discern Lassen's Buttes, 
vi'hich, in a straight line, is distant from Monte Diablo, two hundred miles. On the 
south the noble San Francisco Bay, the Coast Range, and Santa Clara Valley form a 
picture of rare loveliness. On turning to the west San Pablo Bay with its numerous 
inlets, the city of San Francisco, the streets of which are plainly visible, Goat Island, 
Alcatraz, the Golden Gate, and the horizon-bounded ocean, complete a vast panorama 
of picturesque beauty and grandeur, which, as seen on a clearday, surpasses all effort 
of portrayal. 

Whoever has watched the coming of daylight, and seen the sun rise in ordina- 
rily clear weather from the summit of Monte Diablo has witnessed one of the grand- 
est spectacles of creation. Will the reader for a moment think of standing" on a 
point commanding a twelve-hundred-mile sweep of horizon, and after wondering at 
the huge changing shapes and shadows of the mountain pile lying below in the pale 
light of the moon, setting in the west, watching the growing white light of day lifting 
in the east and tinting the sky above the Sierra ralnge with pale soft rainbow hues, 
then, preluded by a momentary intense white shimmer, seeing a burst of vivid ma- 
roon-colored flame break above the mountain crests two hundred miles away, and the 
sun spring up, a glowing globe of red fires, which flash with intensity, the same colors, 
as the rays touch the waters, spreading through the tule marshes in the track of the 
sun across the great valley. Turning then to the west, the shadow of the mountain 
from which the spectacle is seen lies softly, but plainly, defined across the western 
valleys and hills, with its conical shadow-peak high up in the sky above the crests of 
the Coast Range. 

But there is a much grander sight than even this. The reader may be surprised 
when he is informed that a dense fog, so unacceptable to the denizens of the lower 
regions, affords this grander sight. We have seen several such in different parts of 



30 History of Alameda County, California. 

the world, and think them the most impressive and grandest of Nature's wonders, 
throwing the sun's rising or setting completely into insignificance. Far as the eye can 
reach, a slowly moving mass of gigantic, translucent vapors, traveling in stately gran- 
deur, lies spread out hundreds of feet below, utterly obscuring hill and valley, as much 
so as though they had been what they much resembled, the stupendous billows raised 
by a mighty storm, and, then, as the power of the sun's rays dispersed their force, 
might be seen peeping through the ocean of foam first one, and then another hill-top, 
and the vapors, following the various inequalities of the land, might be seen tumbling 
over the hill-sides grand as Niagara's mighty cataract. None who have once seen 
this sight are likely ever to forget it. 

As the mists clear away the eye first turns its expectant gaze towards the blue 
waves of the Peaceful Sea, and there it is; and, if the season be spring, over the green- 
est of valleys brilliant with myriads of wild flowers; over the bay, and the Bay City; 
over the portals of the Golden Gate, until one's eyes drink in the sight of the Pacific 
as far as the Farralones de las Grayles, twenty miles beyond where its waves thunder 
upon this rocky coast. We can appreciate now the feelings which made Balboa 
speechless, when, from the pinnacle up to which he had climbed, he first looked upon 
this grand old ocean. In our own vicinity, we have to the south McGreer's Caiion, 
Moraga, Tassajara, Green, Sycamore, and San Ramon Valleys. To the north one 
glances over Diablo Valley, Martinez, the Straits of Carquinez, Benicia, Vallejo, Mare 
Island to the horizon along which extends, as far as the eye can reach, the snow-white 
peaks of the Sierra Nevada. This fascinates the eye as much as the west view of the 
Pacific. To the east one overlooks the smaller of the two peaks of Diablo, to the San 
Joaquin Plains and Stockton. 

Monte Diablo bears unmistakable e\'idence of having once been a volcano of 
some force. A portion of the crater is still well marked and can be traced without 
difficulty. The igneous rocks lie along its canons from base to summit. The primi- 
tive slate and granite, with intervening ledges of quartz, crop out everywhere. Much 
of the range north and south of it partakes of the same character and must have been 
elevated with it. Limestone is found in many places on the eastern slope — an indi- 
cation to the mineralogist that silver will be found in greater or less quantities among 
its mineral deposits. The height is three thousand eight hundred and seventy-six 
feet. 

The N'ezi' York Times is responsible for the following amusing anecdote about 
Monte Diablo, with which we propose closing this portion of our subject: "In early 
California settlement days, it was deemed ' the cheese ' for the adventurous Yankees 
to pay great deference to the Roman Catholic predilections of the aboriginal and abo- 
Mexican population. One sharp but illiterate chap, from somewhere near sunrise, 
happened to fix his eyes upon certain rich lands in the neighborhood of Monte Diablo; 
and on a tempting occasion, when some saint's festival called together on that 
mountain all the local dignitaries of the church, our Yankee made his ' ten-strike.' 
After volubly impressing upon all who would hear him his intense respect and vene- 
ration for the only true church, and his love for her ministers (those who could convey 
the coveted lands, of course, being meant), he culminated in a brilliant idea. He had 
somehow learned that the Spanish Catholics were partial to the prefix ' San,' and he 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 31 

knew that it meant 'Saint' So, winding up a speech intended to be eulogistic of all the 
saints in the calendar, he said: 'Now, venerable fathers and laymen, allow me to propose 
that, on this memorable occasion, we add one more to the brilliant galaxy of sacred 
names in this beautiful land — one more saint to the glorious list that honors the Golden 
State; I propose, sirs, that the mountain on which we are now standing be hereafter 
and forever known as San Diablo.' It is recorded that the worthy fathers were for a 
moment in doubt whether to be indignant or pass ' Saint Devil ' off as a joke, and the 
question was never fully settled; but the ambitious sponsor, somehow or other, never 
got the land, and would always insist that the priests were a stupid lot of humbugs.' 

Topography. — Alameda County is shaped like an L, fronting thirty-six miles 
long on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, and extending back about the same 
distance till it reaches the western channel of the San Joaquin River. The county is 
about equally divided between level land and mountains, the former being on the Ala- 
meda Plain along the shore of the Bay; in Castro Valley in the Contra Costa Ridge; in 
Amador, Sufiol and Livermore Valleys, and in that of the San Joaquin. The Contra 
Costa and Monte Diablo Ranges of the coast mountains cross Alameda County from 
north to south, running nearly parallel, and separated by a few miles, the former being 
the more westerly. Numerous spurs from each project, at various angles, forming a 
series of beautiful and fertile valleys, all connected with each other, but having differ- 
ent names where thus partially separated by these spurs. Among the most important 
of these valleys are Livermore, Sufiol, Castro, Amador, and Moraga. The princi- 
pal stream in this county, and from which it derives its name, is the Alameda Creek. 
It rises in the Monte Diablo Range, near Livermore Pass, and running through a 
caflon in the Contra Costa Mountains, near the old Misson of San Jose, empties into 
San Francisco Bay, near Union City, supplying water-power for several grist and other 
mills on the way. The Alameda Creek was declared navigable by law, but it is 
such, in fact, to the extent of tide-water only. Between the northern limits of the 
county and the San Leandro Creek are many small streams, having their source in the 
San Pablo Hills and flowing a uniformly southwesterly direction to the bay. Of these 
the principal ones, commencing at the north, are Cerrito Creek, Cordonices Creek, 
Temescal Creek, of which there are two branches, in the southerly one of which the 
Contra Costa Water Company have a resei-voir, Indian Gulch, Sausal or Fruit Vale 
Creek. San Leandro Creek, which is of some size and importance, from the fact of 
its being one of the sources of the water-supply of the city of Oakland, has its rise in 
Contra Costa County, flows in a southeasterly direction for about ten miles through 
gorges of the Coast Range, where it abruptly turns to the westward, crossing the 
valley and emptying into the bay. Its principal tributary is the Grass Valley Creek> 
near the junction of which with San Leandro is a reservoir of the Contra Costa Water 
Company. San Lorenzo Creek is made up of Cull, Eden, and Crow Caiions, and 
Palomares Creeks, and flowing in a southwesterly course traverses some of the best 
agricultural lands in the world. Segunda or Dry Creek, empties into the Alameda, 
near Decoto. Mission Creek, a stream of some size and importance, rises in the 
mountains at the" back of the Mission, and flows through the town. Its waters were 
the first of the streams of the county to be utilized, a flouring-mill having been built 



32 History of Alameda County, California. 

here at an early day. To the east of the mountains the principal streams are: 
Corral Hollow Creek, which rises in San Joaquin County, flows westerly about ten 
miles, then returns in an easterly direction into the San Joaquin Valley. Arroyo 
Mocho flows from the extreme southeast corner of the county in a northwesterly 
direction near Livermore and becomes lost in the lagoon near Pleasanton. Arroyo 
Valle flows from the same quarter in a nearly parallel course with the Arroyo Mocho, 
past Pleasdnton, and empties into the lagoon. Calaveras Creek rises in Calaveras 
Valley, Santa Clara County, flows a northerly direction, joining the Alameda at 
Sunol. Its principal tributary is the Arroyo Honda (Deep Creek). 

We have stated above that a range of lofty hills extends the entire length of the 
bay-front of the county, at an average distance of about five miles inland, and are 
designated by different names, as the San Pablo Hills, Contra Costa, and Coast 
Range. The highest elevation attained is at Mission San Jose, which is two thou- 
sand, two hundred and seventy-five feet above the level of the sea. These mountains 
are sparsely wooded with live-oak, manzanita, and chaparral. By deep canons, which, 
at intervals, cut this range, trails and wagon-roads are practicable. Leading from the 
Mission de Sin Jose' eastward is the old Stockton Pdss, the highway of the pioneers; 
and a short distance to the nprth is the AJameda Canon, through whose majestic 
gorges the Central Pacific Railroad winds its tortuous way. By Hayward's Pass, 
which follows the course of the San Lorenzo Creek, San Ramon Valley is reached; 
while from San Leandro, the Moraga Valley is attained by a road following the bed 
of the San Leandro Creek. From the vicinity of Fruit Vale the redwood country 
of the San Antonio is reached by a road of easy grade. Through Indian Gulch is a 
toll-road, called the Thorn Road, leading into Contra Costi County. The northern- 
most road traversing the range is by the north fork of the Temescal Creek. Along 
the entire southern and eastern portions of the county are mountains and rugged 
hills, hardly fit for grazing purposes even. An exception occurs at the northeast 
corner of the county, where part of the San Joaquin Valle>' is included within the 
boundary. 

The San Joaquin is accessible from Livermore and the interior valleys by two 
routes, the Middle Pass, or Patterson Road, and the Livermore, or Mountain House 
Road. 

Clim.ATOGR.VPHY. — The climate of California \'aries with almost every locality, 
preserving but one feature that is in any sense uniform — -wet winters and dry sum- 
mers. During the winter snow falls to a great depth in the Sierra Nevada and in 
small quantities upon the mountains of the Coast Range; but seldom any in the 
principal valleys. Along the sea-board, and wherever the country approaches the 
ocean level, the winters are warm and pleasant, showers alternating with sunshine, in 
agreeable contrast. In the summer, the cold, northern trade-winds set in about the 
first of May and sweep the coast regularly. The Spanish galleons, bound from 
Manilla to Acapulco, three centuries ago, steered for Cape Mendocino, where they 
would encounter the northwest trade, and run before it, with swelling sails, to their 
beautiful harbor. Cool, cloudless nights and delightful mornings attend these winds, 
but in the remote valleys, beyond their influence, the summer heat is intense and the 



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Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 33 

air dry. In the valleys that lie near to the coast, like that of Alameda, Santa Clara > 
Napa, and the great Russian River country, the intervening chains of mountains 
break the blast and make the summers pleasurable — neither too hot nor too cold. 

In Alameda County the winter, or rainy season, though ushered in by occasional 
showers, usually commences in the month of November, when vegetation starts. The 
summer winds have died away, save those that blow from the south and come laden 
with welcome rain. It must not be thought, however, that we wish to convey to the 
uninitiated the impression that this is a season of continuous rain. Such is not the 
case. It is a season of showers, sometimes of several days' duration, followed by 
weeks of fine, clea" balmy weather, during which the farmer tills his soil and sows his 
seed. By the month of March the heavy rains cease, and occasional showers infiltrate 
the earth until May, when the verdure attains its fullest perfection and the country 
looks its best. Snow seldom falls in the valley, but it frequently is to be seen upon the 
summits of the hills, where, however, it remains but a few days, and frost occurs, 
severe enough to destroy the more tender plants, but not to interfere with the growth 
of grasses and many kinds of vegetation. 

We might here observe that the winter of 1882-83 was an unusually cold one, 
both snow and frost being severely felt. On December 30, 1882, there was the heav- 
iest fall of snow ever experienced in California. 

Except alfalfa the grasses are annuals. This particular species is a coarse 
variety of clover, with deep roots, sometimes extending from ten to fifteen feet into 
the earth. It has a hard, woody fibre, about an inch in diameter, retains its verdure 
from year's end to year's end, and affords excellent pasturage for cattle. Roses 
remain in foliage throughout the winter, blossoming in sheltered places, while various 
species of evergreen shrubs and trees, unknown to the Eastern climate, at once lend 
a cheerful aspect to the landscape. The apple, pear, peach, plum, and other varieties, 
are denuded of their leaves, as at the East. 

And now comes the season of harvesting, which the farmers perform at their lei- 
sure, leaving their stacks unprotected and their grain in sacks piled in the open fields 
for months at a time. No rain ever disturbs their labors. It is the finest harvest 
weather imaginable. The days are uniformly cool, with rare exceptions, enabling 
man and horse to accomplish the largest amount of work with the least fatigue. Dur- 
ing the forenoon, a good breeze springs up from the north, blowing steadily till night; 
but unlike the cold winds of the sea-board, it is tempered to a genial mildness by the 
fervid rays of the sun. From May until October the sky is usually cloudless, save 
with an occasional fogbank hovering over the valley, in the early morning, which is 
soon dispelled by the sun. There is but very little dew; vegetation dries up; the fields 
become sere and brown; the roads are exceedingly dusty, and a universal drought 
prevails. Yet, though dry, the grasses retain their nourishment and the stock thrive 
thereon until the winter's rain again descends and a new growth commences. 

These lengthy, dry summers are truly the perfection of this climate; the desiccated, 
cool atmosphere being a sure protection against malaria, hence fevers are almost 
unknown. The nights are positively sublime. Invariably cool enough to require 
thick covering. Sleep becomes a luxury rarely enjoyed in other lands. It is 
this peculiarity of climate that gives such perfection to the cereals, such luster and 
lusciousness to the summer fruits produced in Alameda County. 



34 History of Alameda County, California. 

Next come the hazy autumn days. The trade-winds have ceased; the atmos- 
phere grows thick with gathering moisture; the changing currents whirl the dust 
and leaves into weird columns; the south wind settles down to its work, and the drama 
of the seasons is repeated. 

In concluding our subject of the climatography of Alameda County let us 
quote from Lieutenant Maury, that eminent scientist whose fame is world-wide. He 
says: " The calm and trade-wind regions or belts move up and down the earth, annu- 
ally, in latitude nearly a thousand miles. In July and August the zone of equatorial 
calms is found between 7° N. and 12° N; sometimes higher; in March and April, 
between latitude 5° S. and 2° N. With this fact, and these points of view before us, 
it is easy to perceive why it is that we have a rainy season in Oregon, a rainy season 
and a dry season in California, another at Panama, two at Bogota, none in Peru, and 
one in Chili. In Oregon it rains every month, but about five times more in the 
winter than in the summer months. The winter there is the summer of the southern 
hemisphere, when this steam-engine is working with the greatest pressure. The vapor 
that is taken by the southeast trades is borne along over the region of northeast 
trades to latitude 35° or 40° N., where it descends and appears on the surface with the 
southeast winds of those latitudes. Driving up on the high lands of the continent, this 
vapor is condensed and precipitated, during this part of the year, almost in constant 
showers, and to the depth of about thirty inches in three months. In the winter the calm 
belt of Cancer approaches the equator. This whole system of zones, viz.: of trades, 
calms, and westerly winds, follows the sun; and they of our hemisphere are nearer the 
equator in the winter and spring months than at any other season. The southeast winds 
commence at this season to prevail as far down as the lower part of California. In 
winter and spring the land in California is cooler than the sea air, and is quite cold 
enough to extract moisture from it. But in summer and autumn the land is warmer, 
and cannot condense the vapors of water held by the air. So the same cause which 
made it rain in Oregon makes it rain in California. As the sun returns to the north, 
he brings the calm belt of Cancer and the northeast trades along with him; and now, 
at places where, six months before, the southwest winds were the prevailing winds, the 
northeast trades are found to blow. This is the case in the latitude of California. 
The prevailing winds, then, instead of going from a warmer to a cooler climate, as 
before, are going the opposite way. Consequently, if under these circumstances they 
have the moisture in them to make rains of, they cannot precipitate it. Proof, if proof 
were wanting, that the prevailing winds in the latitude of California are from the west- 
ward, is obvious to all who cross the Rocky Mountains or ascend the Sierra Madre." 

It will thus be seen that the wind, which has so general an influence upon our 
climate, comes directly from the Pacific Ocean, forces its way through the Golden 
Gate, and, striking the Contra Costa Hills, is wafted into the many delightful \alleys 
of the conterminous counties. 

Soil AND Productions. — The following remarks have been culled from "The 
Natural Wealth of California," by Titus F"ay Cronise: — 

The soil of the plains in this county is generally a rich, black, sandy loam, from 
six to fifteen feet deep, resting on a substratum of sand and gravel, and is sufficiently 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 35 

moist to grow any description of fruit, grain, or vegetables, without irrigation. The 
soil on the foot-hills and mountains is somewhat lighter in color, not so deep, but 
gravelly and dry, and everywhere fertile. 

With so fine a soil and climate, and with so many facilities and inducements for 
its cultivation, the greater portion of this county, adjacent to the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, has been converted into continuous gardens, orchards, and grain-fields; but much 
of the best land in the southeastern part of the county, east of the Contra Costa 
Mountains, including portions of the Amador and Suiiol Valleys, is but partially cul- 
tivated. 

Thirteen miles southeast from Oakland, on the northern bank of the San Lorenzo 
Creek, is the garden from which Oregon obtained its best apple and other fruit trees. 
In 1846, John Lewelling, the pioneer nurseryman of the Pacific Coast, took a wagon- 
load of fruit trees raised here, into that State, which were among the first ever planted 
there. In this vicinity are several other extensive nursery and seed gardens, the soil 
and climate being peculiarly well fitted for horticultural purposes. Here, Daniel L. 
Perkins raised the hundred and thirty varieties of vegetable seeds exhibited at the 
Paris Exposition in 1867, for which he obtained a premium, and what proved more 
profitable, numerous orders for supplies from the Atlantic States, France, England, 
Germany, Russia, China, Japan, and several other countries. The products of this 
gentleman's little ]5litch, is singularly suggestive of the silent but effective influence 
the productions of California are e.xciting abroad. 

To illustrate the richness of the soil in this locality, and the proportions of the 
vegetables raised here, we mention the following facts: A beet raised in Mr. Lewelling's 
garden, weighed two hundred pounds; in 1867, R. S. Farrelly raised a carrot which 
measured thirty-six inches in length and thirty-one inches in circumference, weighing 
thirty-one pounds after the leaves were cut off These mammoth proportions are 
not confined to the vegetables alone, but extend to fruits, flowers, and berries. Cher- 
ries of the Graffan variety, grown in Lewelling's orchard, in 1867, were selling in the 
streets of San Francisco, which measured three inches in circumference; pears raised 
here frequently weigh three and a half pounds; strawberries, which are extensively 
cultivated, also grow to an extraordinary size. Mr. Pancoast, who in 1867 cultivated 
a patch of eighty acres, raised many berries weighing from one and a quarter to one 
and a half ounces each. 

Amador Valley, formerly the valley of San Jose, where the padres of that old 
mission pastured their cattle, is now the great grain district of this county. It is of a 
triangular form about eighty miles in diameter, and nearly surrounded by low, grassy 
hills, being spurs of the Monte Diablo and Contra Costa Ranges. Its soil is a moist, 
sandy loam, producing good crops of wheat, barley, and corn, when less favored dis- 
tricts suffer from drought. Where not under cultivation, its surface is covered with 
thick crops of wild oats and burr clover, the most nutritious of all the native grasses. 
Less than twenty-five years ago this valley was a cattle ranch — twenty thousand 
cattle, fifteen thousand sheep, and three thousand horses finding abundant pasturage 
in the vicinity. But it is all fenced in now and no cattle except milch cows, working 
oxen, and horses, graze on the surrounding hills. 

The increase in the value of land in this valley, since it has been brought under 



36 History of Alameda County, California. 

cultivation, and its productiveness ascertained, has been very considerable. In October, 
1867, three thousand acres of the rancho El Valle de San Jose (at the lower end of it) 
were purchased for seventy thousand dollars; two years previously the purchaser had 
declined the s^me property when offered for thirteen thousand five hundred dollars. 

In Livermore Valley are located some of the largest grain-fields in the State. In 
1867, Richard Threlfall cropped here four thousand acres, all embraced in one field, and 
averaged twenty-four bushels to the acre; some portions as much as forty bushels 
averaging sixty-two pounds per bushel. On the eastern side of this field, where the 
rays of the sun reached the grain in the early morning, while the dew remained upon 
it, it appeared almost solid enough to walk upon. The tall straw, nearly four feet 
high, was perfectly straight, and the compact growth of the ears rendered it impossible 
for the heavier to droop. When threshed, almost every grain in the immense field 
was of the same size and color, pale and plump, as good California wheat always is. 
This grain farm gives employment to sixty men, one hundred and forty horses and 
mules; uses three headers, five reaping machines, and two steam threshers. In the 
plowing season, eighty acres are plowed, sowed, and harrowed daily. 

In reference to the products of this valley, the yield above stated, although quite 
large as compared with that usually obtained in other countries, is not quite up to the 
average in this locality, such large fields not being as well managed as smaller ones. 
On the Santa Rita Ranch adjoining, one hundred acres yielded .#venty-five bushels 
per acre; a field of sixty acres, in the same valley, producing sixty bushels to the acre. 

Connected with the Amador Valley are two smaller valleys — the Alamo and 
Tassajara, both equally fertile. The whole of these valleys, and a considerable tract 
lying adjacent, were included in the rancho once owned by Jose Maria Amador, whose 
name it now bears. Amador, in 1850, sold this property to Americans for a trifle. 
In 1866, one of his sons obtained a precarious living as a squatter among the hills that 
surrounded the valley in which he was born, and which, under American enterprise 
and energy, has since produced many million dollars' worth of grain. 

Pomology. — Let us now take a retrospect of another division of pioneer labor, 
in the fields of horticulture, which, though not so pretentious in its growth, at the 
same time exercises not less abiding influences on our well-being. It has been said, 
"Fine fruits are the flowers of commodities." A tree planted is an heirloom for future 
generations; it is a sign of expanded culture and civilization; its shade as grateful to 
the wayfarer as to its owner, without diminishing his substance. The mission fathers 
early planted orchards of such kind as it was then possible to transplant from Mexico 
or old Spain; they had several varieties of pears, a few apples and almonds. Pome- 
granates, figs, olives, and grapes were more assiduously cultivated. The grapes, 
mashed and fermented in large rawhide vats, yielded an amber juice celebrated for 
its sugary and fruity flavor. With the expansion of settlements, such trees and vines 
were sparsely planted by the rancheros. On the advent of the Americans, fruit of 
any kind, and especially grapes, bore fabulous prices, inducing many, from the innate 
love of the occupation, others carried by the money point, to bend all their energies, sup- 
ported by capital, untiring industry and perseverance, to obtain from foreign coun- 
tries the choicest and best varieties, and acclimate them in our midst. Unfortunately 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 37 

the majority of trees thus obtained at exorbitant prices proved worthless, as not true 
to name, or not suited to the ch'mate, or not satisfactory to pubHc taste; many were 
planted in improper locations, some dried up, and more were killed by irrigation or 
overflows. 

A few fruit trees planted in the years 185 1 and 1852 still survive. Alameda 
County, within hail of San Francisco, with the most perfect climate, possesses also the 
richest of soils, and admirable locations. Here a slope, basking in the full sunshine, 
fit to distill the sugar-essence of grapes; there a low, moist, cool valley, the home of 
the apple and plum; or a rich, mellow, alluvial soil, sheltered, cosy and warm, where 
the peach blushes as a rose, and gives challenge for its sugary juiciness. All this 
ground, if well cultivated, is abundantly watered by the dews of heaven, carried on soft 
wings to this their resting-place. The choicest varieties of grapes grow to perfection. 
Pomegranates, olives, figs, and almonds find a congenial home. Oranges require but 
little shelter when young, not more than in Italy or Spain, soon get acclimated, and 
the golden fruit ripens well. 

The experience now gained in the manner of cultivation, the selection of favor- 
able locations, the knowledge of varieties desirable for certain uses, the way of pre- 
paring them for market, and the ready foreign demand now created for these products, 
make the venture now certain of pecuniary profit, and is soon to be considered 
indispensable in mixed and advanced husbandry — which we must now diligently 
cultivate, if not wishing to be left behind in the race for prosperity and advancement. 
Thus, from five to twenty acres on each farm, planted with fruit suitable for drying, 
raisins, or wine, will make a gradual transit from the old ways of farming, without 
jeopardizing present sources of income, and will create a demand for Alden factories, 
raisin camps and co-operative wine cellars. Then it will be apparent how long we 
have remained in an indolent, Rip Van Winkle slumber of grain-growing to supply 
cheap bread to distant nations, and impoverishing ourselves for their sakes. 

Salt-Making. — Among the many productive resources of Alameda County 
that of marine salt-making is one of the most important. The natural advantages 
for prosecuting this industry are nowhere better than on the eastern shore of the Bay 
of San Francisco. A vast extent of land, designated on maps as "salt marsh," lies 
between San Leandro Bay on the north and the Warm Springs Landing, or Har- 
risburg, on the south, and between these points the salt works of Alameda County 
are located. These marshes are traversed in all directions by estuaries or sloughs 
putting in from the bay, very many of which are navigable, thus affording easy access 
to the salt fields and means for cheap transportation. 

In the " Second Report of the State Mineralogist of California, from December 
I., 1880, to October i, 1882," we find the subject most elaborately treated. It informs 
us that in 1848-49, on the shores of San Francisco Bay, native Californians gathered 
solar salt from natural reservoirs, which at high tides overflowed. The salt accumu- 
lated in these basins until it had formed a deposit of eight inches or more. When 
the natural deposit became exhausted, advantage was taken of the lesson taught by 
nature, and salt works of the crudest forms were commenced, which led to the present 
extensive works. The lands were taken up first by launchers, mostly Swedes, who 



38 History of Alameda County, California. 

sailed their vessels and barges on the bay. The salt was of very inferior quality, and 
was produced at great disadvantage, but the consumers of that day were easily satis- 
fied, and the price paid the producers well for their labors. Those companies first in 
the field were able to select locations best adapted for their purpose; those following 
them did not always succeed in finding fields so suitable. In 1862, John Quigley, 
said to be the pioneer, commenced work at Alvarado, or Union City. He was fol- 
lowed by F. A. Plummer. It is not surprising that when consumers became more 
fastidious^ bay salt should have found it hard to compete with the better article 
imported from Liverpool and the East. About that time it was customar}- for mer- 
chants, both in Europe and the United States, to send out cargoes of assorted mer- 
chandise on venture, trusting to obtain for a portion such prices as would compensate 
for loss on others. It was not unusual to see large quantities of merchandise put up 
at auction and sellingat prices much below cost of importation, while other goods readily 
brought many times the cost price. This condition of things flooded the State with 
merchandise, against which no manufacturer could compete, and goods forced on the 
market soon acquired a reputation for quality they did not deserve. These circum- 
stances have always counted against home production, and it is only lately that Cali- 
fornia manufacturers have been able to overcome the prejudices then formed. What 
has been said of imported goods generall}', applies particularly to salt, which it has 
been shown was badly made at the commencement. Still the manufacture went on 
and was more or less profitable to those engaged in it. On the discovery of the silver 
mines at Washoe, there was a scarcity in the market. It was nut then known that 
salt in the greatest abundance existed near Virginia City, and all the salt used in 
metallurgical works was sent from San Francisco and sold at thirty-five dollars 
per ton. 

In 1868 salt works had extended from San Leandro Greek to Centreville, a 
distance of fifteen miles, and seventeen thousand tons were produced annuall)-. There 
were seventeen companies, with a capital of one million, two hundred thousand dollars 
invested in the works, and one hundred labprers employed. From that time to the 
present the quality of the salt has been much improved, owing to more skillful and 
more careful manipulation; and while the importation of foreign salt still continues, 
the quantity is smaller every year, and it is admitted that California is quite able to 
produce all that can be demanded. At the time mentioned there v\ere six steam 
mills in San Francisco employed in cleaning and grinding salt, a large proportion 
of which was for domestic use. The capital employed in these works was two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1866 these ground and prepared twelve thousand 
tons of salt. 

Salt is obtained from three principal sources — from rock salt, in which case it is 
extensively mined, and sometimes is sufficiently pure to be fit for consumption whoji 
simply crushed between rollers; from the concentration of natural brines pumped up 
from wells; and from the waters of the sea, or more frequently from the water of bays 
in which the sea water has become to a certain extent, although but slightl}-, concen- 
trated. This latter production is called bay .salt. At the present time a large propor- 
tion of the salt produced in this State is obtained by this method, and the principal 
works are on the shores of the Bay of San Francisco, where the conditions required 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 39 

for the economic and extensive production of salt are found in the greatest perfec- 
tion. 

The following analysis of the waters of the Bay of San Francisco — samples 
taken off Oakland Wharf December, 1879 — is by Fr. Gotzkow, chemist, tempera- 
ture 72° Fahrenheit: Chloride of sodium, 23.756; chloride of potassium, 0.470; 
chloride of magnesium, 3.030; sulphate of lime, L263; sulphate of magnesium, L837; 
bromide of magnesium, 0.025; water, 969.619. Equal to 0.297 potash, 12.695 soda, 
0.520 lime, L728 magnesia, 1.968 sulphuric acid, 16.900 chlorine, 0.020 bromine, in 
one thousand parts. The water of the bay is distinguished from sea water by the 
small proportion of potash and bromine. In the Atlantic Ocean, for instance, is 
found two and a half parts of potash and ten parts of bromine, against one part of 
the same in the bay. , 

On the eastern shore of the Bay of San Francisco extensive flats, very nearly 
level, extend for many miles. They may be seen figured on Whitney's map of the 
region adjacent to the Bay of San Francisco, published by the State Geological Sur- 
vey, in 1873. It will be seen by this map that there is a large area suitable for the 
manufacture of salt, which for convenience of reference has been calculated into square 
miles and acres. The coast line, from the south line of San Antonio Creek, along the 
east side of the bay, to Mud Creek, and thence up the west side to Point San Bruno, 
is, by the scale of the map, sixty-four miles, and the area of swamp land, inside the 
tide land, from the points mentioned, is, roughly, one hundred and thirteen and sixty- 
eight hundredths square miles, equal to seventy-two thousand, seven hundred and 
fifty-five acres. 

There is a large area about the bays of San Pablo and Suisun upon which salt 
could be made, if the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers do not too 
much dilute the sea water. It will be seen by this that the production of salt on the 
shores of San Francisco Bay is limited only by the demand. The source from which 
the salt is drawn is, of course, inexhaustible. 

In writing of the manufacture of bay salt in California, it will be impossible to 
give a detailed description of each of the many works, for want of space, besides they 
will be found noticed in the industries of the townships in which they are located. 
Suffice it to say, in this place, that there are the following salt producers in Alameda 
County: Richard Baron; Estate of Captain Chisholm; Peter Christianson; Peter H. 
Jesson; John Johnson; Patrizio Marsicano; John Michaelson; Peter Michaelson; 
Andrew Oliver; Estate of — Olsen; D. Pestdorf; United Pioneer and American Salt 
Companies; Charles A. Plummer; John Plummer, Jr; John Quigley, Alvarado Salt 
Works; J. P. Tuckson; Union Pacific Salt Company; L. N. Whisby. 

Earthquakes. — There is a sort of nameless terror about an earthquake to those 
who have never experienced one, and to many who have, the sensation is anything 
but pleasant. But they are trifles compared with the terrible thunder-storms and 
hurricanes that prevail on the other side of the continent. Hundreds of people are 
killed by lightning there, to every one that loses his life by earthquakes here. The 
thunder-storms and tornadoes have this advantage, however: they send their warning 
signals of gathering, skurrying clouds ahead, to prepare people for the dire disaster 



40 History of Alameda County, California. 

which may soon follow. The earthquake steals upon one when he least e.xpects it. A 
sudden jarring of the earth, with perhaps a deep rumbling noise, followed by a quick, 
oscillating motion, which dies away in a gentle tremulous vibration, and all is quiet. 
The shock seldom lasts longer than eight or ten seconds. Many months sometimes 
intervene between these earth shocks, and then again we have known several to occur 
in a single day. For the last ten years they have been rare. 

The heaviest shock experienced in Alameda since its occupation by Americans 
was on October 21, 1868, when several buildings were more or less injured. The 
shock extended for several hundred miles along the coast, caused considerable damage 
to property in this county and other places, and taught architects the necessity of 
improving their methods of building, by bracing and strengthening their walls in a 
more secure manner. In the construction of chimneys, also, galvanized iron has been 
substituted largely for brick. Wooden buildings are considered earthquake proof. 
They are seldom damaged to any considerable extent by the shocks. 

There are various theories concerning the reason of these disturbances, which at 
present, however, are mainly speculative. It is possible that scientific research may 
eventually fathom the cause, if not provide a remedy. The electric theory has many 
advocates. In other countries the equilibrium of the upper air currents of electricity 
and those of the earth is established and brought about through the medium of cloud 
conductors as witnessed in the lightning's flash followed by the thunder peal. Here 
there are no cloud conductors during the summer months. The earth, it is supposed, 
becomes overcharged with electricity, which seeks an equilibrium with the upper air 
currents; hence the disturbance. This theory is strengthened by the fact that earth- 
quakes usually occur in the fall of the year when the clouds begin to gather and the 
air becomes filled with moisture. " Good earthquake weather," is what old residents 
designate a warm, cloudy day preceding the winter rains. The " internal fire " theory 
has also its advocates. But whatever may be the cause, we much prefer an occasional 
earthquake to the frequent electrical disturbances that cause so much disaster to life 
and property in the Atlantic States. 

Aborigines. — The beautiful valleys and mountain recesses of the Contra Costa 
afforded a grand home for the aboriginal tribes. Here they swarmed in large num- 
bers, went through the drama of life, birth, consorting, and death, with an almost 
stolid indifference. How far back in the course of time this race extends, or whence 
came their progenitors, no man knoweth. If as some scientists assert, the very first 
evidences of the human race appear on the Pacific Coast (at Angel's Camp, Tuol- 
umne County), why should we doubt that they are the descendants of this primitive 
race? Wars, disease, natural phenomena, and other causes have conspired to destroy 
the original race from the face of the earth, or it may have remained for the pale-faced 
progeny of a kindred, yet far removed race, to perform the final act in the great 
drama of their existence as a people. Be that as it may, the great fact still remains, 
that when the Caucasians came to this coast they found it inhabited by a race of 
copper-colored people of peculiar physique and habits, differing widely from their breth- 
ren of the East, the Algonquins. The district now known as Contra Costa was no excep- 
tion to the general rule, but was infested by a horde of these rude barbarians. To 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 41 

describe this people, their habits and customs, will be the object of the following 
remarks. 

It is generally suppo^ad that the Contra Costa was originally inhabited by four 
tribes of Indians, called Juchiyunes, Acalanes, Bolgones, and Carquinez, who were, 
all in all, a degraded race. Doctor Marsh described them as stoutly built and heavy 
limbed, as hairy as Esau, and with beards that would gain for a Turk honor in his 
own country. They had short, broad faces, wide mouths, thick lips, broad noses, and 
extremely low foreheads, the hair of the head, in some cases, nearly meeting the eye- 
brows, while a few had that peculiar conformation of the eye so remarkable in the 
Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from the common American Indian 
or the Polynesian. Restates further: "The general expression of the wild Indian 
has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing, or the haughtiness and ferocity so often 
seen east of the mountains. It is more commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity. 
The men and children are absolutely and entirely naked, and the dress of the women 
is the least possible or conceivable remove from nudity. Their food varies with the 
season. In February and March they live on grass and herbage; clover and wild pea- 
vine are amang the best kind of their pasturage. I have often seen hundreds of them 
grazing together in a meadow like so many cattle. [If Doctor Boudinot only knew 
this fact, he would undoubtedly start a new theory that they are the descendants of 
Nebuchadnezzar.] They are very poor hunters of the larger animals, but very skill- 
ful m making and managing nets for fish and food. They also collect in their season 
great quantities of the seed of various grasses, which are particularly abundant. 
Acorns are another principal article of food, which are larger, more abundant, and of 
better quality than I have seen elsewhere. The Californian is not more different 
from the tribes east of the mountains in his physical than in his moral and intellectual 
qualities. They are easily domesticated, not averse to labor, have a natural aptitude 
to learn mechanical trades, and, I believe, universally a fondness for music and a 
facility in acquiring it. * * * They are not nearly so much addicted to into.xica- 
tion as is common to other Indians. I was for some years of the opinion that they 
were of an entirely different race from those east of the mountains, and they certainly 
have but little similarity. The only thing that caused me to think differently is that 
they have the same Moccasin game that is so common on the Mississippi, and what 
is more remarkable, they accompany it by singing precisely the same tune. The 
diversity of language among them is very great. It is seldom an Indian can under- 
stand another who lives fifty miles distant; within the limits of California are at least 
a hundred dialects, apparently entirely dissimilar. Few or no white persons have 
taken any pains to learn them, as there are individuals in all the tribes which have 
any communication with the settlements who speak Spanish. The children when 
caught young are most easily domesticated, and manifest a great aptitude to learn 
whatever is taught them; when taken into Spanish families and treated with kindness, 
in a few months they learn the language and habits of their masters. When they 
come to maturity they show no disposition to return to the savage state. The mind 
of the wild Indian, of whatever age, appears to be a tabula rasa, on which no impres- 
sions, except those of mere animal nature, have been made, and ready to receive any 
impress whatever. I remember a remark of yours (Mr. Cass) some years ago, that 
4 



42 History of Alameda County, California. 

'Indians were only grown-up children.' Here we have a real race of infants. In 
many recent instances when a famil}' of white people have taken a farm in the 
vicinity of an Indian village, in a short time they would have the whole tribe for will- 
ing serfs. They submit to flagellation with more humility than the negroes. Noth- 
ing more is necessary for their complete subjugation but kindness in the beginning, 
and a little well-timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is common for the 
white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed any fault, how many 
lashes he thinks he deserves. The Indian with a simplicity and humility almost 
inconceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion of the magnitude of the 
offense. The white man then orders another Indian to inflict the punishment, which 
is received without the least sign of resentment or discontent. This I have myself 
witnessed or I could hardly have believed it. Throughout all California the Indians 
are the principal laborers; without them the business of the country could hardly be 
carried on."* 

The tribes inhabiting the Contra Costa did not differ materially from those 
in this section of the State, as they presented very similar characteristics, habits, 
and customs to those of the central portion of California. They were lazy and 
filthy. Doctor Marsh's assertion to the contrary notwithstanding, while, as to home, 
they were among the fiigitivi et vagalnvidi class. Nature had provided for them with 
a lavish hand, and all they had to do was to reach forth their hands, pluck and eat. 
No vain ambitions lured them on in the great race of life; no baubles of riches 
enticed them into hardships of labor, either mental or physical. They lived to die. 
Whence or why they came upon the scene of action, it was not theirs to inquire; and, 
"whither are we drifting?" was a question over which they stopped not to puzzle 
their dull brains. And who shall say that they were not as happy in their listless life 
as are we of the higher type who wrestle with the inevitable almost from our infancy 
to our dotage? From an ethical point of view, and looking at the matter through 
the lenses of education, of course it could be .said that their lives were worse than 
wasted; and when they vanished before the overwhelming tide of civilization, the 
world was rid of so much filth. But it is the old fable of the man and the lion repeated: 
seeing a picture of a man, the man remarked to the lion that " there stood the lord of 
creation." The lion asked who painted the picture, to which the man replied, 'T did." 
" Ah! " said the lion, " it makes all the difference in the world who paints the picture 
of the lord of creation; I should have painted a lion." And so it is in this case. 
Indian ethics are not our ideas of duty to self or man; and it is not improbable that 
they lived up to the light they had on that subject quite as near as do their succes.sors. 

In regard to their costume, we have already said that it w as of the most primitive 
nature, a slight strip of covering around the loins being full dress; but e\-en this was 
not usual, for the greater number preferred walking abroad perfectly unclothed. Dur- 
ing the winter the skin of a deer or other animal, or else a robe manufactured out of 
the feathers of water-fowl, or strips of other skin twisted together, formed the required 
protection against the inclement weather, yet such was their stupendous laziness that 
sometimes naught protected them from the chilly blast but a thick covering of mud — 
an inexpensive garment at best. The wardrobe of the women was little more exten- 

*Letter of Dr. John Marsh of Contra Costa County, to Hon. Lewis Cass, 1846. 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 43 

sive, a fringed apron of tides falling from the waist before and behind, and open at 
the sides, being their summer costume, while in the cold season a deer skin was added. 
Tattooing is said to have been common within narrow limits among the females, and 
by these marks were the women of different tribes distinguishable. 

Nearly as primitive as their costume were their dwellings, which in summer were 
a protection of branches, and in winter, a wickeup. Of these latter Bancroft's "Native 
Races" says: "These are sometimes erected on the level ground, but more frequently 
over an excavation three or four feet deep, and varying from ten to thirty feet in 
diameter. Round the brink of this hole willow poles are sunk upright in the ground 
and the tops drawn together, forming a conical structure, or the upper ends are benl 
over and driven into the earth on the opposite side of the pit, thus giving the hut a 
semi-globular shape. Bushes, or strips of bark, are then piled up against the poles 
and the whole is covered with a thick layer of earth or mud. In some instances, the 
interstices of the frame are filled by twigs woven crosswise, over and under, between 
the poles, and the outside covering is of tule reeds instead of earth. A hole at the 
top gives egress to the smoke, and a small opening close to the ground admits the 
occupants. 

" Each hut generally shelters a whole family of relations by blood and marriage, 
so that the dimensions of the habitation depend on the size of the family." 

It strikes us as a curious fact that the natives who roamed around the Bay of 
San Francisco had no canoes but used bundles of hiles lashed firmly together, about 
ten feet long, and pointed at both ends, as a means of navigation. They were tolera- 
bly dry in calm weather on a river, but when rough, the paddler, who sat astride of 
them, was up to his waist in water, still, when needed, they would venture far out to 
sea on these. Indeed, it is asserted that the Indians of California, previous to the 
occupation by the Jesuit Fathers, had no other boats than those mentioned above, 
which were in use even at as late a date as 1840. Says Mr. Bancroft: "The probable 
cause of the absence of boats in Central California is the scarcity of suitable, favorably 
located timber. Doubtless if the banks of the Sacramento and the shores of San 
Franasco Bay had been lined with large straight pine or fir trees, their waters would 
have been filled with canoes; yet after all, this is but a poor excuse; for not only on 
the hills and mountains, at a little distance from the water, are forests of fine trees, 
but quantities of drift-wood come floating down every stream during the rainy season, 
out of which surely sufficient material could be secured for some sort of boats." 

Of their language, but little is left. Here and there a word has fastened itself 
upon some ranch or town, and will be handed down through a few generations. It 
was a deep gutteral, not unlike that spoken by the natives of southern China, but 
that there is any philological relation between the two tongues we will not venture to 
assert, still there is a sufficient resemblance to occupy the mind of the studiously 
inclined. 

A short half-century has sufficed to see this race become so entirely extinct that 
the sight of an Indian is almost a rarity. And what has done this ? Disease was the 
prime cause, for it is stated that cholera took them off by thousands in 1833, while it is 
said they died so fast that the living were unable to care for the dead. Whole tribes 
became extinct, it being reported by a traveler on the Sacramento River that all of 



44 History of Alameda County, California. 

one tribe died within a few days except a little girl. Then came war with its kindred 
calamities as another great decimator of their ranks. Contact with civilization had 
. also much to do with it. Soon after the whites came among them, prostitution became 
general; the women no longer bore children, and thus the tribe gradually, but surely^ 
died out, and no little ones grew to take the place of the deceased elders. Truly 
would it appeal to have been a matter of destiny, for it was impossible that the two 
races could exist in contact. 

For disease their great " cure-all " was the sweat-bath, which was taken in the 
" sweat-house," an institution that was to be found in every ranclieria. A fire being 
lighted in the center of the temescal (the term applied to the native sweat-houses by 
the Franciscan Fathers), the patient is taken within and kept in a high state of perspi- 
ration for several hours; he then rushes out and plunges into the convenient stream 
on the bank of which the structure is always raised — a remedy, whether more potent 
to kill or to cure, we leave to the decision of the reader. 

The following graphic description of the experiences of a gentleman in a temescal, 
we give to the reader as a truthful and racily told adventure: — 

" A sweat-house is of the shape of an inverted bowl, and is generally about forty 
feet in diameter at the bottom, and is built of strong poles and branches of trees, 
covered with earth to prevent the escape of heat. There is a small hole near the 
ground, large enough for Diggers to creep in, one at a time, and another at the top to- 
give out the smoke. When a dance, a large fire is kindled in the center of the edifice, 
and the crowd assembles, the white spectators crawling in and seating them.sclves any- 
where out of the way. The apertures, both above and below, are then closed, and the 
dancers take their positions. 

" Four and twenty squaws, en dishabille, on one side of the fire, and as many 
hombres, in /tcris naturalibus, on the other. Simultaneously with the commencement 
of the dancing, which is a kind of shuffing hobble-de-hoy, the ' music ' bursts forth. 
Yes, music fit to raise the dead. A whole legion of devils broke loose. Such scream- 
ing, shrieking, yelling, and roaring, was never before heard since the foundation of the 
world. A thousand cross-cut saws, filed by steam power — a multitude of tom-cats 
lashed together and flung over a clothes-line — innumerable pigs under a gate — all 
combined would produce a heavenly melody compared with it. Yet this uproar,, 
deafening as it is, might possibly be endured, but another sense soon comes to be 
saluted. Talk of the thousand stinks of the ' City of Cologne.' Here are at least 
forty thousand combined in one grand overwhelming stench, and yet every particular 
odor distinctly definable. Round about the roaring fire the Indians go capering, 
jumping, and screaming, with the perspiration streaming from every pore. The spec- 
tators look on until the air grows thick and heavy, and a sense of oppressing suffoca- 
tion overcomes them, when they make a simultaneous rush at the door for self-protec- 
tion. Judge their astonishment, terror, and dismay to find it fastened securely — 
bolted and barred on the outside. They rush frantically around the walls in hope to 
discover some weak point through which they may find egress, but the house .seems 
to have been constructed purposely to frustrate such attempts. More furious than 
caged lions, they rush boldly against the sides but the stout poles resist every onset. 
Our army swore terribly in Flanders, but even my uncle Toby himself would stand 
aghast were he here now. 



Geography, Area, Geology, Mineralogy, Etc. 45 

" There is no alternative but to sit down, in hopes that the troop of naked 
fiends will soon cease from sheer exhaustion. Vain expectation ! The uproar but 
increases in fury, the fire waxes hotter and hotter, and they seem to be preparing for 
fresh exhibitions of their powers. The combat deepens. On ye brave ! See that 
wild Indian, a newly-elected captain, as with glaring eyes, blazing face, and complex- 
ion like that of a boiled lobster, he tosses his arms wildly aloft as in pursuit of, 
imaginary devils, while rivers of perspiration roll down his naked frame. Was ever 
the human body thrown into such contortions before? Another effort of that kind 
and his whole vertebral column must certainly come down with a crash ! Another 
such convulsion, and his limbs will surely be torn asunder, and the disjointed mem- 
bers fly to the four points of the compass ! Can the human frame endure this much 
longer ? The heat is equal to that of a bake-oven ; temperature five hundred degrees 
Fahrenheit ! Pressure of steam one thousand pounds to the square inch ! The 
reeking atmosphere has become almost palpable, and the victimized audience are 
absolutely gasping for life. Millions for a cubic inch of fresh air ! Worlds for a drop 
of fresh water to cool the parched tongue ! This is terrible. To meet one's fate 
among the white caps of the lake, in a swamped canoe, or to sink down on the bald 
mountain's brow, worn out by famine, fatigue, and exposure, were glorious; but to 
die here, suffocating in a solution of human perspiration, carbonic acid gas and char- 
coal smoke, is horrible ! The idea is absolutely appalling. But there is no avail- 
Assistance might as well be sought from a legion of unchained imps as from a troop 
of Indians maddened by excitement. 

" Death shows his visage not more than five minutes distant. The fire glimmers 
away leagues off The uproar dies in the subdued rumble of a remote cataract, and 
respiration becomes slower and more labored. The whole system is sinking into 
utter insensibility, and all hope of relief has departed, when suddenly, with a grand 
triumphal crash, similar to that with which the ghosts closed their orgies when they 
doused the lights and started in pursuit of Tarn O'Shanter and his old gray mare, 
the uproar ceases, and the Indians vanish through an aperture opened for that pur- 
pose. The half-dead victims to their own curiosity dash through it like an arrow, and 
in a moment more are drawing in whole bucketfuls of the cold, frosty air, every 
inhalation of which cuts the lungs like a knife, and thrills the system like an electric 
shock. They are in time to see the Indians plunge headlong into the ice-cold water 
of a neighboring stream, and crawl out and sink down on the banks, utterly 
exhausted. This is the last act of the drama, the grand climax, and the fandango is 
over." 

With the Indians of the Bay of San Francisco, the practice of burning their 
dead, with everything belonging to them, was universal, while those farther south 
buried theirs. Weird is this scene of incremation. Gathered in a circle around 
the funeral pyre are the friends and relatives of the deceased, howling in dismal 
discord ; as the flames extend, so increases their enthusiasm, until, in an ectasy of 
excitement, they leap, shriek, lacerate their bodies, and go so far as to tear a handful 
of the burning flesh from off the smouldering body, and devour it. As a badge of 
mourning they smeared their faces with a compound of the ashes of the dead, and 
grease, where it was allowed to remain for Time to efface. 



46 



History of Alameda County, California. 



As is natural to suppose, the theme which we now leave with the reader is 
endless, therefore we are unable to follow it out as it should be ; still, a work of the 
nature which we now offer is hardly the place to look for aught but a short notice 
of California's aboriginals. Where can such be better found than in the pages of the 
profound and elaborate work of Mr. Bancroft on the "Native Races of the Pacific 
States of North America " ! 




Early History and Settlement. 47 



THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT OF 
ALAMEDA COUNTY. 



THE SPANISH — THE MEXICAN — THE AMERICAN PERIODS. 



" Let US depart ! the universal sun 
Confines not to one land his blessed beams. 
Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed 
The winds on some ungenial soil have cast 
There, where it cannot prosper." 

THE history of any county of California follows so sequentially, and is so closely 
allied with the history of the Pacific Coast in general, and this State in particu- 
ular, that to commence the chronicling of events from the beginning naturally 
and properly takes us back to the first discoveries in this portion of the globe, made 
by the bold old voyageurs who left the known world and the charted seas behind them 
and sailed out into an unknown, untraversed, unmapped, and trackless main, whose 
mysteries were as great to them as those of that " undiscovered country from whose 
bourne no traveler returns." 

The Pacific Ocean was given to the world by Vasco Nufiez de Balboa, who looked 
down from the heights of Panama upon its placid bosom on the 2Sth day of September, 
1 5 13. In 1519 Mexico was conquered by Hernando Cortez, and sixteen years 
thereafter, in 1537, his pilot, Zimenez, discovered Lower California. In 1542, a 
voyage of discovery was made along the California coast by the famous Captain 
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, on the 5th of July of which year he landed at Cape 
St. Lucas, in Lower California, and following the coast he finally entered the 
delightful harbor of San Diego, in Upper California, September 28th. This place he 
named San Miguel, which was afterwards changed by Viscaifio to that which it now 
bears. Chief among these travelers, however, so far as the Pacific Coast is concerned, 
is indisputably Sir Francis Drake. Let it be our duty to see how this great navigator 
came to these parts and what he did. 

Captain Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth, England, on the 13th day of 
December, A. D. 1577, for the South Sea Islands, having under his command five ves- 
sels, in size varying from fifteen to one hundred tons ; in the largest, the Pelican, after- 
wards named the Golden Hind, he sailed himself, while the number of men in the 
whole fleet mustered only one hundred and sixty-six all told. On December 25, 
1577, he sighted the coast of Barbary, and oii the 29th the Cape de Verde Islands; 
thence sailing across the almost untraveled bosom of the broad Atlantic he made the 
coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, and entering the Rio de la Plata, parted com- 
pany with two of his vessels, which, however, he afterwards met, and taking from 
them their provisions and men, turned them adrift. On May the 29th he entered the 
port of St. Julian, where he lay for two months taking in stores and refitting; on the 
20th of August, he entered the Straits of Magellan; September 25th he passed out of 
them, having with him only his own ship, and thus handed his name to po.sterity as 



48 History of Alameda County, California. 



the first Englishman to voyage through that bleak and tempestuous arm of the sea. 
On the 2Sth of November he arrived at Macao, which he had appointed as a place 
of rendezvous in the event of his ships being separated; but Captain Winter, his Vice- 
admiral, had repassed the straits and returned to England. Drake thence continued 
his voyage along the coast of Chili and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing 
Spanish ships, and attacking them off shore, till his men were satiated with plunder. 
He now contemplated a return to England, but fearing the storm-lashed shores of 
Magellan and the possible presence of a Spanish fleet, he determined to search for a 
northern connection between the two \ast oceans similar to that which he knew to 
exist in the southern e.xtremit}- of the continent. He, therefore, sailed along the 
coast, upwards, in search of such a route. When he started the season was yet young, 
still the historian of the voyage says that on June 3, 1579, in latitude 42°, now the 
southern line of the State of Oregon, the crew complained bitterh^ of the cold, while 
the rigging of the ship was rigidly frozen; and again, in latitude 44°, "their hands 
were benumbed, and the meat was frozen when it was taken from the fire." With 
these adversities to contend against, it is no wonder that he resolved to enter the first 
advantageous anchorage he should find. On June 5th they sailed in shore and 
brought to in a harbor, which proving unadvantageous through dense fogs and dan- 
gerous rocks, he once more put to sea, steering southward for some indentation in 
the coast line where he would be safe. This they found on June 17, 1579, within 
38° of the equator. 

There would seem to have been a very different state of weather existing in 
those days from that prevalent in the same latitudes at the present time, and many 
attempts have been made to harmonize those statements with what is reasonable. 
First of all, the statements of this chronicler, although a clergyman, must be taken 
cum grano salts. He was sure that no one could dispute his statements, and he 
was loth, doubtless, to give this countr}.', which Drake had named " New Albion," 
and h.id taken formal possession of in the name of Queen Elizabeth (in perpetual 
memory of which he erected a pillar and on it fixed a silver plate containing a 
likeness of Her Majesty, and the date — probably a redwood post with an English crown 
piece nailed fast to it — as an act of possession), the credit of having a climate that would 
more than vie with that of " Old Albion " on the other side of the world. Again it will 
be remembered that the northwest trade-winds which prevail along the coast are fully as 
searching and cold as the winter winds, and that to a crew of men just from under the 
scorching heat of a tropical sun it would prove doubly piercing. Again there is a 
legend among the old Indians along the coast that there was once a year when snow 
fell in mid-summer. It is just possible, therefore, that such a climatic somersault may 
have occurred, and the condition of the \\eather been as described b}' the Reverend 
Mr. Fletcher. 

Be that as it may, the truth that Drake did effect a landing in a "fair and good'' 
bay stands out boldly and unimpeachabl)-, and to locate the place is now our task. 

Authorities differ widely in regard to this matter, and thorough research fails to 
establish satisfactorily to all, the exact situation of that body of water visited by Sir 
Francis Drake. From time immemorial it was thought that the sheet of water which 
laves the western shore of Alameda County — the present Bay of San Franci.sco — 








^•** 




W^^'i^J 




Early History and Settlement. 49 

must have been the place, and all men of thirty years of age, and older, will remem- 
ber the statement in the old school history to the effect that the first white men to 
sail into the Bay of San Francisco were Sir Francis Drake and his crew. Franklin 
Tuthill, in his " History of California," maintains that ground, and says : " Its (San 
Francisco Bay) latitude is 37° 59', to which that given by Drake's chronicler is quite 
as near as those early navigators, with their comparatively rude instruments, were 
likely to get. The cliffs about San Francisco are not remarkably white, even if one 
notable projection inside the gate is named 'Lime Point'; but there are many white 
mountains, both north and south of it, along the coast, and Drake named the whole 
land — not his landing place alone — New Albion. They did not go into ecstasies 
about the harbor — they were not hunting harbors, but fortunes in compact form. 
Harbors, so precious to the Spaniards, who had commerce in the Pacific to be pro- 
tected, were of small account to the roving Englishman. But the best possible testi- 
mony he could bear as to the harbor's excellence were the thirty-six days he spent in 
it. The probabilities are, then, that it was in San Francisco Bay that Drake made 
himself at home. As Columbus, failing to give his name to the continent he dis- 
covered, was in some measure set right by the bestowal of his name upon the conti- 
nent's choicest part, when poetry dealt with the subject, so to Drake, cheated of the 
honor of naming the finest harbor on the coast, is still left a feeble memorial, in. the 
name of a closely adjoining dent in the coast line. To the English, then, it may be 
believed belongs the credit of finding San Francisco Bay." 

The question which has occupied historians for many years, and which has been 
asserted by them with didactic force, is that the inlet then visited by Drake is the Bay 
of San Francisco. This statement of the earlier historiographers was first refuted by 
the Baron von Humboldt, who maintained that the harbor then visited by Drake was 
called by the Spaniards " Puerto de Bodega," yet, how it could have borne this name 
then is hard to realize, seeing that it was not until nearly two centuries thereafter (in 
1775) that the port was visited by Lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, 
who named the place after himself 

But why go searching up and down the coast trying to locate the place either in 
latitude 37° 59', or in 38° 10', when there is a bay which answers all the require- 
ments of the description given of it, located "within 38° towards the line?" In the 
bay which lies in the curve in the coast under the lee of Point Reyes, and which 
is marked on the modern maps as Drake's Bay, is to be found that place. The 
latitude given by the United States Government for the light-house located on 
the extreme southwestern pitch of Point Reyes is 37° 59' 36", which corresponds 
with the figures taken from the log-book of the Golden Hind, to within sixteen seconds, 
which is quite close enough for a calculation made by " those early navigators with 
their comparatively rude instruments." But is it not reasonable to suppose that a 
man who had made the sea his profession during the major portion of his life, and 
was at present sailing where no man had ever sailed before, and who, at that time, had 
his head full of a project to circumnavigate the world, would be able to take an obser- 
vation and come within a small fraction of seconds of his exact latitude? It would 
appear to us to be presuming very much upon his ignorance to think otherwise. 

Having established to our own mind, and we hope to the minds of our readers, the 



50 "!' History of Alameda County, California. 

fact that there is a bay in the identical latitude named in Drake's chart as the place 
where he landed, let us look still further into the matter and see if facts can be 
adduced to farther substantiate the assertion that this bay fills all the requirements of 
the one described by Rev. Mr. Fletcher. First of all is an old Indian legend, 
which comes down through the Nicasios, to the effect that Drake did land at this 
place. Although they have been an interior tribe ever since the occupation by the 
Spaniards, and doubtless were at that time, it still stands to reason that they would 
know all about the matter. If the ship remained in the bay for thirty-six days, it is 
reasonable to suppose that a knowledge of its presence reached every tribe of In- 
dians within an area of one hundred miles, and that the major portion of them paid a 
visit to the bay to see the " envoys of the Great Spirit," as they regarded the white 
seamen. One of these Indians, named Theognis, who is reported to have been one 
hundred and thirty-five years old when he made the statement, says that Drake pre- 
sented the Indians with a dog, some young pigs, and seeds of several species of grain. 
Some biscuit were also given to them, which they planted, believing, in their simple 
ignorance, that they would spring to life and bear similar bread. The Indians also 
state that some of Drake's men deserted him here, and, making their way into the 
country, became amalgamated with the aboriginals to such an extent that all traces of 
them were lost, e.xcept possibly a few names which are to be found among the In- 
dians: "Winnemucca,' for instance, is a purely Celtic word, and the name " Nicasio," 
" Novato," and others are counterparts, with slight variations, of names of places in 
the island of Cyprus. There is also ajiother tradition, which, if true, would put the 
matter of Drake's entrance into San Francisco Bay forever at rest, which is to the 
effect that at the time of his visit to this coast, the Golden Gate was closed with a 
wall of adamantine rock, and was only opened some years later by a mighty earth- 
quake. It is stated that the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers 
passed to the ocean through the Pajaro Valley previous to this eruption. There is a 
bare possibility of this being true, and, if so, the oft-asked question, how could Drake 
sail so near to the great Golden Gate entrance and not discov-erit, is readily answered. 
Of course, all these traditions must be taken for what they are worth, but it does 
seem that they go to strengthen the idea that Drake landed at Point Reyes. 

But there are facts which go to prove the case, other than mere Indian legends. 
Titus Fay Cronise, in his admirable work, entitled " The Natural Wealth of Cali- 
fornia," says : " It is clearly settled that the place where he (Drake) landed is near 
Point de los Reyes. The locality will probably ever be known hereafter as Drake's 
Bay. The most conclusive argument that could be advanced to prove that he did 
not discover the Bay of San Francisco is found in the name he gave the country — 
New Albion. There is nothing about the entrance to this bay to call up images of 
the 'white cliffs of old England,' so dear to the hearts of the mariners of that country. 
Its beetling rocks, which must have been additionally dark and dreary at the season 
of the year when the great navigator saw them — neither green with the verdure of 
spring, nor russet by the summer's heat ; while near Point de los Reyes there is suffi- 
cient whiteness about the cliffs which skirt the shore to attract attention, and as it is 
' out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh',' the ' bold Briton,' longing for 
home, may have pictured to his 'mind's eye' some resemblance to old Albion. 



Early History and Settlement. 51 

Besides, Drake lay thirty-six days at anchor, which it would have been impossible for 
so experienced a sailor to have done, had it been in our glorious bay, without being 
impressed with its importance as a harbor, on a coast so destitute of such advantages 
as this; but he makes no allusion to any feature traceable in our bay. He never 
had the honor of seeing it." In this connection it may be further stated that the 
headland forming the point is composed of granite, which may have presented, at 
that time, a white or greyish color, and this appearance is still perceptible at certain 
angles of the sun's rays. It is urged that the bay at Point Reyes would afford no 
shelter from a southeast storm, and hence could not be the " good harbor " spoken of 
by Drake's chronicler, but it must be remembered that he was there in the month of 
June, and that at that time of the year all the winds are from the northwest, and no 
more secure anchorage from winds from that direction can be found along the coast 
than is to be had under the lee of Punta de los Reyes. 

Summed up, then, the matter stands as follows : Favoring the idea that Drake's 
and San Francisco Bay are one is a general, sweeping statement, based upon no 
proofs, and only attempted to be sustained by those who dislike to acknowledge that 
the best harbor along the whole coast line was the last one to be discovered, or who 
wish to give to England's navigator the honor of the discovery. On the other hand, 
pointing to what is now known as Drake's Bay as the place, stands, firstly, the indis- 
putable evidence of the log-book and chart made by Drake himself, which locates 
the place to within sixteen seconds, or within one-fourth of a mile ; secondly, the tra- 
ditions among the people that he met while here ; and, thirdly, all that can be said in 
favor of the Bay of San Francisco can be as justly and truthfully said of Drake's 
Bay, therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude from the evidence adduced, that to 
the present Drake's Bay belongs the honor of being the one in which that famous 
navigator spent his time while ashore in California. 

On the 22d of July, after having repaired his ship, and doubtless taken on board 
a goodly supply of fresh meat and water, Drake set sail for England, going by way of 
the Cape of Good Hope, and arriving in Plymouth, November 3, 1580, being gone 
about two years and ten months. He was the first Englishman who circumnavigated 
the globe, and was. the first man who ever made the entire voyage in the same vessel. 
He was graciously received by the Queen (Elizabeth) and knighted. She also gave 
orders for the preservation of his ship, the Golden Hind, that it might remain a mon- 
ument to his own and his country's glory. At the end of a century it had to be 
broken up, owing to decay. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was pre- 
sented by Charles H. to the University of Oxford. Sir Francis Drake died on board 
ship at Nombre de Dios, in the West Indies, January 28, 1595. 

But there is a large amount of historical interest attached to this bay aside from 
the fact that it was the locale of Drake's sojourn. In 159S, Sebastian Cermenon, 
while on a voyage from Manilla lo Acapulco, was wrecked near Punta de los Reyes. 
This was doubtless the first shipwreck which ever occurred on the coast of Cali- 
fornia. Nothing is known of the fate of the crew, but evidently they, or a portion 
of them at least, reached Acapulco, or some other Spanish sea-port, and reported 
the wreck. In 1602, General Sebastian Viscaino, under orders from Philip III. of 
Spain, made an exploration of the coast of Upper California, in the course of which 



52 History of Alameda County, California. 

he discovered the harbor of San Diego, on the loth of November. After remaining a 
few days he proceeded to the north, and on December i6th di.scovered the Bay of 
Monterey, which he named in honor of Caspar de Zuniga, Count de Monte Rey, the 
then Viceroy of Mexico. It was at first called the Port of Pines. We now come to a 
very peculiar entry in his diar}-, or log-book, which is as follows : " In twelve days 
after leaving Monterey, a favorable wind carried the ship past the />ort of San Fran- 
cisco, but she afterwards put back into the port of San Francisco." At a first glance 
this would seem to point to the present bay of that name, and would appear to rob 
Governor Portala and his band of adventurers of the honor of either discovering or 
naming the bay; and instead of its being named after the Jesuit patron saint in 
1769, it was known by that name more than a century and a half previous. But let 
us peruse this diary still further. Taking up the thread where it was dropped above, 
it states : " She anchored, January 7, 1603, behind a point of land called Punta de 
los Reyes, zv/iere there teas a wreck." This, then, establishes the exact location of 
the " port of San Francisco " mentioned above, which is the same as that of the 
present Drake's Bay, and was, doubtless, one and the same, for the wreck which he 
saw could have been none other than that of the ship lost by Sebastian Cermenon in 
I595> " near Punta de los Reyes." But there is still other evidence 'that Drake's Bay 
and the "port of San Francisco " are the same. A map was published in Europe in 
1545, three years after the voj'age of Rodriguez Cabrillo, in which a San Francisco 
Bay is mentioned, and also the Farralones, which islands were named b}' Cabrillo after 
his pilot, Farralo. Now, it is well known that this famous navigator did not enter the 
the present Bay of San Francisco ; therefore, if the Bay of San Francisco and the 
Farralones are marked on tliis map as conterminous, it is more than reasonable to con- 
clude that the bay referred to is none other than the present Drake's Bay, which opens 
out directly towards the Farralones, and it is quite probable that Cabrillo himself gave 
the name of San Francisco to it. There is also a " Pacific Coast Pilot " extant, writ- 
ten by Admiral Jose Gonzales Cabrera Bruno, and published in Manilla in 1734, 
which contains instructions to navigators for reaching the " Punta de los Reyes, and 
entering the port of San Francisco." This would go to show that the two places 
were contiguous, and it is more than likely that these " instructions " were compiled 
from the map mentioned above and similar ones, on all of which the port of San 
Francisco was marked, "behind a point of land called Punta de los Reyes." It may 
be further stated that the Russian navigators recognized the " port of San Francisco " 
to be separate and distinct from the present Ba}- of San PVancisco ; for, when, in 1812^ 
Baranoff, chief agent of the Russian-American Fur Company, asked permission from 
the Governor of California to erect a few houses and leave a few men at Bodega Bay, 
he designated that place as "a litt/e north of the port of San P'rancisco." The Bay 
of San Francisco had been visited before that bj- the Russians and \\ as known to be 
nearly sixty miles from Bodega Bay ; hence, we must conclude that thej- recognized 
some place quite near to the latter as the "port of San Francisco," which place could 
be none other than that laid down in the charts spoken of above, which has been 
proven conclusively to be the Drake's Bay of to-day. 

F"or some unexplained cause, not much use had been made of the information 
gained from these trips, which were of frequent occurrence, and it was not for one 



Early History and Settlement. 53 

hundred and sixty-eight years that any steps towards the permanent settlement of 
Upper CaHfornia were undertaken. Under the joint management of Church and State, 
a plan with this end in view was commenced in the year 1683, but it failed, the State 
being represented by Admiral Otondo, and the Church by a Jesuit Father named 
Kino, La Paz being their point of operation ; but we are correct, we believe, in stating 
that they did not all visit Upper California. The settlement of the peninsula was 
finally undertaken fourteen years later, when sixteen missionary establishments were 
founded by Father Salva Tierra. The order which he represented falling into dis-. 
grace in Europe, however, was banished from the dominions of Spain and Lower 
California in 1768, after laboring for seventy years. They were in turn succeeded 
by the Franciscans and Dominicans, the former of whom, under the guidance of 
Father Junipero Serra, proceeded to the conquest and conversion of this part of the 
country. This Reverend Father is recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as the 
Apostle of Upper California and acknowledged in history as its founder. 

To effect this conquest and conversion two expeditions were simultaneously dis- 
patched from Lower California, the one by land, the other by sea. The overland 
one, under the command of Don Caspar de Portala, the first Governor of California, 
reached San Diego on the first of July, 1769, and after a short rest there, resumed ita 
northward march on the 14th of the same month. Two schooners, the Sa7i Jose and 
the Principe, had been directed to follow up the coast, and a rendezvous appointed at 
the Bay of Monterey, described by Viscaiiio as a magnificent port, and which Galvez 
designed to occupy as the base of his new colony. 

After numerous vicissitudes Portala's expedition descending the valley of the 
Salinas reached its mouth October 1st. Unable on a hasty reconnaissance to find the 
" magnificent port " described by Viscaino, and misled by a fog-bank into the belief 
of another headland immediately north of Point Afio Nuevo (now the extreme 
southwestern point of San Mateo County), the adventurers continued their journey, 
and, on the 30th of the month, reached Point Corral de Tierra and camped on the 
site of the present town of Half Moon Bay. The headland to the west of them^ 
Father Crespi, the chaplain of the expedition, called Point " Guardian Angel," but 
the more worldly-minded soldiers, from the abundance of mussels found there, gave 
it the name of Punta de Almeja or Mussel Point. 

In attempting to go further up the coast the ascent of the first ridge revealed to 
the observers of the expedition, far to the north-northwest, Point Reyes, with the Bay 
of San Francisco under its lee, and the Farralones to seaward, and confirmed the 
doubts which had, for the past month, distracted the leaders of the party, whether 
they had not long since passed by the famous port of Monterey, without finding it. 
A halt was called and a counter-march decided on. But, preliminary to returning- 
from their unsuccessful search, Sergeant Ortega, with a party of soldiers, was dis- 
patched over the hills to the northeast, to explore and report on the character of the 
country to be found there. Three days were allowed for this examination, and in the 
meantime the men were permitted to hunt at discretion through the neighboring hills. 
On the evening of November 2d some of these hunters returned announcing the dis- 
covery of an immense arm of the sea, stretching inland. This was confirmed on the 
following day by the return of Ortega's party, who announced their glad tidings in 
advance, by the discharge of musketry, waving of flags, etc. 



54 History of Alamkda Couxtv, California. 

Animated by this unlooked-for intelligence, Portala broke up his camp on the 
following day and struck out over the hills to the northeastward. From the summit 
of these the party looked down on our noble bay, which, in their admiration, they 
termed another Mediterranean Sea. They turned southward, with the idea of getting 
round the head of the bay and so reaching Point Reyes and the harbor of San Fran- 
cisco, lost for one hundred and sixty-seven years. On the evening of November 6th 
they encamped on the northerly bank of the San Francisquito Creek, not far from where 
Governor Stanford's house now stands near Menlo Park. P3xplorers were again sent out, 
but as these reported that the bay became wide and extended to an unknown distance 
southeastwardly, alarm at the rashness of their undertaking began to prevail, and they 
arrested their, march. In fact their powers were spent, and it was well they decided 
to attempt no more ; for, to have pursued their journey further, in their exhausted con- 
dition, might have resulted in the loss of their whole party. The discoveries they had 
made it was important to preserve. Their provisions were almost exhausted ; .several 
of their number had died, and more than half the remainder were down with scurvy ; 
the native inhabitants showed signs of hostility, and the winter of an unknown 
region was at hand. A council was again called, and it was voted unanimously to 
retrace their steps. Governor Portala would indeed still have pushed on, but yielded 
to the unanimous voice of his companions, and on November ii, 1769, they com- 
menced their homeward march. 

All their meat and vegetables had long been consumed, and their ammunition 
was nearly exhausted. Their allowance of food was reduced to five small tortillas a 
day. These,' with shell-fish obtained on the sea-shore, acorns and pine nuts gathered 
by the way, or furnished by friendly Indians, and an occasional wild goose killed 
with a stick, furnished the staple of their poor food, as they toiled over their weary 
homeward march. They reached Point Pinos again on the 27th of November, and not- 
withstanding their distressed condition remained there till the 9th of December, search- 
ing in vain up and down the coast for that famous harbor of Monterey which Vis- 
caino had described in such glowing terms. Point Pinos, indeed, they recognized 
from its description and the latitude assigned to it ; but nothing else could they find 
corresponding to the description of the bay they were in search of In despair they 
at last concluded that the harbor must have been filled up by sand or obliterated by 
some convulsion of nature. All hope of meeting the schooners from who.se stores 
they might have obtained succor, was abandoned ; and on the 9th of December they 
sadly prepared to renew their toilsome and drear)- march towards San Diego. 

Before starting they erected on the south side of Point Pinos a large wooden 
cross, on which was rudely carved the words, " Dig at the foot of this and you will Jiiid 
a writing ;" and at its foot accordingly they buried a brief account of their journey. 
Its text, as .set forth in Father Crespi's diary, was as follows : — 

" The overland expedition which left San Diego on the 14th of July, 1769, under 
the command of Don Caspar de Portala, Governor of California, reached the channel 
of Santa Barbara on the 9th of August, and passed Point Concepcion on the 27th of 
the same month. It reached the Sierra de Santa Lucia, on September 1 3th, entered 
that range of mountains on the 17th, and emerged from them on the 1st of October; 
on the same day caught sight of Point Pinos and the harbor on its north and 



Early History and Settlement. 



south sides, without discovering any indications of the Bay of Monterey. Determined 
to push on further in search of it, on the 30th of October we got sight of Point Reyes 
and the Farralones at the Bay of San Francisco, which are seven in number. The 
expedition strove to reach Point Reyes but was hindered by an immense arm of the sea 
which, extending to a great distance inland, compelled them to make an enormous cir- 
cuit for that purpose. In consequence of this and other difficulties, the greatest being 
the absolute want of food, the expedition was compelled to turn back, believing that 
they must have passed the harbor of Monterey without discovering it. Started on 
return from the Bay of San Francisco, on November nth, passed Point Afio Nuevo 
on the 19th, and reached this point and harbor of Pinos on the 27th of the same month. 
From that date until the present 9th of December, we have used every effort to find 
the Bay of Monterey, searching the coast, notwithstanding its ruggedness, far and wide, 
but in vain. At last, undeceived and despairing of finding it after so many efforts, 
sufferings and labors, and having left of all our stock of provisions but fourteen small 
sacks of flour, we leave this place to-day for San Diego. I beg of Almighty God to 
guide us; and for you, traveler, who may read this, that he may guide you also to the 
harbor of eternal salvation. 

" Done in this harbor of Pinos, this 9th of December, 1769. 

" Note. — That Don Michael Constanzo, our engineer, obsei-ved the latitude of 
various places on the coast, and the same are as follows: — 

" San Diego, at the camp of the overland expedition, 32° 42'. 

" Indian Village, at the east end of the channel of Santa Barbara, 34° 13'. 

" Point Concepcion, 34° 30'. 

"The southern foot of the Sierra de Santa Lucia, 35° 45'. 

" Its northern extremity at this harbor and Point of Pinos, 36° 36'. 

" Point Alio Nuevo, which has low reefs of rocks, 36° 04'.* 

" The land near the harbor of San Francisco, the Farralones bearing west quarter 
•north, 37° 35'. 

" Point Reyes, which we discovered on the west-northwest from the same place, 
supposed to be 37° 44'. 

"If the commanders of the schooners, either the San Jose or the Principe, should 
reach this place within a few days after this date, on learning the contents of this 
writing, and the distressed condition of this expedition, we beseech them to follow the 
coast down closely towards San Diego, so that if we should be happy enough to catch 
sight of them, we may be able to apprize them by signals, flags, and firearms of this 
place in which succor and provisions may reach us. 

" Glory be to God," says the pious old chronicler, " the cross was erected on a 
little hillock close to the beach of the small harbor, on the south side of Pinos, and at 
its foot we buried the letter." On the other side of the point they erected another 
cross, and carved on its arms with a razor, the words: " The overland expedition from 
San Diego returned from this place on the 9th of December, 1769 — starving." 

Their prayer for succor was, however, in vain; it never reached those to whom it was 
addressed. The schooners, after beating up to the latitude of Monterey, were compelled 
to turn back to the Santa Barbara channel, for want of water, and never reached 

*Probably an error in transcribing. The other latitudes are very nearly correct. 



56 History of Alameda County, California. 

the coveted port. They ultimately put back to San Diego, which they reached just 
in season to relieve that colony from starvation. The land expedition meanwhile 
prosecuted its weary march down the coast, encountering sickness, privation, and 
occasionally death, until on the 24th of January, 1770, it reached San Diego, whence 
it had started six months and ten days before. 

Father Junipero Serra, who accompanied this expedition, writes from San Diego, 
under date July 3, 1769, his first impressions of California, as follows: — 

" The tract through which we passed is generally good land, with plent}' of water; 
and there, as well as here, the country is neither rocky nor overrun, with brushwood. 
There are, however, many hills, but they are composed of earth. The road has been in 
some places good, but the greater part bad. About half way the valleys and banks of 
rivulets began to be delightful; we found vines of a large size, and in some cases quite 
loaded with grapes; we also found an abundance of roses, which appeared to be like 
those of Castile. In fine, it is a good country, and very different from Old California. 

" We have seen Indians in immense numbers, and all those on this ' coast ' of the 
Pacific, contrive to make a good subsistence on various seeds and by fishing. The 
latter they carry on by means of rafts or canoes made of tule (bull-rushes), with which 
they go a great way to sea. They are very civil. All the males, old and young, go 
naked; the women, however, and the female children, are decently covered from their 
breasts downwards. We found on our journey, as well as in the place where we 
stopped, that they treated us with as much confidence and good-will as if they had 
known us all their lives. But when we offered them any of our victuals, they always 
refused them. All they cared for was cloth, and only for something of this sort would 
they exchange their fish or whatever else they had. During the whole march we 
found hares, rabbits, some deer, and a multitude of herendos, a kind of wild goat." 

His earliest recollections of the country he never forgot — they lasted to the end 
of his days. He returned to Mexico and was subsequently preferred to the high posi- 
tion of president of the missions of California. In or about 1783-84, feeling that old 
age was fast overtaking him, as well as to have some spare time from his arduous labors, 
he determined to visit some of the missions established in Upper California, to hold 
his last confirmations, and, having been invited to dedicate the Mission of Santa Clara, 
also to perform that ceremony. About the first of Ma}- he visited the selected spot, 
and on the 4th continued his weary journey to San Francisco, accompanied by that 
devoted fellow-countryman Father Palou, a brother Franciscan monk, a co-voyager 
to these shores, and afterwards his biographer, preferring to make his confirmations 
on his return. He had tarried in San Francisco but a few days when the distressing 
news of the illness of Father Murguia was received; he thereupon dispatched F'ather 
Palou to Santa Clara, who found Murguia sick of a low fever. Unhappily this worthy 
man never rallied, and on May 1 1, 1784, his soul took its flight, while naught was left 
to his followers but the consolation that 

" Death's but a path that must be trod. 
If man would ever pass to God." 

The funeral took place, but the venerable Junipero was too enfeebled to attend; 
he, however, accompanied Don Pedro Fages, the Governor of the territory, to the 
dedicatory services of the mission, arriving on the I 5th. On the meeting of the twa 








i/^yJ^Moru^uzZc/^ 



Early History and Settlement. 57 

fathers their hearts were too full to speak; with eyes suffused in tears, they grasped 
each others hands, and finally in a solemn embrace, each sent aloft a prayer to Him 
who had seen fit in His wisdom to take away their revered brother. 

Of the life and death of Junipero Serra, much has been written; for the informa- 
tion of the reader, however, let us refer him to the subjoined paper which appeared 
in the San Francisco Chronicle, over the caption " N. V. S." 

Monterey, February 4, 1882. 

In the hasty, anxious life which most Americans lead, it is generally supposed 
that there is little room or even desire for that pursuit to which so many residents of 
the Old World devote their lives, and that not from the hope of reward, but from pure 
love of it. I refer to the love of antiquities — that searching into the memories of the 
_past which seems to have so powerful a charm for some minds. It is difficult to 
divine a reason for this, unless it be that the sight of relics of a former time excites 
the imagination to a train of thought so agreeably romantic that we are impelled again 
and again to seek the excitant, as the opium-eater returns to his drug. At any rate, 
the feeling exists and is latent in American breasts, only we have nothing for it to 
feed upon. I say nothing, but to-night I remembered that we have something when 
my eyes were attracted by the brilliant moonlight of Monterey striking full upon the 
white cross which marks the place where Father Junipero Serra first landed. The 
memory of a good man, who gave the labor of a long life solely to improve the state 
of his fellows, certainly is sufficient to give to the finding of his bones a deep interest. 
Father Casanova, the present pastor of Monterey, is full of gratification with the 
result of his researches, and has kindly given some of the details of the discoveries. 

The ancient records of the old Carmel Church were brought forth for our won- 
dering eyes to gaze upon. They are, of course, yellow with age, and filled partly with 
the handwriting of Junipero himself, his signature standing out firm and clear, as if 
written but yesterday. These records contain quite an extended account of his death 
and burial, together with a description of the exact spot of interment. By means of 
this description Father Casanova was enabled to locate the grave of Junipero beyond 
a doubt, and thus made his recent discovery. The following is the passage referred 
to as translated: — 

Very Rev. Father Junipero Serra, D. D., President of all the missions, died on 
the 29th of August, 1784, at the age of seventy-one years, and is buried in the sanc- 
tuary, fronting the altar of Our Lady of Seven Dolors, on the Gospel side. 

There remained nothing but to face the altar of " Our Lady of Seven Dolors " in 
the sanctuary, and then commence digging next the altar on the Gospel side. That 
is what the workmen did, and their spades soon struck upon the stones covering the 
grave. Father Casanova produced a diagram illustrating the manner of formation of 
the grave and the condition in which it was found. Originally the floor of the church 
was composed of brick tiles. Tourists visiting the church admire these tiles so greatly 
that they even go to the trouble to dig them up, break them to pieces and carry 
away bits of them. In this connection he also stated that one visitor even went so' 
far as to take his penknife and cut from the canvas a bouquet which was carried in the 
hand of a saint in one of the old paintings. This picture was much valued for its age 
and the association connected with it by the padre and the parish; but such consid- 
S 



58 History of Alameda County, California. 

erations are as nothing to the hard heart of one in whom the love of antiquities has 
taken such an evil turn. 

As was said before, the floor of the church was composed of tiles. The graves 
were apparently constructed with great care, being plastered and hard-finished inside 
as neatly as the walls of a house. The cofiin was lowered into this plastered opening, 
and then large slabs of stone were fitted carefully over it, in such a manner that they 
were e.xactly level with the tiles forming the floor of the church. The tiles had grad- 
ually become covered with a layer of debris, which it was the first task of the work- 
men to remove. Upon reaching the slabs of stone covering the grave of Father Juni- 
pero it was found that the three covering the upper part of the grave were intact, but 
that those over the lower part had for some reason given way, so that about one-half 
of the coffin had been exposed to decay. The skull and ribs were found within, how- 
ever, excellently well preserved, considering the time that they have lain there. Cling- 
ing to the ribs were found considerable portions of the stole of violet silk, and its trim- 
ming of silver fringe, both blackened and crumbling with age. Upon being asked if 
he intends to pursue his investigations further, the padre replied that he will certainly 
do so. In fact he has already reached the graves of two other priests, and also of 
two of the old Mexican Governors of California, who were buried, it seems, in the same 
part of the church, but on the opposite side of the altar. In the discovery of these he 
again went by the records, which pointed them out quite accurately. 

The padre says he intends to continue this search for these hallowed graves until 
he uncovers the whole of them, both of the mission fathers and of the Mexican gov- 
ernors. As a large number are buried there, and as the work is prosecuted with care, 
it will probably be some time before a completion is reached. It is then the padre's 
intention to have them properly replaced in the graves, the slabs of stone carefully 
arranged as they were originally, those wanting restored, and then to have each grave 
marked, so that in future they may be pointed out to visitors, with some account of 
the occupant of each. The padre gave no hint of any such wish, but the thought 
crossed the mind of the correspondent that it would show good taste and feeling in 
the many wealthy Catholics, who are doubtless to be found in California, if they would 
unite in the erection of a monument over the remains, worthy of the pioneer of their 
religion in California. The people of Monterey would gladly do this, but no doubt 
the lack of means prevents it. Junipero Serra was the founder of every mission in 
California — twenty-one in all. His history, briefly recounted by his friend and fellow- 
student, Francisco Palou, in language, whose very simplicity bears witness to its 
veracity, is such an one that ever}' heart capable of appreciation of the unselfish and 
noble in character must be filled with the deepest admiration by it. Protestants as 
well as Catholics must give honor to a man to whom it is so unmistakably due. 
According to a Catholic custom, a record of all deaths in Monterey and the Carmel 
Mission was kept by Junipero himself frOm the year 1770 up to the time of his death, 
in 1784. Each was written in a strong, bold hand, with the signature " Fr. Junipero 
Serra " at the end. Upon his death this record was continued by his successors. He 
made his last entry on the 30th of July. On the 29th of August Fr. Francisco Palou 
entered upon the record the fact of his death, the narrative of his life and circumstances 
of his death. 



Early History and Settlement. 59 

According to this account Serra was born in the Province of Majorca, in Old 
Spain. He was a man of thorough education and unusual accomplishments. Before 
coming to California he had enjoyed the honors of high position both in Spain and 
Mexico. When only a little over nineteen years of age, he put on the dress of the 
Order of San Francisco. He was a graduate of the schools of theology and philos- 
ophy, and was given the professorship of each in a royal university. These positions 
he filled in the most highly honorable manner. At this time he was in the receipt of 
large revenues and had good prospects for advancement to almost any position to which 
he might care to aspire. But worldly ambition of this kind had no place in his 
soul. Brilliant prospects, a life of luxury, associations which were doubtless pleasant 
to a man of his culture — all this he chose to leave behind him for the purpose of enter- 
ing upon a life of danger, toil, and privation, for which he could only expect a reward 
after death. Perhaps even the hope of thai reward influenced him less than the 
simple consciousness of duty. His first step was to resign his professorship. He 
then joined the College of Foreign Missions in Cadiz, probably because there he could 
obtain the most authentic information for the purpose which he had in view. In 1749 
he embarked at Cadiz for Mexico. The voyage occupied the tedious period of nearly 
a year — long enough to have cooled the zeal of a less earnest man. He arrived in 
Mexico, January i, 1750, with interest in his work unabated. At that time there 
were many missionary societies in Mexico, and Junipero was sent by them to prose- 
cute the work in various directions, in each case exhibiting the same wonderful ear- 
nestness and peculiar adaptation to such a life. It was probably to this power which 
he possessed of throwing his whole soul into his labors that his success was mainly 
due. In Mexico he gained the friendship and close confidence of the Viceroy, and 
took position among the highest in the Church. 

In 1767 he was appointed by the General of the Catholic establishments in New 
Spain to the presidency of the fifteen missions in Lower California, then under man- 
agement of the Jesuits. He crossed the gulf and made his headquarters at Loreto. 
From that place he was constantly going out upon visits to the other missions, inspir- 
ing each with his own zeal. But even then he did not think his life sufficiently 
occupied nor his duty accomplished. He was constantly tormented by thoughts of 
the thousands of unfortunate creatures still in a savage state whom he knew to inhabit 
the great unknown region extending to the north. He had the true pioneer spirit 
forever urging him on, and he soon formed the resolution to embark for what was 
then a distant land. Not much was then known of California, but Serra had seen 
charts describing the Bays of San Diego and Monterey. In 1769 he left Loreto in 
company with an exploring party going north in search of these two points. He 
stopped on the way at a point on the coast near the frontier of Lower California, and 
founded the Mission of San Fernando de Bellicota. The next stopping-place was the 
port of San Diego, where he remained long enough to found the mission. During his 
stay at this place the exploring party went on, but returned the next year, having 
failed to discover the Bay of Monterey. In 1770 Serra again set out to find this bay, 
sending a party by land at the same time. As usual with most of his undertakings, 
the search was successful. Having landed at the spot so often mentioned in the 
descriptions of Monterey, and having taken formal possession of the country in the 



60 History of Alameda County, California. 

name of the King of Spain, Serra began the working out of the plan so long in 
his mind. 

He first founded the Mission of San Carlos de Monterey, which always remained 
the central point of his operations. With this as his headquarters, he went out from 
time to time into various parts of the country, and one by one established and encour- 
aged into a flourishing condition all the other missions of California. As before 
stated, they were twenty-one in all. Taking into consideration the very small num- 
ber of white men who assisted him in these labors, the rapidity of his success was 
something remarkable. There is no doubt that it is to be ascribed to the kindness, 
gentleness, and ever-enduring patience which he invariably exhibited toward the 
Indians. In the construction of the churches, for instance, upon which we look with 
so much astonishment when told that they were built by the traditionally lazy Indian, 
it is very likely that he employed large numbers upon the work, in order that it should 
not bear too heavily upon individuals. He certainly employed methods of great 
wisdom in the management of these ignorant creatures, and could he have been 
endowed with a miraculous life of several hundred years, might well have given the 
lie to the oft-repeated complaints of Americans, that it is impossible to civilize the 
Indians. But it is too late now for us to study his methods. Only a handful of 
Indians remain to meet yearly on the day of San Carlos and raise their quavering 
chant over the grave of Junipero. As a natural result of his treatment of them, the 
Indians came to look upon Serra almost with adoration. They loved him for his 
gentleness, they respected him for his firmness, and they admired him for his ability. 
But every life, however valuable, must finally draw to a close, and in August, 1784^ 
Junipero felt that his end was approaching. On the morning of the 27th, being very 
ill, he began to prepare for death. 

He first confessed himself to his friend, Francisco Palou, and went through the 
ceremonies of the dying. Then, ill and suffering as he was, he went on foot to the 
church to receive the sacrament. The building was crowded with both whites and 
Indians, drawn thither by a common grief At the beginning of the ceremony the 
hymn " Tantuni Ergo'' was sung, and according to the record Junipero himself joined 
in the singing with a " high, strong voice." We can easily realize that the congrega- 
tion became so much affected upon hearing him sing his own death chant that they 
were unable to sing more, and, choking with emotion, sat listening, while the dying 
man's voice finished it alone. He then received the sacrament upon his knees, and 
recited thanks, according to the ritual, in a distinct voice. This ceremony over he 
returned to his cell, but did not lie down nor take off any of his clothing. In the night 
he asked Palou to administer holy unction to him and join \\ith him in the recital of 
the penitential psalms and litanies. The remainder of the night he passed in giving 
thanks to God, sometimes kneeling and sometimes sitting upon the floor. Early the 
next morning he asked Palou to give him plenary indulgence, and once more con- 
fessed himself Shortly afterwards the Captain and the Chaplain of a Spanish vessel 
which was then in the harbor came in. Serra received them in his usual manner 
when in health, cordially, and embracing the Chaplain with warmth, he thanked 
God that these visitors from afar, who had traversed so much of land and sea, had 
come in time to throw a little dirt on his body. Conversing with Palou, he expressed 
some anxiety and asked him to read the recommendation of the soul. 



Early History and Settlement. &1 

He then said that he felt comforted, and thanked God that he had no fear. 
After a time he asked for a Httle broth, and was supported into the kitchen, where he 
sat down and drank a little. He was assisted to his bed, and no sooner touched it 
then he fell back in death. Having been for some time expecting his end, he had 
ordered his own coiifin to be made by the carpenter of the mission. This was now 
brought out, and the body placed in it without changing the clothing. It was then 
carried to the church to await burial. The church bell notified the people of the 
event, and all gathered within for a last look at the dead face of their beloved friend and 
benefactor. They gathered closely around the coffin and attempted to secure pieces 
of his clothing to preserve as sacred relics. They were with difficulty prevented from 
doing this by the promise that a certain tunic, which he had been in the habit of 
wearing in life, should be divided among them. A guard was placed over the body, 
but notwithstanding the close watch which was kept, some part of the vestment was 
taken away in the night. The funeral ceremonies were conducted with great state, 
people coming from every direction to take part in it. The solemn tolling of the 
church bells and the firing of salutes by the vessel in the harbor, added to the impres- 
siveness of the occasion. Such is the account of the life, death, and burial of Junipero 
Serra, as written in the records by his friend Francisco Palou, without comment or 
exaggeration. And now those bones, so solemnly laid to rest on that day, are once 
more brought forth to the light in order that the memory of such a character may not 
be entirely forgotten. 

While dealing with the march of Captain Juan Bautista, of the Portala party, from 
Monterey, when seeking for San Francisco, Father Palou, California's first historian, 
makes mention of the region in which Alameda County is now located, in these words: 
■" In tJie valley of San Jose, the party coming up by land, saw some animals which they 
took for cattle, though they could not imagine where they came from; and, supposing 
they were wild and would scatter the tame ones they were driving, the soldiers made 
after them and succeeded in killing three, which were so large that a mule could 
with difficulty carry one, being of the size of an ox, and with horns like those of a 
deer, but so long that their tips were eight feet apart. This was their first view of 
the elk. The soldiers made the observation that they could not run against the wind 
by reason of their monstrous antlers." 

It is but reasonable to suppose that the valley called San Jose by Father Palou 
is that portion of our county situated at its southern end, and where was subsequently 
erected the mission bearing that name. It is not likely that the Santa Clara Valley 
was meant, for that district was then called San Bernardino, and the Pueblo of San 
Jose was not established until November 29, 1777, while the holy father speaks of the 
year 1773; besides we know that a portion of Murray Township is still known as El 
Valle de San Jose, and the gentle slope in what is now the district of Washington 
Corners, the Mission and Harrisburg is not unfrequently designated the San Jose 
Valley. Palou goes on to remark that " after the presidio and before the mission was 
established (in San Francisco) an exploration of the interior was organized, as usual, 
by .sea (the bay) and land. Point San Pablo was given as the rendezvous, but the 
Captain of the presidio (Moraga), who undertook in person to lead the land party, 
failed to appear there, having, with a desire to shorten the distance, entered a canon 



62 History of Alameda County, California. 

somewhere near the head of the bay, which took him over to the San Joaquin River. 
So he di.scovered that stream." Thus it is plain that one party had proceeded down 
the San Mateo side of the bay, crossed over to its eastern shore, where, coming to the 
spot where now stands the hamlet of Niles, and, following the rocky banks of the 
Alameda Creek, ultimately came into the Livermore Valley, crossing which they 
emerged into the wide expanse of territory through which flows the San Joaquin, 
which Moraga named in honor of his brother. 

Let us now turn to another portion of the history of this section of the State 
anterior to the establishment of the Mission San Jose, and which treats us to the first 
official prominence of our county. 

During the Gubernatorial regime of Don Felipe de Neve, which commenced in 
December, 1774, and closed September, 1782, reports on the topography, character, 
and condition of Upper California, and what situations were most suitable for estab- 
lishments, were frequently made to His Most Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain, 
through the Viceroy in Mexico. The country from north to south, froin San Diego 
to San Francisco, then the Dan and Beersheba of our State, was carefully examined 
and permission sought to locate two pueblos or towns, viz.: That tract of land, now 
Los Angeles, which lies contiguous to the river La Portincula, one hundred and 
twenty-si.x miles from San Diego, and six from the Mission of San Gabriel, and also 
that tract on the margin of the river Guadalupe, seventy-eight miles from the Presidio 
of Monterey, forty-eight from that of San Francisco, and two miles and a quarter 
from the Mission of Santa Clara. The Pueblo of San Josd became subject to annual 
inundations, and, after protracted delays (during the administration of Don Diego de 
Borica between the years 1794, and 1800), the village was moved to higher ground, in 
1797. To effect this relief as well as to establish another pueblo, to be called Branciforte, 
Borica dispatched Don Pedro de Allerni, with instructions to examine the country 
and report to him those sites that he thought most convenient for the purpose. This 
he duly transmitted, as follows: — 

"Having examined the points set forth in the foregoing Superior Official Com- 
munication, as well as those requiring me to set forth all that I might think necessary, 
I might reply as follows: The principal object and view of the whole matter may be 
reduced to the project formed by Don Jose Maria Beltram, and forwarded by the 
Royal Tribunal de Mentas to the Most Excellent Viceroy, in relation to the establish- 
ing of a villa, or poblacion; and its being necessary to remember that in order to 
attain the desired end an eye must be had to such favorable circumstances as are 
required to give the inhabitants of the same the necessary advantages, such as a 
plentiful supply of water, wood, irrigable and arable lands, forest, pastures, stone, lime 
or earth for adobes; and having been commissioned to this end for the examination, 
which I made with the Seilor Governor, Don Diego Borica, of the country, from the 
Mission of Santa Cruz, Arroyo del Pajaro, and the Mission of Santa Clara, to THE 
PLACE OF THE Alameda, and the country around the Presidio and the Fort of San 
Francisco, and the mission of the same name. After a careful and scrupulous exam- 
ination of these places with the Engineer Extraordinary, Don Alberto de Cardoba, I 
found that THE PLACE OF THE Alameda, although it contains a creek, still that it 
affords but little water, and that the channel is so deep * that it is difficult to obtain 

*Don Alberni must here refer to the precipitous banks of the stream, and not to the. depth uf its water. 



Early History and Settlement. 63 

water therefrom for irrigating the extensive plains of what appears to be good lands; 
but as the place is without fuel, timber, and pasturage, which cannot be obtained save 
at the distance of many leagues, it is clear that it is unsuitable for the project under 
consideration." 

We have not the faintest hesitation in claiming " the place of the Alameda " as 
the Alameda Creek of to-day, for its wooded banks when first seen by these explorers 
might easily have led them to suppose it an avenue or grove of graceful willows and 
silver-barked sycamores. But how it was that he found no water for irrigating pur- 
poses, no wood, and no site for a village, is to us incomprehensible, when it is consid- 
ered that now there is enough water the year round for both agricultural and pastoral 
purposes. The present sites of Alameda and Oakland were densely covered with fine 
old oaks, the giant redwoods reared their tall heads to the sky in the hills near where 
now East Oakland stands, while since that time no less than four prosperous villages 
have risen on the river's banks, viz.: Alvarado, Centreville, Niles, and Sunol. 

In following the chronological order of events, it now becomes our duty to 
notice the founding of the Mission de San Jose, aptly termed " the cradle of Alameda 
County." While Diego de Borica was yet Governor of Upper California, on June 
II, 1797, this grand old relic was established on as fair a site as is to be found under 
the blue canopy of heaven, and how, and by whom, the following statement, to be 
found in one of the huge calf-bound Spanish tomes in which were entered with the 
most scrupulous care and neatness the births, marriages, and deaths and the general 
spiritual and temporal welfare of the community under its jurisdiction, will explain: — 

" The Mission San Jose was founded at the expense of the Catholic King of 
Spain, Charles IV. — God save him — and by order of the Marquis of Branciforte, Vice- 
roy and General Governor of N. S. The San Jose Mission commenced on Sunday, 
nth of June, 1797, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. I, the undersigned. President 
of these Missions of New California, placed by His Majesty under the care, of the 
apostolical college of 'A^^ propaganda fide of St. Fernando de Mexico, blessed water, 
the place, and a big cross, and with great veneration we hoisted it. Immediately 
after we sang the litanies of the Saints, and I celebrated the holy sacrifice of the 
mass and preached to the army and to the native Indians who were there, and we 
ended the ceremony singing solemnly the Te Deum. At the same time I appointed 
for the first missionaries Rev. Fr. Ysidoro Barcenilla and Rev. Friar Augustine Merino, 
A. M. [Signed] Friar Francisco Lamen." 

Thus was the Mission San Jose established, ten miles to the north of the pueblo 
of that name and forty to the east of San Francisco; on a plateau indenting the 
Contra Costa Hills and facing the southern extremity of the Bay of San Francisco. 
Behind it were the beautiful Calaveras and Suiiol Valleys; Mission Peak rose imme- 
diately in its rear like a giant sentinel indexing its location; while, in its vicinity, 
nature had abundantly supplied every want. Here was a pellucid stream of sweetest 
water perennially running from never-failing springs; here, too, were the paramount 
advantages of climate; wood was abundant for building purposes and for fuel; killing 
frosts were unknown; an embarcadero was not far distant, and within an hour's walk 
were warm springs, possessed of the most effective healing qualities. What more 
was needed? From this point of vantage a view of unsurpassed loveliness lay before 



64 History of Alameda County, CAUFfjRNiA. 

them — a vast level plain promising the rarest fertility. At their feet was the wide 
expanse of the glorious bay, and to the right and left the splendid chains of the 
Contra Costa and the Coast Range. The first building erected was a chapel, a 
small adobe edifice which was enlarged by seven varas in the second year of its exist- 
ence. A wall forty-seven varas long, four high and six wide, thatched with tules, was 
constructed, water flumes laid, and, b2ing in the presidial jurisdiction of San Fran- 
cisco, soldiers were sent fr im there to keep guard over it, and bring the natives in for 
purposes of education. 

In the establishment of missions the three agencies brought to bear were the 
military, the civil, and the religious, being each represented by the Presidio, or garri- 
son; the Pueblo, the town or civic community; and the Mission, the church, which 
played the most prominent part. Says one writer: "The Spaniards had then, what 
we are lacking to-day — a complete municipal system. Theirs was derived from the 
Romans. Under the civil Roman law, and the Gothic, Spanish and Mexican laws, 
municipal communities were never incorporated into artificial powers, with a common 
seal and perpetual succession, as with us under English and American laws; conse- 
quently, under the former, communities in towns held their lands in common; when 
thirty families had located on a spot, the pueblo or town was a fact. They were not 
incorporated, because the law did not make it a necessity, a general law or custom 
having established the system. The right to organize a local government, by the 
election of an Alcalde or Mayor, and a Town Council, which was known as an ayun- 
taniiento, was patent. The instant \.\\e fohlacion was formed, it became thereby enti- 
tled to four leagues of land and the pobladors, citizens, held it m pro iiidivisa. The 
title was a natural right. 

"The missions were designed for the civilization and conversion of the Indians. 
The latter were instructed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could compre- 
Tiend them) and the arts of peace. Instruction of the savage in agriculture and 
manufactures, as well as in prayers and elementary education, was the padre's busi- 
ness. The soldiers protected them from the hostility of the intractable natives, hunted 
down the latter and brought them within the confines of the mission to labor and 
salvation." 

In his able history of the Catholic Church in California, Father Gleeson tells us 
that the missions were usually quadrilateral buildings, two stories high, inclosing a 
court-yard ornamented with fountains and trees, the whole consisting of the church, 
father's apartments, store-houses, barracks, etc. The quadrilateral sides were each 
about six hundred feet in length, one of which was partly occupied by the church. 
Within the quadrangle and corresponding with the second story was a gallery 
running round the entire structure and opening upon the work-shops, store-rooms, and 
other apartments. 

The entire management of each establishment was under the care of two Relig- 
ious; the e! 'er attended to the interior and the younger to the exterior administra- 
tion. One portion of the building, which was called the monastery, was inhabited 
by the young Indian girls. There, under the care of approved matrons, they were 
carefully trained and instructed in those branches necessary for their condition in 
life. They were not permitted to leave till of an age to be married, and this with 




'^^>t7'l2<2^^2-€^2'-a-^Z^ 



Early History and Settlement. 65 

the view of preserving their moraHty. In the schools those who exhibited more 
talent than their companions were taught vocal and instrumental music, the latter 
consisting of the flute, horn, and violin. In the mechanical departments, too, the 
most apt were promoted to the position of foremen. The better to preserve the 
morals of all, none of the whites, except those absolutely necessary, were employed 
at the mission. 

The daily routine at each establishment was about the same as that followed 
by the Jesuits in Lower California. At sunrise they arose and proceeded to church, 
where, after morning prayer, they assisted at the holy sacrifice of the mass. Break- 
fast next followed, when they proceeded to their respective employments. Toward 
noon they returned to the mission and spent the time from then till two o'clock 
between dinner and repose; after which they again repaired to their work and 
remained engaged till the evening angelus, about an hour before sundown. All then 
betook themselves to the church for evening devotions, which consisted of the ordinary 
family prayers and the rosary, except on special occasions, when other devotional 
exercises were added. After supper, which immediately followed, they amused them- 
selves in divers sports, games, and dancing, till the hour for repose. Their diet, of 
which the poor of any country might be justly envious, consisted of an abundance 
of excellent beef and mutton, with vegetables in the season. Wheaten cakes and 
puddings, or porridges, called " atole and pinole," also formed a portion of the repast. 
The dress was, for the males, linen shirts, pants, and a blanket to be used as an over- 
coat. The women received each, annually, two undergarments, a gown, and a blanket. 
In years of plenty, after the missions became rich, the fathers distributed all the surplus 
moneys among them in clothing and trinkets. Such was the general character of the 
early missions established in Upper California. 

Let us now briefly consider what was the character and condition of the Indian 
on the arrival of the Spanish fathers. For veracity's sake we must aver that the 
Californian Indian was anything but an easy subject for civilization. Knowledge he 
had none; his religion or morals were of the crudest form, while all in all he was the 
most degraded of mortals. He lived without labor and existed for naught save his 
ease and his pleasure. In physique he was unprepossessing; being possessed of much 
endurance and strength; his features were unattractive, his hair in texture like the 
mane of a horse, and his complexion as dark as the Ethiop's skin. His chief delight 
was the satisfying of his appetite and lust, while he lacked courage enough to be 
warlike and was devoid of that spirit of independence usually the principal character- 
istic of his race. The best portion of his life was passed in sleeping and dancing, 
while in the temperate California climate, the fertile valleys and hill-sides grew an 
abundance of edible seedsand wild fruits, which were garnered and by them held in 
great store. Such means of existence being so easily obtained is perhaps a reason 
for the wonderful disinclination of Indians to perform any kind of labor. Indeed, 
what need was there that they should, toil, when a beneficent Nature had, with a gen- 
erosity that knew no stint, placed within their grasp an unlimited supply of health- 
giving food! 

As we have said, the aboriginal Californian's life was a roving one, for they had no 
fixed habitation, but roamed about from place to place, fishing, hunting, and gathering 



66 History of Alameda County, California. 

supplies. In every stream were fish, and on every mountain-side and valley, game; 
acorns and pine-nuts, roots and wild oats, were included in the category of their 
edibles, while, it is said, their tastes precluded them not from feasting upon vermin. 
Their dialects were as various as those of China to-day, and the natives of San Diego 
could not understand those of Los Angeles or Monterey. 

These Indians had as dwellings the meanest of huts, built of willows and thatched 
with tules, or rushes. They were fashioned by taking a few poles and placing them 
in a circle, which were woven together to a conical point, giving them, when com- 
pleted, the appearance of inverted baskets. They were small and easily warmed in 
winter, and, when swarming with vermin, could readily be reduced to ashes and 
others built in their stead. Their cabins or " wickeups " were usually constructed 
on the banks of streams, or in the dells of mountains, but always near some running 
water-course. There, without a vestige of covering, they slept like "sardines in a tin," 
those on the outer edge quarreling, as in more civilized circles, for an inside place. 
On rising from their litters, be it summer or winter, the first performance would 
be to plunge into the river; after which they would dance and play around a huge 
fire, when, with a healthy appetite, they would relish a hearty meal. This was 
their custom in the cold mountain regions as well as in the more temperate valleys. 
The skins of beasts made them a covering comfortable enough, but the males gen- 
erally wore absolutely nothing upon their persons save an arrow passed through the 
hair — something like the mode of hair ornament in vogue with many fashionable belles. 
One of these warriors, thus clad, on one occasion paid General Vallejo a visit at Sonoma. 
As the day was cold the General asked his guest if he was not cold. " No," was 
the answer, " is your face cold ?" " Not at all," replied the veteran Commandante, 
" I never wear anything on my face." " Then," rejoined the Indian, triumphantly 
pointing to his body, " I am all face !" The toilet of the women, as in other parts 
of the world, was more pretentious. It consisted of a scanty apron of fancy skins or 
feathers extending to the knees. Those of them who were unmarried wore, in 
addition, a bracelet around the arm near the shoulder, or a band around the ankle, 
which was generally made of bone or fancy wood. Polygamy was a recognized insti- 
tution. Chiefs generally possessed eleven wives, sub-chiefs nine, and ordinary indi- 
viduals two or more, according to their wealth or property. Indian like they would 
fight among themselves, and bloody fights these often were. Their weapons were 
bows and arrows, clubs and spears, with which they were very adroit. Their head- 
dress was a helmet composed of skins. They were remarkable athletes and unex- 
celled as swimmers and runners. In times of peace they kept up their martial spirit, 
little though it was, by sham fights and tournaments, their women participating in 
their battles, not as actual belligerents, but as a sanitary brigade they followed their 
warriors and supplied them with provisions and attended them v\hcn wounded, carry- 
ing their pappooses on their backs at the same time. 

Four times a year each tribe united in a great dance, having some religious 
purpose and signification. One of these was held in Napa County in 1841, about 
the time of the vernal equinox, and was terminated by a strange, inexplicable 
pantomime, accompanied with wild gestures and screams, the object of which the 
Indians said was "to scare the devil away from the rancherias." An old gentle- 



Early History and Settlement. 



67 



man who witnessed the performance says he has no doubt that their object must 
have been attained, if the devil had the slightest ear for music. Superstition wrapped 
these savages like a cloud, from which they never emerged. The phenomena of 
nature on every hand, indeed, taught them that there was some unseen cause for all 
things — some power which they could neither comprehend nor resist. The volcano 
and the earthquake taught them this, and many accounts of these in past ages are 
preserved in their traditions, but farther than this their minds could not penetrate. 

It will readily be acknowledged that to catch, subdue, and educate a race like 
this was a task of no mean difficulty, while to perfect it, even remotely, demanded 
all the elements of success. It was necessary to commingle both force and persua- 
sion. The former was represented by the soldiers at the presidio, and the latter 
by the fathers at the mission. To keep them together was a task which required 
the most perfect skill, in short, nothing but the attractiveness of new objects and 
strange ways, with the pleasant accessories of good diet and kind conduct, could 
have ever kept these roaming spirits, even for a time, from straying to their original 
haunts. 

What was the state of the missions in the early part of the present century ? 
We shall see. In the year 1767 the property possessed by the Jesuits, then known 
as the Pious Fund, was taken charge of by the Government, and used for the benefit 
of the missions. At that time this possession yielded an annual revenue of fifty 
thousand dollars, twenty-four thousand of which were expended in the stipends of the 
Franciscan and Dominican Missionaries, and the balance for the maintenance of the 
missions generally. Father Gleeson says : " The first inroad made on these pious 
donations was about the year i8o5, when to relieve the natural wants of the parent 
country, caused by the wars of 1801 and 1804, between Portugal in the one instance 
and Great Britain in the other. His Majesty's fiscal at Mexico scrupled not to confis- 
cate and remit to the authorities in Spain, as much as two hundred thousand dollars 
of the Pious Fund." By this means the missions were deprived of most substantial 
aid, and the fathers left upon their own resources; add to these difficulties the 
unsettled state of the country between the years 181 1 and 1831, and still their work of 
civilization was never stayed. 

To demonstrate this we reproduce the following tabular statement, which will at 
a glance show the state of the missions of Upper California from 1802 to 1822: — 

Table showing the Number of Indians Baptized, Married, Died, and Existing at the Different 
Missions of Upper California, between the Years 1802 to 1822. 



Name.of Mission. 



San Diego 

San Luis Rey 

San Juan Capistrano. . 

Santa Catarina 

San Fernando 

Santa Barbara 

Purissima Concepcion 
San Luis Obispo 



Bap- 


Mar- 


Died 


Exist- 


tized. 


ried. 




ing. 


S.452 


1,460 


3,186 


1,696 


4,024 


922 


1,507 


2,663 


3:879 


1,026 


2,531 


1.052 


6,906 


1,638 


4,635 


1,593 


2.519 


709 


1.505 


1,001 


3,608 


973 


2,608 


973 


4,917 


1,288 


3,224 


1,010 


1,195 


330 


896 


582 : 


3,100 


919 


2,173 


764 1 


2,562 


715 


1,954 


467 



Name of Mission. 



San Miguel 

San Antonio de Padua 
Our Lady of Soledad. . 

San Carlos 

San Juan Bautista. . . . 

Santa Cruz 

Santa Clara 

San Jos6 ... 

San Francisco 

San Rafael 



Bap- 
tized. 


Mar- 
ried. 


Died. 


2,205 


632 


1,336 


4,119 


1,037 


317 


1,932 


5«4 


1,333 


3,267 


912 


2,432 


3,270 


823 


i,«53 


2,1.36 


718 


1,541 


7,324 


2,056 


6, .565 


4.573 


1,376 


2,933 


6.804 


2,050 


5,202 


829 


244 


i«3 



Exist- 
ing. 



926 
834 
532 
341 
1,222 

499 

1.394 

1,620 

958 

830 



68 History of Alameda County, California. 

It will thus be observed by the foregoing, that out of the seventy-four 'thousand, 
six hundred and twenty-one converts received into the missions the large number of 
forty-seven thousand, nine hundred and twenty-five had succumbed to disease. Of 
what nature was this plague it is hard to establish; the missionaries themselves could 
assign no cause. Syphilis, measels, and small-po.x carried off numbers, and these 
diseases were generated, in all probability, by a sudden change in their lives from a 
free, wandering existence, to a state of settled quietude. 

Father Gleeson, in his valuable work says: "In 1813, when the contest for 
national independence was being waged on Mexican territory, the cortes of Spain 
resolved upon dispensing with the services of the fathers, by placing the missions in 
the hands of the secular clergy. The professed object of this secularization scheme 
was, indeed, the welfare of the Indians and colonists; but how little this accorded 
with the real intentions of the Government, is seen from the seventh section of the 
decree passed by the cortes, wherein it is stated that one-half of the land was to be 
hypothecated for the payment of the national debt. The decree ordering this com- 
mences as follows: 'The cortes general and extraordinarj', considering that the 
reduction of common land to private property is one of the measures most imperi- 
ously demanded for the welfare of the pueblos, and the improvement of agriculture 
and industry, and wishing at the same time to derive from this class of land aid to 
relieve the public necessities, a reward to the worthy defenders of the country and relief 
to the citizens not proprietors, decree, etc., without prejudice to the foregoing provis- 
ions, one-half of the vacant land and lands belonging to the royal patrimony of the 
monarchy, except the suburbs of the pueblos, is hereby reserved, to be in whole or in 
part, as it may be deemed necessary, hypothecated for the payment of the national 
debt,' etc. 

" This decree of the Government was not carried out at the time, yet it had its 
effect upon the state and well-being of the missions in general. It could not be 
expected that with such a resolution under their eyes, the fathers \\ould be as zeal- 
ous in developing the natural resources of the country as before, seeing that the 
result of their labors was at any moment liable to be seized on by the Government, 
and handed over to strangers. The insecurity thus created naturally acted upon the 
converts in turn, for when it became apparent that the authority of the missionaries 
was more nominal than real, a spirit of opposition and independence on the part of 
some of the people was the natural result. Even before this determination had been 
come to on the part of the Government, there were not wanting evidences of an evil 
disposition on the part of the people; for as early as 1803 one of the missions had 
become the scene of a revolt; and earlier still, as we learn from an unpublished corre- 
spondence of the fathers, it was not unusual for some of the converts to abandon the 
missions and return to their former wandering life. It was customary on those occa- 
sions to pursue the deserters, and compel them to return. 

"Meantime, the internal state of the missions was becoming more and more 
complex and disordered. The desertions were more frequent and numerous, the hos- 
tility of the unconverted more daring, and the general disposition of the people 
inclined to revolt. American traders and freebooters had entered the country, spread 
themselves all over the province and sowed the seeds of discord and revolt among the 



Early History and Settlement. 



inhabitants. Many of the more reckless and evil-minded readily listened to their 
suggestions, adopted their counsels, and broke out into open hostilities. Their hostile 
attack was first directed against the Mission of Santa Cruz, which they captured and 
plundered, when they directed their course to Monterey, and, in common with their 
American friends, attacked and plundered that place. From these and other like 
occurrences, it was clear that the condition of the missions was one of the greatest 
peril. The spirit of discord had spread among the people, hostility to the authority 
of the fathers had become common, while desertion from the villages was of fre- 
quent and almost constant occurrence. To remedy this unpleasant state of affairs, 
the military then in the country was entirely inadequate, and so matters continued, 
with little or no difference, till 1824, when, by the action of the Mexican Government, 
the missions began rapidly to decline. 

" Two years after Mexico had been formed into a Republic, the Government 
authorities began to interfere with the rights of the fathers and the existing state of 
affairs. In 1826 instructions were forwarded by the Federal Government to the 
authorities of California for the liberation of the Indians. This was followed, a few 
years later, by another act of the Legislature, ordering the whole of the missions to 
be secularized and the Religious to withdraw. The ostensible object assigned by the 
authors of the measure was the execution of the original plan formed by Government. 
The missions, it was alleged, were never intended to be permanent establishments; 
they were to give way, in the course of some years, to the regular ecclesiastical sys- 
tem, when the people would be formed into parishes, attended by a secular clergy." 

" Berleath these specious pretexts," says Dwindle, in his Colonial History, 
"was undoubtedly a perfect understanding between the Government at Mexico 
and the leading men in California, and in such a condition of things the Supreme. 
Government might absorb the Pious Fund, under the pretense that it was no 
longer necessary for missionary purposes, and thus had reverted to the State as 
a quasi escheat, while the co-actors in California should appropriate the local wealth 
of the missions, by the rapid and sure process of administering the temporali- 
ties." And again: " These laws (the secularization laws), whose ostensible purpose was 
to convert the missionary establishments into Indian pueblos, their churches into 
parish churches, and to elevate the Christianized Indians to the rank of citizens, were, 
after all, executed in such a manner that the so-called secularization of the missions 
resulted only in their plunder and complete ruin, and in the demoralization and dis- 
persion of the Christianized Indians." 

Immediately on the receipt of the decree, the then acting Governor of Califor- 
nia, Don Jose Figueroa, commenced the carrying out of its provisions, to which end 
he prepared certain provisional rules, and in accordance therewith the alteration in the 
missionary system was begun, to be immediately followed by the absolute ruin of both 
missions and country. Within a very few years the exertions of the fathers were 
entirely destroyed; the lands, which hitherto had teemed with abundance, were 
handed over to the Indians, to be by them neglected and permitted to return to their 
primitive wildness, and the thousands of cattle were divided among the people and 
the administrators for the personal benefit of either. 

Let us now briefly follow Father Gleeson in his contrast of the state of the peo- 



70 History of Alameda County, California. 

pie before and after secularization. He says: " It has been stated already that in 
1822 the entire number of Indians then inhabiting the different missions amounted 
to twenty thousand and upwards. To these others were being constantly addedi 
even during those years of political strife which immediately preceded the independ- 
ence of Mexico, until, in 1836, the number amounted to thirty thousand and more. 
Provided with all the necessary comforts of life, instructed in everj-thing requisite for 
their state in society, and devoutly trained in the duties and requirements of religion, 
these thirty thousand Californian converts led a peaceful, happy, contented life, 
strangers to those cares, troubles and anxieties common to higher and more civilized 
conditions of life. At the same time that their religious condition was one of thank- 
fulness and grateful satisfaction to the fathers, their worldly position was one of 
unrivaled abundance and prosperity. Divided between the different missions from 
St. Lucas to San Francisco, clo.se upon one million of live-stock belonged to the peo- 
ple. Of these four hundred thousand were horned cattle, sixty thousand horses, and 
more than three hundred thousand sheep, goats, and swine. The united annual 
return of the cereals, consisting of wheat, maize, beans, and the like, was upwards of 
one hundred and twenty thousand bushels; while, at the same time, throughout the 
different missions, the preparation and manufacture of soap, leather, wine, brandy, 
hides, wool, oil, cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, salt, and soda, were largely and exten- 
sively cultivated. And to such perfection were these articles brought, that some of 
them were eagerly .sought for and purchased in the principal cities in Europe. 

"The material prosperity of the country was further increased by an annual reve- 
nue of about one million of dollars, the net proceeds of the hide and tallow of one 
hundred thousand oxen slaughtered annually at the different missions. Another 
hundred thousand were slaughtered by the settlers for their own private advantage. 
The revenues on the articles of which there are no specific returns, are also supposed 
to have averaged another million dollars, which, when added to the foregoing, makes 
the annual revenue of the California CathoHc Missions, at the time of their supremacy, 
between two and three million dollars. Independent of these, there were the rich and 
extensive gardens and orchards attached to the missions, exquisitely ornamented and 
enriched, in many instances, with a great variety of European and tropical fruit-trees, 
plums, bananas, oranges, olives, and figs, added to which were the numerous and fertile 
vineyards, rivaling in the quantity and quality of the grape those of the old countries 
of Europe, and all used for the comfort and maintenance of the natives. In a word, 
the happy results, both spiritual and temporal, produced in Upper California by the 
spiritual children of St. Francis, during the sixty years of their missionary career, 
were such as have rarely been equaled and never surpassed in modern times. In a 
country naturally salubrious, and, it must be admitted, fertile beyond many parts of the 
world, yet presenting at the outset numerous obstacles to the labors of the mission- 
ary, the fathers succeeded in establishing, at regular distances along the coast, as many 
as one-and-twenty missionary establishments. Into these holy retreats their zeal and 
ability enabled them to gather the whole of the indigenous race, with the exception of 
a few wandering tribes, who, it is only reasonable to suppose, would also have followed 
the example of their brethren, had not the labors of the fathers been dispensed with 
by the civil authorities. There, in those peaceful, happy abodes, abounding in more 



Early History and Settlement. 71 

than the ordinary enjoyment of things spiritual and temporal, thirty thousand faithful, 
simple-hearted Indians passed their days in the practice of virtue and the improvement 
of their country; from a wandering, savage, uncultivated race, unconscious as well 
of the God who created them as the end for which they were made, they became, after 
the advent of the fathers, a civilized, domestic. Christian people, whose morals were 
as pure as their minds were simple. Daily attendance at the holy sacrifice of the 
mass, morning and night prayer, confession and communion at stated times — the true 
worship, in a word, of the Deity, succeeded the listless, aimless life, the rude pagan 
games, and the illicit amours. The plains and valleys, which for centuries lay uncul- 
tivated and unproductive, now teemed under an abundance of every species of corn; 
the hills and plains were covered with stock; the fig tree, the olive, and the vine yielded 
their rich abundance, while lying in the harbors, waiting to carry to foreign markets 
the rich products of the country, might be seen numerous vessels from different parts 
of the world. Such was the happy and prosperous condition of the country under the 
missionary rule; and with this the reader is requested to contrast the condition of the 
people after the removal of the Religious, and the transfer of power to the secular 
authorities. 

" In 1833 the decree for the liberation of the Indians was passed by the Mexican 
Congress, and put in force in the following year. The dispersion and demoralization 
of the people was the immediate result. Within eight years after the execution of 
the decree, the number of Christians diminished from thirty thousand six hundred 
and fifty to four thousand four hundred and fifty! Some of the missions, which in 
1834 had as many as one thousand five hundred souls, numbered only a few hundred 
in 1842. The two missions of San Rafael and San Francisco Solano (Sonoma) 
decreased respectively within this period from one thousand two hundred and fifty, and 
one thousand three hundred, to twenty and seventy ! A like diminution was observed 
in the cattle and general products of the country. Of the eight hundred and eight 
thousand head of live-stock belonging to the missions at the date above mentioned, 
only sixty-three thousand and twenty remained in 1842. The diminution in the 
cereals was equally striking; it fell from seventy to four thousand hectolitres. * * * 
By descending to particular instances this (the advantage of the religious over the 
civil administration) will become even more manifest still. At one period during the 
supremacy of the fathers, the principal mission of the country (San Diego) produced 
as much as six thousand /ane£-as of wheat, and an equal quantity of maize, but in 1842 
the return for this mission was only eighteen hundred fanegas in all." 

But why prolong these instances which are adduced by the learned and reverend 
father? Better will it be to let the reader judge for himself Figures are incontro- 
vertible facts; let them speak. We present on the following page a carefully pre- 
pared table showing the number of Indians, horned cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and 
swine, together with the number of bushels of grain grown by the twenty-one Mis- 
sions of Upper California between the years 1884 and 1842. These figures are 
collected from the records preserved by the Mission Fathers, and may be relied upon 
as approximately correct, and it will be universally admitted that this showing 
displays a degree of industry and perseverance on the part of the missionaries far in 
advance of their ruthless and indolent successors. 



72 



History of Alameda County, California. 



Comparative Statement Showing the Number of Indians, Horned Cattle, Horses, Sheep, Goats, 
AND Swine, and Bushels of Grain Possessed and Grown rv the Twenty-one Missions of 
Upper California between the Years 1834 and 1842. 



NAMES OF 
THE MISSIONS. 



San Diego 

San Louis Key - . . . 

San Juan Capistrano 

San Gabriel 

San Fernando 

San Buenaventura 

Santa Barbara 

Santa Cruz 

La Purissima Concepcion 

San Luis Obispo 

San Miguel 

San Antonio 

Nostra Senora de la Soiedad. . 

Mission del Carmel 

San Juan Bautista 

Santa Cruz 

Santa Clara 

San Jos^ 

Dolores de San Francisco 

San Rafael 

San Francisco Solano 



Time 

of 

Foundation 



June 
Tune 
"Nov. 
Sept. 
Sept. 
Mch. 
Dec. 
Sept. 
Dec. 
Sept. 
July 
July 
Oct. 
June 
June 
Aug. 



I una 
Oct. 
Dec. 
Aug. 



1769 

179S 

1776 

177 

1797 

1782 

1786 

1S04 

1787 

177 

1797 

177 

179 

1770 

1799 
1791 
1777 
1797 
1776 
1817 
1823 



Number of 
Indians. 



1834. 1 1842. 



2,500' 

3.500] 
1,700, 
2,700 
1,500; 

I,IOOj 

1,200 

1.300' 

900 

1,250' 

1,200^ 

1,400' 

700 

500 

1,450 

600 

i,Soo 

2,300 

500 

1,250 

1,300 



500 

650 

100 

500 

400 

300 

400 

250 

60 

80 

30 

150 

20 

40 

80 

50 

300 

400 

50 

20 

70 



Number 

of 

Horned Cattle. 



1834. 11842. 



12,000' 

So, 000 

70.000 

105,000' 

14,000 

4,000 

5,000 

14,000 

15,000 

9, 000 1 

4,000 

12,000 

6,000 

3.000 

9,000: 

8,000 

13,000 

2, 400 1 

5,000 

3,000 

3,000; 



20 

2,800 

500 

700 

1,500 

200 

1,800 

:o,ooo 

800 

300 

40 

800 



1,500 
S,ooo 

60 



Number 

of 
Horses. 



Number 

of 

Sheep, Goats 

and Swine. 



1834. 1842.1 1834. I 1842. 



800 
000 
900 
000 
,000 
000 
200 
200 
000 
000 
500 
000 
200 
700 
,200 
800 
,200 
,100 
,600 
500 
700 



loo 
400 
'5", 

500 
400 

40 
180 

500 
300 
200 

50 

500 



250 
200 

50 



17,000 
100,000 
10,000 
40,000' 
7,000 
6,000 
5,ooo| 
12,000' 
14,000 
7,000 
10,000 
14,000 
7,000! 
7, 000 1 
9, 000 1 
10,000 
15,000 
19,000 
4,000 
4,500 
4,000 



200 

4,000 

200 

3.500 

2,000 

400 

400 

4,000 

3.500 
800 
400 

2,000 



3,000 

7,000 

200 



30,650 4,450 396,400 29,020 32,600 3,820 321,500 31,600 123,000 



1834. 

13,000 

14,000 

10,000 

20,000 

8,000 

3,000 

3,000 

3.500 

6,000 

4,000 

2,500 

3,000 

2,500 

1,500 

3.500 

2,500 

6.000 

10,000 

2, 500 
1,500 
3,000 



Being twenty-one missiuns in all distributed o\cr a distance of two hundred and 
eighty-nine leagues. 

That the fathers who had charge of the missions in Upper California paid strict 
attention to the duty of Christianizing the native race, is evidenced by documents still 
in existence. The following report and order dated Monterey, May 6, 1804, addressed 
to the Commissioner of the village of Branciforte, though belonging to the chronicles 
of another county, is here produced to exemplify the stringency with which religious 
observances were carried out: — 

" In accordance with the rules made by the Governor, requiring a monthly report 
from the Commissioner of Branciforte, showing who of the colonists and residents do or 
po not comply with their religious duties, the official report for the month of April, 
1804, certified by the reverend minister, has reached its destination. The Indian, Tori- 
bio, at some time past was derelict, but now has been brought to a proper sense of the 
requirements of a Christian era, and is absolved from further stricture upon his failures, 
and the reverend fathers are to be so notified. The rebellious Ignacio Acedo, for 
failure to comport himself outv\ardly as a devotee, is to be arrested and turned over 
to the church authorities, where flagellation and confinement in the stocks will cause 
him to pay a proper respect, and to be obedient to the precepts and commandments 
of the church, of which he has been a contumacious member. The Governor is to be 
informed of the punishment to which Acedo will be sentenced; and requires the infor- 
mation in writing, that it may be used by him, if he requires it, as an example of what 
those under his command may expect should they fail in the observance of the require- 
ments of the church." 



Early History and Settlement. 73 

Then follows Government Order No. 29, signed by Jose M. Estudillo, Secretary 
of Jose J. de Arrillaga, Military Commander of Alta California, and which is to this 
effect: — 

" I am in receipt of the list, certified by the reverend minister of the mission of 
Santa Cruz, of those who have observed the rules of religion, in having confessed and 
received the sacrament. The Indian, Toribio, has complied herewith, having done 
both, and I will send word to such effect to the fathers. You will cause Ignacio 
Acedo to be arrested, and notify the reverend fathers when you have done so, that 
they may do with him as they think proper, and inform me what the pastors of the 
church do to its members who fail to conform to the precepts of the holy religion, 
and have the reverend fathers put it in writing. May God protect you many years.' 

In its early day the whole military force in Upper California did not number 
more than from two to three hundred men, divided between the four presidios of San 
Diego, Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco, while there were but two towns 
or pueblos, Los Angeles, and San Jos^ the latter of which was established, November 
29, 1777- Another was subsequently started in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz, 
which was named Branciforte, after a Spanish Viceroy. It may be conjectured that 
the garrisons were not maintained in a very effective condition. Such a supposition 
would be correct, for everywhere betokened the disuse of arms, and the long absence 
of an enemy. The cannon of the presidio at San Francisco were grey with mould, 
and women and children were to be seen snugly located within the military lines. 
The soldiers of the San Francisco district were divided into three cantonments — one 
at the presidio, one at Santa Clara Mission, and one at Mission San Josd We now 
append a list of the soldiers connected with the presidio in the year 1790, which has 
been copied from the Spanish archives in San Francisco. Here will be found the 
names, position, nativity, color, race, age, etc., of the soldiers, as well as those of their 
wives, when married: — 

Don Josef Arguello, Commandante, age 39. 

Don Ramon Laro de la Neda, Alferez de Campo, age 34. 

Pedro Amador, Sergeant. Spaniard from Guadalaxara, age 51; wife, Ramona 
Noriega, Spanish, aged 30; seven children. 

Nicolas Galindo, mestizo, Durango, 42. 

Majio Chavoya, City of Mexico, 34; wife, a Bernal. 

Miguel Pacheco, 36; wife, a Sanchez. 

Luis Maria Peralta, Spaniard, Sonora, 32; wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, 19. 

Justa Altamarino, mulatto, Sonora, 45. 

Ygnacio Limaxes, Sonora, 49; wife, Maria Gertruda Rivas, Spaniard, 38. 

Ygnacio Soto, 41; wife, Barbara Espinoza. 

Juan Bernal, mestizo, Sonora, 53; wife. Maxima I de Soto. 

Jph. Maria Martinez, Sonora, 35; wife, Maria Garcia, mulatto, 18. 

Salvador Iguera, L. C, 38; wife, Alexa Marinda, Sonora, 38. 

Nicolas Berryessa, mestizo, 25; wife, Maria Gertrudis Peralta; 24. 

Pedro Peralta, Sonora, 26; wife, Maria Carmen Grisalva, 19. 

Ygnacio Pacheco, Sonora, 30; wife, Maria Dolores Cantua, mestizo, age 16. 

Francisco Bernal, Sinaloa, 27; wife, Maria Petrona, Indian, 29. 



74 History of Alameda County, California. 

Bartolo Pacheco, Sonora, 25; wife, Maria Francisco Soto, 18. 

Apolinario Bernal, Sonora, 25. 

Joaquin Bernal, Sonora, 28; wife, Josefa Sanchez, 21. 

Josef Aceva, Durango, 26. 

Manuel Boranda, Guadalaxara, 40; wife, Gertrudis Higuera, 13. 

Francisco Valencia, Sonora, 22; wife, Maria Victoria Higuera, 15. 

Josef Antonio Sanchez, Guadalaxara, 39; wife, Maria Dolora Moxales, 34. 

Josef Ortez, Guadalaxara, 23. 

Josef Aguil, Guadalaxara, 22; wife, Conellaria Remixa, 14. 

Alexandro Avisto, Durango, 23. 

Juan Josef Higuera, Sonora, 20. 

Francisco Flores, Guadalaxara, 20. 

Josef Maria Castilla, Guadalaxara, 19. 

Ygnacio Higuera, Sonora; wife, Maria Micaelo Borjorques, 28. 

Ramon Linare, Sonora, 19. 

Josef Miguel, Saens, Sonora, iS. 

Carto Serviente, San Diego, Indian, 60. 

Augustin Xirviento, L. C, 20. 

Nicolas Presidairo, Indian, 40. 

Gabriel Peralta, invalid, Sonora. 

Manuel Vutron, invalid, Indian. 

Ramon Borjorques, invalid, 98. 

Francisco Romero, invalid, 52. 

A recapitulation shows that the inmates of the presidio consisted altogether of 
one hundred and forty-four persons, including, men, women, and children, soldiers, 
and civilians. There were thirty-eight soldiers, and three laborers, of these one 
was an European other than Spanish, seventy-eight Spaniards, five Indians, two 
mulattos, and forty-four of other castes. 

An inventory of the rich men of the presidio, bearing date 1793, was discovered 
some years since, showing that Pedro Amador was the proprietor of thirteen head of 
stock and fifty-two sheep; Nicolas Galindo, ten head of stock; Luis Peralta, two head 
of stock; Manuel Boranda, three head of stock; Juan Bernal, twentj'-three head of 
stock and two hundred and forty-six sheep; Salvador Youere, three head of stock; 
Aleso Miranda, fifteen head of stock; Pedro Peralta, two head of stock; Francisco 
Bernal, sixteen head of stock; Bartol Pacheco, seven head of stock; Joaquin Bernal, 
eight head of stock; Francisco Valencia, two head of stock; Berancia Galindo, six 
head of stock; Hermenes Sal (who appears to hav^e been a secretarj', or something 
besides a soldier), five head of stock and three mares. Computing these, we find the 
total amount of stock owned by these men was one hundred and fifteen cattle, two 
hundred and ninety-eight sheep, and seventeen mares — the parent stem from which 
sprung the hundreds of thousands of head of stock which afterwards roamed over the 
Californian mountains and valleys. 

We have thus far dwelt chiefly upon the establishment of the missions; let us 
now briefly take into consideration the attempt made by another European nation to 
get a foothold on the coast of California. 



Early History and Settlement. 75 

The Russians, to whom then belonged all that territory now known as Alaska, 
had found their country of almost perpetual cold, without facilities for the cultivation 
of those fruits and cereals which go a great way towards maintaining life; therefore 
ships were dispatched along the coast in quest of a spot where a station might be 
established, and those wants supplied. In a voyage of this nature, the port of Bodega, 
in Sonoma County, was visited in January, 1811, by Alexander Koskoff, who took 
possession of the place on the fragile pleas that he had been refused a supply of water 
at Yerba Buena (San Francisco), and that he had obtained, by right of purchase from 
the Indians, the land lying between Point Reyes and Point Arena (Mendocino 
County), and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he remained for a while, 
and to Bodega gave the name of Romanzoff, calling the stream now known as Russian 
River, Slavianka. 

The king of Spain, it should be remembered, claimed all territory north to Fuca 
Straits; therefore, on Governor Arguello receiving the intelligence of the Russian 
occupation of Bodega, he reported the circumstance to the Viceroy, Revilla Gigedo, 
who returned dispatches ordering the Muscovite intruder to depart. The only answer 
received to this communication was a verbal message, saying that the orders of the 
Viceroy of Spain had been received and transmitted to St. Petersburg for the action 
of the Czar. Here, however, the matter did not rest. There arrived in the harbor of 
San Francisco, in 18 16, in the Russian brig Rurick, a scientific expedition under the 
command of Otto von Kotzebue. In accordance with instructions received from the 
Spanish authorities. Governor Sola proceeded to San Francisco, visited Kotzebue, 
and, as directed by his Government, offered aid in furtherance of the endeavors to 
advance scientific research on the coast. At the same time he complained of Koskoff; 
informed him of the action taken on either side, and laid particular emphasis on the 
fact that the Russians had been occupiers of Spanish territory for five years. Upon 
this complaint Don Gervasio Arguello was dispatched to Bodega as the bearer of a 
message from Kotzebue to Koskoff, requiring his presence in San Francisco. This 
messenger was the first to bring a definite report of the Russian settlement there, 
which then consisted of twenty-five Russians and eighty Kodiac Indians. On 
October 28th, a conference was held on board the Rurick, in the harbor of San Fran- 
cisco, between Arguello, Kotzebue and Koskoff; there being also present Jose Maria 
Estudillo, Luis Antonio Arguello, and a naturalist named Chamisso, who acted as 
interpreter. No new development was made at this interview, for Koskoff claimed 
that he was acting in strict conformity with instructions from the Governor of Sitka; 
therefore Kotzebue declined to take any action in the matter, contenting himself with 
the simple promise that the entire affair should be submitted to St. Petersburg to 
await the instructions of the Emperor of Russia. Thus the matter then rested. Com- 
munications subsequently made produced a like unsatisfactory result, and the Russians 
were permitted to remain for a lengthened period possessors of the land they had so 
arbitrarily appropriated. 

In Bodega, the Russians, however, went to work with a will, whether they had a 
right to the soil or not. They proceeded into the country about six miles and there 
established a settlement, houses being built, fields fenced, and agricultural pursuits 
vigorously engaged in. As soon as the first crop had matured and was ready for 



76 History of Alameda County, California. 

shipment, it became necessary for them to have a warehouse at the bay where their 
vessels could be loaded, which was done, it being used for the storage of grain or furs 
as necessity called for. It was not long before they found there was a strong oppo- 
sition to them, and that it would be necessary to build a fort for their protection if 
they would keep possession of their newly acquired domain. Open warfare was 
threatened, and the Russians had reason to believe that the threats would be carried 
out. Besides the Spaniards, there was another enemy to word against — the Indians 
— over whom the former, through the missions, had absolute control, and the Russians 
apprehended that this power would be used against them. Several expeditions were 
organized by the Spanish to march against the Russians, and while they all came to 
naught, yet they served to cause them to seek for some place of refuge in case of 
attack. This they did not care to look for at any point nearer the Bay of San Fran- 
cisco, for there they would be brought in closer proximity to the enemy, hence they 
went in an opposite direction. Doubtless the Muscovite would have been glad ta 
have adopted a laisses /aire policy towards the Spanish, and would have been well 
satisfied to have left them alone if they would only have retaliated in like manner;, 
fearing, however, to trust the Spaniards, they proceeded to search for such a location 
as would afford them natural protection from their enemies. 

In passing up the coast to the northward, they came to Fort Ross, where they found 
everything they desired. Vast meadows extended to the eastward affording pasture 
to flocks without number. 

" This is the forest primeval; the murmuring pines and the hemlocks, 
Bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight. 
Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic. 
Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. 
Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean 
Speaks and in accents disconsolate, answers the wail of the forest. " 

There was a beautiful little cove in which vessels might lie in safety from the fury 
of northern storms; near at hand was an ample stretch of beach on which their rude, 
yet staunch, argosies could be constructed and easily launched upon the mighty deep; 
no more propitious place could have been found for the establishment of the Rus- 
sian headquarters. The location once fixed upon they set to work to prepare their 
new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the ocean's shore, in such a. 
position as to command all ships lying in the little cove and prevent any hostile 
craft from effecting a landing. The ground inclosed in this stronghold was a par- 
allelogram two hundred and eighty feet wide, three hundred and twelve feet long,, 
and containing two acres, its corners being placed very nearly upon the cardinal 
points of the compass. At the north and south angles there was constructed an 
octagonal bastion, both built exactly alike, twenty-four feet in diameter, two stories 
high, and each mounted with six pieces of artillery. The walls were formed of 
hewed logs, mortised together at the corners and of about eight inches in thick- 
ness, while the roof was conical in shape, with a small flag-staff at the ape.x. The 
stockade inclined towards these towers in such a way that one-half of them was 
within and the remaining portion without the inclosure, while the entrance to either 
was through small doors from the interior, and the embrasures overlooking both the 
inside and outside being thus arranged in order to protect those within from an out-- 



Early History and Settlement. 77 

side enemy, as well as to have all in the interior in range of the guns in case of an 
hnute. It is interesting to note the manner in which the stockade itself was con- 
structed. A trench was excavated two feet in depth and at every ten feet along 
the bottom a hole was dug one foot deep in which six by ten-inch posts were 
inserted, between which, and firmly empierced into them, was a strong girder fastened 
with a wooden pin. Slabs of varying width, but all about six inches in thickness, 
were then placed in an unright position between the iirst posts and resting on the 
girder in the ditch, being firmly fastened to them, while at a distance of twelve feet 
from the lower girder there was run another one, which, too, was fastened into the 
posts and clinched with wooden pins. These girders rested on the top of the slabs 
mentioned as being placed between the posts. The slabs were slotted at the tops, 
into which a piece of timber was passed, then huge wooden pins were thrust down 
through the girders and the piece in the slots and well into the body of the slabs. 
The main posts extended about three feet higher, and near the top a lighter girder 
was run along, and between the two last mentioned there was a row of light slabs 
two inches thick and four inches wide, pointed at the top like pickets. It may well 
be imagined that when the trench was filled up with tamped rock and dirt that this 
fortification was almost invulnerable, when we remember the implements of war likely 
to be brought against it in those days of rude weapons. All around the stockade 
there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or carronades, of which latter, 
it is said, there were several in the fortress. 

On the northern side of the eastern angle there was erected a chapel, which was 
used exclusively by the officers of the garrison. It was twenty-five by thirty-one feet 
in dimensions and strongly built, the outer wall forming a part of the stockade, the 
round port-holes being peculiar looking openings in a house of worship. The entrance 
was on the inside of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door held upon 
wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about ten by twenty-five feet in size, thus 
leaving the auditorium twenty-one by twenty-five feet, from which a narrow stairway 
led to a low loft, while the building was crowned with two domes, one of which was 
round and the other pentagonal in shape, in which, it is related, there had been hung 
a chime of bells. The roof was made of long planks, either sawed or rove from 
redwood, as was also the sides of the chapel in the fort. A considerable degree of 
carpenter's skill was displayed in the construction of the building, for a faint attempt 
at getting out mouldings for the inner door and window casings was made, a bead 
being worked around the outer edge of the casing and mitered at the corners. 

On the west side of the northern angle there was a two-storied building, twenty- 
eight by eighty feet in dimensions, which was roughly constructed and doubtless used 
as the barracks for the men of the garrison. On the northern side of the western 
angle there was a one-story building, twenty-nine by fifty feet, constructed in a better 
style of workmanship and evidently used as officers' quarters. On the southern side 
of the western angle was a one-story building, twenty-five by seventy-five feet, which 
was presumably used for a work-house, as various branches of industry were prose- 
cuted within its walls; and on the eastern side of the southern angle there was a row 
of low shed buildings, used, it is thought, for the stabling of stock and storing of 
feed. The framework of all the buildings was made of very large and heavy timbers, 



History of Alameda County, California. 



many of them being twelve inches square. The rafters were all great, ponderous 
round pine logs, a considerable number of them being si.x inches in diameter. The 
above includes the stockade and all its interior buildings. 

We will now draw attention to the exterior buildings, for be it known that 
there was, at one time, a colony numbering two hundred and fifty souls at Fort Ross. 
In 1845 there were the remains of a village of about twenty-five small dwelling-houses 
on the north side of the stockade, all of which were in keeping with those at Bodega. 
They were probably not over twelve by fourteen feet in size, and fashioned from 
rough slabs of redwood. These hardy Muscovites were so rugged and inured to the 
cold of the higher latitudes that they cared not for the few cracks that might admit 
the fresh, balmy air of the California winter mornings. Also, to the northward of, 
and near this village, situated on an eminence, was a wind-mill, which was the motor 
for driving a single run of burrs, and also for a stamping machine used for grinding 
tan-bark. The wind-mill produced all the flour used in that and the Bodega settle- 
ments, and probably a considerable amount was also sent with the annual shipment 
to Sitka. To the south of the stockade, and in a deep gulch at the debouchure of a 
small stream into the ocean, there stood a very large building, probably eighty by 
one hundred feet in size, the rear half of which was used as a tanning establish- 
ment. Here were six vats in all, constructed of heavy, rough redwood slabs, and 
each with a capacity of fifty barrels; there were also the usual appliances neces.sary 
for the conduct of a tannery, but these implements were rough and unwieldly in their 
make, still, with these, they were able to manufacture a good quality of leather in 
large quantities. The front half of the building, or that facing the ocean, was used 
as a workshop for shipwrights. Ways were constructed on a sand beach at this 
point, leading into deep water, and upon them were built a number of staunch vessels, 
and from here was launched the very first sea-going craft constructed in California. 
Still further to the south, and near the ocean shore, stood a building eighty by a hundred 
feet, which bore all the marks of having been used as a store-house; it was, however, 
unfortunately blown down by a storm on July 16, nS/S, and soon there will be nothing 
to mark its site. 

Tradition states that to the eastward of the fort, and across the gulch, there once 
stood a very large building, which was used as a church for the common people of 
the settlement, near which the cemetery was located. A French tourist once paid 
Fort Ross a visit, and, arriving after dark, asked permission to remain over night 
with the parties who at that time owned that portion of the Mexican grant on which 
the settlement was located. During the evening the conversation naturally drifted 
upon the old history of the place. The tourist displayed a familiarity with all the 
surroundings, which surprised his host and caused him to inquire if he had ever 
lived there with the Russians. He answered that he had not, but that he had a very 
warm friend in St. Petersburg who had passed thirty years of his life at Fort Ross as 
a priest in the Greek Church, and that he had made him a promise, upon his departure 
for California, about a year before, to pay a visit to the scenes of the holy labors of 
the priest, and it was in compliance with this promise that he was there at the time. 
Among the other things inquired about was the church close to the cemetery men- 
tioned above. All traces of this building had long since disappeared and the settlers 



Early History and Settlement. 79 

were surprised to hear that it ever stood there. The tourist assured them that the priest 
had stated distinctly that such an edifice once occupied that site, and also that a num- 
ber of other buildings stood near it, which were used by the peasants as homes. 
Ernest Rufus, of Sonoma, who visited Fort Ross in 1845, has informed us that when 
the land lapsed into disuse after the Russians had left, wild oats grew very rank, often 
reaching the enormous height of ten feet, and the Indians being wont to set it on fire, 
during these conflagrations the fences and many of the smaller houses of the Rus- 
sians were consumed, while he well remembers there were a number of cabins near 
the cemetery, and that the blackened ruins of a very large building also remained, 
which the half-breed Russo-Indians told him had been used as a church. The 
tourist mentioned above stated that his friend, the priest, was greatly attached to 
the place, as had been all who had lived in the settlement. They found the climate 
genial, the soil productive, and the resources of the country great, and, all in all, it 
was a most desirable place to live in. 

The Russians had farmed very extensively here, having at least two thousand 
acres inclosed, besides a great deal that was not. Their fences, which were chiefly of 
that kind known as rail and post, as stated before, nearly all perished in the wild fires. 
Their agricultural processes were as crude as any of their other work. Their plow 
was very similar to the old Spanish implement, so common in this country at that 
time and still extant in Mexico, with this exception, the Muscovite instrument pos- 
sessed a mold-board. Oxen and cows were employed as draft animals, the old Span- 
ish yoke being adjusted to their horns instead of to their necks. We have no account 
of any attempt to construct either a cart or a wagon, but it is probable they had vehicles 
like unto those described as being in use among the Californians at that time, while 
it is supposed they used to a great extent sleds for transporting their produce, when 
cut, to the threshing floor, which was constructed differently from those then common 
in the country, and was simply composed of heavy puncheons elevated from the ground 
into the interstices between which the grain fell to the floor as it was released from 
the head. The threshing was done in this wise: A layer of grain, in the straw, of a 
foot or two in depth, was placed upon the floor, over which oxen hitched to a log — 
into which were inserted rows of wooden pegs — were then driven. As the log revolved 
these pegs acted well the part of a flail, the straw being expeditiously relieved of its 
burden of grain. It was, doubtless, no difficult task to winnow the grain after it was 
threshed as the wind blows a stiff blast at that point during all of the summer months. 

The Russians constructed a wharf at the northern side of the little cove and 
graded a road down the steep ocean shore to it, the line of which is still visible, 
for it passed much of its way through solid rock. This quay or jetty was made fast 
to the rocks on which it was built with long iron bolts, of which only a few that were 
driven into the hard surface now remain, while the wharf itself is gone, and mayhap 
its timbers drifted upon many a foreign shore. 

These old Muscovites, probably, produced the first lumber with a saw ever made 
north of the San Francisco Bay, for they had both a pit and whip-saw, the former of 
which can be seen to this day. Judging from the number of stumps still standing, 
and the extent of territory over which they extended their logging operations, they 
evidently consumed large quantities of lumber. The timber was only about one mile 



80 History of Alameda County, California. 

distant from the ship-yard and landing, while the stumps of trees cut by them are 
still standing, and beside them from one to six shoots have sprung up, many of which 
have now reached a size sufficient for lumber purposes. This growth has been remark- 
able and goes to show that if proper care were taken, each half century would see a new 
crop of redwoods, sufficiently large for all practical purpo.ses, while ten decades would 
develop gigantic trees. 

As stated above, the cemetery lay to the eastward of the fort, about one-fourth 
of a mile, and across a very deep gulch, it being near the church for the peasants. 
There were never more than fifty graves in it, though all traces are obliterated now of 
not more than a dozen; most of those still remaining had some sort of a wooden struct- 
ure built over them. One manner of constructing these mausoleums was to make a 
series of rectangular frames of square timbers, about six inches in diameter, each frame a 
certain degree smaller than the one below it, which were placed one above another, until 
an apex was reached, the whole being surmounted with a cross. Another method was 
to erect a rectangular frame of heavy planking about one foot high and cover the top 
with two heavy planks placed so as to be roof-shaped; others had simply a rude cross; 
others, a cross on which some mechanical skill was displayed, while one has a large 
round post standing high above the adjacent crosses. The occupants of this silent 
city are presumably buried with their heads toward the west for the graves lie due 
east and west. From their size, several of them must hold the ashes of children, 
but no inscription remains to tell their story. Quietly are they sleeping in their far- 
away tombs where the eyes of those who knew and loved them in their earthly life 
can never rest again upon their little graves, and while the eternal roar of the mighty 
Pacific makes music in the midnight watches do they await the great day that shall 
restore them to their long-lost friends. Sleep on, brave hearts, and peaceful be thy 
slumbers. 

In an easterly direction, and about one mile distant from the fort, there was an 
inclosure containing about five acres, surrounded by a fence about eight feet high, 
made of redwood slabs about two inches in thickness, these being driven into the 
ground, while the tops were nailed firmly to girders extending from post to post, 
set about ten feet apart. Within the inclosure there was an orchard consisting of 
apple, prune, and cherry trees. Of these, about fifty of the first and nine of the last- 
named, moss-grown and gray with age, still remain, while it is said that all the old 
stock of German prunes in California came from seed produced there. 

The Russians had a small settlement at a place now known as Russian Gulch 
where they evidently grew wheat, for the remains of a warehouse are still to be seen. 

There were several commanders who had charge of the Russian interests on the 
Pacific Coast, but the names of all save the first, Alexander Koskoff, and the last, 
Rotscheff, have been lost to tradition. Gen. William T. Sherman relates a pleas- 
ing incident in his " Memoirs " which is called to mind by the mention of the name of 
Rotscheff While lying at anchor in a Mediterranean port, the vessel on which Sher- 
man was traveling was visited by the officers of a Russian naval vessel. During 
the exchange of courtesies and in the course of conversation, one of the Russian 
officers took occasion to remark that he was an American by birth, having been born 
in the Russian Colony in California, and that he was the son of one of the colonial 



--^s.^ 





LtiMAA^ 



Early History and Settlement. 81 

rulers. He was doubtless the son of Rotscheff and his beautiful spouse, the Princess 
de Gargarin, in whose honor Mount St. Helena was named. The beauty of this lady- 
excited so ardent a passion in the breast of Solano, chief of the Indian tribe of that 
name, that he formed a plan to capture, by force or strategy, the object of his strange 
love, and he might have succeeded had his design not been frustrated by General 
Vallejo. 

We have thus set forth all the facts concerning the Russian occupancy, and their 
habits, manners, buildings, occupations, etc.; we will now trace the causes which led 
to their departure from the genial shores of California. 

It has been stated that the promulgation of the Monroe Doctrine caused them to 
leave; but that is hardly the fact, for they remained seventeen years after this policy 
was announced to the countries of Europe; it is, however, probably true that European 
nations had something to do with it, for both France and England had an eye upon 
this territory, and both hoped some day to possess it. As long as the Russians main- 
tained a colony here, they had a prior claim to the territory; hence they must be got rid 
of The Russians also recognized the fact that the Americans were beginning to come 
into the country in considerable numbers, and that it was inevitable that they should 
overrun and possess it. The subsequent train of events proved that their surmises were 
correct; one thing, however, is evident, and that is, that they did not depart at the 
request or behest of either the Spanish or Mexican Governments. It is almost certain 
that the Russians contemplated a permanent settlement at this point when they 
located here, as this section would provide them with wheat, an article much needed 
for the supply of their stations in the far north. Of course, as soon as the Spanish 
authorities came to know of their permanent location, word was sent of the fact to 
Madrid. In due course of time reply came from the seat of Government ordering the 
Muscovite intruders to depart, but to this peremptory order, their only answer was that 
the matter had been referred to St. Petersburg. 

We have shown above that an interview had taken place between Koskoff and the 
Spanish authorities on board the Riirick, when anchored in the Bay of San Francisco, 
to consult on the complaints of the latter, but that nothing came of it. The com- 
mandants under the Mexican riginie, in later years, organized several military expe- 
ditions for the purpose of marching against the intruders, but none in that direction 
was ever made. For more than a quarter of a century they continued to hold undis- 
turbed possession of the disputed territory, prosecuted their farming, stock-raising, 
hunting, trapping, and ship-building enterprises; and, whatever may have been the 
causes which led to it, there finally came a time when the Russian authorities had 
decided to withdraw the California colony. The proposition was made first by them 
to the Government authorities at Monterey, to dispose of their interests at Bodega and 
Fort Ross, including their title to the land, but, as the authorities had never recog- 
nized their right or title, and did not wish to do so at that late date, they refused the 
purchase. Application was next made to Gen. M. G. Vallejo, but on the same 
grounds he refused to buy. They then applied to Capt. John A. Sutter, a gentle- 
man at that time residing near where Sacramento City now stands, and who had 
made a journey from Sitka some years before in one of their vessels. They persuaded 
Sutter into the belief that their title was good, and could be maintained; so, after 



82 History of Alameda County, California. 

making out a full invoice of the articles they had for disposal, including all the land 
lying between Point Reyes and Point Mendocino, and one league inland, as well as 
cattle, farming and mechanical implements, also, a schooner of one hundred and 
eighty tons burthen, some arms, a four pound brass field-piece, etc., a price was 
decided upon, the sum being thirty thousand dollars, which, however, was not paid at 
one time, but in cash installments of a few thousand dollars, the last payment being 
made through ex-Governor Burnett, in 1849. All the stipulations of the sale having 
been arranged satisfactorily to both parties, the transfer was duly made, and Sutter 
became, as he had every right to expect, the greatest land-holder in California — the 
grants given by the Mexican Government seemed mere bagatelles when compared to 
his princely domain — but, alas for human hopes and aspirations, in reality he had paid 
an enormous price for a very paltry compensation of personal and chattel property ! 
It is apropos here to remark that in 1859, Sutter disposed of his Russian claim, which 
was a six-eighths interest in the lands mentioned above, to William Muldrew, George 
R. Moore, and Daniel W. Welty, but they only succeeded in getting six thousand 
dollars out of one settler, and, the remainder refusing to pay, the claim was dropped. 
Some of the settlers were inclined to consider the Muldrew claim, as it is called, a 
blackmailing affair, and to censure General Sutter for disposing of it to them, charg- 
ing that he sanctioned the pilfering process, and was to share in its profits, but 
we will say in justice to the memory of that large-hearted pioneer, that so far as he 
was concerned, there was no idea of extortion on his part. He supposed that he had 
purchased a bona fide claim and title to the land in question of the Russians, and 
always considered the grants given by the Mexican Government as bogus, hence, on 
giving the quit-claim deed to Muldrew et al. he sincerely thought that he was deeding 
that to which he alone had any just or legal claim. 

Orders were sent to the settlers at Fort Ross to repair at once to San Francisco 
Bay, and ships were dispatched to bring them there, where whaling vessels bound for 
the northern fishing grounds had been chartered to convey them to Sitka. These 
craft arrived at an early hour in the day, and on the orders being shown to Rotscheff, 
the commander, he ordered the bells in the chapel towers to be rung, and the cannon 
to be fired, this being the usual method of convocating the people at an unusual hour, 
or for some especial purpose, so, everything was suspended just there — the husband- 
man left his plow standing in the half-turned furrow and unloosed his oxen, never 
again to yoke them, leaving them to wander at will over the fields; the mechanic 
dropped his planes and saws on the bench, with the half-smoothed board remaining 
in the vise; the tanner left his tools where he was using them, and doffed his apron 
to don it no more in California. As soon as the entire population had assembled, 
Rotscheff arose and read the orders. Very sad and unwelcome, indeed, was the 
intelligence, but the edict had emanated from a source which could not be gainsaid, 
and the only alternative was a speedy and complete compliance, however reluctant it 
might be — and thus four hundred people were made homeless by the fiat of a single 
word. Time was only given to gather up a few household effects with some of the 
choicest mementoes, and they were hurried on board ship. Scarcely time was given 
to those whose loved ones were sleeping in the grave-yard near by, to pay a last sad 
visit to their resting-place. Embarkation was commenced at once; 



Early History and Settlement. 83 

" And with the ebb of the tide the ships sailed out of the harbor, 
Leaving behind them the dead on the shore," 

And all the happy scenes of their lives, which had glided smoothly along on the 
beautiful shores of the Pacific and in the garden spot of the world. Sad and heavy 
must have been their hearts, as they gazed for the last time upon the receding land- 
scape which their eyes had learned to love, because it had been that best of places — 
HOME. 

"This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it 
Leaped like the roe, when he hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman ? 
Waste are the pleasant farms, all the farmers forever departed! 
Scattered like dust and leaves, when the mighty blasts of October 
Seize them and whirl them aloft, and sprinkle them far over the ocean, 
Naught but tradition remains. 

Still stands the forest primeval; but under the shade of its branches 
Dwells another race, with other customs and language. 
While from its rocky caverns the deep-voiced neighboring ocean 
Speaks, and in accents disconsolate, answers the wail of the forest. " 

At this stage of our remarks it may, perhaps, be well to introduce the reader to a 
few of the characteristics, manners, customs, and mode of living of the native 
Californians. These were for the most part, a half-caste race between the white 
Castillian and the native Indian, very few of the natives retaining the pure blood of 
old Castile; they were consequently of all shades of color and developed, the women 
especially, into a handsome and comely people. Their wants were few and easily 
supplied; they were contented and happy; the women were virtuous and great devo- 
tees to their church and religion, while, the men in their normal condition were kind 
and hospitable, but when excited, they became rash, fearless and cruel, with no dread 
for either knife or pistol. Their generosity was great, everything they had being 
at the disposal of a friend, or even a stranger, while socially, they loved pleasure, spending 
most of their time in music and dancing; indeed such was their passion for the latter 
that their horses have been trained to cavort in time to the tones of the guitar. When 
not sleeping, eating, or dancing, the men passed most of their time in the saddle and 
naturally were very expert equestrians. Horse-racing was with them a daily occur- 
rence, not for the gain which it might bring, but for the amusement to be derived 
therefrom; and to throw a dollar upon the ground, ride at full gallop and pick it up, 
was a feat that almost any of them could perform. 

Horses and cattle gave them their chief occupation. They could use the riata 
or lasso with the utmost dexterity; whenever thrown at a bullock, horseman, or bear, 
it xarely missed its mark. The riata in the hand of a Californian was a more dan- 
gerous weapon than gun or pistol, while, to catch a wild cow with it, throw her and 
tie her without dismounting, was most common, and to go through the same per- 
formance with a bear was not considered extraordinary. Their only articles of export 
were hides and tallow, the value of the former being about one dollar and a half in 
cash, or two in goods, and the latter three cents per pound in barter. Young heifers 
of two years old, for breeding purposes, were worth three dollars; a fat steer, delivered 
to the purchaser, brought fifty cents more, while it was considered neither trespass 
nor larceny to kill a beeve, use the flesh, and hang the hide and tallow on a tree, 
secure from coyotes, where it could be found by the owner. 



84 History of Alameda County, California. 

Lands outside of the towns were only valuable for grazing purposes. For this 
use every citizen of good character, having cattle, could, for the asking, and by paying 
a fee to the officials, and a tax upon the paper upon which it was written, get a grant 
for a grazing tract of from one to eleven square leagues of land. These domains were 
called ranchos, the only improvements on them being usually a house and corral. 
They were never inclosed; they were never surveyed, but extended from one well- 
defined landmark to another, and whether they contained two or three leagues more 
or less was regarded as a matter of no consequence, for the land itself was of no 
value to the Government. 

It was not necessary for a man to keep his cattle on his own land. They were 
ear-marked and branded when young, and these established their ownership. The 
stock roamed whithersoever they wished, the ranchero sometimes finding his animals 
fifty or sixty miles away from his grounds. About the middle of March commenced 
the " Rodeo " season, which was fi.xed in advance by the ranchero, who would send 
notice to his neighbors around, when all, with their vaqueros, would attend and par- 
ticipate. The rodeo was tlie gathering in one locality of all the cattle on the rancho. 
When this was accomplished, the next operation was for each ranchero present to part 
out from the general herd all animals bearing his brand and ear-mark and take them 
off to his own rancho. In doing this they were allowed to take all calves that followed 
their mothers, what was left in the rodeo belonging to the owner of the rancho, who 
had them marked as his property. On some of the ranchos the number of calves 
branded and marked each year appears to us at this date to be enormous, Joaquin 
Bernal, who owned the Santa Teresa Rancho, in the Santa Clara Valley, having been 
in the habit of branding not less than five thousand head yearly. In this work a 
great many horses were employed. Fifty head was a small number for a ranchero to 
own, while they frequently had from five to six hundred trained animals, principally 
geldings, for the mares were kept exclusively for breeding purposes. The latter were 
worth a dollar and a half per head; the price of saddle horses was from two dollars 
and fifty cents to twelve dollars. 

In the month of December, 1865, a writer under the noin de plume of " Yadnus," 
thus writes to the San Jose Mercury : — 

" Not many years ago, in the agricultural counties, or, as they are more ele- 
gantly termed in the parlor language of California, ' Cow Counties,' prevailed to a 
great extent the custom which has given rise to the following rough verses. Until 
the heavy floods and severe weather of the memorable winter of i86i, had more 
than decimated their herds, it was the practice (in accordance with law, I believe), for 
the wealthy rancheros — men who counted their cattle (when they counted them at all) 
by the thousands — to hold twice a year, a rodeo irodere), to which all who owned 
stock within a circuit of fifty miles repaired, with their friends, and often with their 
families. At the appointed time, the cattle, for many leagues around, were gathered 
up by the horsemen, or vaqueros {buckaros), of the different stockmen and driven into 
a large corral, where the branding, marking, and claiming of stock occupied some- 
times a week. At the largest rodeo I ever witnessed there were gathered together some 
thirty thousand head of cattle, and at least three hundred human beings, among whom 
were many of XS\^ gentler sex. These rodeos were usually presided over by a 'Judge 



Early History and Settlement. 



of the Plains,' an officer appointed in later years by the Board of Supervisors, and 
whose duty it was to arbitrate between owners in all disputes that might arise as to 
cattle-property, overhaul and inspect all brands of stock being driven from or through 
the county, and to steal as many 'hoobs' as he possibly could without detection. In 
fact, the 'perquisites' constituted pretty nearly the entire pay of this valuable officer, 
and if they all understood their business as well as the one it was my fortune to cabin 
with for a number of months, they made the office pay pretty well." 

The following poetic description of a rodeo is well worthy the perusal of the 
reader: — 



EL RODEO. 



Few are the sunny years, fair land of gold, 

That round thy brow their circlet bright have twined; 
Yet, each thy youthful form hath still enrolled 

In wondrous garb of peace and wealth combined. 
Few are the years since old Hispania's sons 

Reared here their missions — tolled the chapel bell; 
Subdued the natives with their priestly guns, 

To bear the cross of God — and man as well. 

Oft have the holy Fathers careless stood 

Within thy valleys, then a blooming waste: 
Or heedless, toiled among the mountain flood, 

That rich with treasure, downward foamed and raced. 
Those times and scenes have long since passed away. 

Before the white man's wisdom-guided tread. 
As fly the shades before the steps of day. 

When in the east he lifts his radiant head. . 

But still thy valleys and thy mountains teem 

With customs common to the race of old, 
Like Indian names bequeathed to lake and stream. 

They'll live while Time his restless reign shall hold. 
'Tis of one such that I essay to sing, 

A custom much in vogue in sections here, 
Till flood and frost did such destruction bring 

That scarce since then was needed a rodcre. 



They come! and thundering down the red-land slope. 

The fierce ganado madly tears along. 
While, close behind, urged to their utmost lope. 

The wild cahallos drive the surging throng. 
At headlong speed the drivers keep the band. 

With yells, and oaths, and waving hats and coats. 
Till in the strong corral they panting, stand. 

And rest is gained for horses and for throats. 

Then comes the breakfast; soon the steer they kill. 

And quickly is the dressing hurried through; 
The meat is cooked by rude, yet well-liked skill, 

And— all do know what hungry men can do. 
The Padron sits beneath yon old oak tree, 

Encircled by a group of chatting friends; 
For at rodeo, all one can eat is free. 

So all around in greasy union blends. 

The breakfast finished, cigarettes alight, 

Unto the huge corral all hands proceed; 
The strong- wove cinches are made doubly tight. 

And the riata's noose prepared for need. 
The fire is kindled, and the iron brand, 

Amid its coals, receives the wonted heat; 
The Padron waves assent, with eager hand, 

And the dark riders bound to saddle-seat. 



Last night, at sunset, down the stream, I saw 

The dark vaqueros ride along the plain. 
With jingling spur, and bit, xaA jaquima. 

And snake-like lariats scarce e'er hurled in vain; 
The steeds they rode were champing on the bit. 

The agile riders lightly sat their "trees," 
And many a laugh and waif of Spanish wit 

Made merry music on the evening breeze. 

Far out beyond the hills their course they took, 

And where there lies, in early-summer days, 
A lake, a slough, or chance a pebbly brook. 

The coyote saw the camp-fire wildly blare. 
All night they lay beneath the lurid glare. 

Till had upsprung morn's beauteous herald star, 
And then, received each here the needed care. 

Quick o'er the plains they scattered near and far. 



Where yon dark cloud of dust is rising high. 

The swart vaquero like the lightning dart. 
And singling out their prey with practiced eye. 

Rush him from the affrighted herd apart. 
Then whirls the lasso, whistling through the air. 

In rapid circles o'er each horseman's head. 
Till round the yearling's throat is hurled the snare 

Burning like a huge coil of molten lead. 

Then heedless of its struggles to get free, 

They drag it to the Mayordomo's stand. 
Who, though of tender heart he's wont to be. 

Now, merciless, sears deep in its flesh the brand. 
The Spanish mother, at her youngling's cry. 

Comes charging down with maddened hoof and horn. 
While far and wide the crowd of gazers fly, 

And hide behind the fence-posts till she's gone. 



8G History of Alameda County, California. 

In faith, it is a sight well worth to see, These things, and many more, tend well to fill 

For those who like excitement's feverish touch, The eager cravings of the morbid mind. 

And he who can look on and passive be. Akin to passions that full oft instill 

Has ice within his nature overmuch. Feelings that prompt the torture of its kind; 

What frantic bellowings pierce the startled air. But he who rashly seeks a closer view 

What clouds of dust obscure the mid-day sky. Of tortured calf, to mark each groan and sigh, 

What frenzied looks the maddened cattle wear, Receives, full oft, rebuke in black and blue. 

As round and round, in vain, they raging fly! Pointed with force to where his brains most lie. 

By the time the rodeo season was over, about the middle of May, the "Matanza," 
or kilHng season, commenced. The number of cattle slaughtered each year was 
commensurate with the number of calves marked, and the amount of herbage for the 
year, for no more could be kept alive than the pasture on the rancho could sup- 
port. After the butchering, the hides were taken off and dried; the tallow, fit for 
market, was put into bags made from hides; the fattest portions of the meat were made 
into soap, while some of the best was cut, pulled into thin shreds, dried in the sun, and 
the remainder thrown to the buzzards and the dogs, a numberof which were kept — young 
dogs were never destroyed — to clean up after a matanza. Three or four hundred of 
these curs were to be found on a rancho, and it was no infrequent occurrence to see a 
ranchero come into a town with a string of them at his horse's heels. 

Let us consider one of the habitations of these people. Its construction was 
beautiful in its extreme simplicity. The walls were fashioned of large, sun-dried 
bricks made of that black loam known to settlers in the Golden State as adobe soil, 
mixed with straw, measuring about eighteen inches square and three in thickness, 
these being cemented with mud, plastered within with the same substance, and white- 
washed when finished. The rafters and joists were of rough timber, with the bark 
simply peeled off, and placed in the requisite position, the thatch being of rushes or 
chaparral, fastened down with thongs of bullocks' hide. When completed, these 
dwellings stand the brunt and wear of many decades of years, as can be evidenced 
by the number which are still occupied throughout the country. The furniture con- 
sisted of a few cooking utensils, a rude bench or two, sometimes a table, and the 
never-failing red camphor-wood trunk. This chest contained the extra clothes of the 
women — the men wore theirs on their backs — and when a visit of more than a day's 
duration was made, the box was taken along. They were cleanly in their persons 
and clothing; the general dress being, for females, a common calico gown of plain 
colors, blue grounds with small figures being most fancied. The fashionable ball- 
dress of the young ladies was a scarlet flannel petticoat covered with a white lawn 
skirt, a combination of tone in color which is not surpassed by the modern gala cos- 
tume. Bonnets there were none, the head-dress consisting of a long, narrow shawl 
or scarf So graceful was their dancing that it was the admiration of all strangers; 
but as much cannot be said for that of the men, for the more noise they made the 
better it suited them. 

The dress of the men was a cotton shirt, cotton drawers, calzonasos, sash, seraf^e, 
and hat. The calzonazos took the place of pantaloons in the modern costume, and 
differed from these by being open down the sides, or rather, the seams on the sides 
were not sewed as in pantaloons, but were laced together from the waistband to the 
hips by means of a ribbon run through eyelets; thence they were fastened with large 
silver bell-buttons. In wearing them they were left open from the knee down. The 



Early History and Settlement. 



best of these garments were made of broadcloth, the inside and outside seams being 
faced with cotton velvet. The serape was a blanket with a hole through its center, 
through which the head was inserted, the remainder hanging to the knees before and 
behind. These cloaks were invariably of brilliant colors, and varied in price from four 
to one hundred and fifty dollars. The calzonazos were held in their place by a pink 
sash worn around the waist, while the serape served as a coat by day and a covering 
by night. 

Their courtship was to the western mind peculiar, no flirting or love-making being 
permitted. When a young man of marriageable age saw a young lady whom he 
thought would make a happy help-mate, he had first to make his wishes known to his 
own father, in whose household the eligibility of the connection was primarily canvassed, 
when, if the desire was regarded with favor, the father of the enamored swain addressed 
a letter to the father of the young lady, asking for his daughter in marriage for his 
son. The matter was then freely discussed between the parents of the girl, and, if 
an adverse decision was arrived at, the father of the young man was by letter so 
informed, and the matter was at an end; but if the decision of her parents was favor- 
able to him, then the young lady's inclinations were consulted, and her decision 
communicated in the same manner, when they were affianced, and the affair became 
a matter of common notoriety. Strephon might then visit Chloe, was received as a 
member of her family, and when the time came the marriage was celebrated by 
feasting and dancing, which usually lasted from three to four days. It may be 
mentioned here that when a refusal of marriage was made, the lady was said to have 
given her lover the pumpkin — Se dio la cabala. 

The principal articles of food were beef and beans, in the cooking and pre- 
paring of which they were unsurpassed; while they cultivated, to a certain extent, 
maize, melons, and pumpkins. The bread used was the tortilla, a wafer in the shape 
of the Jewish unleavened bread, which was, when not made of wheaten flour, baked 
from corn. When prepared of the last-named meal, it was first boiled in a weak 
lye made of wood ashes, and then by hand ground into a paste between two stones; 
this process completed, a small portion of the dough was taken out, and by dexter- 
ously throwing it up from the back of one hand to that of the other the shape was 
formed, when it was placed upon a flat iron and baked over the fire. 

The mill in which their grain was ground was made of two stones as nearly 
round as possible, of about thirty inches in diameter, and each being dressed on one 
side to a smooth surface. One was set upon a frame some two feet high, with 
the smooth face upwards; the other was placed on this with the even face down- 
wards, while, through an inch-hole in the center, was the grain fed by hand. Two 
holes drilled partly through each admitted an iron bolt, by means of which a long 
pole was attached, to its end was harnessed a horse, mule, or donkey, and the animal, 
being driven round in a circle, caused the stone to revolve. We are informed that 
these mills were capable of grinding a bushel of wheat in about twelve hours ! Their 
vehicles and agricultural implements were quite as primitive, the cart in common 
use being framed in the following manner: The two wheels were sections of a log 
with a hole drilled or bored through the center, the axle being a pole sharpened 
at each extremity for spindles, with a hole and pin at either end to prevent the 



88 History of Alameda County, California. 

wheels from slipping off. Another pole fastened to the middle of the axle served 
the purpose of a tongue. Upon this frame-work was set, or fastened, a species of 
wicker-work, framed of sticks, bound together with strips of hide. The beasts of 
burden were oxen, which were yoked with a stick across the forehead, notched and 
crooked so as to fit the head closely, and the whole tied with rawhide. The plow 
was a still more quaint affair. It consisted of a long piece of timber which served 
the purpose of a beam, to the end of which a handle was fastened; a mortise was 
next chiseled in order to admit the plow, which was a short stick with a natural 
crook, having a small piece of iron fastened on one end of it. With this crude imple- 
ment was the ground upturned, while the branch of a convenient tree served the 
purposes of a harrow. Fences there were none so that crops might be protected; 
ditches were therefore dug, and the crests of the sod covered with the branches of 
trees, to warn away the numerous bands of cattle and horses, and prevent their intru- 
sion upon the newly sown grain. When the crops were ripe they were cut with a 
sickle, or any other convenient weapon, and then it became necessary to thresh it. 
Now for the modus operandi. The floor of the corral into which it was customary to 
drive the horses and cattle to lasso them, from constant use, had become hardened. 
Into this inclosure the grain would be piled, and upon it the nianaiha, or band of 
mares, would be turned loose to tramp out the seed. The wildest horses, or mayhap 
the colts that had only been driven once, and then to be branded, would sometimes 
be turned adrift upon the straw, when would ensue a scene of the wildest confusion, 
the excited animals being urged, amidst the yelling of vaqueros and the cracking of 
whips, here, there, and everywhere, around, across, and lengthwise, until the whole 
was trampled, and naught left but the grain and chaff. The most difficult part, how- 
ever, was the separating these two articles. Owing to the length of the dry season 
there was no urgent haste to effect this; therefore, when the wind was high enough, the 
trampled mass would be tossed into the air with large wooden forks cut from the 
adjacent oaks and the wind carry away the lighter chaff, leaving the heavier grain. 
With a favorable breeze several bushels of wheat could thus be winnowed in the course 
of a day; while, strange as it may appear, it is declared that grain so sifted was much 
cleaner than it is now, although manipulated by modern science. 

The government of the native Californian was as primitive as himself There 
were neither law-books nor lawyers, while laws were mostly to be found in the tradi- 
tions of the people. The head officer in each village was the Alcalde, in whom was 
vested the judicial function, who received on the enactment of a new law a manuscript 
copy, called a bando, upon the obtaining of which a person was sent round beating a 
snare drum, which was a signal for the assemblage of the people at the Alcalde's 
office, where the Act was read, thus promulgated, and forthwith had the force of law. 
When a citiz en had cause of action against another requiring the aid of court, he 
went to the Alcalde and verbally stated his complaint in his own way, and asked that 
the defendant be sent for, who was at once summoned by an officer, simply saying 
that he was wanted by the Alcalde. The defendant made his appearance without 
loss of time, where, if in the .same village, the plaintiff was generally in waiting. The 
Alcalde commenced by stating the complaint against him, and asked what he had to 
say about it. This brought about an altercation between the parties, and nine times 





''D. 



-cc-(>o-t4/~-2^ 



Early History and Settlement. 



out of ten the Justice could get at the facts in this wise, and announce judgment 
immediately, the whole suit not occupying two hours from its beginning. In more 
important cases three "good men" would be called in to act as co-justices, while the 
testimony of witnesses had seldom to be resorted to. A learned American Judge has 
said that "the native Californians were, in the presence of their Courts, generally 
truthful. What they know of false swearing or perjury they have learned from their 
association with Americans. It was truthfully said by the late Edmund Randolph 
that the United States Board of Commissioners to settle private land claims in Cali- 
fornia had been the graves of their reputations." 

They were all Roman Catholics, and their priests of the Franciscan Order. They 
were great church-goers, yet Sunday was not the only day set apart for their devotions. 
Nearly every day in the calendar was devoted to the memory of some Saint, while 
those dedicated to the principal ones were observed as holidays; so that Sunday did 
not constitute more than half the time which they consecrated to religious exercises, 
many of which were so much in contrast to those of the present day that they deserve 
a short description. 

The front door of their churches was always open, and every person passing, 
whether on foot or on horseback, did so hat in hand; any forgetfulness on this head 
caused the unceremonious removal of the sombrero. During the holding of services 
within, it was customary to station a number of men without, who at appointed 
intervals interrupted the proceedings with the ringing of bslls, the firing of pistols, and 
the shooting of muskets, sustaining a noise resembling the irregular fire of a company 
of infantry. 

In every church was kept a number of pictures of their saints, and a triumphal 
arch profusely decorated with artificial flowers; while, on a holiday devoted to any 
particular saint, after the performance of mass, a picture of the saint, deposited 'in 
the arch, would be carried out of the church on the shoulders of four men, followed 
by the whole congregation in double file, with the priest at the head, book in hand. 
The procession would march all round the town (if in one), and at every few rods 
would kneel on the ground while the priest read a prayer or performed some religious 
ceremony. After the circuit of the town had been made, the train returned to the 
church, entering it in the same order as that in which they had departed. With 
the termination of these exercises, horse-racing, cock-fighting, gambling, dancing, 
and a general merry-making completed the work of the day. A favorite amusement 
of these festivals was for thirty or forty men on horseback, generally two, but 
sometimes three on one horse, with their guitars, to parade the towns, their horses 
capering and keeping time to the music, accompanied with songs by the whole com- 
pany, in this manner visiting, playing, and singing at all the places of business and 
principal residences; and it was considered no breach of decorum for men on horses 
to enter stores and dwellings. 

Some of their religious ceremonies were very grotesque and amusing, the per- 
sonification of "The Wise Men of the East" being of this character. At the sup- 
posed anniversary of the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem, seven or eight men 
would be found dressed in the most fantastic styles, going in company from house to 
house, looking for the infant Saviour. They were invariably accompanied by one 
7 



90 History of Alameda County, California. 

representing the devil, in the garb of a Franciscan friar, with his rosary of beads and 
the cross, carrying a long rawhide whip, and woe to the man who came within reach 
of that whip — it was far from fun to him, though extremely amusing to the rest of 
the party. The chief of these ceremonies, however, was the punishment of Judas 
Iscariot for the betrayal of his master. On the supposed periodicity of this event, 
after nightfall, and the people had retired to rest, a company would go out and pre- 
pare the forthcoming ceremonies. A cart was procured and j^aced in the public 
square in front of the church, against which was set up an effigy made to represent 
Judas, by stuffing an old suit of clothes with straw. The houses were then visited 
and a collection of pots, kettles, dishes, agricultural implements — in fact, every con- 
ceivable article of personal property was scraped together and piled up around Judas, 
to represent his effects, until in appearance he was the wealthiest man in the whole 
country. Then the last will and testament of Judas had to be prepared, a work 
which was accorded to the best scribe d.nd the greatest wit of the community. Every 
article of property had to be disposed of and something like an equal distribution 
among all the people made, each bequest being accompanied by some very pointed 
and witty reason for its donation. Among a more sensitive people, some of these 
reasons would be regarded as libelous. The will, when completed and properly 
attested, was posted on a bulletin board near the effigy, and the night's work was 
performed. As soon as sufficiently light the entire population, men, women, and 
children congregated to see Judas and his wealth, and to hear read, and discuss the 
merits of his will and appropriateness of its provisions. Nothing else was talked of; 
nothing else was thought of until the church bell summoned them to mass; after 
v/hich a wild, unbroken mare was procured, on the back of which Judas was firmly 
strapped; a string of fire-crackers was then tied to her tail, they were lighted, she was 
turned loose, and the ultimate fate of the figurative Judas was not unlike that which 
we are told occurred to his perfidious prototype. 

The native Californians were a temperate people, intoxication being almost 
unknown. Wines and liquors existed in the country, but were sparingly used. In 
a saloon, where a " bit's worth " was called for, the decanter was not handed to the 
customer, as we believe is now the case, but was invariably measured out, and if the 
liquor was a potent spirit, in a very small dose; while a " bit's " worth was a treat for a 
considerable company, the glass being passed around from one to the other, each tak- 
ing a sip. The following amusing episode in this regard, which occurred in the 
Pueblo de San Jose, in 1847, may find a place here. Juan Soto, an old gray-headed 
man and a great friend to Americans — for every one who spoke English was an 
American to him — had come into possession of a " bit," and being a generous, whole- 
souled man, he desired to treat five or six of his friends and neighbors. To this end 

he got them together, marched them to Weber's store, and there meeting , who, 

tho' hailing from the Emerald Isle, passed for an American, invited him to join in the 
symposium. The old Spaniard placed his "bit" upon the counter with considerable 
eclat, and called for its value in wine, which was duly measured out. As a mark of 

superior respect he first handed it to , who, wag that he was, swallowed the entire 

contents, and awaited the dhioitcuient with keen relish. Soto and his friends looked 
at each other in blank amazement, when there burst out a tirade in their native tongue, 
the choice expressions in which may be more readily imagined than described. 



Early History and Settlement. 91 

There was one vice that was common to nearly all of these people, and which 
eventually caused their ruin, namely, a love of gambling. Their favorite game was 
vionte, probably the first of all banking games. So passionately were they addicted 
to this, that on Sunday, around the church, while the women were inside and the 
priest at the altar, crowds of men would have their blankets spread upon the ground 
with their cards and money, playing their favorite game of monie. They entertained 
no idea that it was a sin, nor that there was anything derogatory to their character as 
good Christians. This predilection was early discovered and turned to account by the 
Americans, who soon established banks, and carried on games for their amusement 
especially. The passion soon became so developed that they would bet and lose their 
horses and cattle, while to procure money to gratify this disposition, they would borrow 
from Americans at the rate of twelve and a half per cent per day; mortgaging and selling 
their lands and stock, yea, even their wives' clothing, so that their purpose should be 
gratified, and many unprincipled Westerns of those days enriched themselves in this 
manner at the expense of these poor creatures. 

Before leaving this people, mention should be made of their bull and bear fights. 
Sunday, or some prominent holiday, was invariably the day chosen for holding these, 
to prepare for which a large corral was erected (in San Jose) in the plaza, in front of 
the church, for they were witnessed by priest and layman alike. In the afternoon, 
after divine service, two or three good bulls (if a bull-fight only) would be caught and 
put in the inclosure, when the combat commenced. If there is anything that will 
make a wild bull furious it is the sight of a red blanket. Surrounded by the entire 
population, the fighters entered the arena, each with one of these in one hand and a 
knife in the other, the first of which they would flaunt before the furious beast, but 
guardedly keeping it between the animal and himself Infuriated beyond degree, 
with flashing eye and head held down, the bull would dash at his enemy, who, with a 
dexterous side spring would evade the onslaught, leaving the animal to strike the 
blanket, and as he passed would inflict a slash with his knife. Whenever by his quick- 
ness he could stick his knife into the bull's neck just behind the horns, thereby wound- 
ing the spinal cord, the bull fell a corpse and the victor received the plaudits of the 
admiring throng. The interest taken in these exhibitions was intense; and, what 
though a man was killed, had his ribs broken, was thrown over the fence, or to.ssed on to 
the roof of a house ; it only added zest to the sport, it was of no moment, the play 
went on. It was a national amusement. When a grizzly bear could be procured, 
then the fight, instead of being between man and bull, was between bull and bear. 
Both were taken into the corral, each being made fast to either end of a rope of suffi- 
cient length to permit of free action, and left alone until they chose to open the ball. 
The first motion was usually made by the bull endeavoring to part company with the 
bear, who thus received the first "knock-down." On finding that he could not get 
clear of Bruin, he then charged him, but was met half-way. If the bear could catch 
the bull by the nose, he held him at a disadvantage, but he more frequently found that 
he had literally taken the bull by the horns, when the fight became intensely interest- 
ing, and was kept up until one or the other was killed, or both refused to renew the 
combat. The bull, unless his horns were clipped, was generally victorious. 

The custom of bull and bear fighting was kept up by the native Californians, as 



92 History of Alameda County, California. 

a money-making institution from the Americans, until the year 1854, when the Legis- 
lature interposed by " An Act to prevent Noisy and Barbarous Amusements on the 
Sabbath." 

The following anecdote in regard to it has been related to us, and may serve to 
vary the tedium of the reader. Shortly after the foregoing enactment became a law, 
great preparations were made for having a bull-fight, on the Sabbath as usual, at the 
old Mission of San Juan Bautista. They were notified by the officers of the existence 
of the new law, and that they must desist from the undertaking. Doctor Wiggins, a 
mission piopeer in California since 1842, was then residing at San Juan ; he spoke 
Spanish fluently, and was looked upon as a great friend by the native Californians. 
He never smiled, nor appeared to jest — yet, he was the greatest tale-teller, jester, and 
punster on the Pacific Coast. In sallies of genuine wit he stood unequaled. In 
their perplexity about the new law, the Californians took counsel with the doctor ; he 
examined the title of the Act w ith much seriousness and an air of great wisdom: "Go 
on with your bull-fights," was the doctor's advice; " they can do nothing with you. 
This is an Act to prevent noisy and barbarous amusements on the Sabbath. If they 
arrest you, you will be entitled to trial by jury; the jury will be Americans; they will^ 
before they can convict you, have to find three things; first, that a bull-fight is noisy; 
this they will find against you; second, that it is barbarous; this they will find against 
you; but an American jury ivill never find that it is an atmisement in Christ's time. 
Go on with your bull-fights." They did go on and were arrested, to find that the 
doctor had been practicing a cruel joke on this long-cherished institution. They 
were sentenced to pay a fine, and it was the last of the bull-fights. Thus passed 
away the only surviving custom of a former civilization. 

In the year 1728 a Dane named Vitus Bering, was employed by Catherine of 
Russia to proceed on an exploring expedition to the northwest coast of America and 
Asia, to find, if possible, an undiscovered connection between the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. On this voyage he solved the riddle and gave to the world the straits which 
now bear his name. On his return he tendered to the Empress the handsome skins 
which he had procured on his cruise, and so delighted was she, and so excited was the 
cupidity of capitalists from other countries, that soon settlements were established on 
the coast, and the collection of furs commenced. In 1799 the Russian American Fur 
Company was organized and located in what is now known as Alaska; Sitka was 
founded in 1805; and for many years the neighbors of the Russ were the Austrians 
and Danes. Now came the British. An association known as the King George's Sound 
Company was organized in London in 1784, for the purpose of making a settlement 
on the Pacific Coast, whither many of their vessels found their way up till 1790. 
Between the years 1784 and 1790, the coast was visited by ships of the East India 
Company, and about the last-named year craft of the L^nited States were first seen in 
these waters. 

The ship Columbia, Robert Gray, Captain, arrived at the Straits of Fuca, June 5, 
1 79 1, and traded along the coast, discovering the Columbia River, which he named 
after his vessel. May 7, 1792. In 1810, a number of hunters and trappers arrived in 
the ship Albatross, Captain Smith, and established the first American settlement on 
the Pacific Coast. In the same year, under the leadership of John Jacob Astor, the 



Early History and Settlement. 93 

Pacific Fur Company was organized in New York, and in 1811, they founded the 
present town of Astoria, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The British, however, 
soon after wrested it from their hands and drove all the Americans out of the country, 
many of whom found their way into California. Between the years 181 3 and 1822, 
save deserters from vessels, and those connected with trading-posts, there were no 
Americans on the coast. 

In his "Natural Wealth of California," Titus Fay Cronise informs us that from 
1825 until 1834 the whole of the California trade was in the hands of a few Boston 
merchants. A voyage to this coast and back, during that time, was an enterprise of 
very uncertain duration, generally occupying two or three years. The outward cargo, 
which usually consisted of groceries and coarse cotton goods, had to be retailed to the 
missionaries and settlers, as there were no "jobbers" in those times, and neither news- 
papers, telegraphs, nor stages through which to inform customers of the ship's arrival. 
The crew had to travel all over the country to convey the news, which occupied con- 
siderable time. It was this portion of their duties that caused so many of them to 
desert their ships. They saw so much of the country, became so charmed with the 
freedom, ease, and plenty that prevailed everywhere, that they preferred to remain on 
shore. Each of these vessels generally brought several young men as adventurers 
who worked their passage out for the privilege of remaining. Many of the early 
settlers, whose children are now among the wealthiest citizens of the State, came to 
California in this manner. 

The outward cargo being disposed of, the homeward one had to be procured. 
Sometimes, when the season had been too dry, or too wet for the lazy vaqueros to 
drive the cattle into the missions to kill, there were no hides nor tallow to be had. On 
such occasions the vessel was obliged to remain till the next season, when a sufficient 
number of cattle would be slaughtered to pay for the goods purchased, as there was 
no "currency" used in the country, except hides and tallow. 

First in California of an alien race to settle was John Cameron, but who had 
assumed his mother's maiden name of Gilroy, and was thus afterwards known. He 
was born in the county of Inverness, Scotland, in the district of Lochaber, in the year 
1794, and in the year 1813 arrived in Monterey, in one of her Britannic Majesty's 
ships, on board of which he was rated as coxswain of the captain's gig. From here 
he deserted, with a comrade known as " Deaf Jimmy," and waiting, carefully hidden, 
until the vessel had departed, the two friends, in their search of employment, found 
their way into the Santa Clara Valley. Gilroy established himself at the little town 
of San Ysidro, now generally called Old Gilroy, in contradistinction to the new town 
of Gilroy, where he married and remained till his death, which occurred in July, 1869. 
His confrere came to the north of the bay, and died in Sonoma County. At this 
time there were not half-a-dozen foreign settlers in the whole country, save the 
Russians, who, it will be remembered, then occupied Bodega and Fort Ross, on the 
coast, while from San Francisco to Los Angeles there were only eight ranchos, the 
property of Mexican Colonists. 

Prior to the year 1820 the manner of living was most primitive, and had it not 
been that horses were plentiful the mode of locomotion would have, of a necessity, 
been confined to pedestrianism, for, as there were no roads, there were no vehicles, 



94 History of Alameda County, California. 

while the wheels of those which existed were innocent of fellah, spoke, hub, and tire- 
Not a hotel nor house of public entertainment was to be found throughout the length 
and breadth of the land, while there was no sawed timber, that used for building 
being hewn with axes by Indians. A fire-place or stove was unknown in a dwelling, 
nor did these come into use until 1846, after the American occupation. 

The settlement of Alameda County may be said to have commenced some three- 
score years ago. In consideration of the distinguished and meritorious services of 
Don Luis Maria Peralta, a native of Tubec, Sonera, who had arrived with some com- 
patriots at the presidio of San Francisco in the year 1776, and had subsequently com- 
manded the garrison at the Pueblo de San Jose, was granted by Governor Don Pablo 
Vicente de Sola a tract of lard five leagues in extent, and which has since proved to 
be the most magnificent grant ever made in California, and one of the most valuable 
estates ever granted to an individual as a reward for praiseworthy deeds. Topo- 
graphically, it extended from the San Leandro Creek to the northwestern line of the 
county, and included the territory on which the town of Alameda and the city of 
Oakland with its suburbs have since risen. He married Maria Lolereto Alviso, a union 
that brought him five sons and five daughters, namely: Ygnacio, Domingo, Antonio 
Maria, Vicente; Teodora, who married Mariano Duarte; Trinidad, who married 
Mariano Castro; Josefa, Guadalupe, and Maria Luisa, who espoused Guillcrmo Castro. 

Don Luis, however, never made his heme in the family mansion built near the 
foot-hills of the Contra Costa Range, on the San Leandro Creek, but maintained his 
residence in Santa Clara County, where he owned another rancho, leaving the 
property in what is now Alameda County in possession of his sons who enjoyed it in 
common until August, 1842, when the father divided the estate into four equal parts, 
running imaginary lines licm the hay to the hills, and allotted to Jose Domingo the 
northerly portion, being that on which Perkeley is now situated; the contiguous 
portion on the south, including the grove of oaks, then called the Encinal de Temescal 
(now the City of Oakland) he awarded to Vicente; to Antonio Maria, he gave that 
division immediately to the south, on which now stands East Oakland and Alameda; 
while Ygnacio took the southeasterly portion, on which stood the old homestead 
where he continued to reside. 

Thus for years was the country between the Contra Costa County line and the 
San Leandro Creek without another resident save the Peralta family and their retain- 
ers, while their neighbors were the very few located at Verba Buena, who were wont 
occasionally to make the perilous journey across the Pay to pay friendly visits to 
the solitary rancheros. Deep solitude reigned around them only broken bj' the 
low ing of kine, or mayhap, the reverberating boom of cannon wafted over the waters 
from the pr'esidio. But in 1846 premonitions of the coming change became observ- 
able, and as the months grew into years the transformation became complete. The 
Bear Flag had been raised by a few American settlers at Sonoma; war had been 
waged and peace declared between the United States and Mexico; California had 
become a portion of the Union; and the sun of the- Mexican had set. The Peraltas 
had possibly thought that their broad acres would descend in one unbroken line from 
father to son, but such is the uncertainty of human calculation, that they soon found 
their fertile lands the envy of the covetous Anglo-Saxon who saw that thcte could be 



Early History and Settlement. 95 

made valuable for other than pastoral purposes, and in 1850, or shortly thereafter, the 
first encroachment was made upon the soil — the greater portion of the territorial 
patrimony of Domingo and Vicente Peralta was sold. In 1851, Don Luis Peralta 
died at the advanced age of ninety-three years, having lived long enough to have 
brought before him the unpleasant fact that he had once owned the most valuable 
tract of land in California but which was gradually melting away before his eyes. 
He left this world loved by his compatriots and respected by many Americans, be- 
lieving firmly in the religious faith of his people. Previous to his demise he made a 
will confirming the partition of the Rancho San Antonio among his sons, and dispos- 
ing of his personal effects. After his death, what was known as the "sister's title'*' 
was asserted to an interest in part of the San Antonio Grant, in consequence of which 
protracted litigation ensued, and in the controversy the will of Peralta, which we here 
produce, figured prominently. 

"In the name of the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three 
distinct persons and one only true God, and in the presence of the most Holy Virgin 
Mary, my Lady: of the glorious archangel St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, 
my guardian and my protecting angel, and of my devotion, I, Luis Peralta, being in 
the entire use of my mental faculties, although of an advanced age, and bearing in 
mind the uncertainty of this mortal life, I do hereby make this my will in the best 
form, and declare it to be my last will and testament, and it is as follows: 

" In the first place, I command my sons to have my body buried in the neighbor- 
ing mission of Santa Clara, carrying it to the church, placing it upon the same hearse 
that is used for my fellow-men, the Indians; and that they, my sons, shall cause one 
low mass to be said of requiem, and afterwards, at the time of my burial, they shall 
cause to be said at the time as many responses as may be possible for the repose of 
my soul, for which they (my sons) shall pay alms, and afterwards proceed to the 
execution of my last will as follows: 

^^ Firstly. I leave the house, my residence, in the the town of San Jose Guada- 
lupe, with the orchard and fruit trees, all the land which appertains to and belongs to 
said orchard, and all the rest of the land contiguous to the said house, together with 
the appurtenances of this property, in favor of my two daughters, Maria Josefa 
Peralta and Maria Guadalupe Peralta, in full ownership and dominion, and I encharge 
these daughters to remain always together in peace and union, enjoying this property 
mutually as absolute owners thereof Moreover, I declare, particularly, that everything 
that is in this house is my property, and as such I leave it to my above-mentioned daugh- 
ters. The picture of St. Joseph and our Lady Guadalupe being for my said daughter 
Guadalupe, and the crucifix, and our Lady of Dolores for my daughter Maria Josefa. 
I command these two daughters to remain in peace, enjoying the property that I leave 
therein, but if by marriage or other motive, either one of them should wish to separate 
from the other, then the two may make such agreement as they shall deem fit for this 
and for any other arrangement of their domestic affairs, or of their property of which 
they remain the owners and mistresses without ever being disturbed by any person, 
and may they remain always together, the one serving the other as her guardian 
angel, that God, our Lord, may preserve them from the storms of this world and from 
all ill-inclined persons. 



96 History of Alameda County, California. 

" As regards the cattle belonging to me, that is to say, horned cattle, I declare 
that on the marriage of my children, Maria Teodora, Ygnacio, Domingo, and Trini- 
dad, to each one were given two cows and calves, by reason of having just com- 
menced the rearing of my cattle, but afterwards they received in gift more cattle, as 
they themselves can say, as they know how to speak the truth; also, in the year 1831 
there were delivered to William Castro two hundred and thirty head of horned cattle, 
which were the marriage portion of his wife Maria Luisa Peralta, my daughter. Also, 
I repeat again, that there have been given to my daughters Maria Teodora, and Maria 
Trinidad, two hundred head of horned cattle, and to my son Ygnacio, three hundred 
head of cattle; and over and above those which have already been given to my son 
Domingo, I command that there be given to him one hundred head of cattle; I like- 
wise command that out of the cattle in San Antonio and Temescal that shall be 
found to belong to me, there shall be given two hundred head to each one of my daugh- 
ters Maria Josefa and Maria Guadalupe, and the remainder in Temescal shall belong 
to my son Vicente, and the remainder in San Antonio shall belong to my son 
Antonio Maria, and these two brothers shall take the charge of the cattle of these two 
sisters, Maria Josefa, and Maria Guadalupe. Inasmuch as I have already portioned 
out to my sons their respective lands, I declare that these lands comprehend all 
my property of the Rancho San Antonio, the title of whose concession and posses- 
sion are in the hands of my son Ygnacio, and which lands I have already divided 
amongst my sons as a donation inter vivos to their entire satisfaction, and which 
donations by the.se presents I hereby ratify. 

" I declare that I owe no man, and that Nazared Berryeza owes me fiftcin dollars. 

" I name as first executor of this, my will, my son Ygnacio Peralta, and my son 
Antonio Maria Peralta as second executor, that they, aided by the rest, may fulfill all 
that I have ordained. 

" Finally. I command all m\' children that thc\^ remain in peace, succoring each 
other in your necessities, eschewing all avaricious ambition, without entering into 
foolish differences for one or two calves, for the cows bring them forth every year; 
and inasmuch as the land is narrow, it is indispensable -that the cattle should become 
mi.xed up, for which reason I command my sons to be friendly and united. 

^'Lastly. I command all my children, sons and daughters, to educate and bring 
up their children in the holy fear of God, showing them good example, and keeping 
them from all bad compan)-, in order that our Lord may shower upon them his bless- 
ings, the same which I leave to you, in the name of the Father, and the .Son, and the 
Holy Ghost. 

"I declare that this is my last will and testament, dictated by me, and written in 
my presence, read and signed by myself; and by these presents I revoke and annul 
all and every other will or wills, codicil or codicils, that I may have executed. I 
declare it or them null, and of no value in law or otherwise. 

" In testimony whereof, I have hereunto placed my hand, this twenty-ninth day 
of April, one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-one, in the city of San Jose, and in 
presence of witnesses that I have called to ser\-e as witnesses of this, mj- last will. 

"James Ale.n;. Forbes,) "Luis Ma. Peralta. [seal.] 

"Padre Juan Nobile, -" Witnes.ses." 
" Demo Damco. ) 



Early History and Settlement. 97 

The second grant having connection with Alameda County was that known as 
Los Tularcitos to Jose Higuera, on October 4, 1821, and situated in this and the 
adjoining county of Santa Clara. Their residence stood on the land now occupied 
by Henry Curtner; indeed, a portion of the original adobe house is used by that gen- 
tleman as a stable. 

A law of colonization was adopted in the year 1 824, but the " General Rules 
and Regulations for the Colonization of the Territories of the Republic " did not 
come into force until 1828, and but one single Mexican grant was made anywhere in 
California between that time and the year 1833. 

That our readers may have a proper idea of what manner of life these old 
Spanish rancheros led, we will give a description of an estableciniienio . In front of the 
house was a court-;yard of considerable extent, a part of which was sheltered by a 
piazza; here, when the vaqueros had nothing to call them to the field they would pass 
the day, looking like retainers on a rude court; a dozen or more wild, vicious-looking 
horses, with wooden saddles on their backs, stood ever ready for work, while, loung- 
ing about, the vaqueros smoked, played the guitar or twisted a new riata of hide or 
horse-hair. When the sun gets lower they go to sleep in the shade, while the little 
horses that remain in the sunshine do the same, apparently, for they shut their eyes 
■ and never stir. Presently a ^'«^«^w, judging the time by the sun, gets up and yawns, 
staggers lazily towards his horse, gathers up his riata and twists it about the horn of 
his saddle — the others, awakening, arise and do the same, all yawning with eyes half 
open, looking as lazy a set as ever were seen, as, indeed, they are when on foot. 
" Hupa! Anda!" and away they go in a cloud of dust, splashing through the river, 
waving their lassoes above their heads with a wild shout and disappearing from sight 
almost as soon as they are mounted. The vaquero wants at all times to ride at a furi- 
ous gait, and the eyes of the little horses are open wide enough before they receive 
the second prod from the iron rowels of their riders' spurs. 

In the olden and palmy days of the Spanish-Mexican regime, the stuiiina snmmarum 
of the dolce far niente style of life of that age could be found at these ranchos. Cattle 
roamed at will over the hills and through the valleys, one of which was slaughtered 
daily to supply the wants of the establecimiento. Horses in great numbers bore the 
ranch brand, while extensive flocks of sheep and herds of swine formed a part of their 
princely possessions. Looms and spinning wheels were brought into requisition and 
the wool grown upon the sheep was washed, carded, spun, and woven into cloth, 
beneath the shelter of the ranch houses. The hides of the cattle were tanned, and 
boots and shoes made of the leather. The seasons came and went unheeded, and 
life was to those old Spaniards a near approach to the Utopian's dream. A sum- 
mer's sun, set in a bright, ethereal empyrean, across whose rays not even a hand- 
breadth's cloud ever passed to cast its shadow on the world, showered down a golden 
flood of radiant light to bless the happy days, while the winter's rains fell in copious 
showers, causing the grass to spring into luxuriant life over all the hills and dales, 
spreading as it were an emerald tapestry on every hand, full dainty enough for tread 
of fairy feet. But the dream ended, and sad, indeed, the awakening. From the lap 
of luxury they fell into the hungry arms of poverty, dying sad and broken-hearted. 
Gone were their flocks and herds, and the land on which they had roamed. Life, 



98 History of Alameda County, California. 

which had been to them a hey-day of sunshine and gladness, was robbed of all that 
went to make it worth the living for, and to many of them death was a welcome 
guest, lifting the burdens and cares which had gradually settled upon their shoulders. 
It has often been asked by the uninitiated, How came it that these vast pos- 
sessions should have vanished in thin air? The question may be readily answered: 
With the "greedy, blue-eyed Saxon " came woe. He finds his way into the bosom of 
the unsuspecting family, and on the earliest opportunity temptingly exhibits a 
couple of thousands of dollars in gold coin; the wine circulates freely, with the oft- 
repeated '' diee>w sa/ud;" conversation becomes interesting and aniinated; the patri- 
arch and his household are charmed with their new-found acquaintance, and artful 
and polished visitor. A loan of this couple of thousands is graciously proffered by 
this most liberal stranger; a little more wine is taken for the stomach's sake, with 
a.nother " d?/e;io sa/?td" aU round; the proffered loan is as graciously accepted, more 
to oblige the accomplished guest than for any possible need or use for the ready cash; 
a promissory note, written in English and already prepared beforehand, and made 
payable one day after date, and to bear interest at the rate of seven per cent, per 
month, to be compounded monthly, together with the usual accompanying death 
pledge upon that principality of square leagues, are mirthfully executed b\' the con- 
fiding, simple-minded, illiterate Spaniard, as if it were a passing jest ! So much droll 
ceremony with reference to that mere trifle of money is light comedy to him, in the 
amusing programme of the day's entertainment. Time passes. Many months, and 
several years pass away. Where does that elegant gentleman keep himself? Why 
does he not come and get his money ? Surely he is a most indulgent creditor ! 
The illiterate Spaniard has no conception of the cumulative effect of interest com- 
pounded ! Month after month pass away, and that insignificant financial comedy is 
scarcely remembered. Nearly four years have rolled away, and just now a polite 
notice is received, as coming from the Court, with reference to that forgotten sub- 
ject. Of course there is nothing to be said by way of objection. It is all right. 
Why then should he trouble himself with giving any heed to it ! That little affair 
of a couple of thousand dollars can be refunded any day. " Why does not the 
gentleman come and pay us another visit?" "Of course that little matter of money 
is ready for him any day." " He promised to come and see us again." Time passes. 
Nine years have gone round, and that paltry item of interest has regularly and steadily 
compounded one hundred and eight times, and that principal and interest have steadily 
rolled up to the immense amount of /zt/c Jiundred and fifty thousand dollars, a full 
quarter of a million ! Then comes the auction sale. And there the prowling agent 
of the relentless creditor bids in those thirty-six square miles of land, without com- 
petition, for only one-half the enormous debt. And only now that happily dreaming 
Spanish family are startled and awakened as by an earthquake shock ! The business 
is complicated, and needs the deft handling of financial ability. Redemption is 
impossible. And now a judicial final process is the closing act of the drama, and 
that splendid fortune of real estate comes under the dominion of the stranger. The 
patriarch and his numerous household are exiled from their home forever, while indi- 
gence and wretched want attend them as they scatter and wander away. This, 
surely is a most shocking change to them — a solemn, grievous change. The places that 
knew them well know them no more. 



Early History and Settlement. 99 

Thus, the once material element of California society has been eradicated, to be 
replaced by other nationalities of people. Let other men debate the question whether 
such a change has been for the better ! Let the casuist render judgment whether 
such change has been effectuated by the divine rule of right ! Let the candid soul 
and heart respond to the question whether it has been done by the square of honesty 
and honor. 

The first Americans to make the overland journey to California were under the 
command of Jedediah S. Smith, of New York, a man of much energy and ability. 
In the spring of 1826 he and his party left the winter quarters of the Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company for the purpose of engaging in a spring and fall hunt. In 
the course of their wanderings they struck the source of the Green River, and fol- 
lowed it down to its junction with the Rio Grande, where the two form the Colo- 
rado, whence he took a westerly course and approached the Sierra Nevada, crossing 
which, in search of a more favorable point to continue his explorations towards the 
ocean, he unexpectedly discovered himself to be in the great central valley of Cali- 
fornia, near its southeastern extremity, thus being the first American who had 
entered the magnificent Sacramento and the San Joaquin Vales, and was also the first 
to see or explore the rivers falling into the Bay of San Francisco. The following 
winter, that of 1826, the hunting expeditions were continued on the streams flowing 
into the Tulare Lake, on the San Joaquin and its tributaries, and also on some of 
the lower branches of the Sacramento, and at the commencement of the summer of 1 827 
essayed to cross the Sierra to return, but owing to the height of the mount- 
ains and other obstacles which were encountered, was induced to leave the party in the 
valley; therefore he established his headquarters on that river near where the pres- 
ent town of Brighton, Sacramento County, now stands. While on this journey 
Smith pitched his tent. May, 1827, in the vicinity of the Mission San Jose, a pro- 
ceeding that caused some inquiries to be instituted by Father Narcisce Duran, 
then in charge of that place. To these, on May 19, 1827, Captain Smith made the 
following reply, which should have gone far towards allaying the jealousy which 
then existed between the missionaries and foreigners, whom they considered as inter- 
lopers: — 

" Reverend Father: I understand, through the medium of one of your 
Christian Indians, that you are anxious to know who we are, as some of the Indians 
have been at the mission and informed you th9.t there were certain white people in 
the country. We are Americans on our journey to the River Columbia. We came 
in at the Mission San Gabriel in January last. I went to San Diego and saw the 
General, and got a passport from him to pass on to that place. I have made 
several efforts to cross the mountains, but the snows being so deep I could not 
succeed in getting over. I returned to this place (it being the only point to kill meat) 
to wait a few weeks till the snow melts so that I can go on. The Indians here also 
being friendly, I consider it the most safe point for me to remain until such time as I 
can cross the mountains with my horses, having lost a great many in attempting to 
cross ten or fifteen days since. I am a long ways from home, and am anxious to 
get there as soon as the nature of the case will admit. Our situation is quite unpleas- 
ant, being destitute of clothing and most of the necessaries of life, wild meat being 

L.ofC. 



100 History of Alameda County, California. 

our principal subsistence. I am, Reverend Fattier, your strange but real friend and 
Christian brother. J. S. Smith." 

It is needless to follow these intrepid hunters farther than this. Suffice it to say 
that having scaled the Sierra Nevada they met the severest hardships on their eastern 
slopes, and were compelled to retrace their steps into California, whence they found 
their way into the region of the Columbia River. They visited Monterey, Los 
Angeles, San Diego, and other places, thus escaping massacre with the rest of his party. 

One of the survivors of the horrible butchery on the Rio Colorado remained in 
California. He was a blacksmith by trade and obtained employment as such at the 
missions of San Gabriel and San Luis Rey. His name was Galbraith, and while in 
the mountains, previous to his advent in California, was recognized as the most fear- 
less of that brave class of men with whom he was associated. His stature was com- 
manding, and the Indians were awed by his athletic and powerful frame, while the 
display of his Herculean strength excited the surprise of all. Many were the incidents 
that occurred in California during his residence, of which he was the principal actor. 
On one occasion, while employed at the mission of San Luis Rey, he became riotous 
while under the exciting Influence of agiiadiente, and was warned that unless he con- 
ducted himself with greater propriety it would be necessary to confine him in the 
guard-house. This served to exasperate instead of to quiet his unruly passions. A 
corporal with two men were ordered to arrest Galbraith. On their arrival at the 
shop, they found the follower of Vulcan absorbed in anathemas, which he was pouring 
forth in rapid succession against the reverend father, soldiers, and neophytes. Having 
delivered himself, he inquired what they wanted. On the corporal's replying that he 
had been sent to conduct him to the guard-house, Galbraith seized a sledge, and swaying 
it above his head rushed upon the soldiers, who, intimidated at the gigantic size of 
the blacksmith, whose broad and deep chest was swelling with Infuriated passion, horror- 
stricken fled in dismay. With uplifted hammer he pursued them across the court of 
the mission, and to the guard-house in front thereof, where the affrighted corporal 
and soldiers arrived in hasty retreat among their comrades, closely pursued by the 
terriffic mountaineer, who, alike fearless of Spanish soldiers as he had ever been of 
Indians, drove the trembling forces — a sergeant and twelve men — to their quarters, 
where he imprisoned them. He then hastily loaded a fine piece of artillery that stood 
in front of the quarters, with grape-shot, and directing its mouth towards the mission, 
and gathering up the arms which the soldiers in their confusion had abandoned, pre- 
pared to act as exigences might require. The priest, seeing the course events were 
taking, desired a cessation of hostilities, therefore he sent a messenger to open com- 
munications with the victor, who, from the sudden burst of passion had now cooled 
down, and the effects of the brandy being dispelled, with its removal his choler had 
subsided. 

It is now our purpose to introduce to the reader some of the names of the early 
settlers in this region, of whom there were only a few, Indeed, it is estimated that in the 
year 1830 there were not more than a hundred foreigners in the whole of Upper Califor- 
nia. We have already mentioned John Gilroy and his comrade "Deaf Jimmy." In the 
year i8i8, there arrived at Monterey another of those grand noblemen, cast in nature's 
mould, in the person of Don Antonio Sunol. His birthplace was Barcelona, in Spain, 



Early History and Settlement. ' lOl 

but love for the French people induced him to enter their naval service and he was 
present when the First Napoleon surrendered as a prisoner before his exile to the 

island of St. Helena. In he received the grant of that region which now bears 

his name and where some of his descendants still reside. He died in San Jos^, March 
i8, 1865, having earned in life by his generosity, the respect of the entire community. 
In 1 8 19 or 1820, it is said that James Pease, a native of the Orkney Islands, arrived 
in the country. He is still alive, and is principally to be found in Redwood City, San 
Mateo County. In 1820, our own Robert Livermore took up his abode in San Jose, 
and afterwards became the first foreign settler in what is now Alameda County. In 
1822, Philip Doke, a block and tackle maker, who left a whaling vessel at Monterey, 
came to the rancho of Mariano Castro, near Gilroy, one of whose daughters he after- 
wards marriecj; and about the same time a Dane named Mathew Fellom, landed 
from a whaler at either Bodega or Fort Ross, traversed the intervening space and 
located near Gilroy. He died in 1873. In the year 1828 there was an Englishman 
named William Willis living in the Pueblo de San Jos^. In or about 1830, John 
Burton, who was Alcalde of San Jose during the occupation immediately following the 
cessation of hostilities between the United States and Mexico, came, and married a 
daughter of the land in the following year. In 1833, during the fall, Harry Bee came 
to San Jose from Monterey, where he had arrived in company with Doctor Douglass, 
a naturalist, in October, 1827. He was born in the parish of Westminster, London, 
England, and is still a resident of San Jose. In that same year there also came with 
the Hijas colonization expedition, William Gulnac, a native of Hudson City, New 
York, where he was born, August 4, 180L In the year 1819 he sailed around Cape 
Horn and settled in Lower California, where he married Maria Isabel de Cassifia in 
1825. He died July 12, 185 1, having been 7n ajordo/zio of the Mission San Jos^ for 
a considerable period. In this year, too, came James Alexander Forbes, afterwards 
Vice-Consul for Great Britain, who died in Oakland in May, 1881; and James Weekes, 
who served as Alcade of San Jose in 1847, who also died in May, 1 881, at the residence 
of his friend Harry Bee in San Jose. In 1833 there were living at the rancho of 
Gilroy, John Milligan, and a watchmaker whose name is unknown, while at the Pueblo 
de San Josd were Nicolas Dodero, an Italian; John Price, an American; William 
Smith, better known as " Bill the Sawyer" ; George Ferguson, still a resident of May- 
field, Santa Clara County; Thomas Pepper, alias Pimiento; William Welch, a Scotch- 
man by birth, who obtained in 1844 a grant of three square leagues of land, called 
Las Juntas, on which a portion of Martinez, the County Seat of Contra Costa County 
is built; " Blind Tom " an English sailor; Charles Brown, who came to the country it 
is thought in 1829, and died in San Francisco in March, 1883'; an Irish dragoon, a 
deserter from the British army; a man who went by the name of " Moche Dan " ; 
Thomas Brown and William Daily. It is believed that by this time, or shortly after- 
wards, John Coppinger had established himself in the Pulgas Redwoods, near Wood- 
side, San Mateo County. These are interesting facts which we may be pardoned 
for producing. 

In the year 1835, thirty citizens, styling themselves as of the Ranchos of the North, 
that is of districts situated to the north of the Bay of San Francisco, presented the 
following petitions to the Governor, which are produced as being a portion of history 



102 History of Alameda County, California. 

connected with Alameda County. It is an expression of the desire on their part to 
belong to the jurisdiction of San Jos^, rather than that of San Francisco, and has been 
quaintly described as the " first of our county seat quarrels." 

To His Excellency the Governor: — 

" The residents of the adjoining ranchos of the north, now belonging to the juris- 
diction of the port of San Francisco, with due respect to your F.xcellency, repre- 
sent: That finding great detriment, and feeling the e\ils under which they labor 
from belonging to this jurisdiction, whereby they are obliged to represent to your 
Excellency that it causes an entire abandoning of their families for a year by those 
who attend the judiciary functions and are obliged to cross the bay. Truthfully 
speaking, to be obliged to go to the port by land, we are under the necessity of travel- 
ing forty leagues, going and coming back; and to go by sea we are exposed to the 
danger of being wrecked. By abandoning our families, as above stated, it is evident 
that they must remain without protection against the influences of malevolent persons; 
they are also exposed to detention and loss of labor and property, and injury by 
animals. There is no lodging to be had in that port, where, for a year, an ayunta- 
miento is likely to detain them, and, should they take their families, incurring heavy 
expenses for their transportation and necessary provisioning for the term of their 
engagement, there is no accommodation for them. Wherefore, in view of these facts, 
they pray your Excellency to be pleased to allow them to belong to the jurisdiction 
of the town of San Jose, and recognize a commission of justice that will correspond 
with the said San Jose as capital for the people in this vicinity; wherefore, we humbly 
pray your Excellency to favor the parties interested by acceding to their wishes. 
Antonio Maria Peralt.\, Ygn.acio Peralt.a, 

Joaquin Ysidro Castro, Bruno Valencia, 

Blas Narbol.s. Joaq'n Moraga, 

Z. Blas Angelino, Ramon Fovero, 

Sannago Mesa, Jos6 Duarte, 

Juan Josfi Ca.stro, • Francisco Pacheco, 

Candelario Valencia, Bartolo Pacheco, 

Jos6 Peralta, Mariano Castro, 

Fernando Feles, Felipe Briones, 

Antonio Amejai, Julian Veles, 

Juan Bernal, Rafael Veles, 

Marcano Castro, Francisco Soto, 

Antonio Ygerce, Franco Amejo. 

" San Antonio, San Pablo, and the adjacent ranclios north. May jo, iSjj." 

Will the reader permit us to ask him to dwell upon the changes rung by time 
since that date. Seven and forty years ago the bay was indeed a veritable "sea of 
trouble" to those rancheros; it is now crossed in half the number of minutes that 
years have elapsed. Where there were no accommodations, the finest and best con- 
ducted hotels in the world have sprung up as if by magic, while travel by land has 
been rendered secure, inexpensive, comfortable, and expeditious. .Such a wonderful 
transformation is hard to realize, but the facts speak for themselves. 



Early History and Settlement. 103 

In due course of time the document was received at Monterey. Let us follow it: 
Under date August 12, 1835, it was indorsed: " Let it be kept to be reported to the 
deputation." September ist, it was docketed: "On this day the same was reported 
and referred to the Committee on Government," who, September 5th, reported as fol- 
lows: — 

" Most Excellent Sir : We, the Committee on Government, being required 
to report upon the memorial, with the parties subscribed thereto, made to the Politi- 
cal Chief on the 30th day of May last, find that the said memorial is grounded upon 
good reasons and public convenience; but as the subject should be considered upon 
proper reports for a due determination, the Committee is of opinion that the reports 
of the Ayuntamientos of the towns of San Jose and San Francisco are required for 
that purpose. Therefore, the Committee offers, for the deliberation of the most 
Excellent Deputation, the following propositions: 1st — that this expedteiitehe referred 
to the Ayuntamientos of the towns of San Jose and San Francisco, in order that 
they report upon said memorial. 2d — That after which, the same be returned for 
•determination. " Man'l Jimeno, 

" Salvio Pacheco." 

■'Monterey, September 10, 1835. — At the session of this day the most Exalted 
Deputation has approved the two propositions made in the report of the Committee 
•on Government. . " Manuel JiMENO." 

" Monterey, September 28, 1 835. — Let this expediente be forwarded to the Ayun- 
tamiento of the town '{pueblo) of San Jos6 Guadalupe, for a report upon the prayer 
of the foregoing memorial, and to that of San Francisco for the like purpose. The 
Ayuntamiento of the latter town will, moreover, give a list of the residents of the 
vicinity of the same. Don Jose Castro, senior member of the most Excellent Terri- 
torial Deputation, and Superior Political Chief of Upper California, thus commanded, 
decreed, and signed this, which I attest. "Josfi Castro. 

"Fran'co del Calsello Negrete, Sec'y. 

" In pursuance of the foregoing Supreme Order of Your Excellency, this Ayun- 
tamiento begs to state the following: That with regard to the residents on the north- 
ern vicinity, now under the jurisdiction of San Francisco, and who in their memorial 
prayed to be exempted from belonging to that jurisdiction, having indispensably to 
cross the bay, or to travel upwards of forty leagues; while on half their way they can 
come to this town {pueblo), under the jurisdiction of which they formerly were, which 
was more suitable and less inconvenient to them; this Ayuntamiento thinks that their 
prayer should be granted, if it is so found right. " Antonio Ma. Pico, 

"JOS6 Berryessa, Secretary. " IGNACIO Martinez. 

" Town of San Jose Guadalupe, November ^, iSj^T 

In a response, or rather a remonstrance, the complaints of the petitioners were 
treated as frivolous by the Ayuntamiento of San Francisco, who rebuked them for 
their want of patriotism; and were asked if their service of having traveled a paltry 
forty leagues could bear the slightest comparison with those of others who had jour- 
neyed hundreds of leagues in the interior, and some who had gone on public service 
;from San Francisco to San Diego. 



104 History of Alameda County, California. 

With much indignation it asks: " Which are those Peraltas and Castros that 
have been wrecked on attending to their business affairs every time that any vcsseF 
comes to anchor in the Bay of Yerba Buena ?" This document, which was signed 
by Francisco de Haro, and dated, Port of San Francisco, December 20, 1835, 
utterly repudiates that any such catastrophe had ever occurred, denies the lack 
of accommodation at the presidio, and strenuously urges the jurisdiction of San 
Francisco. 

We now desire to note the arrival of another, and well-known pioneer, to the 
Contra Costa, as the whole of this region was then called. 

Doctor John Marsh left the United States in the year 1835, proceeded to New 
Mexico, and after traversing a portion of Old Mexico, crossed the Colorado at its 
junction with the Gila, and entered Southern California. He afterwards traveled 
northward, and in 1837 purchased the Los Meganos Rancho, which has since been 
popularly known as the Marsh Grant. This tract of land, which he describes as 
being about ten miles by twelve in extent, he designated the Farm of Pulpunes, 
whence, in 1846, he indited a letter to Hon. Lewis Cass, which was first published in 
1866 by the Contra Costa Gazette, to whose columns we refer the reader. In that 
communication he informs Mr. Cass that it had been usual to estimate the popula- 
tion of California at five thousand persons of Spanish descent, and twenty thousand 
Indians. This is declared to be an error, the actual number being, in round numbers, 
seven thousand Spaniards, ten thousand civilized or domesticated Indians, and about 
seven hundred Americans, one hundred English, Irish, and Scotch, with about a like 
number of French, Germans, and Italians. The Doctor further remarks: " Within 
the territorial limits of Upper California, taking the parallel of forty-two degrees for 
the northern and the Colorado River for the southeastern boundary, are an immense 
number of wild, naked, brute Indians. The number of course can only be conjec- 
tured. They probably exceed a million, and may perhaps amount to double that 
number. The far-famed missions of California no longer exist. The>' have nearly 
all baen broken up, and the lands apportioned out into farms. The\' were certainly 
munificent ecclesiastical baronies, and although their existence was quite incompati- 
ble with the general prosperity of the country, it seems almost a pity to see their down- 
fall. The immense piles of buildings and beautiful vineyards and orchards are all 
that remain, with the exception of two in the southern part of the territory, which still 
retain a small remnant of their former prosperity." He goes on to inform his friend of 
of the salubrity of California's climate; its topographical beauties and advantages; its 
agricultural possibilities; its then commerce; its government, and the manners and 
customs of the Indians, all a valuable addition to the early history of California. 

The Doctor established his residence in a small adobe building, not far from 
where he built the famous " Stone House," where he lived a most solitary life, having 
but few neighbors, whose homes averaged a distance from his of from twelve to forty 
miles. 

In the first five years of the decade commencing with 1840 there began to .settle 
in the vast California valleys that intrepid band of pioneers who, having scaled the 
Sierra Nevada, with their wagons, trains, and cattle, began the civilizing influences of 
progress on the Pacific Coast. Many of them had left their homes in the Atlantic 



Early History and Settlement. 105 

and Southern States with the avowed intention of proceeding direct to Oregon. 
On arrival at Fort Hall, however, they heard glowing accounts of the salubrity of 
California's climate and the fertility of its soil; they, therefore, turned their heads 
southward and steered for the wished-for haven. At length, after many days of 
toil and anxiety, fatigued and footsore, the promised land was gained. And what 
was it like ? The country, in what valley soever we wot, was an interminable grain 
field; mile upon mile, and acre after acre, wild oats grew in marvelous profusion, 
in many places to a prodigious heighf — one great, glorious green of wild, waving 
grain — high o\'er head of the wayfarer on foot, and shoulder high with the eques- 
trian; wild flowers of every prismatic shade charmed the eye, while they vied with 
each other in the gorgeousness of their colors, and blended into dazzling splendor. 
One breath of wind and the wide emerald expanse rippled itself into space, while, 
with a heavier breeze, came a swell whose rolling waves beat against the mountain 
sides, and, being hurled back, were lost in the far-away horizon; shadow pursued 
shadow in one long merry chase. The air was filled with the hum of bees, the chirrup 
of birds and an overpowering fragrance from the \-arious plants weighted the air. The 
hill-sides, overrun as they were with a dense mass of tangled jungle, were hard to pen- 
etrate, while, in some portions, the deep, dark green of the forest trees lent relief to 
the eye. The almost boundless range wa; intersected throughout with divergent 
trails, whereby the traveler moved from point to point, progress being, as it were, in 
darkness, on account of the height of the oats on either side, and rendered dan- 
gerous in the valleys by the bands of untamed cattle sprung from the stock intro- 
duced by the mission fathers. These found food and shelter on the plains during 
the night; at dawn they repaired to the higher foot-hills to chew the cud and bask 
in the sunshine. At every yard coyotes sprang from beneath the feet of the voyageiir. 
The hissing of snakes, the frightened rush of lizzards, all tended to heighten the 
sense of danger, while the flight of quail and other birds, the nimble run of the rab- 
bit, and the stampede of antelope, which abounded in thousands, added to the charm, 
causing him, be he whosoever he may, pedestrian or equestrian, to feel the utter 
insignificance of man, the " noblest work of God." 

The overland journey at the period of which we write was one more of dis- 
covery than certainty, the only well-ascertained points being then the Great Salt 
Lake and Humboldt River, known as St. Mary's. Of the two parties that left Inde- 
pendence, Missouri, May 6, 1841, the first was under the leadership of Robert H. 
Thomes, of Tehama, and traveled by St. Mary's, Ogden, and the Humboldt River; 
the second came by Santa Fe and the middle route to Los Angeles, and had as its 
chief William Workman, who died in Los Angeles in 1876. In the fjprmer, which 
numbered about thirty men, we find the names of Josiah Belden, Charles M. Weber 
(who died in Stockton in May, 1881), John Bidwell, and Grove C. Cook. In the year 
1843 another party crossed the plains, among them being the late Major S.J. Hensley 
(who died in 1865), Julius Martin, Thomas J. Shadden, and Winston Bennett, the 
last three of whom brought their wives, the first foreign ladies to settle in the district 
comprised in the counties of Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara. In 1844 the 
Murphys came to the Santa Clara Valley; in 1845 William M. Mendenhall, now a 
resident of Livermore; and in 1846 John M. Horner and Hon. Elam Brown, of Con- 
8 



106 History of Alameda County, California. 

tra Costa, who was a delegate to the Convention which framed the first State Consti- 
tution, in September, 1849, and is one of the few surviving members of the "Legisla- 
ture of a Thousand Drinks " — the first of the State of California, which had its session 
in San Jose. 

No history of a section of the Pacific Coast would be complete without some 
relation of the tragic fate of Donner's party; we have, therefore, taken the liberty of 
reproducing, from Tuthill's " History of California," the following graphic description 
of their sufferings: — 

" Of the overland emigration to California in 1846, about eighty wagons took 
a new route from Fort Bridger around the south end of Great Salt Lake. The pio- 
neers of the party arrived in good season over the mountains; but Mr. Reed's and 
Mr. Donner's companies opened a new route through the desert, lost a month's time 
by their explorations, and reached the foot of the Truckee Pass, in the Sierra Nevada, 
on the 31st of October, instead of the 1st, as they had intended. The snow began to 
fall on the mountains two or three weeks earlier than usual that year, and was already 
so piled up in the pass that the\- could not proceed. They attempted it repeatedly, 
but were as often forced to return. One party built their cabins near the Truckee 
Lake, killed their cattle and went into winter quarters. The other (Donner's) party 
still believing that they could thread the pass, so failed to build their cabins before 
more snow came and buried their cattle alive. Of course they were soon utterly des- 
titute of food, for they could not tell where the cattle were buried, and there was no 
hope of game on a desert so piled with snow that nothing without wings could move. 
The number of these who were thus storm-stayed, at the very threshold of the land 
whose winters are one long spring, was eighty, of whom thirty were females, and 
several children. The Mr. Donner, who had charge of one company, was an Illi- 
noisian, sixty years of age, a man of high respectability and abundant means. 
His wife was a woman of education and refinement and much younger than he. 

" During November it snowed thirteen days; during December and January, eight 
days each. Much of the time the tops of the cabins were below the snow level. 

" It was six weeks after the halt was made that a party of fifteen, including 
five women, and two Indians who acted as guides, set out on snow-shoes to cross 
the mountains, and give notice to the people of the California settlements of the 
condition of their friends. At first the snow was so light and feather}- that even 
in snow-shoes they sank nearly a foot at every step. On the second day they crossed 
the ' divide,' finding the snow at the summit twelve feet deep. Pushing forward with 
the courage of despair, the\- made from four to eight miles a da)-. 

" Within a week they got entirely out of provisions, and three of them, suc- 
cumbing to cold, weariness, and starvation, had died. Then a heavy snow-storm came 
on, which compelled them to lie still, buried between their blankets under the snow, 
for thirty -six hours. By the evening of the tenth day three more had died, and 
the living had been four days without food. The horrid alternative was accepted — 
they took the flesh from the bones of their dead, remained in camp two days to 
dry it, and then pushed on. 

" On New Year's, the sixteenth day since leaving Truckee Lake, they were 
toiling up a steep mountain. Their feet were frozen. Every step was marked with 



Early History and Settlement. . 107 

blood. On the second of January their food again gave out. On the third they had 
nothing to eat but the strings of their snow-shoes. On the fourth the Indians eloped, 
justly suspicious that they might be sacrificed for food. On the fifth they shot a 
deer, and on that day one of their number died. Soon after three others died, and 
every death now eked out the existence of the survivors. On the seventh all gave 
out, and concluded their wanderings useless, except one. He, guided by two stray 
friendly Indians, dragged himself on till he reached a settlement on Bear River. By 
midnight the settlers had found and were treating with all Christian kindness what 
remained of the little company that, after more than a month of the most terrible 
sufferings, had that morning halted to die. 

" The story that there were emigrants perishing on the other side of the snowy bar- 
rier ran swiftly down the Sacramento Valley to New Helvetia, and Captain Sutter, at 
his own expense, fitted out an expedition of men and of mules, laden with pro- 
visions, to cross the mountains and relieve them. It ran on to San Francisco, and 
the people, rallying in public meeting, raised fifteen hundred dollars and with it 
fitted out another expedition. The naval commandant of the port fitted out still 
others. 

" The first of the relief parties reached Truckee Lake on the 19th of Feb- 
ruary. Ten of the people in the nearest camp were dead. For four weeks those 
who were still alive had fed on bullock's hides. At Donner's camp they had but one 
hide remaining. The visitors left a small supply of provisions with the twenty-nine 
whom they could not take with them, and started back with the remainder. Four of 
the children they carried on their backs. 

" Another of the relief parties reached Truckee Lake on the first of March. They 
immediately started back with seventeen of the sufferers; but, a heavy snow-storm 
overtaking them, they left all, except three of the children, on the road. Another 
party went after those who were left on the way; found three of them dead, and the 
rest sustaining life by feeding on the flesh of the dead. 

" The last relief party reached Donner's camp late in April, when the snows had 
melted so much that the earth appeared in spots. The main cabin was empty, but 
some miles distant they found the last survivor of all lying on the cabin-flojr smoking 
his pipe. He was ferocious in aspect, savage and repulsive in manner. His camp- 
kettle was over the fire, and in it his meal of human flesh preparing. The stripped 
bones of his fellow-sufferers lay around him. He refused to return with the party, 
and only consented when he saw there was no escape. 

" Mrs. Donner was the last to die. Her husband's body, carefully laid out 
and wrapped in a sheet, was found at his tent. Circumstances led to the suspi- 
cion that the survivor had killed Mrs. Donner for her flesh and her money, and 
when he was threatened with hanging and the rope tightened around his neck, he 
produced over five hundred dollars in gold, which, probably, he had appropriated 
from her store." 

Apropos to this dreary story of suffering, we conclude it by the narrative of a 
prophetic dream of George Yount, attended, as it was, with such marvelous results. 

At this time (the winter of 1846-47), while residing in Napa County, of which 
he was the pioneer settler, he dreamt that a party of immigrants were snow-bound in 



108 History of Alameda County, Cai.ikorxia. 

the Sierra Nevada, high up in the mountains, where they were sufferin^j the most dis- 
tressing privations from cold and want of food. The locality where his dream had 
placed these unhappy mortals he had never visited, yet so clear was his vision that he 
described the sheet of water surrounded by loft)' peaks, deep-covered with snow, 
while on every hand towering pine trees reared their heads far above the limitless 
waste. In his sleep he saw the hungry human beings ravenously tear the flesh from 
the bones of their fellow-creatures, slain to satisfy their craving appetites, in the midst 
of a weird and gloomy desolation. He dreamed his dream on three successive nights> 
after which he related it to others, among whom were a few who had been on hunting 
expeditions in the Sierras. These wished for a precise description of the scene fore- 
shadowed to him. They recognized the Truckee Lake. On the strength of this 
recognition Mr. Yount fitted out a search expedition, and with these men as guides, 
went to the place indicated, and, prodigious to relate, was one of the successful reliev- 
ing bands to reach the ill-fated Donner party. 

We now come to the eventful year of the discovery of gold, but in introducing 
the reader to the circumstances attending the finding of the precious metal, we would 
first desire to put him in possession of the fact, that the prevailing opinion that the 
first discovery of gold in California was that made at Sutter's Mill is an erroneous one, 
and must therefore give way to the evidence furnished by Mr. Able Stearns of its 
earlier discovery by some six )-ears, in the vicinity of Los Angeles. Mr. Stearns has 
now been a resident of California nearly, if not quite, forty years, and is widely known 
as a man of unquestionable veracity. The following letter, stating some of the facts 
relating to the early discovery of gold, was furnished in response to a request of the 
Secretary of the California Pioneers: — 

"Lo.s Angele.s, July S, 1867. 

" Luis R. Lull, Secretary of the Societj' of California Pioneers, San Fran- 
cisco — Sir: On my arrival here from San Francisco, some days since, I received j^our 
letter of June 3d, last past, requesting the certificate of the assay of gold sent by me 
to the mint at Philadelphia in 1 842. I find by referring to my old account books 
that November 23, 1842, I sent by Alfred Robinson (who returned from California to 
the .States by way of Mexico) twenty ounces California weight (eighteen and three- 
fourths' ounces mint weight) of placer gold, to be forwarded by him to the L'nited 
States Mint at Philadelphia, for assay. 

" In his letter to me, dated August 6, 1843, you will find a copy from the Mint 
assay of the gold, which letter I herewith inclose to you to be placed in the archives 
of the society. 

"The Placer Mines, from which this gold was taken, were first discovered by 
Francisco Lopez, a native of California, in the month of March, 1842, at a place 
called San Francisquito, about thirty-five miles northwest from this city (Los Angele.s). 

" The circumstances of the discovery by Lopez, as related by him, are as follows: 
Lopez, with a companion, was out in search of some stray horses, and about mid- 
day they stopped under some trees and tied their horsey out to feed, they resting 
u idcr the shade, when Lopez, with his sheath-knife, dug up some wild onions, and in 
the dirt discovered a piece of gold, and searching further found some more. He 
brought these to town and showed them to his friends, who at once declared there 



Early History and Settlement. 109 

must be a placer of gold. This news being circulated, numbers of the citizens went 
to the place and commenced prospecting in the neighborhood and found it to be a 
fact that there was a placer of gold. After being satisfied most persons returned; 
some remained, particularly Sonorenses (Sonorians), who were accustomed to work in 
placers. They met with good success. 

" From this time the placers were worked with more or less success, and prin- 
cipally by Sonorenses (Sonorians), until the latter part of 1846, when most of the 
Sonorenses, left with Captain Flores for Sonora. 

"While worked there were some six or eight thousand dollars taken out per 
annum. Very respectfully yours, Abel Stearns." 

It is also a fact fully established that the existence of gold was known to the 
aborigines long prior even to this date. Let us turn however,' to that epoch which has 
•earned for California the name of the Golden State. 

Who does not think of '48 with fesling.s almost akin to inspiration ? 

The year 1848 is one wherein was reached the nearest attainment of the discovery 
of the philosopher's stone which it has been the lot of Christendom to witness. On Jan- 
uary 19th, gold was discovered at Coloma, on the American River, and the most unbe- 
lieving and cold-blooded were, by the middle of spring, irretrievably bound in its fascina- 
ting meshes. The wonder is the discovery was not made earlier. Immigrants, settlers, 
hunters, practical miners, scientific exploring parties had camped on, settl.ed in, hunted 
through, dug in and ransacked the region, yet never found it; the discovery was 
■entirely accidental. Franklin Tuthill, in his " History of Cahfornia," tells the story 
in these words: " Captain Sutter had contracted with James W. Marshall in Septem- 
ber, 1847, for the construction of a saw-mill in Coloma. In the course of the winter a 
dam and race were made, but when the water was let in the tail-race was too narrow. 
To widen and deepen it, Marshall let in a strong current of water directly to the race, 
which bore a large body of mud and gravel to the foot. 

"On the 19th of January, 1848, Marshall observed some glittering particles in 
the race, which he was curious enough to examine. He called five carpenters on the 
.mill to see them; but though they talked over the possibility of its being gold, the 
vision did not inflame them. Peter L. Weimar claims that he was with Marshall when 
the first piece of 'yellow stuff' was picked up. It was a pebble weighing six penny- 
weights and eleven grains. Marshall gave it to Mrs. Weimar, and asked her to boil 
it in saleratus water and see what came of it. As she was making soap at the time, 
she pitched it into the soap kettle. About twenty-four hours afterward it was fished 
■out and found all the brighter for its boiling. 

" Marshall, two or three weeks later, took the specimens below and gave them to 
Sutter to have them tested. Before Sutter had quite satisfied himself as to their 
nature, he went up to the mill, and, with Marshall, made a treaty with the Indians, 
buying of them their titles to the region round about, for a certain amount of goods. 
There was an effort made to keep the secret inside the little circle that knew it, but it 
soon leaked out. They had many misgivings and much discussion whether they were 
not making themselves ridiculous; yet by common consent all began to hunt, though 
with no great spirit, for the 'yellow stuff' that might prove such a prize. 



110 History of Alameda County, California. 

" In F'ebruary, one of the party went to Verba Bucna, taking some of the dust 
with him. Fortunately he stumbled upon Isaac Humphrey, an old Georgian gold 
miner, who, at the first look at the specimens, said they were gold, and the diggings 
must be rich. Humphrey tried to induce some of his friends to go up with him to 
the mill, but they thought it a crazy expedition, and left him to go alone. He reached 
there on the 7th of March. A few \\cre hunting for gold, but rather la/.il\\ and the 
work on the mill went on as usual. Next day he began ' prospecting,' and soon satis- 
fied himself that he had struck a rich placer. He made a rocker, and then commenced 
work in earnest. 

" A few days later, a Frenchman, Baptistc, formerly a miner in Mexico, left the 
lumber he was sawing for Sutter at Weber's, ten miles cast of Coloma, and came to 
the mill. He agreed with Humphrey that the region was rich, and, like him, took to 
the pan and rocker. These two men were the competent, practical teachers of the 
crowd that flocked in to see how they did it. The lesson was easy, the process simple. 
An hour's observation fitted the least e.xperienced for working to advantage." 

Slowly and surely, however, did these discoveries creep into the minds of those at 
home and abroad; the whole civilized world was set agog with the startling news from 
the shores of the Pacific. Young and old were .seized with the California fever; high 
and low, rich and poor, were infected by it; the prospect was altogether too gorgeous 
to contemplate. Why, they could actually pick up a fortune for the seeking it! 
Positive affluence was within the grasp of the weakest; the very coast was shining with 
the bright metal, which could be obtained by picking it out with a knife. 

Says Tuthill: " Before such considerations as these, the con.ser\atism of the most 
stable bent. Men of small means, whose tastes inclined them to keep out of all 
hazardous schemes and uncertain enterprises, thought they saw duty beckoning them 
around the Horn, or across the plains. In many a family circle, w'here nothing but 
the strictest economy could make the two ends of the year meet, there were long and 
anxious consultations, which resulted in selling off a piece of the homestead or the • 
woodland, or the choicest of the stock, to fit out one sturdy representative to make a 
fortune for the family. Hundreds of farms were mortgaged to buy tickets for the 
land of gold. Some insured their lives and pledged their policies for an outfit. The 
wild boy was packed off hopefully. The black sheep of the flock was dismissed with 
a blessing, and the forlorn hope that, with a change of skies, there might be a change 
of manners. The stay of the happy household said, ' Good-bye, but only for a year 
or two,' to his charge. Unhappy husbands availed themselves cheerfully of this cheap 
and reputable method of divorce, trusting to time to mend or mar matters in their 
absence. Here was a chance to begin life anew. Whoever had begun it badly, or 
made slow headway on the right course, might start again in a region where fortune 
had not learned to coquette with and dupe her wooers. 

" The adventurers generally formed companies, expecting to go overland or by 
sea to the mines, and to dissolve partnership only after a first trial of luck, together 
in the 'diggings.' In the Eastern and Middle States they would bu}- up an old whal- 
ing ship, just ready to be condemned to the wreckers, put in a cargo of such stuff as 
they must need themselves, and provisions, tools, or goods that must be sure to bring 
returns enough tu make the venture profitable. Of course, the whole fleet rushing 



Early History and Settlement. Ill 

together through the Golden Gate, made most of these ventures profitless, even when 
the guess was happy as to the kind of supplies needed by the Californians. It can 
hardly be believed what sieves of ships started, and how many of them actually made 
the voyage. Little river-steamers, that had scarcely tasted salt-water before, were fitted 
out to thread the Straits of Magellan, and these were welcomed to the bays and rivers 
of California, whose waters some of them plowed and vexed busily for years after- 
wards. 

" Then steamers, as well as all manner of sailing vessels, began to be advertised to 
run to the Isthmus; and they generally went crowded to excess with passengers, some 
of whom were fortunate enough, after the toilsome ascent of the Chagres River, and 
the descent either on mules or on foot to Panama, not to be detained more than a 
month waiting for craft that had rounded the Horn, and by which they were ticketed 
to proceed to San Francisco. But hundreds broke down under the horrors of the 
voyage in the steerage; contracted on the Isthmus the low typhoid fevers incident to 
tropical marshy regions, and died. 

"The overland emigrants, unless they came too late in the season to the Sierras, 
seldom suffered as much, as they had no great variation of climate on their route. 
They had this advantage too, that the mines lay at the end of their long road; while 
the sea-faring, when they landed, had still a weary journey before them. Few tarried 
longer at San Francisco than was necessary to learn how utterly useless were the 
patent mining contrivances they had brought, and to replace them with pick and 
shovel, pan and cradle. If any one found himself destitute of funds to go farther, 
there was work enough to raise them by. Labor was honorable; and the daintiest 
■dandy, if he were honest, could not resist the temptation to work where wages were 
high, pay so prompt, and employers so flush. 

" There were not lacking in San Francisco, grumblers who had tried the mines 
and satisfied themselves that it cost a dollar's worth of sweat and time, and living 
exclusively on bacon, beans, and 'slap-jacks,' to pick a dollar's worth of gold out of 
rock, or river-bed, or dry ground; but they confessed that the good luck which they 
never enjoyed, abode with others. Then the display of dust, slugs, and bars of gold 
in the public gambling places; the sight of men arriving every day freighted with 
belts full, which they parted with so freely, as men only qan when they have got it 
easily; the testimony of the miniature rocks; the solid nuggets brought down from 
above every few days, whose size and value rumor multiplied according to the number 
of her tongues; the talk, day and night, unceasingly and exclusively, 'gold, easy to 
get and hard to hold,' inflamed all new-comers with the desire to hurry on and share 
the chances. They chafed at the necessary detentions; they nervously feared that all 
would be gone before they should arrive. 

" The prevalent impression was that the placers would give out in a year or two. 
Then it behooved him who expected to gain much, to be among the earliest on the 
ground. When experiment was so fresh in the field, one theory was about as good 
as another. An hypothesis that lured men perpetually further up the gorges of the 
foot-hills, and to explore the canons of the mountains, was this: that the gold which 
had been found in the beds of rivers, or in gulches through which streams once ran, 
must have been washed down from the places of original deposit further up the mount- 



112 History or Ai.amkda Couxtv, California. 

ains. The higher up the gold-hunter went, the nearer he ajiiiroaclied the source of 
supply. 

"To reach the mines from San h'rancisco, the course la\' u]) .San Pablo and Suisun 
Bays, and the .Sacramento — not then, as now, a yellow, muddy stream, but a river 
pellucid and deep — to the landing for Sutter's Fort; and the)- who made the voyage 
in sailing vessels thought Mount Diablo significantly named, so long it kept their 
company and swung its shadows over their path. From Sutter's the most common 
route was across the broad, fertile valley to the foot-hills, and up the American or 
some one of its tributaries; or, ascending the Sacramento to the Feather and the 
Yuba, the company staked off a claim, pitched its tent or constructed a cabin, and .set 
up its rocker, or began to oust the river from a portion of its bed. Good luck might 
hold the impatient adventurers for a whole season on one bar; bad luck scattered 
them always farther up. * * * « « 

" Roads sought the mining camps, which did not stop to study roads. Traders 
came in to supply the camps, and not ver_\- fast, but still to some extent; mechanics 
and farmers to supply both traders and miners. So, as if b\- magic, within a year or 
two after the rush began, the map of the country was written thick with the names of 
settlements. 

" Some of these were the nuclei of towns that now flourish and promise to con- 
tinue as long as the State is peopled. Others, in districts where the placers were 
soon exhausted, were deserted almost as hastily as the_\- were begun, and now no 
traces remain of them except the short chimney-stack, the broken surface of the 
ground, heaps of cobble-stones, rotten, half-buried sluice-bo.xes, empty whisky bottles, 
scattered playing cards and rusty cans. 

"The 'Fall of '49 and Spring of '50,' is the era of California histor\- which the 
pioneer always speaks of with warmth. It was the free and easy age when everybody 
was flush, and fortunes, if not in the palm, were only just beyond the grasp of all. 
Men lived chiefly in tents, or in cabins scarcely more durable, and behaved themselves 
like a generation of bachelors. The family was beyond the mountains; the restraints 
of society had not yet arrived. Men threw off the masks the\- had lived behind, and 
appeared out in their true character. A few did not discharge the consciences and 
convictions they had brought with them. More rollicked in a perfect freedom from 
those bonds which good men cheerfully assume ill settled societ}- for the good of the 
greater number. Some afterwards resumed their temperate and steady habits, but 
hosts were wrecked before the period of their license expired. 

" Very rarely did men on their arrival in the country begin to work at their old 
trade or profession. To the mines first. If fortune favored, they soon quit for more 
congenial employments. If she frowned, the}- might depart disgusted, if they were 
able; but oftener, from sheer inability to leave the business, they kept on, drifting from 
bar to bar, living fast, reckless, improvident, half-civilized lives; comparatively rich 
to-day, poor to-morrow; tormented with rheumatisms and agues, remembering diml\- 
the joys of the old homestead; nearly weaned from the friends at home, who, becau.se 
they were never heard from, soon became like dead men in their memon-; .seeing 
little of women, and nothing of churches; self-reliant, yet .satisfied that there was 
nowhere an\- 'show' for them; full of enterprise in the direct line of their business 








lJ/~ 



Early History and Settlement. 113 

and utterly lost on the threshold of any other; genial companions, morbidly craving 
after newspapers: good fellows, but short-lived." 

Such was the maelstrom which dragged all into its vortex now thirty and more 
years ago! Almost the entire generation of pioneer miners who remained in that 
business have passed away, and the survivors feel like men who are lost, and old 
before their time, among the new-comers, who may be just as old, but lack their 
long, strange chapter of adventures. 

We will now attempt to give the names of those gentlemen who settled in Ala- 
meda, for, with the discovery of gold, the whole world turned towards the mines to 
seek their fortunes, and as health gave way from exposure there, or fatigue caused 
the wish for a less wearying life to arise, they hied themselves unto the valleys whose 
fertility was now fully established, there to make homes and till farms, finer than 
which no country in the world can claim. Of course many names are omitted, 
not from any fault on our part, but rather from the fact that treacherous memory 
remembers them not; the dates are not so much those of their actual settlement, but 
as they were found by the parties with whom we have conversed. 

1847. — Perry Morrison, William Morrison, Earl Marshall. 

1848. — Simeon Stivers. 

1849. — Peter T. Wilson, John F. Frese, George May, E. L. Beard, William P. 
Abbey, Thomas Goodale (or Goodall), Thomas W. Mulford, A. R. Biggs, Moses 

Weeks, E. M. Smith, W. C. Smith, Steve Smith, Robert Smith, Solomon, Socrates 

Huff, C. Winton, and two Frenchmen on the Encinal named De Pachier and Le 
Maitre. 

1850. — N. Greene Patterson, Jacob Patterson, Edson Adams, E. R. Carpentier, 
A. J. Moon, A. Marier, Robert S. Farrelly, William Tyson, Robert F. Patton, Will- 
iam Patton, Edward Patton, Calvin Valpey, Moses Chase, Ephraim Dyer, Gideon 
Aughinbaugh, H. C Smith, W. W. Chipman, John L. Beard, H. G. Ellsworth, Ed. 

Niehaus, Coombs, Joseph Nicholls, Origin Mowry and two brothers, John Neil, 

Zachariah Cheney, Charles Hanyon, L. P. Gates, John L. Wilson, John Threlfall, 

John Sweetser, Captain Bond, Chamberlin, James Hawley, Jeremiah Fallon, 

Captain Roberts, Michael Murray. 

185 1. — John W. Kottinger, Robert Blacow, Antonio Fonte, William Hayes, 

William C. Blackwood, Hiram Davis, Augustus Johnson, James B. Larue, 

Parker, M. Segrist, — — Dean, John J. Riser, Fuller and son, George W. Pat- 
terson, Dr. B. F. Hibbard, George W. Bond, Parfait, Capt. S. Larkin, Joshua 

Wauhab, William M. Liston, Lewis C. Smith, Christian P. Hansen, Henry Smith, 
A. M. Church, Capt. John Chisholm, Doctor Bucklahd, Captain Richardson, Captain 

Nowell, John Wilson, Edward Carroll, Wright, Thomas McLaughlin, Charles 

Ray, Strickland, "The Scotch Boys," John Johnson. 

1852. — James Beazell, Charles Hadsell, Calvin J. Stevens, F. K. Shattuck, N. J. 
Overacker, John Hall, Joseph Freeman, Isaac F"reeman, Duncan Cameron, George 
Gaskins, Peter Olsen, D. A. Plummer, John W. Jamison, Louis Ettablow, Alexander 
Allen, Rev. W. Taylor, Harvey Taylor, Liberty Perham, Rev. A. H. Myers, Richard 

Threlfall, Henry Curtner, Daniel M. Sanborn, John T. Stevenson, E. S. Allen, 

Finch, Joseph Ralph, Joseph Worrell, Joel Russell, Scribner, George Simpson, 



114 History of Alameda County, California. 

Joseph Scott, Victor W. Nuttman, Samuel Murdoch, Thomas W. Millard, Isaac M. 
Long, William Barry, Tompkins, George M. Walters, H. K. W. Clarke, Nathan- 
iel L. Babb, Kdward Ross, Howard Overacker, Emery Munyan, Garrett S. Norris, 
Peter J. Campbell, William H. Cockefair, Edward Chauncey, W. Param. 

1853. — James Hutchison, Cornelius Mohr, Thomas B. Smith, Michael Overacker, 
William W. McKenzie, John D. Brower, Joseph Dieves, -Franklin Pancoast, William 
Newcomb, Henry Rogers, Capt. F. C. Coggeshall, Russell M. Rogers, Henry Smyth, 

Mason, George S. Myers, H. A. Wickware, N. W. Palmer, Tim. Hauschildt, H. S. 

Barlow, David S. Smalley, Captain Miller, Frank Frietes, Hermann Egger.s, John C. 
Whipple, Joseph F. Black, John McRae, J. S. Munoz, Jarel T. Walker, Luther E. 
Osgood, John Blacow, Farley B. Granger, John Proctor, James Emerson, John 

Buchanan, Abraham Harris, McWilliams, William Ogden, ■ Trueworthy, 

Edward F. Burdick, Ebenezer Healey, John Whitman, J. West Martin, James W. 

Dougherty, Doctor Kampf, E. Clawiter, Christian Butsow, Lewis Brady, King, 

Isaac Frank, Peterson, Chris. Anderson, William Oatman, C. P. Hansen, Joseph 

De Mount, J. F. PlUiott, John Huff", William Mahone\-, E. D, Mann, Emmerson T. 
Crane, Leonard Stone, Rev. H. Durant. 

1854. — H. H. C. Barlow, Col. Jack Hays, Richard T. Pope, Simon Zimmerman, 
Andrew J. McLeod, H. Hampel, John Mathew, Joseph B. Marlin, Joseph H. Taylor, 
Frederick Schwcer, Jacob Schilling, John Taylor, Henry Dusterberry, William W'ales, 
Z. D. Cheney, Silvester P. Harvey, William H. Mack, Michael Ryan, August Heyer, 

August May, Elijah Foster, William Morgan, Bain, Ezra Decoto, D. S. Lancey; and 

from the accompanying list furnished to us we find there were the following " squatters ' 
in this year, all the signatures being genuine: W. R. Richardson, F". Pancoast, Fred. S. 
Smith, James Ford, A. Moon, Chas. W. Evanj;, Anthony Perry, Johh Howlett, Hiram A. 
Wickware, E. Saillot, H. K. W. Clarke, J. S. Tubbs, G. W. Gaskins, Lemoine Freres, W. 
L.Johnson, Aaron A. Ferguson, Feli.\ Byrne, Murdock Nicholson, Michael Trombly, 
Lecomte Jean Jules, James F. Barnwell, H. L. Lefifingwell, Samuel Chase, John Hagan, 
Rufus C. Vose, William Lunt, Laren Coburn, Jonathan Mulkey, C. H. Regne, Jona- 
than L. Marshall, Duncan Cameron, Henry C. Clark, Thomas Wheeler, William 
Shelly, Alphonse Gonnet, George Carpenter, A. Marier, Edson Adams, A. W. Barreil, 
A. Staples, Sargent Kelly, H. A. Brown, Moore & Chester, J. Miller O'Meara, Arthur 
Mathews, L. Hughes, Thos. Beale, Anto. Vidal, Louis Lamrci, A. Francois Xavier, 

Homer Horton, Alfred H. Osborn, John D. Brower, George Mahan, Rudsdale, 

John McCorkey, F. P. Keefer, John Trendt, William Harwood, J. W. Cronkheite, C- 
Alexander Petersen, William Tullock, James Jamison, G. W. Parsons, John Chisholm, 
Seth K. Bailey, F"rederick Van ' Horn, Jonathan Wells, William Ortman, George 
Heinsld, E. H. Keakley, John Huff, John J. Hardy, John B. Lock, William Perkins, 
George C. Wickware, B. F. Simms, Henry Bohlman, R. Christensen. O. I-". Fay, 
George Fay, Darwin D. Mann, Patrick McDonald, Augustus Johnson, N. 11. Wray, 
William F. Miller, Franklin Wray, William Watts, Peter Johnson, John Sturgis, R S. 
Farrelly, R. T. King, Jacob Eversen, Riley H. Gragg, Samuel E. Spusling, E. A. 
Hawley, F. Maillot, B. Phillips, K. Clawiter, Christian Ander.son, .\. H. Smith. A. 
Ringle, Jr., James Beletsen, Calvin James, C. Shoe, Jerry Beeday, J. A. Hobart, L. 
LaGrange, George H. Everett, I. Sanford, George Mason, C. Shaw, W. L. Johnson, 
Samuel Moore, J. E. Otter, Daniel Tichnor, Charles Goodrich, John Bowman. 



Early History and Settlement. llo 

1855. — William M. Card, Hiram Bailey, Edward Hoskins, Abraham C. Brown, 
Peter Mathews, James Linfoot, Josiah H. Brickell, Joseph Graham, Richard Barron, 

Philip Thorn, William H. Healey, Frank Heare, James Taylor, Hirschfeldter, 

Robert Gilmore, I. B. Haines. 

1856. — Conrad Liese, Thomas Rafferty, John Lynch, Edmund Jones, William 
Knox, Otis Hall, Frederick Wrede, John Wille, Ferdinand Schultz, A. B. Montross, 
James A. Brewer, James Shinn, Henry F. Nebas, Comfort Healey, M. G. Higgins, 

Deveney, John Martin, Dan. McMillan, Charles Stuzel, Frederick D. Arff, Die- 

drich Pestdorf, Edward Murphy. 

1857. — John N. English, W. T. Lemon, E. H. Dyer, Howard S. Jarvis, Walter 
Baker, George W. Peacock, James Sinclair, Samuel K. Brown, Lewis Knox, Samuel 
Merritt, Andrew Peterson. 

1858. — Maas Lueders, Hugh B. McAvoy, Edward Newland, Hiram Tubbs, 
Thomas W. Morgan, Bernard McAvoy, Joseph S. Emery, W. H. Miller, William 
Gibbons, Antonio Bardellini, John Green. 

i859.^Adam Fath, Samuel Milbury, Jeremiah Callaghan, James Moffitt, Watkin 
W. Wynn, William Owen, James J. Stokes, David H. Beck. 

i860. — Lysander Stone, William Meek, Columbus R. Lewis, H. Remillard, N. D. 
Dutcher, John W. Clark, Jacob F. Meyers, John Decoto, Adolphus Decoto, Nicholas 
Bergmann, Edwin A. Richmond, Jonathan E. Healey. 

1861.— William M. Mendenhall, Daniel M. Teeter, W. W. Moore, Capt. Thomas 
Badger, Frederick Brustgrun, A. P. Rose, Israel Horton, Judge Nye. 

1862. — O. W. Owen, Duncan Sinclair, A. W. Schafer, Ivan J. Tifoche. 

1863. — John Booken, Amos S. Bangs, Hugh Bankhead, F. D. Hinds, J. A. Bilz, 
Alson S. Clark, Solomon Ehrman, B. T. Clough, Jacob Teeters, William Whittner, 
Doctor Goucher. 

1864.— Dr. I. N. Mark, William B. Smith, Ives Scoville, Diedrich Buhsen, J. A. 
Rose, O. Whipple, Michael Rogan, Adam A. Overacker, Powell, Manuel Fereira. 

1865. — Frederick Rose, Charles Rose, Martin Mendenhall, Peter Pumyea, W. B. 
Ingersoll, A. G. Lawrie, Capt. A. Milton, E. B. Renshaw, M. W. Dixon, F. C. Jarvis, 
Hugh Dougherty, Peter McKeany, C. A. Plummer. 

In our township histories will be found all that is of interest appertaining to them, 
therefore we will spare the reader the infliction of repetition. The. history of the city 
of Oakland which was first incorporated as a town, will be found fully given in its 
proper place. Its existence began before Alameda County was; indeed the same may 
be said of the other places in the county. In 1853 the Legislature created from out 
of Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties, that of Alameda, and soon the official 
machinery was set in motion, the facts of which will be found in our Legislative 
history. 

It will be curious in a general way to state the appearance of Alameda County 
in 1 85 1. In that year of grace the triumvirate, Horace W. Carpentier, A. J. Moon, 
and Edson Adams appear on the scene and commenced their operations where now 
stands Oakland. Moses Chase and the Patten Brothers made their home where 
we now have that portion of East Oakland then called Clinton; the San Antonio red- 
woods were resounding to the noise of hundreds of axes and tens of saw-mills and 



ll(i History of Alamkda C^ll•^•T^•, Cai.ikoknia. 

pits. Between there and the mission no residence was to be found save those of two 
or three Mexican rancheros. Where San Leandro now is the Estudillo family held 
dominant sway. An Indian rancheria occupied the locality of San Lorenzo; Haywards 
was the home of Guillermo Castro; behind the hills, Jose Maria Amador was lord and 
master; a howling wilderness was what has since become Mount Eden; what has now 
developed into New Haven was then the embarcadero for the mission; there were a very 
few settlers about Centreville; at Washington Corners, John M. Homer was alone; at 
the mission, Henry C. Smith had succeeded Chamberlin in his store, while there were a 
few foreign settlers and man\- natives; the famf)us Warm Springs were as yet an 
undiscovered boon to ian\' but a few Indians and Californians, and the old chief 
Morgiana had still around him a kw retainers; Sunol \'alle\- was inhabited b\' a few 
of that name; Pleasanton, then called Alisal, had the Bcrnals and. John W. Kottingcr; 
and in Livermore Valley the little Englishman, Robert Li\-ermore, was " monarch of 
all he surveyed." In that year James B. Larue had taken the first step towards found- 
ing the town of San Antonio, while many were the eager and hungry eyes that longed 
for so fair an inheritance. In the following \'ear Chipmaii and Aughinbaugh laid out 
the town of Alameda; landings were established on all the creeks where a boat could 
float; in Brooklyn Township we had that of Damon and Clark; at San Lorenzo, 
Capt. John Chisholm an-d William Roberts were erecting warehouses; near San 
Leandro Moses Wicks, T. W. Mulford, Minor and William Smith, made a landing 
whence they shipped game to San Francisco; and last came .that horde of squatters who 
located on every available piece of land. 

The supply of game was practicall}- unlimited as the following items will show. 
In February, 1852, Moses Wicks, T. W. Mulford, and the Smiths, .sent to market, 
the fruits of their own guns, in that month, one hundred and twent_\'-five pairs of wild 
geese; fifty-three pairs of canvas-back ducks; sixt\'-nine pairs of small ducks; fifteen 
pairs of widgeons; forty-one pairs of spoonbills; twenty-seven pairs of teals; sixty-three 
pairs of broad-bill ducks; one hundred and ninety-two curlews; two hundred and 
seven plovers; forty-eight dowitches; one hundred and fift}'-si.x "peeps" ; fort)--eight 
snipe; and one rabbit, being in all fourteen hundred and twenty-three head, for which 
seven hundred and seventy-one dollars and eighteen cents were rccci\cd. 

In 1852 the region around Mount Eden was first located bx'John Johnson, Alex- 
ander Peterson, George N. Myers, Fritz Boehmer, Joel Russell, William I'ield, Charles 
Duerr, while William Hayward took up his residence where the prett_\- little town of 
that name now stands. By this time our good friend A. M. Church had commenced 
store-keeping in Alvarado; Centreville had an accession to its strength in the persons 
of William Blacow and John Threlfall, where others soon came; Ed Niehaus and his 
partner, L. P. Gates, were on the Tyson and Morrison tract who owned man_\- miles of 
country between the mission and Niles. We find in that vicinitj' then the names of 
Beard, Brej-fogle, Brier, and Broder, Chamberlin, Coombs, and Crane, Ellsworth, 
Haley, and Huff, Marston, Moore, and Palmer. Near the Agua Caliente Ranch were 
Clemente Columbet, Henry Curtner, T. W. Millard, G. W. Peacock. In the Amador 
Valley there had appeared Jeremiah P"allon and Michael Murra\- — indeed the county 
had progressed towards a rapid settlement and gave earnest of its present prosperity. 

At the start settlers had considerable difficulties to contend with in the uncertainty 



Early History and Settlement. 117 

of land tenure and consequently were saddled with a great amount of litigation, the 
questions involved being chiefly between Government lands and Mexican grants, a far 
more serious matter than the encroachments of cattle and other like annoyances. Of 
tUe capabilities of the soil they were entirely ignorant, as they were also of the proper 
mode of cultivation to be pursued. What might be a remunerative crop one year, the 
next might prove an utter failure, and under this uncertainty many lost heart and for- 
sook the plowshare for the pick and shovel at the mines, hoping there to replenish 
their depleted coffers. The price of the articles they required was very high, while 
the markets were in a perpetual state of fluctuation. The wages asked were 
ruinous, farm hands demanding four dollars a day, while to add to their grievances 
several of the settlers were forced to pay twice for their land ere they could feel them- 
selves undeniable proprietors, and were the individual a renter, then one-half of his 
yield was expected as payment. The most profitable crops were wheat, barley, 
potatoes, and onions. The sowers of barley, in 1851, reaped twelve and a half cents 
per pound when sold in the spring; thosewho planted potatoes in 1852, amassed 
competencies, which, in the following year were lost by the cultivation of the same 
commodity. Immense quantities were raised by John M. Homer in both years, in 
the first year realizing as much as a thousand dollars per acre; in the second year 
they did not pay the outlay for sacks and were allowed to rot in the fields. However, 
the crop of wheat in 1853 was prodigious, in many cases seventy-five bushels to the 
acre, and fully made up for the loss in tubers. So weighty were the heads that the 
entire crop had to be cut by hand and after threshing realized eight and a half cents 
at the mill. Having mentioned the subject of flour-mills we may state that in 
1850 there was a very crude one at Niles, the property of J. J. Vallejo, and in 1852, 
one was built at the mission by E. L. Beard and H. G. Ellsworth. In 1853, how- 
ever, Mr. Vallejo built a larger one on the site of that already mentioned, run by 
water power, while in the same year J. M. Homer put up a steam mill at Alvarado — 
the one that was afterwards moved to Livermore by Calvin J. Stevens. It may be 
stated in the connection of agriculture, that the first blacksmith's shop in the county 
was erected in 1853 by John Boyle at San Lorenzo and was the germ from which has 
since sprung the extensive agricultural works there. 

In the year 1854 Oakland became a city, and craved for the honors of being 
county seat, but the public voice elected that it should remain at Alvarado, not- 
withstanding that its location there was attended with many disadvantages. By 
this time the population had considerably augmented and stores for their convenience 
had been established at Centreville, by Captain Bond; at Brooklyn, by — Lacey. 
H. C. Smith had left the mission and joined issues with A. M. Church at Alvarado, 
and Oakland boasted more than half a dozen. 

On the night of February 13, 1855, the County Treasurer's office at Alvarado 
was entered and the safe in which were deposited the county funds opened, and the 
money, between eleven and twelve thousand dollars, stolen. This robbery is else- 
where more fully described, while it is believed to have been effected by some one 
that was perfectly familiar with the premises. In this same month the Court House 
at San Leandro, the former residence of the Estudillo family, was discovered to be 
on fire, and as there were no means at hand for extinguishing the flames, it was 



118 History of Alameda County, California. 

entirely consumed. The county records and other valuable papers were saved, but 
the entire loss was estimated at from si.x to eight thousand dollars. In this month 
the District Court held its first session in San Leandro, but its business was con- 
siderably retarded b\- this untoward event, the Court being under the necessity «f 
adjourning until suitable accommodation could be pnnided. The fire was supposed 
to be the work of an incendiar\-, instigated either by revenge excited by the removal 
of the county seat from Alvarado, or jealousy on the part of .some neighboring town 
that aspired to the honor. If this be. true, 'tis a sad and humiliating reflection on the 
weakness of human nature. 

We have mentioned above the subject of " squatters," but it should have been 
said that in 1853 they associated themselves in order to protect what they thought 
to be their interests. To this end the following rules, which explain themselves, 
were adopted: — 

" We, the undersigned, citizens of Alameda County, and settlers upon what are 
supposed to be the public lands belonging to the United States, within said county, 
believing that we can more effectually guard our interests as such settlers by mutually 
supporting and protecting each other: Therefore form ourselves into an association 
and adopt the following as the fundamental rules of our government: — 

''■First. — This association shall be known as 'The Pre-emptioner's League.' 

" Second. — The object of this association shall be mutual support and protection 
in the defense of our pre-emption claims. 

" Third. — The officers of this association shall be a President, two Vice-Presi- 
dents, a Secretary and Treasurer, and such temporary officers and agents as from 
time to time may, in the sound discretion of the association, be found necessary. 

" Fourth. — It shall be the duty of the President, or, in case of his absence, any 
one of the Vice-Presidents, to preside at all meetings of the League. 

" Fifth. — It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a full and fair record of 
all the proceedings of the League, and, when notified by the President, to call all 
meetings of the League. 

" Sixth. — -It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to receive and safely keep all the 
funds belonging to the League, and to keep a correct account of all moneys by 
him received and expended for the League, and from time to time, as the League 
may require, report to this League the condition of the treasury. 

" Seventh. — It shall be necess;iry for the Treasurer, before acting upon the duties 
of his office, to make and e.xecute a bond, to be approved by the President of 
the League, in the sum of five thousand dollars, conditioned upon the faithful dis- 
charge of his duties as such Treasurer; said bond shall be made payable to the 
Secretary of the League, and by the Secretary deposited with the President of 
the League. 

" Eighth. — All bills against this League shall be presented to the President, and 
if by him allowed to be just charges against the League, shall be paid by drafts on 
the Treasurer, said drafts to be drawn and signed by the President and counter-signed 
by the Secretary'. 

"Ninth. — Every person, to become a member of this League, must be a settler 
within the county of Alameda; must pay five dollars into the treasury, and subscribe 



Early History and Settlement. ]]9 

to the following obligation, to wit: We, the undersigned, do solemnly agree, and by 
these presents bind ourselves, each to the other, and all to each one, that individually 
we will make no overtures to the land claimants for a settlement of our difficulties with 
them, and will reject all such as maybe made to us by them until such overtures shall 
have been submitted to and approved by this League; that we will contribute equally 
of money in support of this League, and at all times hold ourselves in readiness to 
aid and assist each other to defend our homes and farms from the grasping avarice of 
the land speculators." 

To this document one hundred and nine names were signed, who each paid the 
sum of five dollars. The machinery of the association was soon put in motion, the 
proper officers appointed, and thenceforward meetings regularly convened, and minuted 
in somewhat grandiloquent strains, as may be gathered from the following excerpt 
from a record book kindly placed at our disposal: " County Convention held at the 
ran cho of W. R. Richardson, on October 29, 1853: The sun shone gloriously, as if 
heaven smiled on our cause, and the old cannon, 'The Squatter,' belched forth its 
thunders, calling together the farmers around. On every side could be seen the hardy 
, pedestrian and horseman, and four-horse teams with the ' Stars and Stripes ' floating 
gaily in the breeze. As they reached the ground three hearty cheers welcomed their 
arrival. After a friendly interchange of sentiments the President took the chair and 
called the meeting to order, etc." This is an introduction worthy of the lamented 
novelist, G. P. R. James, whose inevitable " two horsemen " paved the way to the 
romances that were wont to thrill our bosoms in our more youthful days. 

Reminiscences of long ago are ever full of pleasure or of pain; but more deep 
the pain where man's blood has been shed to avenge a fancied wrong. Unhappily, 
the so-called " code of honor " was too much in vogue in the early Californian days, 
and too often friend met friend in deadly combat. The incident we are about to 
relate describes how two men whose love for each other was like that of Jonathan 
to David, became maddened by jealousy and poured out each other's blood. 

Four-and-thirty years ago, the spot on which Oakland now stands was almost an 
unbroken solitude. The shores of Lake Merritt, where now broad avenues, lined with 
stately mansions, adorn and beautify the thriving and populous city, was then a 
wilderness of trees and undergrowth, save here and there an open glade of a few 
acres in extent. The whole of the territory embraced within the present city limits 
could not boast of more than half a dozen dwellings, scattered along the margin of 
the bay, from the creek to the Point. On the 24th of December, 1849, the echoes of 
these silent woods were awakened by the sharp report of fire-arms, the green sward of 
one of these openings stained with human blood, and the lives of two intelligent 
beings went out forever from the joys and sorrows of earth to test the mysteries of 
the hereafter. On a spot near where Twelfth Street Bridge now spans the estuary a 
tragedy was enacted that beautiful winter morning that never became known beyond 
the few intimate friends of the actors, but which carried mourning and lamentation 
into two happy Southern homes on the banks of a far-off Southern river. Compan- 
ions in boyhood, college chums in youth, and devoted friends in early manhood, these 
two men had met that holy Christmas Eve, with dire hate in their hearts, determined 
to take each other's life. It was the old, old story of rivalry for the hand of a beau- 



120 History of Alamkda Countv, Cai.iiokma. 

tiful maiden, which had grown into jealousy and ripened into an all-absorbing passion 
for revenge. The love of excitement and wild adventure had brought themto Cah- 
fornia, one by the way of the Isthmus and the other overland, and, meeting in San 
Francisco, a trivial occurrence kindled thj sm )ulderin,f embers into a fierce flame 
that nothing but blood could quench. With a few selected friends they both crossed 
the bay in a small boat, and, rowing u[) the creek until a favorable spot was reached, 
disembarked. Their positions taken at ten paces, the word given, and each lay pros- 
trate on the ground, one shot through the heart, the other with a bullet in his brain. 
Silently their earthly remains were lifted into the boat, and side b_v side in death's grim 
embrace were they conveyed to San Francisco, where they were quietly buried, and 
the world moved on as though nothing had transpired outside of the usual course. 
Thus ended Alameda County's first duel, but unfortunatel>- not its last. Two of these 
others we have described elsewhere. 

There are many "beautiful spots" throughout the world, from the gorgeous 
Orient to the brilliant Occident — 

" Where the rivers wander o'er sands of gold, 
Where the burning rays of the niby shine. 
And the diamond lights up the secret mine, 
And the pearl gleams forth from the coral strand." 

We doubt if the sun-light reveals any more eloquent in natural beauty, or richer 
in natural resources than our own Contra Costa, the "opposite coast" of the first 
Spanish settlers. It stretches for more than forty miles along the waters of the 
splendid San Francisco Bay, and diagonally opposite the city of the same name — 
the marvel of the age — the reality that rivals romance, before which the magicians' 
wands become powerless — " they cannot do so with their enchantments." Verily, 
we live in a marvelous age, when the wildest dreams of imagination fall within the 
limits of the actual. If our capabilities keep pace with our experiences, the poet is 
yet to be who can tell us of our future. 

But will the reader journey with us to the summit of the Contra Costa Range 
and place himself in the position thtis described by Byron: — 

"A king sat on the rocky brow, 

'I'hat looks o'er sea-born Salamis 
And ships by thousands lay lielow — " 

And here he will find himself the center of a circle which has for its radius more than 
eighty miles. The long chain of mountains visible in the far-away cast is the 
Sierra Nevada Range, white with eternal snow. There the grizzly bear makes his 
home and the fearful avalanche falls; but \\ ithin these rock-ribbed mountains, girdled 
with ice, arc untold riches deposited for futuie generations. Sec ! Before lies the 
grand panorama of the Great Artist, spread out in all its perfection of beauty 
and sublimit). That passage of water to the right, running in a northerly direc- 
tion is the Straits of Carquinez, through which our ri\cr steamboats distribute 
wealth and happiness to the fertile uplands of the north. In the soulJiern distance 
lies the city of San Jose, siiin'iiig like a brilliant constellation in the morning 
sunbeams. Mount San Bruno, envelojicd in amber haze; the glittering hills of our 
Ocean City, and the Golden Gate liiiiii our western prospect. In the cast the 
sun is shining brightly above the Sicrr.i \'e\ada, pom-ing a Hood of golden light upon 



:% 

■"'^■3 . 




^/yJ-ct^i/iy€/e/t^ jyC^t^-i^^^ 




Early History and Settlement. 121 

the scene. The tout ensemble of the picture is subh'me beyond description and is no 
less beautiful in detail. Before us the magnificent Bay of San Francisco, bordered 
by sunny slopes, abrupt steeps and evergreen woodlands is floating in graceful curva- 
tures, away in the dim distance. The silver arteries flow brightly through the valley, 
imparting life to business and vitality to the vista. Along its margin, nestling 
among the grateful shade, see the flourishing towns of Oakland and Alameda; farther 
south on the border of a navigable stream are to be discerned the villages of Alva- 
rado and Union City, while beyond is the quaint old Mission of San Jose. These 
places are all connected by steam and the finest roads in the State, over which vehi- 
cles can progress with almost railroad speed, rendering drives through any 
section of this valley, an unalloyed pleasure. How full of busy human life is this 
valley, which, thirty years ago, was covered only with grazing herds and an 
occasional adobe. It presents a checkered scene as well, emblematic of life. The 
farmers plow their land in squares, and the rich, dark loam, just seeded, forms a 
striking contrast with the bright green of progressed vegetation. 

The form of the valley is oval, the length stretching north and south. It appears 
from the heights to be an amphitheater, surrounded by hills with no open view to 
the ocean save through the Golden Gate at the west, -which gives it the appearance 
of having been the bed of an inland sea; as has been mentioned before, and the pecu- 
liar character of the soil justifies this idea. The natives hold a pretty tradition to 
this effect: They tell us that " many years agone " the surrounding mountains were 
the walls of a great sea, but the Storm-King came in wrath and maddened the waves, 
driving them furiously against the rock-bound shore, when the father of waters opened 
the Golden Gate and received them into his peaceful bosom. 

Those masses of unshapen rocks that crouch upon the bosom of the ocean, far 
out from the Golden Gate, are the barren Farralones. Ah! A splendid clipper is 
entering under a press of sail — a perfect sea-bird, 

" She walks the water hke a thing of Ufe," ' 

And brings to our shores the products of every clime: God bless the sailors! A 
steamship follows' close upon her track, with teas from Sinim's Land. And what is 
this trail of smoke along the shore ? It is the line left by the swift-winged cars, 
bringing news from the Eastern States and Europe — news from the dear ones we left in 
the dear old homes of our childhood-time-proved friends, with hearts as true and 
tried as steel, and as warm as ever. 

After this digression we will take up the thread of our chronicles and state 
that on July 24, 1858, the Alameda County Agricultural Society was formed, the 
gentlemen signing the Constitution being H. C. Smith, Dr. H. Gibbons, A. H. Myers, 
Harry Linden, W. W. Moore, J. M. Moore,- R. Blacow, Alfred Lewelling, P. J. Camp- 
bell, Frank F. Fargo, H. Lewelling, G. W. Fountain, Mark T. Ashley, F. K. Shattuck, 
S. Shurtleff, Isaac B. Rumford, E. Wilson, Hiram Keeney, J. Blacow, W. H. Davis, 
John B. Ward, J. L.Wilson, D. E. Hough, E. S. Chipman, C. C. Breyfogle, J. A. Lent. 
The benefit of such societies was dilated on by J. Silver, of Philadelphia, \vhile it was 
decided to hold semi-annual fairs, one in the spring, for the display of flowers, early' 
grains, and the products of the horticulturist; and the other in the autumn, for 
the exhibition of stock, general farming produce, late fruits, and vegetables, and 



122 History of Alameda County, California. 

such other articles that could be shown to greater advantage at this season of the 
year. The first officers were, A. H. Myers, President; H. C. Smith, F. K. Shattuck, 
Vice-Presidents; E. S. Chipman, Secretary; Frank F. Fargo, Treasurer; Robert 
Blacow, Alfred Lewelling, Directors. 

In this year, 1858, the Warm Springs first attracted attention as a place of fash- 
ionable resort, and on July 29th were opened by Alexander Beatty, with a grand ball. 
They had been originally utilized by Clemente Columbet, who moved a house all the 
way from San Jose to the spot. After 1858 the Springs were much affected by the 
world at large, but since their purchase by ex-Governor Leland Stanford, their pris- 
tine uses have been abandoned. 

The following is an abstract of the annual report made by Rc\'. J. D. Strong, on 
November 23, 1861, to the State Superintendent of Instruction: — 

Children from four lo eighteen years of age 1828 

More boys than girls Ill 

Increase during the year 204 

Children under four years 1076 

Under twenty-one years 2997 

Born in California 1765 

Deaf and Dumb 3 

Blind I 

Scholars enrolled in the Public Schools 772 

Average daily attendance 437 

Number of schools 22 

Teachers employed during the year 32 

Average salary per month $61 00 

Average number of months the schools were open 7 J^ 

School Fund received from State $2, 130 00 

Received from County §5,417 00 

Raised in the districts ' $2,32400 

Total expenditure during the year $9,986 00 

Average for each pupil enrolled 13 

" The amount raised in the various districts by voluntary subscription is as fol- 
lows: Alvarado, one hundred and eighty-two dollars; Union, two hundred and eighty- 
seven dollars; Eureka, two hundred and twenty-eight dollars; Lockwood, two hun- 
dred dollars; Centreville, one hundred and ninety-four dollars; Ocean View, one hun- 
dred and forty-four dollars; Alviso, one hundred and seven dollars; Alameda, one 
hundred and six dollars; Mission San Jose, San Lorenzo, Redwood, and Temcscal, 
raised less than one hundred dollars each, while Murray, Peralta, Edenvalc, Oakland, 
and Brooklyn, depended entirely upon the public fund. The amount thus rai.sed by 
the districts this year is only one-half as large as that rai.sed during the previous year, 
and the average expenditure per scholar is also less. The Union, Brooklyn, Oakland, 
Murray, and Ocean View schools were maintained ten months or more; the Mission, 
nine months; the Alvarado, San Lorenzo, Alameda, and Murra\-'s Landing, eight 
months; the Lockwood and Eureka, seven months; the Alviso, fi\e months; and the 
Redwood, Temescal, and Peralta, four months. 

"There are three times as many male teachers as female in the county; the aver- 
age length of the schools is greater this year than last, but the average salary paid 
for teaching is less, and the average attendance on the schools less. All except three 



Early History and Settlement. 123 

or four of the teachers have had from three to twenty-one years' experience in teach- 
ing, and nine intend to devote themselves to the profession for Hfe. 

" The school-houses in the county generally, are unfit for use. With three or four 
exceptions, a humane man would feel that they were scarcely fit to shelter his ani- 
mals. Too small, badly constructed, worse furnished, and unpleasant in every way, 
they cannot but have a sad influence over the tastes and feelings and character of 
those whorri they are assisting to educate. Those in Oakland, Brooklyn, and Alameda, 
are especially inadequate to meet the wants of the scholars — Oakland and Brooklyn 
each heed a school building adapted to a graded school. Oakland especially with its 
four hundred and sixty-four children drawing the public money, has not adequate 
school accommodations for more than thirty scholars. The remaining three hundred 
and eighty-six are practically unprovided for. At the same time that district has 
more than sixteen hundred dollars lying idle in the county treasury. The Peralta and 
Bay Districts also need school-houses. 

" In addition to the public schools there are nine private schools and coMeges in 
the county, with about one hundred and ninety pupils." 

What a change is now observed from this sad state of affairs; to-day no county 
in the Union has greater reason to be proud of its school advantages. Alameda 
County has become the educational center of the State and bids fair to maintain her 
high reputation. 

The winter of 1861-62 is one that will never be forgotten in the memory of those 
who experienced its inclemencies. Snow lay in the valleys despite the sun's rays, 
and the last Sunday in January, 1862, ice formed to .the thickness of an inch. So 
severe were the early rains, and so high the tides, that all low lying lands were sub- 
merged. The Alameda Wharf was lost to sight for a time and the ferry-boats were 
compelled to suspend some of their regular trips; Amador Valley was transformed 
into one great lake; the San Leandro Creek rose to so great a height that some build- 
ings near the bay were carried away, while one of the piers of the bridge was consid- 
erably damaged; much destruction ensued at Niles, San Lorenzo, and Yoakum's 
Ferry; while traffic was nearly suspended, the meetings of the Court of Sessions and 
Board of Supervisors being adjourned on account of the difficulty of travel. The 
volume of water that fell in the month of January was immense; on the 23d of that 
month an inch of rain fell in the short space of forty minutes, while the San Lorenzo 
Creek rose seven feet and two inches in fifty-eight minutes. The flood would appear 
to have been general throughout the State; for it is estimated that damage was done 
to the extent of seventy- five millions of dollars. This gloom overshadowed the hearts 
of all the farmers, for their crops were threatened with destruction: as we write, March 
23, 1883, the same despair has settled upon the agriculturists but because there has 
been no rain ! Truly the farmer's lot is not a happy one ! We are told that as late 
as the month of April, 1862, Mission Peak and the higher hills were capped with snow, 
and on May 17th were bedecked in a like manner, while as late as the month of June 
the county was visited by frequent showers of rain, notwithstanding all of which 
the crops were promising. Indeed, the year 1862 was phenomenal as regards the 
weather, and had there been a Wiggins to prophecy the raging of storms and dire 
catastrophes, our farmers might well have felt apprehensive. On the i8th of August, 



124 History of Alameda County, Caijkoknia. 

a straw stack near Mount Eden was struck by lightning and burned during a severe 
thunder-storm, while the telegraph wire at Centreviile was also struck in like manner, 
exploding the magnet in the telegraph office and making a report like that of a 
musket. 

With the year 1S63 came marvelous changes. The subject of railroads first 
commanded public attention in the question of a subsidy for the Alameda Valley Rail- 
road, and the breaking of ground at Sacramento for the great trans-continental line of 
the Central Pacific, while in the month of February the organization of the San Fran- 
cisco, Alameda, and Stockton Railroad Company commenced to be spoken of The 
subject of railroads, however, will be found more extendedly dwelt upon in the history 
of Oakland Township, suffice it here to state that the boon conferred upon Alameda 
County by this means of transportation has been inestimable. In this year too, a min- 
ing excitement had broken out, and several persons were digging into the hills some 
four miles to the east of Brooklyn, on what afterwards obtained the appropriate jv/;- 
riquet of "Wild Cat Ranch," but we have failed to learn that anyone "struck it rich" 
though all at the time were full of hope. On November 23d .several parties in Alva- 
rado were fired upon by a gang of Me.xican desperadoes, who took to flight immedi- 
ately thereafter, but the outraged citizens at once started in pursuit and capturing one 
of them very properly hanged him at the bridge crossing the Alameda Creek. 

The opening of the year still brought the mining excitement. The .iVt'ici' of Jan- 
uary 23d says: "Mr. D. B. Goode called at our office on Wednesday last, on his return 
from San Francisco, where he had been on business connected with the Occidental 
Mining Company, located in Murray Township, in the southeast part of this county. 
This company is organized but not incorporated as yet. Mr. Goode is an old miner, 
having resided for some time in Placer County, and of course is no novice in mining 
operations. He has been prospecting and mining in this vicinity since last June and 
is now satisfied that he has ' struck it rich.' The lead struck is principally silver, with 
a slight mixture of gold. The district laid out is called the ' Alameda Mining Dist- 
rict,' and the by-laws of the company will soon be published. The shaft is now forty 
feet deep and the rock at this depth just assayed in San Francisco yielded at the rate 
of eighty dollars per ton of silver. At the depth of forty feet the ledge is some four 
feet wide, well defined, runs north and south, and dips to the east." 

The Mountain House, situated in the northeastern portion of the county, was 
attacked and plundered by a band of robbers on January 15, 1864, who were armed 
with pistols and bowie-knives and threatened to kill the inmates, the only men in the 
house being a sick Frenchman and a not very courageous Germ.m. By their intimi- 
dation they succeeded in obtaining one hundred dollars of Mr. Zimmerman's treasure, 
two dollars and a half from the Frenchman and all of the Teuton's wealth — one dollar. 
From this sum they afterwards, out of the fullness of their hearts returned one 
dollar, saying they did not like to leave a man "dead broke." Making their escaoe 
with the booty, they were subsequently apprehended in San Jose, brought back to 
Alameda County, tried before Judge Hamilton, and sent across the bay for fifteen 
years; the sentence of one of them, however, who gave the name of Charles Williams, 
being afterwards reduced to ten years. Sheriff Morse, at the commencement of this 
year, reported the enrollment of three thousand and eight men for military duty, a 



Early History and Settlement. 125 

large proportion of the population when it is considered that California would not be 
called upon to take any part in the civil war which was then at its height, although 
it was thought, for prudential reasons, necessary to ascertain the military strength of 
the State. It is said that in Brooklyn Township there was one man adjudged insane 
for resisting the muster. 

Mr. Halle'y relates the following distressing accident as occurring on September 
7, 1864, about midway between Niles and Centreville. It appears that a Mr. Jerome 
Rice, an auctioneer of San Francisco, and his book-keeper, a Mr. R. Gardiner, were 
on their way to Warm Springs in a buggy, drawn by a span of horses, and losing their 
way near Alvarado in the dark lost sight of the main road and took a wrong direction; 
when at the point indicated, the horses stopped suddenly on the edge of the river 
bank and Mr. Gardiner .s'liggested that one of them had better get out and see what 
was the matter. Mr. Rice thought it was but one of those sudden frights to which 
horses are subjected and urged them forward again, when, in an instant, horses, driver, 
carriage and all went crashing down to the bottom of the creek, making a fall of 
about twenty feet. Strange as it may appear, here they remained as they fell for four 
days and nights, without relief or food, with the exception of Mr. Gardiner, who, after 
shouting himself hoarse and remaining a whole day expecting assistance, with a 
a broken leg, proceeded to drag himself towards the nearest habitation, that of Mr. 
Overacker, which was almost within hailing distance. He was not seen nor heard 
and two days and nights and a part of a third day were consumed in making this 
painful journey. When the circumstances of the sad affair were made known to Mr. 
Overacker and his family, they at once proceeded to render all the assistance in their 
power. On arriving at the scene of the accident, they found that Mr. Rice was hurt 
internally, seriously injured, and knocked insensible by the fall. One of the horses 
was lying down, tangled in the harness, and the other standing by him. When Mr. 
Rice was taken up he remarked: " How hard it is to lie here and die. How far is it 
— " and then became insensible. He died on the following day, at two o'clock in the 
morning. Mr. Gardiner, notwithstanding the hardships he endured and the severity 
of his injuries, recovered, but was lame for life. 

On September 2, 1864, there was killed in action in the Shenandoah Valley, 
Captain C. S. Eigenbrodt, a gentleman who had formerly held the office of Super- 
visor for Washington Township, in this county, and who had gone East with a com- 
pany of California Cavalry, which was attached to a Massachusetts regiment. The 
intelligence of his death was received with much regret throughout Alameda, while 
the Crusade Lodge of Odd Fellows, of which he had been a prominent member, 
passed resolutions of condolence and regret and otherwise honored his memory. In 
December, of this year, trouble with "squatters" commenced on the ranch, near the 
mission, of H. G. Ellsworth, but they were not of long duration, that gentleman 
having got rid of them, and ultimately obtained full possession of the property. At 
the January term of the County Court in this year the case of H. G. Ellsworth versus 
Elias Sampson and twenty others, for trespass as squatters on a portion of the Mission 
Ranch, w^s tried, and, after several days in Court, the plaintiff was awarded damages 
to the extent of one thousand dollars. The legal -talent on either side were: For 
plaintiff, Edward Tompkins; for defendants, W. H. Glascock, H. K. W. Clarke, and 



126 History of Alameda County, California. 

Judge Collins. In this year the contract for the construction of the We.stcrn Pacific 
Railroad, from SanJo.se to Stockton, was let to Co.x & Meyers, and work commenced 
in the Alameda Caiion in the month of June; while the grading of the San Fran- 
cisco and Alameda Railroad was completed to San Leandro in Januar_\-, and the 
laying of the track finished in March, the first trip being made from .San Francisco, 
by boat and cars, to San Leandro in an hour and a quarter. In April the contract 
for the completion of the road to Hay wards was let to C. D. Hates, and an opening 
excursion, free, was had August 25, 1865. On the 22d of March the Contra Costa 
Railroad, to connect the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad with Oakland and 
San Pablo, was incorporated, but they never did any work on the proposed line. It 
has since been effectually carried out by the Central Pacific Railroad Company. 

It was in this year that the dastardly assassination of President Lincoln, on April 
14, 1865, cast the whole nation into grief. Alameda County was not a whit behindhand 
in her expression of sorrow, all being naturally impelled by the same feeling of woe, 
and loud were the execrations hurled at the foul murderer. 

Guillcrmo Castro obtained a confirmation to the lands of the San Lorenzo 
Rancho, April 29, 1865, and a United States patent was issued therefor, while, not 
long after, the settlers on the San Ramon Rancho paid the sum of one hundred and 
eleven thousand dollars to Horace W. Carpentier for his title thereto. This splendid 
estate had originally cost Mr. Carpentier, we understand, the immense sum of one 
sack of flour ! 

Enterprise and activity reigned supreme throughout the year 1867. During it 
were established a County Teachers' Association ; the incorporation of the Oakland 
Bank of Savings; the location of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute; the reorganiza- 
tion of the County Agricultural Society; and the founding of the Agricultural College. 
The principal occurrence in 1868 was the earthquake of October 21st, which was first 
felt a few minutes before eight o'clock in the morning. In Alameda County, which 
appears to have been its center, it was particularly destructive, and great damage was 
sustained in nearly all of the interior and valley towns, for particulars of which we 
refer the reader to the township histories; it is sufficient to say here that it was the 
most prodigious shaking that the county had ever had since its creation.. 

On the 29th October, 1869, the last rail of the Pacific Railroad was laid in Oak- 
land, and thus the shores of the two mighty oceans were connected; and hardly had 
the ring of the final blow upon the last spike been hushed ere a distressing accident 
occurred near San Leandro, full particulars of which are given elsewhere. 

It is now the proper time to show, in one branch of her products, the prominent 
place which Alameda County had ta^en. In the year 1868 J. Lusk, whose farm is 
within four miles of Oakland, cultivated fift}' acres of raspberries, and derived from 
them a very handsome profit. He sent to market ninety tons of fresh raspberries, 
which were sold at an average of ten cents per pound, or a total of eighteen thousand 
dollars. He manufactured into jams, jellies, and pie-fruit twenty tons, which realized 
in the neighborhood of ten thousand dollars. He made fifteen thousand gallons of 
wine, worth twerity-five cents per gallon, at the lowest figure, six thousand two hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. "He also manufactured ten thousand gallons of vinegar, worth 
twenty cents per gallon, or two thousand dollars; making the total i)roJuct of his 



Early History and Settlement. 127 

ranch thirty-six thousanJ two hundred and fifty dollars. The cost of cultivating, 
picking, canning, barreling, and getting to market may be estimated at twenty thou- 
sand dollars, leaving for the year's labor the handsome sum of sixteen thousand two 
hundred and fifty dollars. 

In the year 1870 there was another mining excitement in Brooklyn Township, 
but, like the last, it came to naught, although it was rumored there were indications 
of the precious metals and coal. It is said that some parties actually paid as high as 
twenty thousand dollars for a piece of ground which was not worth half the money. 
On June 22, 1870, the consolidation of the Central Pacific of California with the 
Western Pacific Railroad, under the name of the Central Pacific Railroad, with a capital 
stock of one hundred millions of dollars, was effected, and thus was the business of the 
two lines simplified. In November of this year the beet sugar mill at Alvarado com- 
menced operations, with a capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
while about the same time the San Jose Mission Land Company was organized with 
a capital stock of one million two hundred j,nd fifty thousand dollars. The plan of 
the association was to purchase a certain tract of land, comprising" about five thou- 
sand acres of the tract known as the San Jose Mission lands, and to improve and 
distribute the same among the shareholders; also to raise a fund for the purpose of 
constructing and endowing two colleges, one for males and the other for females, 
should the Order of Odd Fellows locate one at San Jose Mission and the other at 
Decoto. The intention of the company, however, was not carried out, but the Wash- 
ington College at Washington Corners was established. 

In this year S. B. Martin chartered the Archer, and, loading her with wheat, dis- 
patched her direct to Liverpool, a new departure, and one which did away with the 
exorbitant charges of middle-men; besides, it was the first venture of the kind 
in the county. 

During the winter of 1871-72 much damage was done by rain and floods in the 
lower end of the county, the streets of Mission San Jos^ being converted into rushing 
brooks, while a large area of land was inundated. In the year 1873 Oakland 
was chosen to be the future county seat by a majority of nine hundred and 
eighty-five votes of the people, the transactions in regard to which are all detailed 
elsewhere; while in this year, too, there were surveyors at work on the proposed nar- 
row guage road to Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County. 

In this year a company of Scotchmen, through James Barr Robertson, pur- 
chased from E. L. Beard, of Mission San Jose, eighteen thousand acres of salt marsh 
between Alvisoand Alvarado, with the intention of reclaiming it and putting it under 
cultivation, but only some four or five thousand acres were ever brought into subjec- 
tion and placed under crop. 

Henceforward the history of Alameda County will be found especially noted in the 
different chapters into which we have divided our volume; but ere bidding farewell 
to this section of the work we would wish to remark that the cold weather of an 
almost rainless winter has passed, and the summer season is upon us, and all nature is 
aglow. The great sun pours down his ripening rays and fills the valleys with light 
and heat. The mountains are enriched with purple wreaths and they bathe their 
temples with the cool west winds. The maturing grain overtops the fences an I 



128 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 



waving wealth is visible on ever)- haml. From the Sierras to the sea, from Siskiyou 
to San Diego, the glorious land is rejoicing in a profusion of wealth not known to 
Egypt or the farthest Indies. Stand back and let the grand procession of her riches 
pass ! Gold and grain, wine and wool, she produces in increasing plenty. Look at 
the quality and abundance of her hay crop; see how that speck of cotton is growing 
in size and whitening her valleys; see tobacco springing up over all her broad e.xpan.se. 
The corn-stalk is the cereal giant of her fields. The growth and variet)- of her orchards 
are without limit, and her vegetable products are justlj' her pride. There is abun- 
dance of fish in her waters; her dairy products are of superior qualit\-, and her mount- 
ains teem with untold wealth of ores. 

"The Land of Gold" is justly her legend, for she is golden in her cereals and 
her commercial position, as well as in her ores. She luxuriates in vine-clad hills and 
dewy meadows. Her peaceful homes nestle in the foot-hills and pleasanth' dot the 
plains; she is a lovely land; she is a healthy land; she is a wealthy land; she is a 
great land. We love this gorgeous and wondrous land of ours and ring her praise in 
an altered couplet, 

Far westward lies a land of wondrous fame, 
By nature blest. California is her narhe. 

We love to climb her sloping mountains, gaze upon the beauty of her voluptuous 
hills, and seek the sweet pastures of her smiling valleys. There is welcorne expressed 
everywhere in her pleasant features. In whatever garb she presents herself, be it the 
vernal hue of spring or the bronze of autumn, she is beautiful. The seasons and 
changes make no difference in our passion for her, but we now rejoice with exultant 
nature and celebrate her opaline beauties. The evergreen oak, the cypress and the 
willow, furnish at all times rich embroider)' for her ample robe, be it green, yellow, or 
brown. 

The growing crops are of all colors from emerald to gold, while fields of new- 
mown hay stand out in light relief on the hill-sides. The shadows of the high fog- 
clouds chase each other over the dimpled mountains, the breath of perfume, heightened 
by the hay, permeates the air, and the song of the meadow lark makes day \ocal. 'Tis 
the glorious month of June. Spring has flown and left behind her rich legacies of 
ripening fruits, grains and grasses. The face of the earth is changing from richest 
green to all the shades of the opal. The evergreen trees and shrubs are assuming a 
broader contrast with the earth from which they spring; the arroyos have contracted 
their streams or hidden their placid treasures in their bosoms, while the great rivers 
are swelling with the melted snows that have mantled the great Sierras; the waving 
lines of heat dance perceptibly in the moist atmosphere; the birds assume higher 
flights and become more joyous in their warblings, for they observ-e the plentitude of 
the ripening fruits on a thousand trees and shrub.s, and with delight in their little 
bodies they fly from mound to mound of the sweet-scented hay. The dome of 
Heaven has lifted higher to make room for the increased power and volume of nature 
as the great earth moves on its momentous errand of pursuing the setting sun, and 
rolling back on the parched earth the cooling vapors and air-tides of the boundless 
Pacific. The student is now enjoying his holidays, and the man of business seeks 
immunity from his daily routine of thought and toil in sweet communion with nature. 




^A (^ c^s^^^^-7--^^^<Uy 



Early History and Settlement. 129 

It will now be in order to climb and camp, and from mountain heights spy out the 
beauty and wonders of the land. To the man who has not "done" California, new 
and varied scenes constantly unfold themselves. There is no want of invitations from 
nature. He may seek the high Sierras or go look upon Yosemite's wondrous walls, 
falls, and valleys. He can rusticate within the foot-hills or wander among the mines. 
He may betake himself to the fragrant orange groves of the south, or enjo}' a trip to 
the lakes of the north H^e can scale Shasta's or Diablo's heights and view the broad 
expanse of land and sea. Many healing and pleasure-seeking springs invite him 
thither. The cherry orchards, the hay ricks, and the grain fields have their attact- 
tions. Sweet contemplation may be secured up the mouth of a cafion. 

Without indulging in further speculation let us cross the bosom of the broad bay 
and betake ourselves where fancy leads. The adventures will be sweetened and the 
surprises more to be remembered. With a heart uncharged with anticipation we are 
prepared to enjoy every feature that presents itself to our admiring gaze. The bay's 
broad sheen, with its pride of shipping and island domes is a picture of its kind un- 
surpassed in the world. Tall Tamalpais directly to the north and Diablo's rounded 
peak to the east attract our attention. It is the fashion now to visit the latter and 
gaze on the adjacent valleys, the far Sierras and the boundless ocean. Monte 
Diablo ! What a name ! Has it dark and dismal caves, or is it the abode of demons? 
It will be found harmless in its inhabitants but its dimensions will gradually grow. 
That round lump of lifted earth is seventy-five miles in circumference at its base, 
around which nestle lovely valleys. We pass that beautiful City of the Bay, Oakland) 
and we seek the mountain's height. The drive over mountain and through valley is 
one of picturesque majesty. We gradually ascend the mountain by the winding road- 
way and the world is at your feet. To the east are the heavier-supporting Sierras; to 
the south the great bay and fruitful plains; to the north the boundless regions stretch- 
ing towards Oregon; and to the west the mighty ocean. We see the thread-like 
Sacramento and the tortuous San Joaquin. The bay valleys — the Alameda and 
Santa Clara — are filled with exhalations from the bay and ocean, and seem to sleep 
in a shroud of haze. That beautiful valley to the south — ^'tis the rich Amador — looks 
like a lake of light. Let us conjure up a picture. 

In one of the little valleysj sitting near a spring at whose grateful fountain we 
slake our thirst, we meet a man of venerable appearance, but by no means a feeble or 
tottering frame. We soon see that English is not his native tongue. He is of the 
proud Castillian race, and his tale is a remarkable one. Freely he narrates his event- 
ful history. 

" No one ca,n tell you of this land better than I. Once affluence was mine. No 
one of the original possessors of the soil owned more leagues, could boast of hand- 
somer valleys or count larger herds. My father was a native of Spain. I was born 
in San Francisco in the year 1779, and am now a century and four years of age. The 
grand city over by the sea has no older son. This mountain which has become the 
resort of thousands, and whose name is spreading over the world, I was the first white 
man to tread and explore. The name of Amador was once a host in itself Here I 
hunted Indians with my soldiers, and brought them to the mission to learn the arts 
of civilization and the gospel of Salvation. This mountain was christened by me. 



130 



History of Alameda County, California. 



I will tell you the circumstance under which its name was given. I had my soldiers 
here in ambush watching for the Indians. One dark night a frightened sentinel came 
rushing to my tent, and told me he had seen an apparition and thought he was pur- 
sued by the devil. This was in a monte thicket. We had previously given the place 
no name, and the incident was suggestive. It ever since has been called Monte 
Diablo." 

" Have you no children ? " 

" Many — they count by the score and number three generations. My children 
and grandchildren and their sons and daughters are scattered all over the State, and 
with one of them, in a humble cabin yonder I lived for years. My progeny is num- 
erous, but my glory has departed. Amador was the friend of the Americans. They 
now possess my lands. They are wealthy and prosperous, have great names, while I 
pine in obscurity. The native Californian has a sad tale to tell and no one a more 
doleful one than myself" 




Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 131 



THE MILITARY OCCUPATION OF NORTHERN 

CALIFORNIA, AND THE RAISING OF 

THE BEAR FLAG. 



THE CAUSE — THE PROGRESS — THE CONCLUSION. 



w 



'HEN the present century had but come of age, Mexico ceased to be a portion of 
the Spanish realm, and plunged, by itself, into the undiscovered mysteries of 
Statecraft. Iturbide, under the title of August I., was elected by the popular 
voice Constitutional Emperor, May 19, 1822, and after reigning for a bi-ief period 
was forced to abdicate during the revolution headed by General Santa Ana in 1823. 
He, however, returned to the government of his Empire, and lost both his crown and 
his hea:d. 

About this time California had found extreme favor in the jealous eyes of three 
great powers, namely, France, the United States of America, and Great Britain; we 
have elsewhere shown what the Russians did on the coast, and how they actually 
gained a foothold at Bodega and Fort Ross, in Sonoma County. In the year 1818, 
Governor Sola received a communication from Friar Marquinez, of Guadalaxara, in 
Old Spain, wherein he informs His Excellency of the rumors of war between the 
United States and Spain, while, in February of the following year, Father Jos^ San- 
chez, writes to the same official that there is a report abroad of the fitting out of an 
American expedition in New Mexico. Both of these epistles remark that California 
is the coveted prize. Great Britain wanted it, it is said, for several reasons, the chief 
of which was, that in the possession of so extended a coast line, she would have 
the finest harbors in the world for her fleets. 

In the meantime that epidemic so chronic to Mexico, a revolution, had broken 
out in the year 1836, but nothing of interest occurred in respect to the portion of Cal- 
ifornia of which we write save the departure of a few of the settlers to join the oppos- 
ing factions. While this strife was being maintained, Juan B. Alvarado was appointed 
Governor of California, an office he held until December, 1842, before when the dif- 
ferences between the Government and the revolutionists had been arranged. 

In the month of September, 1842, Commodore Ap Catesby Jones, then in com- 
mand of the United States fleet, became possessed of two newspapers which would 
appear to have caused him to take immediate action. One of these, published in New 
Orleans, stated that California had been ceded by Mexico to Great Britain in consid- 
eration of the sum of seven millions of dollars; the other, a Mexican publication, 
caused him to believe that war had been declared between the two countries. The 
sudden departure of two of the British vessels strengthened him in this belief, and 
that they were en route for Panama to embark soldiers from the West Indies for the 
occupation of California. To forestall this move of " perfidious Albion," Commodore 
Jones left Callao, Peru, on September 7, 1842, and crowded all sail, ostensibly for the 
port of Monterey, but when two days out, his squadron hove to, a council of the 



132 History of Alameda County, California. 

captains of the flagships Cyanc and Dale was held, when the decision was come to 
that possession should be taken of California at all hazards, and afterwards abide by 
the consequences whatever they might be. Writing from Panama under date Septem- 
ber 23, 1842, an officer of the last-named vessel tells the story of these movements in 
the following words : " We sailed from Callao on the 7th of September in company 
with the United States and Cyane sloop, but on the tenth day out, the 17th, separated, 
and bore up for this port. Just previous to our departure, two British ships-of-war, 
the razee Dublin, fifty guns, and the sloop-of-war Champion, eighteen guns, sailed 
thence on secret service. This mysterious movement of Admiral Thomas elicited a 
hundred comments and conjectures as to his destination, the most probable of which 
seemed to be that he was bound for the northwest coast of Mexico, where it is sur- 
mised that a British settlement (station) is to be located in accordance with a secret 
convention between the Mexican and English Governments, and it is among the on dits 
in the squadron that the frigate United States, Cyane, and Dale are to rendezvous as 
soon as possible at Monterey, to keep an eye on John Bull's movements in that 
quarter." 

These rumors were all strengthened by the fact that eight hundred troops had 
been embarked at Mazatlan in February, 1842, by General Micheltorena, to assist the 
English, it was apprehended, to carry out the secret treaty whereby California was to 
be handed over to Great Britain. Of these troops, who were mostly convicts, Mich- 
eltorena lost a large percentage by desertion, and after much delay and vexation, 
marched out of Mazatlan on July 25, 1842, with but four hundred and fifty of the 
original number. He arrived at San Diego August 25, 1842. When between Los 
Angeles and Santa Barbara on his northward march, with his army reduced to but 
three hundred from still further desertions, at eleven o'clock on the night of the 24th 
of October, he received the astounding intelligence that Commodore Jones had 
entered the port of Monterey, the capital of the Territory, with the frigate United 
States and corvette Cyane, had landed an armed force, had hauled down the Mexican 
national ensign, had hoisted that of the United States in its place, and had issued a 
proclamation declaring California to be thenceforth belonging to the United States of 
America. These last-mentioned startling occurrences took place, October 19, 1842; 
on the 28th, having reflected on this latest achievement, the Commodore became con- 
vinced of the perpetration of an error in judgment, therefore lowered the "stars and 
stripes", replaced it with the flag of Mexico, and after saluting it on the day following 
weighed anchor for Mazatlan, whence he reported his actions to Washington. 

On hearing of the capture of Monterey, the IV^exican General withdrew to the 
mission of San Fernando, where he remained for some time, but finalh-, on the hori- 
zon being cleared, transferred himself and his staff to Los Angeles, and in that city 
entertained Commodore Jones on January 19, 1843. 

Upon the receipt of the intelligence of the rather energetic proceciling of Jonesi 
at Washington, his recall was demanded by the Mexican Envoy there, which was 
complied with, and Captain Alexander J. Dallas instructed to proceed to relieve him 
of the command on the Pacific Coast. This officer at once took his departure by way 
of Panama to Callao to assume his new functions, and on arrival took the Erie, an 
old store ship, and proceeded in search of the Commodore, who had, in the mean- 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 133 

time, received intelligence of the turn aiTairs had taken, kept steering from port to 
port, and finally touching at Valparaiso, sailed for home around the Horn. The reign 
of Captain Dallas, was short; he died on board the frigate Savannah, at Callao, June 
3, 1844, and was succeeded by Commodore John Di'ake Sloat. 

The adjustment of the revolution of 1836 left misunderstandings rife between the 
two highest functionaries in the Department of California; the civil and military 
authority could not agree, each therefore complained of the other to the Central Gov- 
ernment, who secretly dispatched Micheltorena to assume the two-fold power of 
Civil and Military Governor in place of Governor Alvarado and General Vallejo, and 
not, as it was thought, to perfect a scheme whereby California was to be handed over 
to the fostering care of a monarchy. On seeing the turn which affairs had taken 
against them, Alvarado and Vallejo agreed to lay aside their bickerings and make 
common cause against Micheltorena, who they designated an usurper, and aided by 
General Castro, drive him from the soil they deemed he tainted. This triumvirate 
declared California independent, and declared war against the representative of Mex- 
ico. General Micheltorena, having seen the gage of battle thrown in his teeth, took 
the field to bring to speedy end the insurrection ; he advanced to within twelve miles 
of the Pueblo de San Jose, but discovering that district to be up in arms, he beat a 
retreat, and halted not until he reached San Juan Bautista, where he was attacked and 
routed in spite of a stubborn defense, in November, 1844. From this blow, he never 
rallied, and at last, in February, 1845, he paid eleven thousand dollars for a passage 
on board the bark Don Quixote, to be taken to San Bias, a seaport town on the west- 
ern coast of the province of Guadalaxara in Mexico. He joined this craft at San 
Pedro with about a hundred of his officers and men, and then proceeding to Mon- 
terey, where touching, the General's lady with several others, were taken on board, 
and sail was set for a more propitious shore. Strife having terminated, Pio Pico was 
voted to the Gubernatorial Chair, and Jose Castro appointed General. 

In the month of March, 1845, Brevet-Captain John Charles Fremont departed 
from Washington for the purpose of organizing a third expedition for the topograph- 
ical survey of Oregon and California, which, having effected, he left Bent's Fort 
on or about April i6th, his command consisting of sixty-two men, among them 
being Kit Carson and six Delaware Indians. Passing through the Sierra Nevada in 
December, they arrived at Sutter's Fort on the loth of that month, which, after a stay 
of only two days, they left, for Fremont was in search of a missing party of his explor- 
ers. It is not possible here to follow him in his long wanderings over mountain .and 
through valley on his humane undertaking, but not being able to discover the where- 
abouts of Talbot and Walker, and having lost most of his horses, or consumed the 
greater number of his cattle, forty head of which he had procured from Sutter, he 
determined to retrace his steps to the hospitable dwelling of that pioneer which he 
reached, January 15, 1846. On the 17th Fremont left Sutter's- Fort in a launch for 
Yerba Buena, where he arrived on the 20th; the 21st saw him and Captain Hinckley 
sailing up the Bay of San Francisco in a whale-boat to the embarcadero at Alviso, 
and on the 22d they proceeded to the Pueblo of San Jose, where they received intelli- 
gence of the lost expedition being encamped on the San Joaquin, whither he at once 
dispatched two parties under Kit Carson to guide them into Santa Clara Valley. 



134 History of Alamkda County, California. 

Fremont and Hinckley then visited the New Almaden quicksilver mines, and returned 
to San Francisco. On the 24th Captain Fremont was once more on the move. He 
started from Verba Buena and that evening halted at the rancho of Francisco Sanchez; 
the following evening he passed on the hill-side near the laguna, between Suiiol and 
Pleasanton; the ne.xt night at the home of Don Jose Joaquin (jomez, on the Caiiada 
of San Juan, and on the morning of January 27,. 1846, reached Monterey. In com- 
pany with Thomas O. Larkin, United States Consul, he now paid a visit to General 
Castro, and stated the cause of his journey — he was in need of provisions, and 
requested that his party might pass unmolested through the countr}-. The request 
was granted verbally; however, when asked for the ncccssar\- passport in writing the 
General excused himself on the plea of indisposition, but hinted that no further assur- 
ance was needed than "his word." A call was also made upon the Prefect of the 
district, Don Manuel Castro, the same statement made, and he too declared every- 
thing to be " all right." Fremont then received funds and provisions from the Consul 
and made all haste to San Jose, where he was joined by his band, safely led from the 
San Joaquin by Kit Carson, but not finding there such stores as were needed by him, 
he determined to retrace his steps to Monterey, and, after some fifteen or twenty 
days, camped in the Santa Clara Valley, on the ranch of Captain William Fisher, 
known as the Laguna Seca. 

While here a Mexican made his appearance and laid claim to certain of Fremont's 
horses on the bold plea that they had been stolen; now observe how from a little great 
things spring! On February 20th the Captain received a summons to appear before 
the Alcade of San Jose to answer to a charge of horse-stealing, an action which brought 
forth, the next day, the following characteristic communication, which the reader will, 
no doubt, find interesting. 

Camp near Roaij to Santa Cruz, February 21, 1846. 
Sir : I received your communication of the 20th informing me that a complaint 
had been lodged against me in your office for refusing to deliver up certain animals of 
my band, which are claimed as having been stolen from this vicinity about two months 
since, and that the plaintiff further complains of having been insulted in m\' camp. It 
can be proven on oath by thirty men here present that the animals pointed out by 
the plaintiff have been brought in my band from the United States of North Americ.t. 
The insult of which he complains, and which was authorized by my.self, consisted in 
his being driven or ordered to immediately leave the camp. After having been 
detected in endeavoring to obtain animals under false pretenses, ho should have been 
well satisfied to escape without a severe horse-whipping. There are four animals in 
my band which were bartered from the Tulare Indians by a division of my party which 
descended the San Joaquin Valley. 1 was not then present, and if any more legal 
owners present themselves, these shall be immediately given or delivered upon proving 
property. It may save you trouble to inform you that, w ith this exception, all the 
animals in my band have been purchased and paid fbr. \'ou will readily understand 
that my duties will not permit me to appear before the magistrates in )-our towns on 
the complaint of every straggling vagabond who may chance to visit my camp. You 
inform me that unless satisfaction be immediately made by the delivery of the animals 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 135 

in question, the complaint will be forwarded to the Governor. I beg you will at the 
same time inclose to his Excellency a copy of this note. 

" I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"J. C. Fremont, U. S. Army. 
"To Sr. Don Dolores Pacheco, Alcalde of San Josd" 

Hence, the intrepid Pathfinder moved, by easy marches, in the direction of the 
Santa Cruz Mountains, which he crossed about ten miles from San Josd at the gap 
where the Los Gatos Creek enters the plain; he then made his wa)' towards the coast, 
and on the 1st of March encamped on the rancho of Edward Petty Hartnell. While 
here he received, late in the afternoon of the 5th, at the hands of a Mexican officer, 
attended by an armed escort, a dispatch from Don Manuel Castro, Prefect of the 
district, charging him (Fremont) with having entered the towns and villages under his 
(the Prefect's) jurisdiction, in contempt of the laws of the Mexican Government, and 
ordering him out of the country, else compulsory measures would be taken to compel 
him to do so. On the receipt of this communication Fremont did not display much 
hesitancy in arriving at a conclusion. That evening he struck his camp, and ascend- 
ing " Hawks Peak," a rough looking mountain in the Salinas Range, about thirty miles 
from Monterey, and two thousand feet above the sea level, commenced the construc- 
tion of a rude fort, protected by felled trees, and stripping one standing near by of its 
branches nailed the "Star Spangled Banner" to its highest point — full forty feet above 
their heads — and the morning of the 6th found him awaiting further developments. 

Let us now take a glance at the movements of Castro. On the day that Fremont 
had fairly established himself on Hawks Peak the General communicated the accom- 
panying letter to the Minister of Marine in Mexico: "In my communication of the 
5th ultimo, I announced to you the arrival of a captain, at the head of fifty men, who 
came, as he said, by order of the Government of the United States, to survey the 
limits of Oregon. This person presented himself at my headquarters some days ago, 
accompanied by two individuals (Thos. O. Larkin, Consul, and Capt. William A. 
Leidesdorff, Vice-Consul), with the object of asking permission to procure provisions 
for his men that he had left in the mountains, which was given him, but two days ago, 
March 4th, I was much surprised at being informed that this person was only two 
days' journey from this place (Monterey). In consequence, I immediately sent him 
a communication, ordering him, on the instant of its receipt, to put himself on the 
march and leave the department, but I have not received an answer, and in order to 
make him obey, in case of resistance, I sent out a force to observe their operations, 
and to-day, the 6th, I march in person to join it and to see that the object is attained. 
The huny with which I undertake my march does not permit me to be more diffuse, 
and I beg that you will inform his Excellency, the President, assuring him that not 
only shall the national integrity of this party be defended with the enthusiasm of good 
Mexicans, but those who attempt to violate it will find an impregnable barrier in the 
valor and patriotism of every one of the Californians. Receive the assurance of my 
respect, etc. God and Liberty." 

We left Captain Fremont in his hastil}^ constructed fort, every avenue to which 
was commanded by the trusty rifles of his men, calmly awaiting the speedy vengeance 



136 History of Alameda County, Calikoknia. 

promised in the communication of the Prefect. To carry it out Don Jos^ had sum- 
moned a force of two hundred men to the field, strengthened by one or two cannon 
of small calibre, but nothing beyond a demonstration was attained. In the language 
of the late General Revere (then Lieutenant), " Don Jose was rather in the humor of 
that renowned King of France, who, with twenty thousand men, marched up the hill, 
and then marched down again." Castro's ne.\t move was the concocting of an epistle 
to Fremont, desiring a cessation of hostilities, and making the proposition that they 
should join forces, declare the country independent, and with their allied armies march 
against Governor Pio Pico, at that time at Los Angeles. To John Gilro\', an old Scotch 
settler, was entrusted the deliver)' of this exquisite piece of treachery. He reached 
Hawks Peak on the night of the loth, but found the fort untenanted. Fremont had 
wearied, after three days' waiting for General Castro's attack, which, not being made, 
he struck his camp, threw away all useless articles that might impede a forced march, 
and the morning of the i ith found him in the valley of the San Joaquin. Gilroy, on 
his return related his tale of the camp-fires still alight, the discarded pack-saddles and 
no Fremont, a circumstance which so elated the courageous Castro that he at once 
resolved on attacking the fort, which he was the first to enter. After performing 
prodigies of valor and sacking the inclosure, he sat down on one of Fremont's left-ofif 
pack-saddles, and penned a dispatch to Monterey descriptive of the glorious victory 
he had gained, while his return need not be looked for until his promise of dri\ing 
Fremont from the department, long ago given, should be fulfilled. 

And so matters for a time rested. The American settlers began to feel far from 
safe, and should the necessity for defense arise, no time should be lost in preparing 
for the emergency; their action was the cause of the raising of the Bear Flag. 

About June i, 1846, General Castro, with Lieutenant Francisco de Arci, his Sec- 
retary, left the Santa Clara Mission, where they had ensconced themselves after fol- 
lowing in Fremont's wake through that district, and, passing through Yerba Buena, 
crossed the bay to the Mission of San Rafael, and there collected a number of horses, 
which he directed Arci to take to Sonoma, with as many more as he could capture 
on the way, and from there proceed with all haste back to the Santa Clara Mission 
by way of Knight's Landing and Sutter's Fort. These animals were intended to be 
used by Castro against Fremont and Governor Pico, both of whom had questioned 
and defied his authority. On June 5th, Castro transferred his base of operations 
from Santa Clara to Monterey, but while en route back to Santa Clara on the 12th, 
he received the intelligence by special courier that his aide had been surpri.sed and 
taken prisoner on the loth by a party of adventurers who had also seized a large 
number of the horses that he had in charge. Here was a dilemma! Castro's cali- 
graphic education had been woefully neglected — it is said he could only paint his 
signature — and being without his amanuensis, he retraced his steps to Montcrc)-, and 
there compounded a letter, with the assistance of Don Juan B. Alvarado, to the Pre- 
fect, Manuel Castro, saying that the time had come when their differences should be 
laid aside, and conjoint action taken for the defense and protection of their common 
country, at the same time requesting that he should collect as large a number of men 
and horses as he could and despatch them to Santa Clara, whither he then returned. 

When Lieutenant Arci left Sonoma with the caballada of horses and mares, 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 137 

crossing the dividing ridge, he passed up the Sacramento Valley to Knight's Land- 
ing on the left bank of the Sacramento River, about fifteen miles from the present 
Sacramento City [this ferry was kept by William Knight, who left Missouri, 
May 6, 1841, and arrived in California on the loth of November of the same 
year. Receiving a grant of land, he settled at the point known as Knight's Land- 
ing, Yolo County, of to-day, and died at the mines on the Stanislaus River in Novem- 
ber, 1849], on reaching which he met Mrs. Knight, to whom, on account of her being 
born of the country, and therefore thought to be trustworthy, he confided the secret 
of the expedition. To contain such a secret was too much for any ordinary femi- 
nine bosom; she imparted the news to her husband, who, in assisting the officer to 
cross his horses, gave him fair words so as to lull suspicion, and then, bestriding his 
fleetest horse, made direct for Captain Fremont's camp, at the confluence of the 
Feather and Yuba Rivers, where he arrived early in the morning of June 9th. Here 
Knight, who found some twenty settlers, that had arrived earlier than he, discussing 
matters, communicated to Fremont and those assembled the fact that Lieutenant 
Arci had, the evening before, the 8th of Jiine, crossed at his landing, bound to Santa 
Clara, via the Cosumnes River; that Arci had told Mrs. Knight, in confidence, that 
the animals he had in charge were to be used by Castro in expelling the American 
settlers from the country, and that it was also the intention to fortify Bear River Pass 
above the ranch of William Johnson, thereby putting a stop to immigration, a menace 
of Castro's which was strengthened by the return to Sutter's Fort, on June 7th, of a 
force that had gone out to chastise the Mokelumne Indians, who had threatened to 
burn the settlers' crops, being incited thereto, presumably, by Castro. 

Fremont, while encamped at the Buttes, near the Yuba and Feather Rivers, 
was visited by nearly all the settlers, and gleaned vast stores of fresh informa- 
tion hitherto unknown to him. From them he learned that the greater proportion of 
foreigners in the country had become Mexican citizens, and had married native Cali- 
fornian ladies, for the sake of procuring land, and through them had become pos- 
sessed of deep secrets supposed to be known only to the prominent people. Another 
was that a convention had been held at the San Juan Mission to decide which of the 
two nations, America or Great Britain, should guarantee protection to California for 
certain privileges and considerations. In this regard, Lieutenant Revere says: " I 
have been favored by an intelligent member of the Junta with the following authentic 
report of the substance of Pico's address to that illustrious body: — 

"Excellent Sirs: To what a deplorable condition is our country reduced! 
Mexico, professing to be our mother and our protectress, has given us neither arms 
nor money, nor the material of war for defense. She is not likely to do any- 
thing in our behalf, although she is quite willing to afflict us with her extortion- 
ate minions, who come hither in the guise of soldiers and civil officers, to harass 
and oppress our people. We possess a glorious country, capable of attaining a phys- 
ical and moral greatness corresponding with the grandeur and beauty which an 
Almighty hand has stamped on the face of our beloved California. But although 
nature has been prodigal, it cannot be denied that we are not in a position to avail 
ourselves of her bounty. Our population is not large, and is sparsely scattered over 
valley and mountain, covering an immense area of virgin soil, destitute of roads, and 
10 



138 History of Alameda County, California. 

traversed with difficulty; hence it is hardly possible to collect an army of any considera- 
ble force. Our people are poor, as well as few, and cannot well govern themselves 
and maintain a decent show of sovereign power. Although we live in the midst of 
plenty, we lay up nothing, but tilling the earth in an imperfect manner, all our time is 
required to provide subsistence for ourselves and our families. Thus circumstanced, 
we find ourselves suddenly threatened by hordes of Yankee immigrants, who have 
already begun to flock to our country, and whose progress we cannot arrest. Already 
have the wagons of that perfidious people scaled the almost inaccessible summits of 
the Sierra Nevada, crossed the entire continent and penetrated the fruitful valley of 
the Sacramento. What that astonishing people will next undertake I cannot say, 
but in whatever enterpri.se they embark they will be sure to prove successful. Already 
have these adventurous land-voyagers spread them.selves far and wide over a country 
which seems suited to their tastes. They are cultivating farms, establishing vine- 
yards, erecting mills, sawing lumber, building workshops, and doing a thousand other 
things which seem natural to them, but which Californians neglect or despise. What, 
then, are we to do ? Shall we remain supine while these daring strangers are over- 
running our fertile plains and gradually outnumbering and displacing us ? Shall 
these mercenaries go on unchecked, until we shall become strangers in our own 
land ? We cannot successfully oppose them by our own unaided power, and the 
swelling tide of immigration renders the odds against us more formidable evcrj- day. 
We cannot stand alone against them, nor can we creditably maintain our indepen- 
dence even against Mexico; but there is something we can do which will elevate our 
country, strengthen her at all points, and \'et enable us to preserve our identity and 
remain masters of our own soil. Perhaps what I am about to suggest may seem 
to some faint-hearted and dishonorable. But to me it does not seem so. It is the 
last hope of a feeble people, struggling against a tyrannical government which claims 
their submission at home, and threatened by bands of avaricious strangers from 
without, voluntarily to connect themselves with a power able and willing to defend 
and- preserve them. It is the right and the duty of the weak to demand support 
from the strong, provided the demand be made upon terms just to both parties. J 
see no dishonor in this last refuge of the oppressed and powerless, and I boldly avow 
that such is the step that I would have California take. There are two great 
powers in Europe which are destined to divide between them the unappropriated 
countries of the world. They have large fleets and armies not unpractised in the art 
of war. Is it not better to connect ourselves with one of those powerful nations than 
to struggle on without hope, as we are now doing? Is it not belter that one of them 
should be invited to send a fleet and an army to defend and protect California, 
rather than we should fall an easy prey to the lawless -adventurers who are over- 
running our beautiful country? I pronounce for annexation to F"rance or England, 
and the people of California will never regret having taken mv advice. They will no 
longer be subjected to the trouble and grievous exposure of governing themselves; 
and their beef and their grain, which they produce in such abundance, would find a 
ready market among the new-comers. But I hear some one say: 'No monarchy!' 
But is not monarchy better than anarchy ? Is not existence in some shape better 
than annihilation ? No monarchy ! and what is there so terrible in a monarchy ? 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 139 

Have we not all lived under a monarchy far more despotic than that of France or 
England, and were not our people happy under it ? Have not all the leading men 
among our agriculturists been bred beneath the royal rule of Spain, and have they 
been happier since the mock republic of Mexico has supplied its place ? Nay, does 
not every man abhor the miserable abortion christened the Republic of Mexico, and 
look back with regret to the golden days of the Spanish monarchy? Let us restore 
that glorious era. Then may our people go quietly to their ranches, and live there 
as of yore, leading a thoughtless and merry life, 'untroubled by polities or cares of 
State, sure of what is their own, and safe from the incursions of the Yankees, who 
would soon be forced to retreat to their own country." 

It was a happy thing for California, and, as the sequel proved, for the Govern- 
ment of the United States, that a man was found at this juncture whose ideas were 
more enlightened and consonant with the times than those of the rulers of his country, 
both civil and military. Patriotism was half his soul; he therefore could not silently 
witness the land of his birth sold to any monarchy, however -old; and he rightly 
judged that, although foreign protection might postpone, it could not avert that 
assumption of power, which was beginning to make itself felt. Possessed at the time 
of no political power and having had early advantages above the common order, still 
his position was so exalted, and his character so highly respected by both the foreign 
and native population, that he had been invited to participate in the deliberations 
of the Junta. This man was Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. Born in California, he 
commenced his career in the army as an alferes, or ensign, and in this humble grade 
he volunteered, at the suggestion of the Mexican Government, with a command of 
fifty soldiers, to establish a colony on the north side of the Bay of San Francisco, 
for the protection of the frontier. He effectually subdued the hostile Indians inhab- 
iting that then remote region, and laid the foundation of a reputation for integrity, 
judgment, and ability unequaled by any of his countrymen. Though yet a young 
man, he had already filled the highest offices in the province, and had at this 
time retired to private life near his estates in the vicinity of the town of Sonoma. 
He did not hesitate to oppose with all his strength the views advanced by Pico 
and Castro. He spoke nearly as follows: — 

" I cannot, gentlemen, coincide in opinion with the military and civil function- 
aries who have advocated the cession of our country to France or England. It 
is most true that to rely any longer upon Mexico to govern and defend us would 
be idle and absurd. To this extent I fully agree with my distinguished colleagues. 
It is also true that we possess a noble country, every way calculated from position 
and resources to become great and powerful. For that reason I would not have 
her a mere dependency upon a foreign monarchy, naturally alien, or at least indif- 
ferent, to our interests and our welfare. It is not to be denied that feeble nations 
have, in former times, thrown themselves upon the protection of their powerful 
neighbors. The Britons invoked the aid of the warlike Saxons, and fell an easy prey 
to their protectors, who seized their lands and treated them like slaves. Long before 
that time feeble and distracted provinces had appealed for aid to the all-conquering 
arms of imperial Rome, and they were at the same time protected and subjugated by 
their grasping ally. Even could we tolerate the idea of dependence, ought we to go 



140 History of Alameda County, California. 

to distant Europe for a master ? What possible sympathy could exist between us 
and a nation separated from us by two vast oceans ? But waving this insuperable 
objection, how could we endure to come under the dominion of a monarchy? For, 
although others speak highly of that form of government, as a free man I cannot do so. 
We are republicans — badly governed and badly situated as we are — still we are all, 
in sentiment, republicans. So far as we are governed at all, wc at least profess to be 
self-governed. W'ho, then, that possesses true patriotism will consent to subject him- 
self and his children to the caprices of a foreign king and his official minions? But, 
it is asked, if we do not throw ourselves upon the protection of France or England, 
what shall we do ? I do not come here to support the existing order of things, but 
I come prepared to propose instant and effective action to extricate our country from 
her present forlorn condition. M}- opinion is made up that we must persevere in 
throwing off the galling yoke of Mexico, and proclaim our independence of her 
forever. We have endured her official cormorants and her villainous soldiery until 
we can endure it no longer. All will probably agree with me that we ought at once 
to rid ourselves of what may remain of Mexican domination. But some profess to 
doubt our ability to maintain our position. To my mind there comes no doubt. Look 
at Texas and sec how long she withstood the power of united Mexico. The resources 
of Texas were not to be compared with ours, and she was much nearer to her enemy 
than we are. Our position is so remote, either by land or sea, that \\c are in no 
danger from Mexican invasion. Why, then, should we hesitate still to as.sert our 
independence ? We have indeed taken the first step, by electing our own Governor, 
but another remains to be taken. I will mention it plainlj- and distinctly- — it is annex- 
ation to the United States. In contemplating this consummation of our destiny, I 
feel nothing but pleasure, and I ask you to share it. Discard old prejudices, disre- 
regard old customs, and prepare for the glorious change which awaits our country. 
Why should we shrink from incorporating ourselves with the happiest and freest 
nation in the world, destined soon to be the most wealthy and p«werful ? Why 
should we go abroad for protection when this great nation is our adjoining neighbor? 
When we join our fortunes to hers, we shall not become subjects, but fellow-citizens, 
possessing all the rights of the people of the United States, and choosing our own 
federal and local rulers. We shall have a stable Government and just law.s. California 
will grow strong and flourish, and her people will be prosperous, happ)-, and free. 
Look not, therefore, with jealousy upon the hardy pioneers who scale our mountains 
and cultivate our unoccupied plains, but rather welcome them as brothers who come 
to share with us a common destiny." 

Such was the substance of General Vallejo's observations; those v\ ho listened to 
him, however, were far behind in general knowledge and intelligence. His arguments 
failed to carry conviction to the greater number of his auditors, but the bold position 
taken by him was the course of an immediate adjournment of the Junta, no result 
having been arrived at concerning the weighty affairs on which they had met to 
deliberate. On his retirement from the Junta he embodied the views he had 
expressed in a letter to Don Pio ]'ico, and reiterated his refusal to participate in 
any action having for its end the adoption of an)' protection other than that of 
the United States. In this communication he also declared that he would never serve 



MiLiTATY Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 141 

under any Government which was prepared to surrender California to an European 
power; he then retired to his estate, there to await the issue of events. 

We left William Knight at Fremont's camp, at the junction of, the Yuba and 
Feather Rivers, where he had arrived on the morning of June 9, 1846, imparting his 
information regarding Lieutenant de Arci, his movements, and the intentions of Gen- 
eral Castro. At 10 A. M. of that day a party of eleven men, under the oldest settler, 
Ezekiel Merritt, started in pursuit of the Lieutenant and his horses. On arrival at 
Hock Farm they were joined by two more men, and, thereafter, having crossed the 
American River at " Sinclair's," reached Allen Montgomery's ranch, sixty miles from 
Fremont's camp at the Buttes, towards evening, and there supped. At this point they 
received the intelligence that Arci had reached Sutter's Fort on the 8th, and had that 
morning resumed his march, intending to camp that night at the ranch of Martin 
Murphy, twenty miles south on the Cosumnes River. Supper finished, and a short 
rest indulged in, the party were ones more in the saddle, being strengthened by 
recruiting Montgomery and another, making their total force fifteen in number. Pro- 
ceeding to within about five miles of Murphy's, they there lay concealed until day- 
light, when they were again on the move and halted within half a mile of the Lieuten- 
ant's carhp. Unperceived, they now cautiously advanced to within a short distance of 
the Me.Kican officer and his party, when, suddenly charging, they, as well as thehot-ses, 
were secured. Lieutenant Arci was permitted to retain his sword; each of his party 
was given a horse to carry him to Santa Clara; and a person traveling under his 
escort was permitted to retain six of the horses, as he claimed them as private prop- 
erty. The Americans at once returned to Montgomery's ranch with the captured 
animals in their possession, and there breakfasted; that night, the loth, they camped 
twenty-seven miles above Sutter's, on the rancho of Nicholas Allgier, a German, not 
far from the mouth of Bear River, and, in the morning, ascertaining that Fremont 
had moved his camp hither from the Buttes, they joined him on the i ith at 10 A. M., 
having covered a distance of one hundred and fifty miles in forty-eight hours. These 
are the details attending the capture of Arci, and reported to Castro on June 12, 1846, 
when on his way from Monterey to Santa Clara. 

On arriving at Fremont's camp it was found that the garrison had been consid- 
erably augmented by the arrival of more settlers, who were all ardently discussing the 
events of the last two days and their probable results. After a full hearing it was 
determined by them that, having gone so far, their only chance of safety was in a 
rapid march to the town of Sonoma, to effect its capture, and to accomplish 
this before the news of the stoppage of Lieutenant Arci and his horses could 
have time to reach that garrison. It was felt that should this design prove 
successful all further obstacles to the eventual capture of the country would have 
vanished. The daring band then reorganized, still retaining in his position of Captain, 
Ezekiel Merritt. At 3 P. M., June 12th, under their leader, they left Fremont's camp 
for Sonoma, one hundred and twenty miles distant, and, traveling all night, on their 
way called at the ranch of William Gordon, about ten miles from the site of the pres- 
ent town of Woodland, in Yolo County, whom they desired to inform all Americans 
that could be trusted, of their intentions. At 9 A. M. on the r3th they reached Captain 
John Grigsby's, at the head of Napa Valley, and were there joined by William L. 



142 History of Alameda County, California. 

Todd, William Scott, and others. Here the band, which now mustered thirty-three 
men, was reorganized and addressed by Doctor Robert Semple, of Benicia. Not 
desiring, however, to reach Sonoma till daylight, they halted here until midnight, 
when they once more resumed their march, and before it was \ct the dawn of 
June 14, 1846, surprised and captured the garrison of Sonoma, consisting of 
six soldiers, nine pieces of artillery, and some small arms, etc., "all private property 
being religiously respected; and in generations yet to come their children's children 
may look back with pride and pleasure upon the commencement of a revolution which 
was carried on by their fathers' fathers upon principles as high and holy as the laws of 
eternal justice." 

Their distinguished prisoners were General Don .Mariano Cjuadalupe Vallejo, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Don Victor Prudon, Captain Don Salvador Vallejo. brother to 
the General, and Mr. Jacob Primer Leese, brother-in-law to the General. 

Let us now lay before the reader the account of this episode in California's his- 
tory as described by the veteran General himself at the Centennial exercises held at 
Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, July 4, 1876: — 

" I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugurated a new era for this 
country. A little before dawn on June 14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with 
some foreign settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doctor Semple, and William 
B. Ide, surrounded my residence at Sonoma, and without firing a shot, made prisoners 
of myself, then Commander of the northern frontier; of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor 
Prudon, Captain Salvador Vallejo and Jacob P. Leese. I should here state that down 
to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own expense a respectable garrison at 
Sonoma, which often, in union with the settlers, did good service in campaigns against 
the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the Mexican Government 
never refunded, I disbanded the force, and most of the soldiers who had constituted 
it left Sonoma. Thus in June, 1846, the Plaza was entirely unprotected, although 
there were ten pieces of artillery, with other arms and munitions of war. The parties 
who unfurled the Bear Flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and 
lost no time in taking advantage of this fact, and carrying out their plans. Years 
before, I had urgently represented to the Government of Mexico the necessity of 
stationing a sufficient force on the frontier, el.se Sonoma would be lost, which woukl 
be equivalent to leaving the rest of the country an easy prey to the invader. What 
think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in reply to my repeated demands 
for means to fortify the country ? These instructions were that I should at once force 
the immigrants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the territory of the 
Republic. To say nothing of the inhumanity of these orders, their execution was 
physically impossible — first, because the immigrants came in autumn, when snow 
covered the Sierra so quickly as to make a return impracticable. Under the circum- 
stances, not only I, but Commandante General Castro, resolved to provide the immi- 
grants with letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the country. 
We always made a show of authority, but well convinced all the time that we had no 
power to resist the invasion which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a 
soldier I can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause to complain 
of the treatment they received at the hands of either authorities or citizens. They 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 143 

carried us as prisoners to Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose for sixty days or 
more, until the authority of the United States made itself respected, and the honor- 
able and humane Commodore Stockton returned us to our hearths." 

Upon the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once took steps to 
appoint a Captain, who was found in the person of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt 
wished not to retain the permanent command; a meeting was then convened at the 
barracks, situated at the northeast corner of the Plaza, under the presidency of 
William B. Ide; Doctor Robert Semple being Secretary. At this conference Semple 
urged the independence of the country, stating that having once commenced they 
must proceed, for to turn back was certain death.. The convention had not been 
dissolved, however, when it was rumored that secret emissaries were being dispatched 
to the native rancheros to make them acquainted with recent events; such being the 
case it was deemed politic to transfer the prisoners to safe-keeping in Sutter's Fort. 
Prior to this being done, however, the captors and captives entered into a treaty or 
covenant, the English and Spanish of which we here append: — 

" We, the undersigned, having resolved to establish a government upon Repub- 
lican principles, in connection with others of our fellow-citizens, and having taken up 
arms to support it, we have taken three Mexican officers as prisoners. General M. G. 
Vallejo, Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon, and Captain D. Salvador Vallejo; having 
formed and published to the world no regular plan of government, feel it our duty to 
say that it is not our intention to take or injure any person who is not found in 
opposition to the cause, nor will we take or destroy the property of private individuals 
further than is necessary for our immediate support. 

Ezekiel Merritt. 

R. Semple. 

William Fallon. 

Samuel Kelsey. 

" Conste pr. la preste. qe. habiendo sido sorprendido pr. unanumeros a fuerza 
armada qe. me tomo prisionero y a los gefes y officiales qe. estaban de guarnicion en 
esta plaza de la qe. se apodero la espresada fuerza, habiendola encontrado absolutamte: 
indefensa, tanto yo. como los S. S. officiales qe. suscribero comprometemos nuestra 
palabra de honor de qe. estandobajo las garantias de prisionero de guerra, no tomar- 
emos las armas ni a favor ni contra repitida fuerza armada de quien hemos recibiro la 
intimacion del monto. y un escrito firmado qe. garantiza nuestras vidas, familias de 
intereses, y los de todo el vicindario de esta jurisdn. mientras no hagamos oposicion. 
Sonoma, Junio i/j. de 18^6. M. G. Vallejo. 

VcR. Prudon. Salvador Vallejo." 

But to our tale ! A guard consisting of William B. Ide, as Captain, Captain 
Grigsby, Captain Merritt, Kit Carson, William Hargrave, and five others, being, 
happily for their comfort, supplied with horses by General Vallejo, took up the line of 
march for Sutter's Fort, but not being used to " wars alarums," they, with peculiar 
inconsistency, on their first night's encampment placed neither sentry nor vidette and 
courted Morpheus in serene confidence. Indeed so sound was the sleep of all, that 



144 History of Alameda County, California. 

Jaun dc Fadilla and his jjart}- com[)letely surrounded them during that night, and 
their chief absolutely held verbal communication with General N'allcjo while his cap- 
tors slept. Padilla's mission was to inform his compatriots that he had then with him 
force strong enough to surprise and slay the Americanos before there was time for them 
to fly to arms, but that he did not wish to put the scheme into execution without the 
instructions and consent of the General, whose rank entitled him to the first place in 
such a demonstration. With a self-sacrifice that cannot be too highly commended, 
Vallejo refused his consent to the perpetration of so diabolical a plan, but stated that 
he would accompany his custodians, believing in their honor; that he would be 
detained but a short time, and finally advised Padilla and his followers to return to 
their homes and disperse, else their action would lead to disastrous consequences to 
all, without the attainment of an}' good. Of this episode Lieutenant Revere says: 
" This was not told to me by Vallejo, but b\- a person who was present, and it tallies 
well with the account given by the revolutionists themselves, several of whom informed 
me that no guard was kept by them that night, and that the prisoners might have 
easily escaped had they felt so inclined. The same person also told me that when 
Vallejo was called out of bed and made a prisoner in his own house, he requested to 
be informed as to the plans and objects of the revolutionists, signifying his readiness 
to collect and take command of a force of his countr\'men in the cau.se of inde- 
pendence." 

Pushing on ahead of the main part}-, on the morning of the i6th June, Captain 
Merritt and Kit Carson carried the news of the taking of Sonoma and the capture of 
the General and his officers. In the evening of that day the}' were handed over to 
the safe-keeping of Captain .Sutter who with soldierly courtesy recei\'ed them. 

On the seizure of the citadel of Sonoma, the national ensign of Mexico was found 
floating from the flagstaff-head b}- the Independents, as they sometimes called them- 
selves; it had escaped their notice during the excitement of the morning. It was at 
once lo-\\ered, and then arose a discussion as to the manner cf banner they should 
claim as their own. There were no two questions as to the necessit}' of their being a 
star in the ground-work, but finding that the " lone star" had been claimed by Texas, 
their ingenuity was taxed to the utmost, with what result we shall show below, to 
devise an appropriate flag; first, however, let us follow the diversity of opinions which 
obtain as to the date on which Sonoma was captured b}- the Independents. 

Mr. Thomas C. Lancey, whose communications to Tlie Pioneer, a newspaper 
published in San Jose, have been read with much avidity, and is an authority on 
" early times," remarks: '' There have been so many questions raised during this year 
(1878) in relation to the date of the hoisting of the ' Bear Flag,' who made it and 
what material it was manufactured from, as well as the date of the capture of Sonoma, 
and the number of men who marched that morning, that I shall gi\c the statements 
of several who are entitled to a hearing, as they were actors in that drama. 

"The writer of this (Mr. Lancey) was here in 1846, and scr\ed during the war, 
and has never left the country since, but was not one of the • Bear Flag party,' but 
claims, from his acquaintance with those w ho were, to be able to form a proper opin- 
ion as to the correctness of these dates. Dr. Robert Semple, who was one of that 
part}- from the first, sa}-s, in his diar}', that they entered Sonoma at early dawn on the 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 145 

14th of June, 1846, thirty-three men, rank and file. William B Ide, who was chosen 
their commander, says in his diarj^ the same. Captain Henry L. Ford, another of 
this number, says, or rather his historian, S. H. W., of Santa Cruz, who I take to be 
the Rev. S. H. Willey, makes him say they captured Sonoma on the 12th of June 
with thirty-three men. Lieutenant William Baldridge, one of the party, makes the 
date the 14th of June, and number of men twenty-three. Lieutenant Joseph Warren 
Revere, of the United States ship Portsmoitt/i, who hauled down the ' Bear Flag,' and 
hoisted the American flag on the 9th of July, and at a later date commanded the 
garrison, says the place was captured on the 14th of June." To these must be added 
the documentary proof produced above, fixing the date of the capture of General 
Vallejo and therefore the taking of Sonoma as June 14, 1846. 

Of the manufacture of the ensign, the same writer says : " A piece of cotton 
was obtained, and a man bj^ the name of Todd proceeded to paint from a pot of red 
paint a star in the corner. Before he was finished, Henry L. Ford, one of the party, 
proposes to paint on the center, facing the star, a grizzly bear. This was unanimously 
agreed to, and the grizzly bear was painted accordingly. When it was done, the flag 
was taken to the flagstaff and hoisted amid the hurrahs of the little party, who swore 
to defend it with their lives." 

Lieutenant Revere says of it : "A flag was also hoisted bearing a grizzly bear 
rampant, with one stripe below and the words 'Republic of California' above the bear, 
and a single star in the Union." This gentleman was he who hauled down the flag, 
July 9, 1846. 

The Western Sho7-e Gazetteer has the following version: "On the 14th of June, 
1846, the little handful of men proclaimed California a free and independent republic, 
and on that day hoisted their flag, known as the ' Bear Flag;' this consisted of a strip 
of worn-out cotton domestic, furnished by Mrs. Kelly, bordered with red flannel, fur- 
nished by Mrs. John Sears, who had fled from some distant part of Sonoma for safety, 
upon hearing that war had been thus commenced. In the center of the flag was a repre- 
sentation of a bear, en passant, painted with Venetian red, and in one corner was 
painted a star of the same color. Under the bear were inscribed the words ' Republic 
of California,' put on with common writing ink. This flag is preserved by the Cali- 
fornia Pioneer Association, and may be seen at their rooms in San Francisco. It 
was designed and executed by W. L. Todd." 

Under the caption, "A True History of the Bear Flag," the Sonoma Democrat 
tells this story: "The rest of the revolutionary party remained in the town. Among 
them were three young men, Todd, Benjamin Duell, and Thomas Cowie. A few days 
after the capture, in a casual conversation between these young men, the matter of 
a flag came up. They had no authority to raise the American flag, and they deter- 
mined to make one. Their general idea was to imitate, without following too 
closely, their national ensign. Mrs. W. B. Elliott had been brought to the town 
of Sonoma by her husband from his ranch on Mark West Creek, for safety. 
The old Elliott cabin may be seen to this day on Mark West Creek, about a 
mile above the Springs. From Mrs. Elliott, Ben. Duell got a piece of new red 
flannel, some white domestic, needles and thread. A piece of blue drilling was 
obtained elsewhere. From this material, without consultation with any one else, these 



146 History of Alameda County, California. 

three young men made the Bear Flag. Cowie had been a saddler. Duell had also 
served a short time at the same trade. To form the flag, Duell and Cowie sewed 
together alternate strips of red, white, and blue. Todd drew in the upper corner a 
star, and painted on the lower a rude picture of a grizzly bear, which was not stand- 
ing, as has been sometimes represented, but was drawn with head down. The bear 
was afterwards adopted as the design of the Great Seal of the State of California. 
On the original flag it was so rudely executed that two of those who saw it raised 
have told us that it looked more like a hog than a bear. Be that as it may, its mean- 
ing was plain — that the revolutionary party would, if necessary, fight their way 
through at all hazards. In the language of our informant, it meant that there was no 
back out ; they intended to fight it out. There were no halyards on the flagstaff which 
stood in front of the barracks. It was again reared, and the flag, which was soon to 
be replaced by that of the Republic, for the first time floated on the breeze." 

In addition to these authorities which we have quoted, none less distinguished 
than John S. Hittell, historiographer for the Society of California Pioneers, and H. 
H. Bancroft, the Pacific Coast historian, have fixed the date of raising the Bear Flag as 
June 1 2th and 15th respectively. The correctness of these dates was questioned by 
William Winter, Secretary of the Association of Territorial Pioneers of California, 
and Mr. Lancey, and a correspondence was entered into with afl the men known to 
be alive who were of that party, and others who were likely to be able to throw any 
light upon the subject. Among many answers received, we quote verbatim the fol- 
lowing portion of a letter from James G. Bleak: — 

"St. George, Utah, April 16, 1878. 
" To William Winter, Esq., Secretary of Association Territorial Pio- 
neers OF California — Dear Sir: Your communication of 3d instant is placed in my 
hands by the widow of a departed friend — James M. Ide, son of William B. — as I 
have at present in my charge some of his papers. In reply to your question asking 
for the 'correct date' of raising the Bear Flag at Sonoma, in 1846, I will quote from 
the writing of William B. Ide, deceased : ' The said Bear Flag made of plain cotton 
cloth, and ornamented with the red flannel of a shirt from the back of one of the men, 
and christened by the ' California Republic,' in red paint letters on both sides, was 
raised upon the standard where had floated on the breezes the Mexican Flag afore- 
time; it was the 14th of June, '46. Our whole number was twenty-four, all told. The 
mechanism of the flag was performed by William L. Todd, of Illinois. The grizzly 
bear was chosen as an emblem of strength and unyielding resistance." 

As possibly the best testimony that can be produced, we now publish the follow- 
ing letter from the artist himself, which he communicated to the Los Angeles 
Express: — 

" Los Angeles, January 1 1, 1878. 

"Your letter of the gth inst. came duly to hand, and in answer I have to say in 
regard to the making of the original Bear Flag of California, at Sonoma, in 1846, 
that when the Americans, who had taken up arms against the Spanish rc'^me had deter- 
mined what kind of a flag should be adopted, the following persons performed the 
work: Granville P. Swift, Peter Storm, Henry L. Ford, and myself; we procured, in 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 147 

the house where we made our headquarters, a piece of new, unbleached cotton 
domestic, not quite a yard wide, with strips of red flannel about four inches wide, fur- 
nished by Mrs. John Sears, on the lower side of the canvas. On the upper left hand 
corner was a star, and in the center was the image made to represent a h&di.r fassatit, 
so common in this country at the time. The bear and star were painted with paint 
made of linseed oil and Venetian red or Spanish brown. Underneath the bear were 
the words ' California Republic' The other persons engaged with me got the materi- 
als together, while I acted as artist. The forms of the bear and star and the letters 
were first lined out with pen and ink by myself, and the two forms were filled in with the 
red paint, but the letters with ink. The flag mentioned by Mr. Hittell with the bear 
rampant, was made, as I always understood, at' Santa Barbara, and was painted black. 
Allow me to say that at that time there was not a wheelwright shop in California. 
The flag I painted I saw in the rooms of the California Pioneers in San Francisco, in 
1870, and the Secretary will show it to any person who will call on him at any time. 
If it is the one that I painted, it will be known by a mistake in tinting out the words 
' California Republic' The letters were first lined out with a pen, and I left out the 
letter 'I,' and lined out the letter ' C in its place. But afterwards I lined out the letter 
T,' over the 'C, so that the last syllable of ' Republic' looks as if the two letters were 
blended. Yours respectfully, . Wm. L. Todd." 

The following remarks and letter on the matter appeared in the San Francisco 
Evening Post of April 20, 1874: " General Sherman has just forwarded to the Society 
of California Pioneers, the guidon which the Bear Corhpany bore at the time of the 
conquest of California. The relic is of white silk, with a two-inch wide red stripe at 
the bottom, and a bear in the center, over which is the inscription: ' Republic of Cal- 
ifornia.' It is accompanied by the following letter from the donor: — 

" Society of California Pioneers, San Francisco, California — 

"Gentlemen: At the suggestion of General Sherman, I beg leave to send to your 
society here with a guidon, formerly belonging to the Sonoma troop of the California 
Battalion of 1846, for preservation. This guidon I found among the effects of that 
troop when I hauled down the Bear Flag and substituted the flag of the United States 
at Sonoma, on the 9th of July, 1846, and have preserved it ever since. Very respect- 
fully, etc., Jos. W. Revere, Brigadier-General. 
" Morristozvn, N. _/., February 20, i8y^." 

Let us now see what was being done by the little garrison in Sonoma. Almost 
their first duty was the election of subaltern and non-commissioned officers, those 
chosen being, Henry L. Ford, First Lieutenant; Granville P. Swift, First Sergeant; 
Samuel Gibson, Second Sergeant. On the first regular parade of the little army they 
were addressed by Lieutenant Ford in the following pithy terms: " My countrymen! 
We have taken upon ourselves a very responsible duty. We have entered into a war 
with the Mexican nation. We are bound to defend each other or be shot! There's 
no half-way about it. To defend ourselves we must have discipline. Each of you 
has had a voice in choosing your officers. Now they are chosen, they must be obeyed." 
To all of which the company with one voice agreed. In order to throw some more 



148 History of Alameda County, CAi.iFKkxiA. 

light upon the internal machinerj- of the organization, we will continue Mr. Ide's letter, 
the first portion of which has already been quoted. He remarks further: "The men 
were divided into two companies of ten men each. The First Artillery were busily 
engaged in putting the cannon in order, which were charged doubly with grape and 
canister. The First Rifle Company were busied in cleaning, repairing, and loading 
the small arms. The Commander, after setting a guard and posting a sentinel on one 
of the highest buildings, to watch the approach of any persons who might feel a curi- 
osity to inspect our operations, directed his leisure to the establishment of some system 
of finance whereby all the defenders' families might be brought within the lines of our 
garrison, and supported. Ten thousand pounds of flour were purchased on the credit 
of the Government and deposited in the garrison; and an account was opened, on terms 
agreed upon, for a supply of beef; this and a few barrels of salt constituted our main 
supplies. Whisky was contrabanded altogether. After the first round of duties was 
performed, as many as could be spared off guard were called together, and our situation 
fully explained to the men by the commanders. It was fully represented that 
our success — na\', our very life, — depended on the magnanimity and justice of our 
course of conduct, coupled with our sleepless vigilance and care. (But ere this we had 
gathered as many of the surrounding citizens as was possible, and placed them out of 
harm's way, between four strong walls. They were more than twice our number.) 
The Commander chose from these strangers the most intelligent, and b)' the use of an 
interpreter went on to explain the cause of our coming together; our determination to 
offer equal protection and equal justice to all good and virtuous citizens; that we had 
not called them there to rob them of any portion of their propert\', nor to disturb them 
in their social relations one with another; nor yet to desecrate their religion." 

It will thus be seen from the preceding remarks that tho.se under the protection 
of the Bear Flag party were not a few and that their number was being continually 
augmented bj' fresh arrivals in Sonoma, it was therefore thought e.vpedient to ascer- 
tain what protection, if any, they might expect from the authorities of the United 
States. To this end they lost no time in dispatching a mes.senger to Captain Mont- 
gomery, of the United States ship Portsiuoitth, then lying in the port of Yerba Buena, 
to report the action taken by them and expressing, farther, their determination never to 
lay down their arms until the independence of the countr\- they had adopted had been 
fully established. This messenger returned on the 17th of June in company with John 
Stormy Missroom, First Lieutenant, and John E. Montgomery, son and clerk to Cap- 
tain Montgomery, who \\ere dispatched, presumably to report on the state of affairs. 
The commanding officer of the ship-of-war also sent ofificial communications to Fre- 
mont and Sutter on the i8th, and the day after, the 19th, Fremont arrived at Sutter's 
Fort with twent\--two men, and two prisoners, Jose Noriega, of San Jose, and Vicente 
Peralta, of what is now Alameda County. 

About this time another message was .sent out from the little garrison, but in an 
opposite direction. Ascertaining that there was an insufficient su])|)h' of gun]>owder 
in the magazine to meet possible contingencies, Lieutenant Ford tlisi)atched two men 
named Cowie and Fowler to the Sotoyome Rancho of Captain H. D. Fitch (where 
now the town of Healdsburg stands) to procure some ammunition. These me.s.scn- 
gers never returned! Their tragic fate has been thus graphically described in the 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 149 



" History of Sonoma County." Before starting they were cautioned against proceed- 
ing by traveled ways; good advice, which, however, they only followed for the first ten 
miles of their journey, after which they struck into the main thoroughfare to Santa Rosa. 
At about two miles from that place they were attacked and slaughtered by a party of 
native Californians. Two other couriers were detailed on special duty; they, too, 
were captured, but were better treated. Receiving no intelligence from either of the 
parties, foul play was suspected, therefore, on the morning of the 20th of June, Ser- 
geant Gibson was ordered, with four men, to proceed to the Sotoyome Rancho, learn, 
if possible, of the whereabouts of the missing men, and procure the powder. They 
went as directed, secured the ammunition, but got no news of the missing men. As 
they were passing Santa Rosa, on their return, they were attacked at daylight by a 
few Californians, and, turning upon their assailants, captured two of them. Bias Ange- 
lina and Bernardino Garcia alias Three-fingered Jack, and took them to Sonoma. 
They told of the taking and slaying of Cowie and Fowler, and that their captors were: 
Ramon Mesa Domingo, Mesa Juan Padilla, Ramon Carrillo, Bernardino Garcia, Bias 
Angelina, Francisco Sibrian, Ygnacio Balensuella, Juan Peralta, Juan Soleto, Inaguan 
Carrillo, Mariano Miranda, Francisco Gracia, Ygnacio Stigger. The story of their 
death is a sad one. After Cowie and Fowler had been seized by the Californians, 
they encamped for the night, and the following morning determined in council what 
should be the fate of their captives. A swarthy New Mexican, named Mesa Juan 
Padilla, and Three-fingered Jack, the Californian, were loudest in their denunciation 
of the prisoners as deserving of death, and, unhappily, their counsels prevailed. The 
unfortunate young men were then led out, stripped naked, bound to a tree with a 
lariat, while, for a time, the inhuman monsters practised knife-throwing at their unpro- 
tected bodies, the victims, the while, praying to be shot. They then commenced 
throwing stones at them, one of which broke the jaw of Fowler. The fiend, Three- 
fingered Jack, then advancing, thrust the end of his riata (a raw-hide rope) through 
the mouth, cut an incision in the throat, and then made a tie, by which the jaw was 
dragged out. They next proceeded to kill them slowly with their knives. Cowie, 
who had fainted, had the flesh stripped from his arms and shoulders, and pieces of 
flesh were cut from their bodies and crammed into their mouths, they being finally 
disemboweled. Their mutilated remains were afterwards found, and buried where 
they fell, upon the farm now or lately owned by George Moore, two miles north of 
Santa Rosa. 

No stone marks the graves of these martyrs; no loving hand tends to them; there 
they remain, uncared for save by the weary ploughman; their occupants are "unwept, 
unhonored, and unsung." Time, the great annihilator will soon level the mounds; in 
a few short years, these names will have been forgotten; it is to perpetuate such 
matters in a tangible form that county histories are written. 

We have been able to trace the end of two out of the thirteen murderers — truly 
a devil's dozen. Bernardino Garcia alias Three-fingered Jack was killed by Captain 
Harry Love's Rangers, July 27, 1853, at Pinole Pass, near the Merced River, with 
the bandit Joaquin Murietta, while Ramon Carrillo met his death at the hands of 
the Vigilantes, between Los Angeles and San Diego, May 21, 1864. It is due to his 
brother, a respected citizen of Santa Rosa, to say that he denies the participation 
of Ramon Carrillo in the dastardly deed noted above. 



150 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

At Sonoma the Independents were gradually moving the rather clogged wheels 
of a governmental machine. On June i8th, Captain Ide, having received the appro- 
bation of his comrades, issued the following document: — 

"A Prodatnation to all persons and citizens of the District of Sonoma* requesting them 

to remain at peace and follotv their rightful occupations, without fear of molestation. 

" The Commander-in-Chief of the troops assembled at the Fortress of Sonoma 
gives his inviolable pledge to all persons in California, not found under arms, that 
they shall not be disturbed in their persons, their property, or social relations, one 
with another, by men under his command. 

" He also solemnly declares his object to be: First, to defend himself and com- 
panions in arms who were invited to this country by a promise of lands on which 
to settle themselves and families; who were also promised a Republican Government; 
when, having arrived in California, they were denied the privilege of buying or rent- 
ing lands of their friends, who, instead of being allowed to participate in or being 
protected by a Republican Government, were oppressed by a military despotism; 
who were even threatened by proclamation by the chief officers of the aforesaid des- 
potism with extermination if they should not depart out of the country, leaving 
all their property, arms, and beasts of burden; and thus deprived of their means of 
flight or defense, were to be driven through deserts inhabited by hostile Indians to 
certain destruction. 

"To overthrow a Government which has seized upon the property of the missions 
for its individual aggrandizement; which has ruined and shamefullj- oppressed the 
laboring people of California by enormous exactions on goods imported into the 
country, is the determined purpose of the brave men who are associated under my 
command. 

" I also solemnly declare my object, in the second place, to be to invite all 
peaceable and good citizens of California, who are friendly to the maintenance of 
good order and equal rights, and I do hereby invite them to repair to my camp at 
Sonoma, without delay, to assist us in establishing and perpetuating a Republican Gov- 
ernment, which shall secure to all, civil and religious liberty; which shall encourage 
virtue and literature; which shall lea\e, unshackled by fetters, agriculture, commerce, 
and manufactures. 

" I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of our intentions, the favor of 
heaven, and the bravery of those who are bound and associated with me by the prin- 
ciples of self-preser\'ation, b)' the love of truth and the hatred of t\Tann\-, for my 
hopes of success. 

" I furthermore declare that I believe that a Government to be prosperous and 
happy, must originate with the people who are friendly to its existence; that the 
citizens are its guardians, the officers its servants, its glory its reward. 

" Headquarters, Sonoma, func I S,\8^6. WiLLlA.M B. IDK." 

The intelligence of the establishment of the California Republic, and the deter- 
mination of the Bear Flag Party to maintain it, spread among the rancheros like 

*The District of Sonoma then embraced all territor)- lying northward from the Bay of San Francisco to the 
Of^on linp, and west of the Sacramento River. 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 151 

wild-fire; both parties labored incessantly and arduously for the conflict, and while 
the Independents guided their affairs from the citadel at Sonoma, General Castro 
ruled from his headquarters at Santa Clara, whence,, on learning of the success at 
Sonoma, he issued the following two proclamations: — 

" The ciiisen Jose Castro, Lieutenant-Colotiel of Cavalry in the Mexican Army, and 
acting General Comviandante of the Departmeiit of California. 
" Fellow-Citizens: The contemptible policy of the agents of the United 
States of North America in this Department has induced a number of adventurers, 
who, regardless of the rights of men, have designedly commenced an invasion, pos- 
sessing themselves of the town of Sonoma, taking by surprise all the place, the 
military commander of that border. Col. Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Don Victor Prudon, Captain Don Salvador Vallejo, and Mr. Jacob P. Leese. 

" Fellow-CountrymeN: The defense of our liberty, the true religion which 
our fathers possessed, and our independence, calls upon us to sacrifice ourselves 
rather than those inestimable blessings. Banish from your hearts all petty resent- 
ments; turn you, and behold yourselves, these families, these innocent little ones, which 
have unfortunately fallen into the hands of our enemies, dragged from the bosoms of 
their fathers, who are prisoners among foreigners, and are calling upon us to succor 
them. There is still time for us to rise en masse, as irresistible as retribution. You 
need not doubt but that Divine Providence will direct us in the way to glory. You 
should not vascillate because of the smallness of the garrison of the general head- 
quarters, for he who will first sacrifice himself will be your friend and fellow-citizen, 

" Headquarters, Santa Clara, June ij, iS^6. JOSE Castro." 

" The citizen Jose Castro, Lieutenant- Colonel of Cavalry in the Mexican Ar77iy and 

acting Conunandante of the Department of California. 

" All foreigners residing among us, occupied with their business, may rest assured 
of the protection of all the authorities of the Department while they refrain entirely 
from all revolutionary movements. 

" The General Comandancia under my charge will never proceed with vio"or 
against any persons, neither will its authority result in mere words wanting proof to 
support it; declarations shall be taken, proofs executed, and the liberty and rights of 
the laborious, which is ever commendable, shall be protected. 

" Let the fortunes of war take its chance with those ungrateful men, who, with 
arms in their hands, have attacked the country, without recollecting that they 
were treated by the undersigned with all the indulgence of which he is so character- 
istic. The imperative inhabitants of the Department are witness to the truth of this. 
I have nothing to fear; my duty leads me to death or victory. I am a Mexican 
soldier, and I will be free and independent, or I will gladly die for those inestimable 
blessings. Jos£ Castro. 

" Headquarters, Santa Clara, June ly, 184.6!' 

Under Captain Joaquin de la Torre, on June 20th, a body of about seventy Cali- 
fornians crossed the Bay of San Francisco, and being joined by a party under Carrillo 



152 History of Alameda County, California. 

and Padilla marched to the vicinity of the mission of San Rafael, while Castro 
remained at Santa Clara, recruiting his forces, by the utmost pressure, but onh- suc- 
ceeding in bringing into the field a squad of two hundred forced volunteers. Of the 
General's system of recruiting Lieutenant Revere writes: " I heard that on a feast 
day, when the rancheros came to the mission in their 'go-to-meeting' clothes, with 
their wives and children, Castro seized their horses and forced the men to volunteer 
in defense of their homes, against los salvages Atncricaiios." On the evening of June 
27th, Castro left Santa Clara with his army, and proceeding around the head of the 
Bay of San Francisco as far as the San Leandro Creek, in what is now Alameda County, 
halted at the Estudillo Rancho, where let us leave him for the present. 

Fremont, at this juncture, found that the time had now come to give his countenance 
and aid to the revolution which he had fostered, therefore, on June 21st, he transferred 
his ivtpediinenta to the care of Captain Sutter at the fort, recrossed the American 
River to Sinclair's Rancho, was there joined by Pearson B. Redding and the trappers 
about Sutter's Fort, and quietly awaited, like Micawber, "for something to turn up." 
He had not to remain inactive long. On the afternoon of the 23d, Harrison Pierce 
(who had settled in Napa Valley in 1843) came into camp hurried and excited. 
He told of how he had ridden the eighty intervening miles with but one change of 
horses; he said that the handful of patriots were greatly concerned, for news had 
arrived that General Castro and an overwhelming force was advancing on the town, 
hurling threats of recapture and hanging. Fremont desired him to return and say 
that he would move to their assistance as soon as he could put ninety men in the 
saddle. With this news and a fresh mount. Pierce returned to his comrades, while, on 
the 23d, Captain Fremont and his ninety Mounted Rifles marched from Sinclair's — a 
curious looking cavalcade. One of the party has left the following description of 
them: "There were Americans, French, English, Swiss, Poles, Russians, Prussians, 
Chilians, Germans, Greeks, Austrians, Pawnees, native Indians, etc., all riding side by 
side, and talking a polyglot lingual hash never exceeded in diversibilit\' since the con- 
fusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. Some wore the relics of their home-spun 
garments; some relied upon the antelope and the bear for their wardrobe; some 
lightly habited in buckskin leggings and a coat of war paint, and their weapons were 
equally various. There was the grim old hunter with his long, heavy rifle; the farmer 
with his double-barreled shot-gun; the Indian with his bow and arrows, and others 
with horse-pistols, revolvers, sabres, ships' cutlasses, bowie-knives, and 'pepper-boxes' 
(Allen's revolvers)." Though the Bear Flag arm}- was incongruous in personnel, as a 
body it was composed of the best fighting material, h^ach of them was inured to 
hardship and privation, self-reliant, fertile in resources, \ersed in woodcraft and Indian 
fighting, accustomed to handle fire-arms, and full of energy and daring. It was a 
band of hardy adventurers, such as in an earlier age wrested this land from the 
feebler aboriginals. With this corps Fremont arrived at Sonoma at two o'clock on the 
morning of June 25, 1846, having made forced marches. 

Let us make a slight divergence from the chronological order of things so as to 
make Captain Fremont's ne.xt move sequent on his last. 

We have already spoken of the horrible and atrocious butchery of Cowie and 
Fowler, by the party under Mesa Juan Padilla. This gang a few days thereafter 




e/iccAoA^ JA/te^^%J^ 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 153 

captured William L. Todd, whose name has already appeared in this chapter as the 
artist of the Bear Flag, while he was trying to catch a stray horse that had escaped 
to a short distance from the barracks at Sonoma. They bore him off, and falling in 
with another man, he too was seized and led into captivity. Thi.s party of Padilla's, 
being occasionally in a playful mood, regaled Todd with throat-cutting tales, of 
which he was usually the hero, while in their more serious moments they actually 
threatened to carry their banterings into tragic execution. Fortunately he spoke the 
Spanish language, and though slightly, yet with sufficient force to make them under- 
stand that his death would peal the knell of General Vallejo's doom. He and his 
companion in misfortune, with whom he had no opportunity to converse, but who 
appeared like an Englishman — a half-fool and common loafer — were conveyed to the 
Indian Rancheria called Olompali, about eight miles from the present town of Peta- 
luma. 

For the purpose of liberating the prisoners, and keeping the enemy in check until 
the arrival of Captain Fremont, Lieutenant Ford mustered a squad, variously stated 
at from twenty to twenty-three men, among whom were Granville P. Swift, Samuel 
Kelsey, William Baldridge, and Frank Bedwell, names more or less familiar to us, 
and on June 23d, taking with them the two prisoners. Bias Angelina and Three-fin- 
gered Jack, marched from Sonoma for where it was thought the Californians had 
established their headquarters. Here they learned from some Indians, under consid- 
erable military pressure, that the Californian troops had left three hours before. 
They now partook of a hasty meal, and with one of the Indians pressed into the ser- 
vice as guide, proceeded tovyards the Laguna de San Antonio, which lies on the pres- 
ent boundary line between Marin and Sonoma Counties, and that night halted within 
half a mile of the enemy's camp. At dawn they fell upon the place, took the only men 
they found there prisoners — their number was four, the remainder having left for 
San Rafael. 

Here four men were left to guard the prisoners and horses. Lieutenant Ford 
with the remainder of his troops, starting in pursuit of the enemy. Leaving the lagoon 
of San Antonio, and having struck into the road leading to San Rafael, after a sharp 
ride of four miles they came in sight of the house pointed out to them as that in 
which the Californians had passed the night with Todd and "the man that looked 
like an Englishman," and were at that time within its walls, enjoying a mild fiesta. 
Ford's men were as ignorant of their proximity as the Californians were of theirs. 
However, when the advance guard arrived in sight of the corral, and perceiving it to 
be full of horses, with a number of Indian vaqueros around it, they made a brilliant 
dash to prevent the animals from being turned loose. While exulting over their good 
fortune at this unlooked-for addition to their cavalry arm, they were surprised to see 
the Californians rush out of the house and mount their ready-saddled quadrupeds. It 
should be mentioned that the house spoken of was situated on the edge of a plain, 
some sixty yards from a grove of brushwood. In a moment Ford formed his men 
into two half companies, and charged the enemy, who, perceiving the movement, 
retreated behind the grove of trees. From his position Ford counted them, and found 
that they were eighty-five, all told. Notwithstanding he had but fourteen in his 
ranks, nothing daunted, he dismounted his men, and, taking advantage of the protec- 
II 



154 History of Alameda County, California. 

tion offered by the brushwood, prepared for action. The Californians, observing this 
evolution, became emboldened and prepared for a charge. On this, Ford calinly 
awaited the attack, giving stringent orders that his rear rank should hold their fire 
until the enemy were well up, and that not a bullet should be wasted. On they came^ 
with shouts, the brandishing of swords and the flash of pistols, until within thirty 
yards of the Americans, whose front files poured into the advancing foe a withering fire, 
and emptied the saddles of eight of the Mexican soldiery. On receiving this volley, 
the enemy turned to the right about, and made a break for the hills, while Ford's rear 
rank played upon them at long range, causing three more to bite the earth, and 
wounding two others. The remainder retreated helter-skelter to a hill in the direc- 
tion of San Rafael, leaving Todd and his companion to join their succorers. Ford's 
little force having now attained the object of their expedition, and without a casualty, 
secured their prisoners of war, and going to the corral, where the enemy had a large 
drove of horses, changed their jaded nags for fresh ones, took the remainder — some 
four hundred — and retraced their victorious steps to Sonoma, where they were heartily 
welcomed by their anxious countrymen, who had feared for their safety. 

We last left Captain Fremont at Sonoma, where he had arrived at two A. M. of 
the 25th of June. Having given his men and horses a short rest, and receiving a 
small addition to his force, he was once more in the saddle and started for San 
Rafael, where it was said Castro had joined de la Torre with two hundred and fifty 
men. At four o'clock in the afternoon they came in sight of the position supposed to 
be occupied by the enemy, which they cautiously approached until quite close, when 
they charged, the three first to enter being Fremont, Kit Carson, and J. W. Marshall 
(the future discoverer of gold), but they found the lines occupied by only four men, 
the gallant Captain de la Torre having withdrawn some three hours previously, leaving 
not a trace behind. Fremont camped on the ground that night, and on the following 
morning, the 26th. detailed scouting parties, while the main body remained quiescent 
at San Rafael for three da3-s. 

We have already seen that General Castro had marched forth from Santa Clara 
on the 27th of June, to chastise the Sonoma insurgents, and that he called a halt at 
the rancho of the Estudillos. F"rom this place he dispatched three men to reconnoiter, 
viz.: Don Jose Reyes Berryessa (a retired Sergeant of the Presidio Company of San 
Francisco, who in 1837 was granted the tract of land on which the New Almaden 
mine is situated), with Ramon and Francisco de Haro (twin sons of Don Francisco de 
Haro, Alcalde of San Francisco in 1838-39), who landed on what is now known as 
Point San Ouentin. On coming to the shore they were seized, with their arms, and 
on them were found written orders from Castro to Captain de la Torre (who it was 
not known had made his escape via Saucelito to Santa Clara) to kill every foreign 
man, woman, and child. The.se men were shot on the spot — first, as spies; second, in 
retaliation for the Americans so cruelly butchered b\' the Californians. Castro, upon 
finding that his men did not return, feared a like fate for himself: he therefore retraced 
his steps to the Santa Clara Mission, where he arrived on the jytii of June, after a 
prodigious expedition of two days' duration. 

About this time a small party intended for service under the Bear Flag had 
been recruited by Captain Thomas Fallon, then of Santa Cruz, but subsequently 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 155 



for many years a resident of Santa Clara County. This company, which consisted 
of only twenty-two men, crossed the Santa Cruz Mountains, entered the Santa Clara 
Valley at night, and called a halt about three miles to the south of San Jose. 
Here Fallon learned that Castro was close at hand with a force of two hundred 
men; therefore, acting on the principle that discretion is the better part of valor, 
he fell back into the mountains and there encamped, where we shall leave him for 
a space. 

In the meantime great events had been occurring without. War had been 
declared by the United States against Mexico; General Scott had carried on a 
series of brilliant exploits, which culminated in the capture of the Mexican Capi- 
tal, and the flag of the United States of America had been hoisted at Monterey 
July 7, 1846. 

Two days later than the last-mentioned date there might have been seen a 
solitary horseman, urging the animal he bestrode, as if for bare life, through the 
then almost impassable gorges of the Santa Cruz Mountains, and across the wide 
expanse of the Santa Clara Valley. From his pre-occupied air it could be remarked 
that he bore a weighty burden upon his shoulders, and still he pressed his jaded 
steed onwards, whose gored sides and dilated nostrils gave evidence of being pushed 
to the utmost. Ere long both came to a halt within the open space fronting the 
Justice Hall, in San Jose. With a jubilant wave of his cap, our traveler announces 
to his compatriots the welcome intelligence of the glory of American arms. He 
hastily asks of the whereabouts of the General, whom he at once seeks; he finds 
him enjoying his otiuin aim dignitate in the seclusion of his well-appointed quarters 
at the Santa Clara Mission, and there the dusty voyager, Henry Pitts, delivers 
into the hands of the redoubtable soldier, Jose Castro, the dispatch which tells 
him of the defeat of Mexican arms, and the ascendency of the United States forces. 
With moody brow he breaks the seal; he mounts his charger and proceeds to the 
pueblo; arrived there, he calls forth his men, forms them in line in front of thejtizgado, 
and then exclaiming, " Monterey is taken by the Americans !" proceeds to read, in 
Spanish, the proclamation of Commodore Sloat, of which the annexed is a trans- 
lation: — 

"To THE Inhabitants of California: — 

"The central troops of Mexico having commenced hostilities against the United 
States of America, by invading its territory, and attacking the troops of the United 
States, stationed on the north side of the Rio Grande, and with a force of seven 
thousand men, under the command of General Arista, which army was totally 
destroyed, and all their artillery, baggage, etc., captured, on the eighth and ninth of 
May last, by a force of twenty-three hundred men, under the command of General 
Taylor, and the city of Matamoras taken and occupied by the forces of the United 
States, and the two nations being actually at war by this transaction, I shall hoist 
the standard of the United States at Monterey, immediately, and shall carry it through 
California. 

" I declare to the inhabitants of California, that although I come in arms with a 
powerful force, I do not come among them as an enemy to California; on the con- 



156 History of Alamkua County, Cai.ikornia. 

trary, I come as their best friend, as henceforth California will be a portion of the 
United States, and its peaceable inhabitants will enjoy the same rifjhts and privileges 
they now enjoy, together with the privilege of choosing their own magistrates and 
other officers for the administration of justice among themselves, and the same pro- 
tection will be extended to them as to any other State in the Union. They will also 
enjoy a permanent Government, under which life and property, and the Constitutional 
right and lawful security to worship the Creator in the way most congenial to each one's 
sense of duty will be secured, which, unfortunately, the Central Government of Mex- 
ico cannot afford them, destroyed as her resources arc by internal factions and corrupt 
officers, who create constant revolutions to promote their own interests and oppress 
the people. Under the flag of the United States, California will be free from all such 
troubles and expenses; consequently the country will rapidly advance and improve, 
both in agriculture and commerce; as, of course, the revenue laws will be the same in 
California as in all other parts of the United States, affording them all manufactures 
and produce of the United States free of any duty, and for all foreign goods at one- 
quarter the duty they now pay. A great increase in the value of real estate and the 
products of California may be anticipated. 

" With the great interest and kind feeling I know the Government and people of 
the United States possess toward the citizens of California, the country cannot but 
improve more rapidly than any other on the continent of America. 

" Such of the inhabitants, whether natives or foreigners, as may not be disposed 
to accept the high privileges of citizenship, and to live peacefully under the Government 
of the United States, will be allowed time to dispose of their property and remove out 
of the country, if they choose, without any restriction; or remain in it, observing strict 
neutrality. 

"With full confidence in the honor and integrity of the inhabitants of the coun- 
try, I invite the Judges, Alcaldes, and other civil officers, to execute their functions as 
heretofore, that the public tranquility may not be disturbed, at least until the Govern- 
ment of the Territory can be definitely arranged. 

"All persons holding titles to real estate, or in quiet possession of lands under 
color of right, shall have these titles guaranteed to them. 

" All churches, and the property they contain, in pos.session of the clergy of Cal- 
ifornia, shall continue in the same right and possession they now enjoy. 

" All provisions and supplies of every kind furnished by the inhabitants for the 
use of the United States ships and .soldiers, will be paid for at fair rates, and no pri- 
vate property will be taken for public use without just compensation at the moment. 

"John D. Sloat, 
" Couiman(icr-i)i-Cliicf of tlic U. S. Navo/ Forces in the Pacific Ocean." 

The reading of the foregoing concluded, Castro is said to have exclaimed: "What 
can I do with a handful of men against the United States ? I am going to Mexico ! 
All you who wish to follow me, right-about-face ! All that wish to remain can go to 
their homes !" Only a very few chose to follow the fortunes of the Don into Mexico, 
whither he proceeded on that same day, first, however, taking prisoner Captain Charles 
M. Weber, who, some years previously, had ranged himself in the opposite faction to 
Castro, and who was not released until their arrival at Los Angele.s. 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 157 

We last saw Captain Fremont in the vicinity of San Rafael lying in a state of 
watchful inactivity. There he remained until the 2d of July, when he returned to 
Sonoma, where he commenced the labors of a more perfect organization, their plan 
being to keep the Californians to the southern part of the Territory until the immi- 
grants then on their way had time to cross the Sierra Nevada. The national holiday 
having been celebrated with due pomp, the next day was devoted to the formation 
and organization of the California Battalion of Mounted Riflemen, two hundred and 
fifty strong, officered as follows: Commandant, John C. Fremont, Brevet-Captain and 
Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers; Adjutant, and Inspector, with the 
rank of Captain, Archibald A. Gillespie, First Lieutenant of Marines. Of the for- 
mation of this battalion Fremont says: " In concert and co-operation with the Ameri- 
can settlers, and in the brief space of thirty days, all was accomplished north of the 
Bay of San Francisco, and independence declared on the 5th of July (1846). This 
was done at Sonoma, where the American settlers had assembled. I was called, by 
my position and by the general voice, to the chief direction of affairs, and on the 6th 
of July, at the head of the mounted riflemen, set out to find Castro." 

We have already shown that the war between Mexico and the United States had 
placed California in the hands of the latter, and that the national ensign was hoisted at 
Monterey on July 7th. On the morning of the 9th Lieutenant Joseph Warren Revere 
left the United States ship Portsmouth, then lying in the harbor at Yerba Buena, in 
one of her boats, and on reaching Sonoma did, at noon of that day, haul down the Bear 
Flag and raise in its place the Stars and Stripes; and at the same time forwarded one to 
Sutter's Fort by the hands of William Scott, and another to Captain Stephen Smith, 
at Bodega. Thus ended the Bear Flag War, of which the following is the Mexican 
account: — 

" About a year before the commencement of the war a band of adventurers, pro- 
ceeding from the United States, and scattering over the vast territory of California, 
awaited only the signal of their Government to take the first step in the contest for 
usurpation. Various acts committed by these adventurers in violation of the laws of 
the country indicated their intentions. But unfortunately the authorities then exist- 
ing, divided among themselves, neither desired nor knew how to arrest the tempest. 
In the month of July, 1846, Captain Fremont, an Engineer of the U. S. A., entered 
the Mexican territory with a few mounted riflemen, under the pretext of a scientific 
commission, and solicited and obtained from the Commandant-General, D. Jose Castro, 
permission to traverse the country. Three months afterwards, on the 19th of May, 
that same force and their commander took possession, by armed force, and surprised 
the important town of Sonoma, seizing ail the artillery, ammunition, armaments, etc., 
which it contained. 

"The adventurers scattered along the Sacramento River, amounting to about four 
hundred, one hundred and sixty men having joined their force. They proclaimed for 
themselves, and on their own authority, the independence of California, raising a rose- 
colored flag with a bear and a star. The result of this scandalous proceeding was the 
plundering of the property of some Mexicans and the assassination of others — three 
men shot as spies by Fremont, who, faithful to their duty to their country, wished to 
make resistance. The Commandant-General demanded explanations on the subject 



158 History of Alameda County, California. 

of the Commander of an American ship-of-war, the Portsuioutlt, anchored in the Hay 
of San Francisco; and although it was positively known that munitions of war, arms, 
and clothing were sent on shore to the adventurers, the Commander, J. B. Montgom- 
ery, replied that ' Neither the Government of the United States nor the subalterns 
had any part in the insurrection, and that the Mexican authorities ought, therefore, to 
punish its authors in conformity with the laws.'" 

On leaving Sonoma w ith the California Battalion says Fremont: " We had to 
make the circuit of the head of the bay, crossing the Sacramento River (at Knight's 
Landing). On the loth of July, when within ten miles of Sutter's Fort, we received 
(by the hands of William Scott*) the joyful intelligence that Commodore John 
Drake Sloat was at Monterey and had taken it on the 7th of July, and that war existed 
between the United States and Mexico. Instantly we pulled down the flag of Inde- 
pendence (Bear Flag) and ran up that of the United States amid general rejoicing, 
and a national salute of twenty-one guns on the morning of the i ith from Sutter's 
Fort, with a brass four-pounder called 'Sutter.'" Thence afterwards proceeding down 
the valley of the San Joaquin, they found themselves at the San Juan Mission, where 
Fremont was joined by Captain Fallon, who the reader may recollect we last saw 
encamped in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His adventures since wc heard of him may 
thus be briefly told. Upon hearing of Castro's departure, he marched into the town of 
San Jose, seized \k\s Jitzgado,-a.'c\-fi%t&<\ Dolores Pacheco, the Alcalde,appointed an Amer- 
ican citizen in his place, and on July 13th hoisted an American ensign on the flag- 
staff in front of the Court House, and opened direct land communication with Monte- 
rey; all of which he reported, as the following correspondence with United States 
authority in San Francisco will fully explain: — 

" U. S. Ship Portsmouth, Verba Buena, July 13, 1846. 
" Sir: I have just received your letter, with a copy of Mr. James Stokes' appoint- 
ment as Justice of the Peace, at the pueblo; also a dispatch from the Commander-in- 
Chief of the U. S. Naval Forces, at Monterey, for which I thank you. By the bearer 
of them, I return a dispatch for Commodore Sloat, which I hope you will have an 
opportunity of forwarding to Monterey. 

" I received your letter of July 12th, and wrote to you, b\- the bearer of it, on the 
13th, an answer, advising you by all means to hijist the flag of the United States at 
the Pueblo of St. Joseph, as you expressed to do, if you had sufficient force to main- 
tain it there; of course you will understand that it is not again to be hauled down. 

" Agreeable to your request, I send you a proclamation of the Commander-in- 
Chief, in both languages, which I shall be glad to have distributed as far and gener- 
ally as possible; and be pleased to assure all persons of the most perfect security from 
injuries to their persons and property, and endeavor, by every means in your power, 
to inspire them with confidence in the existing authorities and Government of the 
United States, I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"J NO. B. MONTC;OMERY, 
" Coninianding U. S. Ship Porisiiiouth. 
"To Captain Thomas Fallon, Pueblo of St. Joseph, Upper California." 

*This honor is claimed by Harry Bee and John Daubenbiss, but those quoted are Fremont's own words. 



MiLiTATY Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 159 

"U. S. Ship Portsmouth, Yerba Buena, July i8, 1846. 
" Sir: I have just received your letter with the official dispatch from Commodore 
Sloat, which has been accidentally delayed one day in its transmission from the 
pueblo, and am much obliged to you for sending it. 

" I am gratified to hear that you have hoisted the flag of our country, and cannot 
but feel assured, as I certainly hope, that your zealous regard for its honor and glory 
will lead you nobly to defend it there. I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

"J NO. B. Montgomery, Commander. 
"To Captain Thomas Fallon, at the Pueblo San Jose, Upper California." 

After Fremont was joined by Fallon, whose company had been disbanded at 
Monterey in the meantime, the former sailed at once with his men in the Cyane for 
San Diego to cut off Castro's retreat, who had united with Pio Pico, thus giving them 
six hundred men. It is not our intention to follow the doings of the "Pathfinder" 
in his southern campaign, but to confine ourselves to the district conterminous to the 
country whose chronicles we have undertaken to compile. His operations and their 
results are a matter of national history. 

The Indians of the San Joaquin Valley had, during the year, 1846, commenced 
to be such a source of annoyance to the residents in that district that in the month of 
April complaint had been made to the Departmental Assembly, but up to July noth- 
ing had been done. Wishing to intercept Captain Fremont, in the month of July. 
Captain Montgomery penned the following dispatch to that officer: — 

" U. S. Ship Portsmouth, Yerba Buena, July 9, 1846. 
" Sir: Last evening I was officially notified of the existence of war between the 
United States and the Central Government of Mexico, and have this morning taken 
formal possession of this place, and hoisted the flag in town. Commodore Sloat, who 
took possession of Monterey on the 7th instant, has directed me to notify you of the 
change in the political condition of things in California, and to request your presence 
at Monterey, with a view to future arrangements and co-operations, at as early a period 
as possible. 

"I forwarded at two o'clock this morning a dispatch from Commodore Sloat to 
the Commandant at Sonoma, with an American flag for their use, should they stand 
in need of one. Mr. Watmough, who will hand you this, will give you all the news. 
"Very respectfully, etc., JNO. B. MONTGOMERY. 

" To Captain J. C. Fremont, Top. Engineer, Santa Clara." 

On the same day (July 9th) the following order was given to Purser James H. 
Watmough by Captain Montgomery: — 

" Sir: You will proceed to Santa Clara, and to the pueblo, if necessary, in order 
to intercept Captain Fremont, now on his march from the Sacramento; and on meet- 
ing, please hand him the accompanying communication, after which you will return 
to this place, without delay, and report to me." 

Whether Watmough delivered Captain Montgomery's dispatch to Fremont at 
that time is uncertain; the presumption, however, is that he did, and that on reporting 



160 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

such, as also the state of affairs in regard to the Indians in the San Joaquin Valley, 
he was instructed to occupy San Jose with thirty-five marines who had accompanied 
him as an escort, for we find that gallant Purser had established his headquarters at 
the Jusgado, added some volunteers to his force, and, in the month of August, with 
thirty marines, and about the same number of citizen soldiers, crossed the mountains 
and gave combat to a party of a hundred Indians, which he drove back into their own 
valley. After doing much to allay the excitement which then existed, his command 
was withdrawn in the month of October. 

Such was the military enthusiasm of the period that it was not as difficult then 
as it might be to-day to recruit an armed force. During the month of October, 1846, 
Commander Hull of the United States sloop-of-war Warre?i, in command of the 
northern district of California, commissioned two citizens of San Jose, Charles M. 
Weber and John M. Murphy, as Captain and Lieutenant in the land forces, and these 
gentlemen quickly raised a company of scouts. This recruiting spirit, however, was 
not confined to the actual settler solely, for, no sooner had the immigrants crossed the 
Sierra Nevada and arrived at Sutter's Fort than they were enrolled by Captain Gran- 
ville Swift and forwarded to the south of the territory to augment the strength of 
Fremont's California Battalion. Among these was Joseph Aram, who received a 
commission and was detailed for duty at the mission of Santa Clara in charge of 
immigrant families; where during the inclement winter season the poor people suffered 
severe privations. Captain Aram managed to raise a company of thirt\'-two men, 
among them was the familiar name of Elam Brown of Contra Costa County, and 
established his headquarters, as desired, at Santa Clara. His first duty was to place 
the mission in a suitable state of defense to which end he constructed barricades, 
built principally of wagons that had crossed the plains, and the branches of trees, for 
he had learned that Colonel Sanchez and a body of mounted Californians were hover- 
ing in the vicinity. San Jose was formed into a military post in the month of 
Noyember, and sixty men, with Messrs. Watmough and Griffin, under command of 
Lieutenant Pinkney of the United States ship Savannah sent to protect the inhabit- 
ants in the district. The force left Yerba Buena early in the morning of the 1st, and 
proceeding by the ship's boats up the bay, about sunset made fast to the shore and 
that night camped on the site of the present town of Alviso. Dawn of the next day 
found Lieutenant Pinkne\- and his command on the route, and after a weary march, 
for muskets, baj-onets, cartridges, provisions, and blankets had to be carried by each 
man, arrived that afternoon at San Jose, which he at once put in a state of proper 
defense. 

The militaiy freebooter Sanchez had at this time established a reign of terror in 
the districts around the Bay pf San Francisco, neither man, horse, nor stock of any 
kind being free from his predatory band. Concealing themselves in thicket or ravine, 
they were wont to fall upon the unsuspecting traveler, who, after being robbed, was 
too often most foully murdered. In the month of December, 1846, about the eighth 
day, a foraging party under Lieutenant W. A. Bartlett of the sloop-of-war Warren 
and five men, among them being Martin Corcoran, a much respected citizen of San 
Jose, started from Yerba Buena to purchase beef for the United States forces. When 
they arrived in the vicinity of that locality where now stands the Seventeen-mile House, 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 161 

on the San Jose road from San Francisco, and when in the act of driving together 
some cattle, thirty of Sanchez' men rushed from an ambuscade, captured them and 
carried them off to their camp in the redwoods of the Coast Range of mountains; but 
after a space removing to another portion of the same chain in San Mateo County, he 
increased his force to a hundred men and one piece of artillery — a six pounder — and 
commenced a succession of marauding expeditions in the country that lies within 
fifty miles of San Jose. Intelligence reaching the pueblo of these depredations of 
Colonel Sanchez, without loss of time Captain Weber sounded the " call " to boot 
and saddle, and about Christmas day, 1846, was in full chase. Learning, however, of 
the recent addition to the enemy's strength, he avoided an encounter with a force so 
much his superior in numbers and pushed on to San Francisco where he reported to 
the Commandant. 

Still retaining his six prisoners under close guard, Sanchez advanced into the 
Santa Clara Valley, by way of the head of the Bay of San Francisco, and called a halt 
about ten miles from San Jos^, which place he came to after a rest of forty-eight 
hours. Aware full well that Weber and his company were not in the town, and noth- 
ing remained for its defense but a few marines, he thought that it would fall before 
his mighty presence, even without firing a shot, he therefore dispatched a note to 
Lieutenant Pinkney, calling upon him to surrender and withdraw his men; in which 
event the Americans would be permitted to retire unmolested; should he refuse, then 
an attack would be forthwith made and all put to the sword. But Pinkney was not 
to. be intimidated by such shallow bravado. As the sun sank into the west on that 
day he formed his men in line and read to them the arrogant communication of the 
robber chief, which being ended, he said, if there were any there who did not wish to 
fight they had full liberty to rejoin the ship at San Francisco. Such, however, hap- 
pily is not the spirit of the American people or their forces, else the glorious Union 
would not be in the lead of nations as it is to-day. Pinkney's men raised their voices 
as one man, and elected to stay and let Sanchez do his worst, while their gallant com- 
mander vehemently asserted, " Then, by G — d, Sanchez shall never drive me out of 
here alive ! " And then there burst from the throats of that handful of heroes one 
hoarse cheer that made the welkin ring. Like a true soldier, the Lieutenant gave 
not an order the carrying out of which he did not personally superintend. He 
divided his small force into four squads, who were, on an alarm being sounded, each 
to press for a particular side of the breast-work which he had built around the Jiisgado; 
if, however, the enemy should be found in a body trying to effect an entrance at any 
other side, then were the four divisions to rush en masse to that spot. That night 
Pinkney doubled the guard, and his men slept on their arms. It was his expectation 
to be attacked by a force immeasureably his superior in point of numbers, but at dead 
of night Sanchez rode round the pueblo, reflected deeply, and wisely determined that 
to be valorous was to be discreet, therefore he withdrew his men leaving our forces in 
full possession. Lieutenant Pinkney is described as being a tall, well-proportioned 
man, over six feet high, with sandy whiskers and hair. He was straight as an arrow 
and looked the soldier all over; his very appearance showed where he would be in a 
hot contest. There was not a man among his little band that did not have the 
utmost confidence in him. 



162 History of Alameda County, Calikokma. 

Let us now return and see how fared it with the prisoners captured near the 
Seventeen-mile House. To try and effect their release, James Alexander Forbes 
(who died in Oakland in May, 1881), Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, visited Sanchez' 
band, where his brother-in-law was serving, and strove to obtain the liberation of the 
captives, but with no success. After a good deal of palaver, however, Sanchez con- 
sented to Lieutenant Bartlett being permitted to accompany Forbes to his resi- 
dence in Santa Clara, but on no account was he to be handed o\er to the American 
authorities, while, as to the other five, he was willing that they all should be surren- 
dered to their nationals, but Captain Weber, who had before the commencement of 
hostilities between the United States and Mexico, been in the service of the latter 
Government, must be given up to him. Consul Forbes transmitted the result of his 
diplomatic mission to the commanding officer at San Francisco, who replied that 
he unconditionally refused such terms, and Bartlett could be returned to Sanchez. 

A day of reckoning was now fast drawing nigh, for a little army with the 
destruction of Sanchez and his band in view, was being formed in San Francisco 
under command of Captain Ward Marston, of the Marine corps attached to the 
United States ship Savannah. The force was composed as follows: Assistant-Surgeon 
J. Durall, Aid-de-Camp; detachment of marines, under Lieutenant Robert Tansil, 
thirty-four men; artillery, one field-piece, six pounder, under charge of Master William 
F. D. Gough, assisted by midshipman John Kell, ten men; interpreter, John Pray; 
Mounted Company, .San Jos^ Volunteers, under command of Captain Charles M- 
Weber, Lieutenant John M. Murphy and acting Lieutenant John Reed, thirty-three 
men; Mounted Company of Yerba Buena Volunteers, under command of William M. 
Smith (a pioneer of Contra Costa County), Lieutenant John Rose; with a small 
detachment, under Captain Julius Martin (still residing at Gilroy, Santa Clara County), 
of twelve men, the whole being in the neighborhood of one hundred men. 

The little army marched out of San Francisco on the 29th December, their 
course being southward and through the Santa Clara Valle}'. On the morning of 
January 2, 1847, they came in sight of the enemy, who, upon learning of their ap- 
proach, had dispatched their six prisoners, on foot, into the mountains in charge of a 
guard of twelve men, who, having proceeded a couple of miles, halted. 

Upon the force of Americans coming up with the enemy, at ten o'clock in the 
morning, orders were given to open fire at two hundred yards' range which was done 
with telling effect, the first one or two volleys entirely breaking the line in which 
Sanchez chose to fight. Finding his alignment cut in twain, Sanchez wheeled his 
men so as to bring each of his sections on either flank of Captain Marston 's corps, but 
still making a retrograde movement, while the latter advanced. Ever and anon 
would the desperate Colonel rally his already demoralized troops in froiit, and again 
wheel them on the flanks of his opponents, thus alternately fighting in front and on 
flank, but still keeping up the order of his retreat for two or three hours. 

Lieutenant Pinkney from his fortified position in San Jose, hearing the firing, 
gave orders for making hundreds of cartridges, and placed everything in a state of 
defense, in case Sanchez should be victorious and come down on the pueblo, while he 
waited anxiously for news of the battle, for he believed the Americans were outnum- 
bered, and had some doubt as to how the fortune of the day might turn; while, at 



Military Occupation, Bear Flag, Etc. 163 

Santa Clara Mission, people crowded the roof-tops and there witnessed the engage- 
ment, to which place the retreat tended. Finding this new force to contend against 
he drew off unwilling to renew a fight of which he had already had too much, and 
found his way to the Santa Cruz Mountains whence he dispatched a flag of truce and 
a communication stating the terms on which he would surrender. The reply he re- 
ceived was that his surrender must be absolute, and notwithstanding that he said he 
would die first, an armistice was agreed upon and dispatches sent to the Command- 
ant at San Francisco, asking for instructions. 

Meanwhile Pinkney's suspense was put to an end by the receipt of a message 
as to the result of the action, while Marston marched his men to the Santa Clara 
Mission where they were received with demonstrative joy by the American ladies and 
children there assembled. Captain Aram now received permission to proceed in 
quest of certain horses which had been stolen from the American settlers in the Santa 
Clara Valley, some of which he knew to be in the cavalcade of the enemy, and while 
engaged in this duty was informed by Sanchez that another body of United States 
troops was on its way from Monterey. This information could scarcely be credited 
by the Captain, who, ascending a commanding point, perceived the intelligence to be 
correct. This accession to the fighting strength of the Americans made Sanchez 
tremble lest he should be attacked by them, he therefore begged Aram to advance 
and inform them of the situation of affairs, which he did. The new-comers felt con- 
siderable chagrin at this situation of affairs for they longed to have a brush with the 
enemy. This force was under the command of Captain Maddox of the United States 
Navy, and consisted of fifty-nine mounted sailors and marines. 

The courier sent to San Francisco returned on the 6th with instructions to 
Captain Marston that the surrender of Sanchez must be unconditional, a copy of 
which he transmitted to the Colonel, whereupon the terms of capitulation were agreed 
upon. Another reinforcement arrived under Lieutenant Grayson on the 7th and on 
January 8, 1847, his whole force laid down their arms and the six anxious prisoners 
were returned to the hands of their countrymen. The Mexican Colonel was taken to 
San Francisco and held as a prisoner, for a time, on board the United States ship 
Saiannali, while his men were permitted to return to their respective homes. 

And thus the curtain is dropped upon the closing act in the war-like drama, as 
enacted in the northern part of Upper California in the years 1846 and 1847. 




1()4 History of Alamkda County, California. 



LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY. 



CHRONICLES OF ORGANIZATION ANB POLITICAL ANNALS. 



THE first organization of counties in the United States of America, originated in 
Virginia, where her earliest settlers became possessed of vast tracts of land, 
lived the life of isolated patricians,, imperious in demeanor, aristocratic in feel- 
ing, and, in a measure, were dictators to the laboring classes by whom they were sur- 
rounded. Therefore it will readily be appreciated that owing to the scarcity of voters, 
and the large district over which they were scattered, there was not the material from 
which to create towns. Moreover, county organization was in perfect harmony with 
the social and judicial dignities of Great Britain, in which, as descendants of that 
country, they felt so much glory. In Virginia, in 1634, eight counties were estab- 
lished. In a little this lead was followed by the Southern and several of the North- 
ern States, with the solitary exceptions of Louisiana and South Carolina, in the for- 
mer of which, after the custom of France, parishes were organized, and districts 
created in the latter. 

In New England towns were formed before counties, while they in turn were 
organized before States, whose powers of government originall}' were exercised by 
towns or townships. The powers afterwards assumed by States were from surrender 
on the part of towns, while counties were created for the purpose of defining the 
jurisdiction of Courts of Justice. The representative system arose from out of a 
union of towns which were formed into States, each town being represented in the 
State Legislature, or General Court, by delegates chosen by its freemen at stated 
meeting. 

The first authentic evidence of a town meeting, which we can find, is that held 
by the delegation of the Plymouth Colony on March 23, 162 1, which had in view the 
perfecting of a military organization. At that session a Governor was chosen for the 
ensuing year; and it is noticed as a coincidence, whether from that source, or other- 
wise, that the annual town meetings in New England, and in most of the other States, 
have ever since been held in the Spring of the year. It was not, however, until 1635 
that the township system was adopted as a quasi corporatini in Massachusetts. 

It may be interesting to note what were the provisions contained in the first legal 
enactment concerning this system. It read: "Whereas, particular towns have many 
things which concern only themselves, and the ordering of their own affairs, and dis- 
posing of business in their own towns; therefore the freemen of every town, or the 
major part of them, shall only have power to dispose of their own lands and woods, 
with all the appurtenances of said towns ; to grant lots and to make such orders as 
may concern the well-ordering of their own towns, not repugnant to the laws and 
orders established by the General Court. They might also impose fines of not more 
than thirty shillings, and choose their own particular officers, as constables, surveyors 
for highways, and the like." This enactment, no doubt, relieved the General Court of 
a mass of municipal details, without any danger to the controlling power of that body 



Legislative History of the County. 165 

in general measures of public policy, while, it is also probable that a demand of the 
freemen of the towns was felt for the control of their own home concerns. 

The colonies of New England were first governed by a " General Court," com- 
posed of a Governor and small Council, which Court comprised the most influential 
inhabitants, and, while possessing legislative powers, exercised judicial functions, 
which were limited only by the wisdom of the holders. They made laws, ordered 
their execution, elected their own officers, tried and decided civil and criminal causes, 
enacted all manner of municipal regulations, and, in fact, transacted all the business 
of the colony. 

This system, which was found to be eminently successful, became general as terri- 
tory was added to the Republic and States were formed. Divisions of less size were 
in turn inaugurated and placed under the supervision of proper officials whose num- 
bers were increased as time developed a demand, until the system of county and 
township organization in the United States is the most complete of any land. 

Let us now proceed to trace the formation of Alameda County. 

Organization of Alameda County. — On the acquisition of Upper California 
by the United States of America under a treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and set- 
tlement, with' the Republic of Mexico, dated Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848, 
the boundaries of the territory ceded were properly defined. The President duly 
ratified it on the i6th of February of the same year; it was exchanged by the cov- 
enanting parties at Oueretaro, May 30th, and subsequently promulgated, July 4, 1848, 
by President James K. Polk and attested by Secretary of State James Buchanan. A 
Constitutional Convention assembled in Monterey in the year 1849, and on October 
1 2th, at the close of the session, a proclamation calling upon the people to form a 
Government was issued. Its objects were declared by Brigadier-General Riley, the 
Military Governor, to be : " to designate such officers as they desire to make and 
execute the laws; that their choice may be wisely made, and that the Government so 
organized may secure the permanent welfare and happiness of the people of the new 
State, is the sincere and earnest wish of the present executive, who, if the Constitution 
be ratified, will, with pleasure, surrender his powers to whomsoever the people may 
designate as his successor." 

In accordance with Section fourteen of Article twelve of the Constitution, it was 
provided that the State be divided into counties, while the first session of the Legis- 
lature, which began at San Jos^ on December 15, 1849, passed, February 18, 1850, 
"An Act subdividing the State into counties and establishing seats of justice therein." 
The Act was finally confirmed April 25, 1851, and directed the boundaries of Contra 
Costa, in which the greater portion of Alameda County was included, to be as under. 

Original Boundary of Contra Costa County. — Beginning at the mouth of 
Alameda Creek and running thence in a southwesterly direction to the middle of the 
Bay of San Francisco ; thence in a northerly or northwesterly direction, following, as 
near as may be, the middle of the bay to the Straits of San Pablo; thence up the 
middle of the Bay of San Pablo to the Straits of Carquinez; thence running up the 
middle of said Straits to the Suisun Bay, and up the middle of said bay to the mouth 



166 History of Alameda County, Calikorma. 

of the San Joaquin River; thence following up the middle of said river to the place 
known as Pescadero or Lower Crossing; thence in a direct line to the northeast corner 
of Santa Clara County, which is on the summit of the Coast Range, near the source 
of Alameda Creek; thence down the middle of said creek to its moujh, which was the 
place of beginning, including the islands of San Pablo, Corcacas, and Tesoro. The 
seat of justice shall be at the town of Martinez. 

Creation of Alameda County. — We have already stated that originally 
Alameda County formed a large portion of Contra Costa. In 1853 it was created 
from out of the southern portion of Contra Costa, and a part (Washington Township) 
of Santa Clara County. The process of formation may be thus briefly described: 
In that year (1853) both the counties were represented in the State Senate by George 
B. Tingley, who was a resident of the latter, and, in the Assembly, the first by Horace 
W. Carpentier and the last by W. S. Letcher and Henry C. Smith, who lived at a 
place then known as New Haven, but which has since been named Alvarado. On 
March 10, 1853, the Legislature being then convened at Benicia, Solano County, Mr. 
Smith, from his place in the Assembly, presented a petition from Santa Clara and Contra 
Costa's residents, praying that a new county, to be called Alameda, be created from 
out of territory then comprised within their limits. Having passed the searching eye 
of the Committee on Counties. and County Boundaries the bill entitled " An Act to 
create the county of Alameda and establish the seat of justice therein, to define its 
boundaries, and provide for its organization," was introduced by Mr. Smith, read the 
first and second times, and once more sent to the above-named committee, by whom 
it was reported back on the following day, the nth of March, with the recommenda- 
tion that it be passed. On the 12th it was declared to bs correctly engrossed, and on 
the next day, the 13th, it found its way into the presence of the Senate, in which 
august chamber it was amended. These ratifications were returned to the Assembly, 
who, March i8th, signified their concurrence in the amendments of the Upper House, 
whence it was referred back to the Lower Chamber for correction in errors of enroll- 
ment on the 23d; these were declared duly made on the 25th, on which date it was 
presented for the Governor's approval, which it received March 28, 1853. 

After its passage it was found that the Act contained several material defects 
which it was thougnt advisable to amend; therefore, on the 31st of March, Mr. Smith 
introduced an amendatory bill, which passed the Senate on April 1st, and finally 
received the signature of Governor John Bright on April 6, 1853. On the 21st of the 
same month, an attempt was made by Mr. Carpentier to have the bill amended so as 
to make Oakland the seat of justice, instead of New Haven or Alvarado, but which 
was rejected, on a vote being taken, by nineteen noes to seventeen ayes. 

The boundaries of the count)- as prescribed b}^ the above Act were defined as 
follows: — 

Original Boundary of Alameda County. — Beginning at a point at the 
head of a slough, which is an arm of the Bay of San Francisco, making into the main- 
land in front of the Gegara Ranchos; thence to a live sycamore tree that stands in a 
ravine between the dwellings of Fluhencia and Valentine Gegara; thence up said 



Legislative History of the County. 167 

ravine to the top of the mountains; thence in a direct line easterly to the junction of 
the San Joaquin and Tuolumne Counties; thence northwesterly on the west line of 
San Joaquin County to the slough known as the Pescadero; thence westwardly in a 
straight line until it strikes the dividing ridge in the direction of the house of Joel 
Harlan, in Amador Valley; thence westwardly along the middle of said ridge, crossing 
the gulch one-half mile below Prince's Mill; thence to and running upon the dividing 
ridge between the Redwoods known as the San Antonio and Prince's Woods; thence 
along the top of said ridge to the head of the gulch or creek that divides the ranchos 
of the Peraltas from those known as the San Pablo Ranchos; thence down the middle 
of said gulch to its mouth; and thence westwardly to the eastern line of the County 
of San Francisco; thence along said last-mentioned line to the place of beginning. 
Seat of justice, Alvarado. 

Present Boundary of Alameda County. — After changes which it is unnec- 
essary to follow here, the boundaries of Alameda County, as at present defined in the 
Political Code of California are: Beginning at the southwest corner, being the com- 
mon corner of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda, as established in Section 
three thousand nine hundred and fifty-one; thence easterly on northerly line of Santa 
Clara, as established in Section three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two, to com- 
mon corner of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Santa Clara and Alameda, as established in 
Section three thousand nine hundred and thirty-two; thence northwesterly, on the 
west line of San Joaquin County, to the slough known as the Pescadero, being the 
west channel, or old San Joaquin River; thence westerly in a straight line, until it 
strikes the dividing ridge, in the direction of the house of Jose Harlan, in Amador 
Valley; thence westerly along said ridge, crossing the gulch one-half mile below 
Prince's Mill; thence to and running upon the dividing ridge between the Redwoods 
known as the San Antonio and Prince's Woods; thence along said ridge to the head 
of the gulch or creek (Cerrito Creek) that divides the ranchos of the Peraltas from the 
San Pablo Ranchos; thence down said gulch to its mouth; thence southwesterly to 
the common corner of San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Alameda, as established by 
Section three thousand nine hundred and fifty; thence southerly to a point in the Bay 
of San Francisco that would intersect a hne parallel with the north line of the Central 
Pacific Railroad Company's wharf (as it now is) if extended five hundred feet toward 
Yerba Buena Island; thence southeasterly in a line parallel with the east line of the 
City and County of San Francisco (which is the line now dividing said city and 
county from the County of Alameda) to its intersection with the south line of said 
city and. county, as established in Section three thousand nine hundred and fifty; 
thence easterly along said last-mentioned line to the northeast corner of San Mateo; 
and thence southeasterly along the eastern line of San Mateo to the place of begin- 
ning. Horace A. Higley's survey and map of Alameda County, 1857, are declared to 
contain a more particular description of the line out of the Bay of San Francisco. 

County seat. City of Oakland; provided that nothing in this Act contained shall 
be construed to place "Yerba Buena Island," or any part thereof, outside the limits 
of the City and County of San Francisco, but the same shall be deemed to be within 
said city and county, and the westerly boundary line of the County of Alameda shall 



168 History of Alami<:da County, California. 

not come within two thousand and five hundred feet of any part of saiti island. 
[Amendment approved March 30, i<^74; Amendments 1874-5, 168, took eflcct six- 
tieth day after passage.*] 

Senatorial Districts. — In the first partition of the State, Contra Costa was 
attached to Santa Clara County for Senatorial purposes. On the creation of Alameda 
County, she w^as joined to Santa Clara, and formed into the Fourth Senatorial Dis- 
trict, and thus she continued until created into the Ninth Senatorial District. By the 
Act approved March 16, 1874, Alameda County was designated as the Fourteenth 
Senatorial District, to have two Senators, and as such she has remained until the 
present session of the Legislature, when the State was re-districted, and Alameda 
County formed into the Si.xteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Senatorial Districts, 
with one Senator for each. The First, F"ourth, and Si.xth Wards of the City of Oak- 
land, together with the election precincts of West Berkeley, Bay, and Ocean View, 
constitute the Sixteenth Senatorial District; the Second, Third,- Fifth, and Seventh 
Wards of the City of Oakland, together with the election precincts of East Berkeley, 
Temescal, and Piedmont, constitute the Seventeenth Senatorial District; and that 
portion of Brooklyn Township outside of the City of Oakland, together with the 
Townships of Alameda, Eden, Washington, and Murray, constitute the Eighteenth 
Senatorial Di.strict. 

Congressional Districts. — When originally created, Alameda County, with 
those of Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Tuolumne, Mono, Calaveras, Amador, El 
Dorado, Sacramento, Placer, Nevada, and Alpine were defined as the Second Con 
gressional District, but by the Act approved March 30, 1872, Mono was segregated 
therefrom, and embodied in the Fourth District. 

The Legislature, at its recent session (1883), constituted the Counties of Yolo 
Sacramento, Solano, Contra Costa, Marin, and Alameda into the Third Congressional 
District. 

Judicial DisTRICT.s. — The State of California was divided into Judicial Dis- 
tricts March 29, 1850, and John H. Watson became Judge of the Third District' 
which comprised the Counties of Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Mon- 
terey. On the creation of Alameda County, she still continued a portion of that 
district, and so remained until the establishment of Superior Courts. 

Court ov Sessions. — The tenth section of the Act creating the County of Ala- 
meda reads: " The County Judge and two Associate Justices of the Peace that may 
be elected from among themselves, shall form a Court of Sessions for the transaction 
of all county business authorized to be transacted by Boards of Supervisors in other 
counties of the State." Courts of Session were first established by Act of the Leg- 
islature, dated April II, 1850, when by legislative enactment they wore abolished 

* The original section after the words "down said gulch to its mouth," proceeilcd as follows: Thence westerly 
to the easterly line of San Francisco, as established in Section three thousand nine hundred and Hfty; thence 
southeasterly along the line of San Francisco and San Mateo to the place of beginning. Horace A, Higlcy's 
survey and map of Alameda County, 1857, are declared to contain a more particular description of the line out of 
the Bay of San Francisco. County seat, San Leandro. , 




^o 




Legislative History of the County. 169 

and succeeded by Boards of Supervisors, May 3, 1852, thus it is that we find the 
first-mentioned body specially delegated to perform the duties of the last-named. 

The Court of Sessions, in which body, as we have said, was vested the entire 
general civil business of the county. The duties imposed upon this organization 
were multifarious. They made such orders respecting the property of the county as 
they deemed expedient, in conformity with any law of the State, and in them were 
vested the care and preservation of said property. They examined, settled and 
allowed all accounts chargeable against the county; directed the raising of such sums 
for the defraying of all expenses and charges against the county, by means of 
taxation on property, real and personal, such not to exceed, however, the one-half 
of the tax levied by the State on such property; to examine and audit the 
accounts of all officers having the care, management, collection, and disbursement of 
any money belonging to the county, or appropriated by law or otherwise, for its use 
or benefit. In them was the power of control and management of public roads, turn- 
pikes, fences, canals, roads, and bridges within the county, where the land did not pro- 
hibit such jurisdiction; and make such orders as should be requisite and necessary to 
carry such control and management into effect; to divide the county into townships, 
and to create new townships, and change the division of the same as the convenience 
of the county should require. They established and changed election precincts; 
controlled and managed the property, real and personal, belonging to the county, and 
purchased and received donations of property for the use of the county, with the 
proviso, that they should not have the power to purchase any real or personal property, 
except such as should be absolutely necessary for the use of the county. To sell 
and cause to be conveyed, any real estate, goods, or chattels belonging to the county, 
appropriating the funds of such sale to the use of the same. To cause to be erected 
and furnished, a Court House, jail, and other buildings, and to see that the same are 
kept in repair, and otherwise to perform all such other duties as should be necessary 
to the full discharge of the powers conferred on such Court. Terms were ordered to 
be held on the second Monday of February, April, June, August, October, and 
December, with quarterly sessions on the third Monday of February, May, August, 
and November of each year. 

The first meeting of the Court of Sessions of Alameda County was held at 
Alvarado, June 6, 1853, Hon. Addison M. Crane, County Judge, and Messrs. I. S. 
Long, and David S. Lacy being Associate Justices of the Peace, when six townships 
were created; but before enumerating these let us see how what is now Alameda 
County was originally divided. 

On April 17, 1850, Contra Costa was partitioned off" into three townships, the 
two, however, which bear especially upon our subject being Martinez and San Antonio_ 
The limits of the former were: " Commencing at the boundary line of Contra Costa 
County in the Suisun Bay, at the western boundary line r)f New York Township; 
thence along the western boundary line of said township to its termination on the 
county line, two miles below, or south of Livermore's Rancho; thence along the east- 
ern boundary line and down the middle of Alameda Creek to its mouth; thence 
along the boundary line of Contra Costa County to a point on the bay opposite the 
mouth of the creek running down from the Moraga Redwoods; thence up the middle of 



170 History of Alameda County, California. 

said creek to where it forks, about three miles below the Redwoods; thence along the 
summit of said ridge to an elevated point of land known as Cape Horn; thence in a 
direct line to Pinole Point, at the mouth of the Straits of Carquinez, and to the mid- 
dle of the straits, to the northern boundary line of the county of Contra Costa; thence 
through the middle of the Straits of Carquinez along said county line to the place of 
beginning"; while those of the latter were defined as: "Commencing at the north- 
western boundary line of Martinez Township, on the northern boundary line of Con- 
tra Costa County; thence along the western boundary line of Martinez Township to 
its termination on the eastern boundary line of San Francisco County; thence along 
the western boundary line of Contra Costa County, at low-water mark, to Golden 
Rock; thence up the middle of San Pablo Bay to the place of beginning." These 
townships were, however, found to be too unwieldy. Thereupon, on the petition of 
certain citizens in the eastern portion of Martinez Township, praying that a portion 
of it should be set off and recognized as a separate division, the county organized the 
Township of Alameda as follows: " Commencing at the mouth of the Redwood 
Creek; thence running up said creek near the Redwoods; thence east to the source 
of the Arroyo San Ramon; thence down the San Ramon to its junction with 
the Euguarto; thence in an easterly direction to the eastern boundary line of the 
county, at the boundary line of New York and Martinez Townships; thence along 
the eastern boundary of the county and township to the place of beginning." Upon 
the petition of the citizens of San Antonio Township, the Board of Supervisors, who 
had undertaken the affairs of the county under the Act of the Legislature passed 
May 3, 1852, on August 12th, defined the Township of Contra Costa: "That said 
Township of San Antonio be divided, and ordered that the portion of said township 
being embraced within the limits of the Town of Oakland be set apart, and designated 
the Township of Contra Costa; and that the balance of the present Township of San 
Antonio remain as the Township of San Antonio." Still, the townships would seem 
to have been too large, for the Board of Supervisors, under date October 18, 1852, 
created the Township of San Pablo, and declared its boundaries to be: " All that 
portion of San Antonio Township from the Martinez Township line to the Cerrito of 
San Pablo, be set off from the said Township of San Antonio, and the same be called 
the Township of San Pablo." Besides these, the Townships of San Lorenzo and 
San Antonio were created in the following manner: "That Alamo Township, with 
the present boundary terminating towards the west, with the highest point on the 
ridge of the Contra Costa Range, and San Antonio Township with its present boundary 
from Cerrito down to the San Lorenzo Creek, and two townships be created, the San 
Antonio Township to e.xtend from Cerrito of San Pablo to San Lorenzo, and desig- 
nated the Township of San Antonio; and from San Leandro Creek to the boundary 
line of Santa Clara County be designated San Lorenzo Township." The boundaries 
of Washington Township, as it was when a portion of Santa Clara County, are 
described as follows: "Commencing at the old Santa Clara Bridge on the Guadalupe 
River, and running a northeasterly line to the count)' line; all north of this line 
bounded on the west by the Guadalupe River shall constitute this township." Upon 
the creation of Alameda, in 1853, this territory was segregated from Santa Clara and 
thus its ancient associations were given to the newly-formed county. 



Legislative History of the County. 171 

Original Townships of Alameda County. — We have remarked above that 
the first duty of the newly-organized Court of Sessions at their sederunt on June 6, 
1853, was the partitioning of Alameda County into townships. These were as fol- 
lows: — 

Oakland. — Bounded as specified in Chap. CVIL, Statutes of 1852. On the 
northeast by a straight line at right angles with Main Street, running from the Bay of 
San Francisco on the north to the southerly line of the San Antonio Creek, or estu- 
ary, crossing Main Street at a point three hundred and sixty rods northeasterly from 
" Oakland House," on the corner of Main and First Streets, as represented on Portoi's 
Map of Contra Costa, on file in the office of the Secretary of State, thence down the 
southerly line of said creek, or slough, to its mouth in the bay; thence to ship chan- 
nel; thence northerly and easterly by the line of ship channel to a point where the 
same bisects the said northeastern boundary line. 

Contra Costa. — Bounded on the north by the north line of the county; on the 
south and southwest by the west line of the county and the northeast line of the town- 
ship of Oakland, commencing for the southern boundary at the northwest corner of 
Oakland Township, and thence running southeast along the northwest line of said 
township to the Indian Gulch; thence up said gulch easterly to the summit of the 
mountains; thence east to the east boundary of the county; thence northerly along said 
east line to the northeast corner of said county. 

Clinton. — Bounded on the north by the townships of Oakland and Contra Costa; 
on the west by the west line of the county; and for the south and east boundaries, 
commencing at the point where the United States surveyed township line passing east 
and west between the San Leandro and San Lorenzo Creeks crosses the west line of 
said county; and thence running east along said township line to the summit of the 
Coast Range Mountains; and thence north to the east line of the county; and thence 
along said east line to place of beginning. 

Eden. — Commencing at the southwest corner of Clinton Township, and thence 
running east along the south line of said township to the summit of the Coast Range 
of mountains; thence along said Coast Range summit southerly to the Alameda Creek, 
and thence down said creek to the west line of the county and thence along said west 
line northerly to place of beginning. 

WashingT(JN. — Bounded on the north by the township of Eden; on the east by 
the summit of the Coast Range of mountains; on the south by the south line of the 
county; and on the west by the west line of the county. 

Murray. — Shall embrace all the territory of the county not included in the 
townships before specified, and is bounded on the north and east and south by the 
county lines, and on the west by the summit of the Coast Range of mountains. 

These divisions remained intact until December 12, 1853, when the county was 
divided into the following five townships: — 



172 History of Alameda County, California. 

Oakland. — Bounded on the north by the north Une of the county; on the west 
and southwest by the west Une of the county, following the bay to the north branch 
of San Antonio Creek; thence south and southeasterly up the north branch of said 
creek to Indian Gulch; thence up said gulch to the summit of the Coast Range of 
mountains; thence east to the eastern boundary of the county; thence northerly along 
said east line to the northeast corner of the county. 

Clinton. — Bounded on the north by Oakland Township; on the west by the west 
line of the county, and on the south and southeast by San Leandro Creek; thence 
following said creek and gulch to the summit of the Coast Range of mountains; thence 
north to the east line of the county; thence along said east line to place of beginning. 

Eden. — Bounded on the north by Clinton Township, following the line of said 
township from the bay to the summit of the Coast Range of mountains; thence along 
said Coast Range summit southerly to the Alameda Creek; thence down said creek 
to the west line of the county; thence northcrl>- along said west line to place of begin- 
ning. 

Washington. — Bounded on the north by Eden Township; on the east b_\- the 
summit of the Coast Range of mountains; on the south b)' the south line of the county, 
and on the west by the west line of the county. 

Murray. — Shall embrace all the territory of the county not included in the town- 
ships before specified, and is bounded on the north, east, and south b)' the count)' lines, 
and on the west by the summit of the Coast Range of mountains. 

Present Township Boundaries. — This now brings us to the town.ships which 
obtain at the present writing. These were made the subject of a redistribution by 
the Board of Supervisors on January 5, 1878, and are bounded as follows: — 

Alameda. — Commencing in the center of Harrison (formerl)- \^^ashington) 
Avenue at Fernside Station, on the Alameda Railroad; thence along the center of 
Washington Avenue to Park Street; thence down the center of San Antonio Creek, 
and along the deepest water channel to the westerly boundar\- of Alameda County; 
thence southeasterly along the boundary of said county to an angle thereof; thence 
easterly along said county line, and continuing in the same direction to a point in a 
line with the line dividing sections thirty-one and thirty-two, township two south, 
range three west; thence north along the section line, and continuing to the northeast 
corner of lot one, section nineteen, same township and range; thence northerly to the 
center of Brickyard Slough at the mouth thereof; thence along the center of Brickyard 
-Slough to the place of beginning. 

Brooklyn. — Commencing at the center of the Thorn Road (the same being the 
road leading from East Oakland to Moraga Valley), where the same cro.sses the line 
dividing the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa, on the summit of the mountains 
being also the easterly corner of Oakland Township; thence southwesterly along the cen- 
ter of said road to the head of Indian Gulch; thence down said gulch to the north brancii 
of the estuary of San Antonio (the same being now known as Lake Merritt); thence 



Legislative History of the County. 173 

down said branch, following the deepest water channel thereof, to said estuary; thence 
easterly along the deepest water channel of said estuary and along the slough to the 
bridge crossing the same on Park Street; thence along the center of Washington 
Avenue to Fernside Station on the Alameda Railroad; thence along the center of 
Brickyard Slough to the mouth thereof; thence in a southerly direction to the north- 
east corner of lot one, section nineteen, township two south, range three west; thence 
south along the section line to the southwest corner of section twenty-nine, same town- 
ship and range aforesaid; thence east to the intersection of the road leading northerly 
to Halverson's Landing on the south line of lot six, section twenty-eight; thence along 
said road to Halverson's Landing, on the San Leandro Creek; thence up the center 
of said creek, following the meanderings thereof, to the intersection of the line divid- 
ing the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa; thence northwesterly along said 
county line to the place of beginning. 

Eden. — Commencing at a post set at the junction of North Creek and Alameda 
Creek; thence up North Creek, following the meanderings thereof, to the " Mathewson 
Ditch " ; thence up said ditch to the road leading from Alameda to the Half-way 
House, on the mountain road; thence north 45%^° east, one hundred and eight and 
six-hundredths chains to a point on C. Gresel's land, at which the line of the " Math- 
ewson Ditch" produced intersects the old township line between Eden and Washington 
Townships, from which point the southwest corner of said Gresel's land, and the north- 
west corner of George Emmerson's land, bears south iS]/^°, west four and two-hun- 
dredths chains; thence east along the old township line four hundred and sixty-eight 
and ninety-seven-hundredths chains to a post on the to.p of a rock mound on the 
summit of the range of hills forming the westerly boundary of Murray Township, 
from which point the quarter-section corner in the center of section twenty-two, town- 
ship three south, range one west, bears south 8i^°, west seventeen and ninety-three- 
hundredths chains, and the house of Joseph Davis bears north 78°, west twenty chains, 
the same being the township corner as established by survey of L. Castro, County 
Surveyor of Alameda County, and filed in the office of the County Clerk of Alameda 
County, June 12, 1871; thence north along the summit of the mountains to the inter- 
section of the line dividing Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, intersecting said 
county line on the line dividing sections thirty-three and thirty-four, township two 
south, range one west; thence along said county line in a northwesterly direction to 
the intersection of San Leandro Creek; thence down said creek, following the mean- 
derings thereof, to Halverson's Landing; thence southwesterly along the road leading 
to Bay Farm, to the south line of lot six, section twenty-eight; thence west along the 
south line of section twenty-eight and the south line of section twenty-nine, township 
two south, range three west; thence west to the southwest corner of said section twenty- 
nine, the same being on the line of Alameda Township, and being also the southwest 
corner of Brooklyn Township;- thence south to the southeast corner of Alameda Town- 
ship; thence west to the Alameda County line intersecting the same at the easterly 
angle thereof; thence southeasterly along the county line to a point due west of the 
mouth of Union City Slough; thence east to the mouth of said slough; thence up said 
slough to a post at the junction of North Creek and Alameda Creek, the same being 
the place of beginning. 



174 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

Murray. — The township of Murray shall be bounded as follows: On the north, 
east, and south by the boundary of Alameda County, and for a westerly boundary, 
commencing at the intersection of the Arroyo Honda, by the southern boundary of 
Alameda County; thence down the center of Calaveras Creek to the Alameda 
Creek; thence down the center of Alameda Creek to the intersection of the 
line dividing the east half of section twelve, township four south, range one west, 
from west half of said section ; thence north along the quarter section line to the 
north line of section thirty-six, township three south, range one west; thence west 
along the north line of sections thirty-six and thirty-five to the summit of the mount- 
ains; thence in a northwesterly direction, following the summit of the mountains along 
the easterly boundaries of Washington and Eden Townships, to the northerly bound- 
ary of Alameda County intersecting the same on the line dividing sections thirty- 
three and thirty-four, township two south, range one west. 

Oakland. — The township of Oakland shall be bounded on the north and 
northeast by the line dividing Alameda and Contra Costa Counties ; on the west 
and southwest by the southwesterly boundary of Alameda County on the Ray of 
San Francisco; and for a southeasterly and southerly boundary, as follows: Commenc- 
ing on the summit of the mountains in the center of the Thorn Road (the same being 
the road leading from East Oakland to Moraga Valley) where the same crosses the 
line dividing the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa ; thence southwesterly along 
the center of said road to the head of Indian Gulch; thence down said gulch to the 
north branch of the estuary of San Antonio (the same being now known as Lake 
Merritt); thence down said north branch of the estuary of San Antonio and along 
the deepest water channel of said estuary, and continuing in the same direction to 
the southwesterly boundary of Alameda County. 

Washington. — Commencing at a post set at the junction of North Creek and 
Alameda Creek; thence up North Creek, following the mcanderings thereof, to the 
"Mathewson Ditch"; thence up said ditch to the road leading from Aivarado to the 
Half-Way House, on the Mountain Road; thence north 45^°, each one hundred and 
eight and six-one-hundredths chains to a point on C. Gresel's land, at which the line 
of the "Mathewson Ditch" produced intersects the old township line between Eden 
and Washington Townships, from which point the southwest corner of said Gresel's 
land, and the northwest corner of George Emmerson's land, bears south i8"^°, west 
four and two-one-hundredths chains; thence easterly along the old township line four 
hundred and si.xty-eight and ninety-seven-onc-hundredths chains to post on the top 
of a rock mound on the summit of the range of hills forming the westerly boundary 
of Murray Township, from which point the quarter section corner in the center of 
section twenty-two, township three south, range one west, bears 8ii^°, west seventeen 
and ninety-three-one-hundredths chains, and the house of Joseph Davis bears north 
78°, west twenty chains, the same being the township corner as established by survey 
of L. Castro, County Surveyor of Alameda County, and filed in the office of the 
County Clerk of Alameda County, June 12, 1871 ; thence in a .southeasterly direction 
along the summit of the mountains to the north line of section thirty-five, to\<'nship 
three south, range one west ; thence east to the northeast corner of the northwest quarter 



Legislative History of the County. 175 

of section thirty-six; thence south along the quarter section hne to the Alameda 
Creek, intersecting the same on the hne dividing the east half from the west half of 
section twelve, township four south, range one west ; thence up the center of said 
creek to the junction of the Arroyo Laguna ; thence up the center of Calaveras Creek 
to the Arroyo Honda ; thence up the Arroyo Honda to the intersection of the south- 
erly boundary of Alameda County; thence westerly along the southerly boundary of 
Alameda County to the summit of Monument Peak ; thence southwesterly along the 
county line to the Bay of San Francisco ; thence northwesterly, following the south- 
westerly boundary of the county, to a point due west of the mouth of Union City 
Slough ; thence to the mouth of said slough ; thence up said slough to a post at the 
junction of North Creek and Alameda Creek, the same being the place of beginning- 

Board of Supervisors. — Up until the passage of the Act of March 9, 1855, 
which created a Board of Supervisors for Alameda, the Court of Sessions had full 
control of the affairs of the county; it was repealed, however, April 3, 1856, that Act 
ordering that the county should, in all respects, be subject to the provisions of " An 
Act to Create a Board of Supervisors in the Counties of this State, and Define their 
Duties and Powers," approved March 20, 1855, which Act, with subsequent amend- 
ments, has been the law under which the several Boards have since acted. The first 
Board of Supervisors for Alameda County consisted of Henry C. Smith, Washington 
Township; J. W. Dougherty, Murray Township; S. D. Taylor, Eden Township; J. L- 
Sanford, Clinton Township; James Millington, Alameda Township; J. L. Sanford, 
Oakland Township; Mr. Dougherty being chosen Chairman. 

Election Precincts. — When the vote for the Old Constitution was taken on 
November 13, 1849, there were but three election precincts within what was then 
known as Contra Costa County — namely, at the Moraga Redwoods, Martinez, and 
San Antonio (now Brooklyn, Alameda County). For the election of April i, 1850, 
the precinct of New York was added to those already created, while, on October 7th 
of the same year, the precincts were Martinez, San Antonio, San Ramon (Dublin), 
and New York. The first record, however, which we can find of a distribution of 
voting precincts is for the election called for September 3, 185 i, when the following 
polling places were established : At the Court House in the town of Martinez, and 
the house of Jose Maria Amador, for the township of Martinez; the houses of Victor 
Castro and Vicente Peralta, in and for the township of San Antonio ; and the house of 
William W. Smith in Antioch, and at the Lower Ferry on the San Joaquin River, in and 
for the township of New York. The polls in Washington Township were at the store 
of H. C. Smith, an election being there held on May 4, 1850, when Lone Kemble 
was Inspector. These, with a few additions, continued until the creation of Alameda 
County, when, August i, 1853, the following were declared the first election precincts: 
In Washington Township, at the mission of San Jose, at the room next easterly of 
Howard & Chamberlain's store; and at the town of Alvarado, at the room there used 
for a Court House. In Eden Township, at the house of William Hayward, and at 
the house' of T. H. Cowles. In Clinton Township, at the house of James B. Larue, and 
at the house of Charles Ray, and at the saw-mill of Tupper & Hamilton. In Oak- 
.and Township, at the office of A. Marier. In Contra Costa Township, at the house 



176 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

of Seth R. Bailey, and at the house of A. E. Hutchinson. In Munu)- Township, at 
the house of Michael Murray. 

Naturally, when the increase of population has been so Ljrcat, the i)recincts 
enumerated above have proved insufficient for the wants of the voters, until at the 
election called for November 7, 1882, the number of precincts were forty, as follows: 
Alameda Township: Alameda, Nos. One, Two, and Three; Brooklyn Townshij): 
Brooklyn, No. One, two precincts; Brooklyn No. Two; Oakland Township: Bcrkclcyi 
West Berkeley, Bay Precinct, Temescal, Ocean View, Piedmont; Oakland City: First 
Ward, three precincts ; Second Ward, two precincts ; Third Ward, two precincts ; Fourth 
Ward, two precincts; Fifth Ward; Sixth Ward, two precincts. Eden Township, San 
Leandro, San Lorenzo, Hay wards, Mt. Eden, Castro Valley; Washin<jton Township: 
Alvarado, Centreville, Mission San Jose, Niles, Newark ; Murray Townshi]): Suftol 
Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore No. One, Livermore No. Two, Altamont. 

Road Dlstricts. — Another criterion of the rapid development of a hitherto 
sparsely-peopled country is the want immediately felt for carefully laid out roads and 
easy means of transport. He who has experienced such a desire can fully appreciate 
the comfort of well-graded thoroughfares and smoothly macadamized streets. The 
scarcely-to-be-recognized trails give place, as if by magic, to the skill of the surveyor; 
the dangerous ford to the well-built bridge and the impenetrable undergrowth to the 
road-maker's ax. In a few short years miraculous changes are worked, and science 
brings places within comfortable travel and neighbors within ken. Contra Costa in 
the pre- American days was not a whit better off than the neighboring counties; when 
the first roads were laid out, however, we have been unable to trace, but the records 
of the Court of Sessions inform us that as early as July 20, 1850, the county was 
partitioned into districts and the following roads declared public highwa_\'s; — 

One and Tivo. — From Martinez to Pueblo de San Jose, divided into two districts, 
the first being from Martinez to the farm of Francisco Garcia; the second from thence 
to the line dividing the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, the overseers 
appointed being respectively N. B. Smith and Joseph Rothenhostler. Three. — -The 
streets in the town of Martinez were declared to be District Number Three and 
placed under the supervision of A. Van Heme Ellis. Four. — The road then usu- 
ally traveled from Martinez by the house of Salvio Pacheco to the town of New 
York of the Pacific was classed as District Number Four, with Henry F. Joyc, Over- 
seer. Five. — The road from the Moraga Redwoods to that leading from Martinez to 
San Jose, terminating on said road nearly equidistant from Martinez to the house of 
Widow Welch, was established as District Number Five, and E. Miller appointed 
Overseer. Six. — The road usually traveled from the rancho of Vicente Castro by the 
rancho of Flam Brown, intersecting the road from the Moraga Redwoods to Martinez 
near the house of Jonah Bernell was defined as District Number Six, and Elam Brown 
appointed Overseer. Seven. — The road leading from the crossing of the San Joaquin 
to the Pueblo de San Jose by the rancho of Robert Livermore, and to where it inter- 
sects that leading from Martinez to the Pueblo de San Jose, as belonged to the county 
of Contra Costa, was declared to be District Number Seven, and placed in charge of 
Greene Patterson, Overseer. 




C7^>^^ i^i^c^ e^w^i^ 



Legislative History of the County. 177 

After the creation of Alameda, the matter of pubHc highways throughout the 
county attracted considerable attention. The "Carpentier-Gilman Bridge" had been 
already established, but this was a private enterprise where exorbitant tolls were 
levied, but so soon as the official machinery was in working order, petitions for roads 
began to flock in, the first to be declared a "public highway," being the thoroughfare 
then traveled, leading from the county line -east of the Mission de San Jos^ and to 
said mission; thence through Amador Valley, and known as the Stockton Road- 
But we have not the space at our disposal to follow the hundreds of petitions for road 
purposes as they appear in the records of the Court of Sessions and Board of Super- 
visors. To give even an outline of each would more than fill a volume of no ordinary 
proportions. As the fertile districts were settled, each new arrival felt the want of 
some avenue of outlet from his homestead; connection was needed with the main 
arteries of traffic; the inevitable petition to the authorities was transmitted to the proper 
quarter, and, where the necessity was proved, never was the prayer rejected. With 
the opening out of fresh highways, more districts were imperatively necessary; with 
the creation of these districts, it was as necessary to appoint Overseers, and now Ala- 
meda County is blessed with a large number of districts and a net-work of roads, 
better than which there are none in California. 

On June 6, 1853, the Court of Sessions ordered that the county should be parti- 
tioned into the-following seven Road Districts: — 

Road District No. i, to embrace the highway leading from Union City to the 
Mission San Jos4 extending two miles each side thereof, of which Charles Breyfogle 
was appointed Supervisor. 

Road District No. 2, to embrace the highway leading from the Mission San Jose, 
running in the direction of the Pueblo de San Jose, to the county line of Santa Clara 
County, of which William H. Chamberlain was appointed Supervisor. 

Road District No. 3, to embrace the highway leading from Mission San Josd in 
the direction of Stockton, through the Amador Valley, to the crossing of the Alameda 
Creek, of which A. Marshall was appointed Supervisor. 

Road District No. 4, to embrace that part of the highway leading from the Mis- 
sion San Jose to Stockton, which lies between the Alameda Creek and the house of 
Robert Livermore, of which Robert Livermore was appointed Supervisor. 

Road District No. 5, to commence at a point opposite the house of Robert Liv- 
ermore, and thence embrace all that part of the main traveled highway leading to 
Stockton, up to the east line of the county, for which a Supervisor was appointed. 

Road District No. 6, to commence at the town of Oakland and run thence along 
the highway, extending two miles each side thereof, to the house of Vicente Peralta, 
of which Francis K. Shattuck was appointed Supervisor. 

Road District No. 7, to commence at Oakland and run thence to the north" line 
of the county, near the house of Vicente Peralta, and R. M. Randall was appointed 
Supervisor, his jurisdiction to extend two miles each way from the above line. 

It was at the same time ordered that Road Districts Nos. 2, 3, and 5 should 
extend two miles each side of. the highways designated as their boundaries. 

At the present time the Road Districts are thirty-four in number, as follows: 
Alvarado, Sebastian Franz, Overseer; Alviso, James Hawley; Bay; Brooklyn, J. P. 



178 History of Alameda County, California. 

Condon; Castro Valley, John Cahill; Centreville, James A. Trefry; Cosmopolitan, J. 
C. Whipple; Dublin, William TehaiT; Eden Vale, J. H. Davis; Inman, J. Galway; 
Laurel, James King; Lincoln, E. Munyan; Mission San Jose, D. C. Hibbard; Mow- 
ry's Landing, Edward Ryan; Mount Eden, E. Clawiter, Jr.; Murray, Philip Thorn; 
Niles, Thomas Bonner; Newark, G. G. Healey; Ocean View, B. D. Boswcll; Peraltai 
H. C. Babcock; Polamares, W. J. Ramage; Piedmont, J. O'Connor; Pleasanton, L. 
M. Lyster; Redwood, E. D. Brown; Rosedale, L. Hollenbeck; San Lorenzo, Leonard 
Stone; Summit, C. Elliott; Suiiol, J. Madden; Stony Brook, J. D. Farwell; Temescal. 
E. J. Sayer; Townsends, W. W. Wynn; Vallecitos, E. H. Frick, Jr.; Warm Springs' 
R. J. Horner; Washington, J. N. Smith. 

School Districts. — The first School Districts in Alameda County were 
divided in consonance with the townships which then obtained, but such a partition 
embraced too large a territory, therefore alterations became necessary, like in the 
townships themselves. Boundaries and limitation lines were perpetually being altered 
at the solicitation of innumerable petitioners. The authorities, ever with an eye to 
the people's welfare, in most cases granted the prayer, until, after an infinity of rectifi- 
cations, the present school districts of the county number forty-five, and are named: 
Alameda, Alvarado, Alviso, Bay, Castro Valley, Centreville, Cosmopolitan, Eden Vale. 
Eureka, Fruit Vale, Green, Harris, Inman, Laurel, Lincoln, Livermorc, Lockwood' 
May, Melrose, Midway, Mission, Mountain House, Mowry's Landing, Murray, Niles, 
Oakland, Ocean View, Polamares, Peralta, Piedmont, Pleasanton, Redwood, Rosedale. 
San Lorenzo, Stony Brook, Summit, Suiiol, Temescal, Townsend, Union, Vallecitos, 
Vista, Warm Springs, Washington, Wilson. 



POLITICAL HISTORY. 

We now come to the second branch of the Legislative Histor)' of Alameda, 
namely, that which may be termed the Political History of the County. This, it is 
to be feared, however, may be considered a misnomer, as in the rest of this chapter 
much will be found which in itself has no political significance, while a considerable 
amount may be recognized as purely political. All our information has been garnered 
from the well-kept records of the Court of Sessions and Board of Supervisors, who, 
though exercising political functions, still have authority over affairs not political; 
therefore the remarks made below may be said to relate more to the government of 
the county, than to its politics. 

Mexican Government. — The following interesting account of the political 
aspect of California, found among the papers left by the late Doctor John Marsh, of 
Contra Costa County, has been kindly placed at our dispo.sal by Hon. W. W. Camron 
of Oakland, and will be read with interest as being the remarks of a polished scholar 
and gentleman, who had at the time of the acquiring of the State by the United States, 
been more than ten years a resident of California. 

After the decease of General Figueroa (who governed Alta California from 1833 
to 1835) the right to govern was assumed by Gutierrez (1835), the senior officer of 
the military, and Estudillo, the oldest member of the Legislature, or Primer Vocal, to 
whom it appertained as a matter of right by the civil law; but as might is apt to 



Political History of the County. 1'79 

decide matters of right all over the world, and more particularly in Spanish America, 
he retained the command until the Spring of 1836. At this time a new Governor 
arrived from Mexico in the person of General D. Mariano Chico, member of the Mex- 
ican Congress, and with many long and magnificent titles. His first act was to 
issue a proclamation in most grandiloquent terms, greatly praising the docility and 
patriotism of the people of the country, and telling them that they owed him a debt of 
gratitude for having left his dear wife and beloved children, and taken so long a jour- 
ney, from pure love of the people of California and his desire to serve them. He was 
the friend to Victoria (the Governor who ruled in the year 1829), pursued the same 
outrageous course of conduct, and shared the same fate. He arrived fully determined 
to take vengeance on those individuals who had been chiefly instrumental in expelling 
Victoria. Like him he chartered a vessel in which to send his opponents to Mexico, 
not omitting the American gentleman whom Victoria had attempted to send; and, to 
complete the parallel, he was himself compelled to leave the country in the same 
vessel he had designed for his adversaries. Gutierrez then assumed the command a 
second time. A few months after this event, Don Juan B. Alvarado, who, at that 
time, held a subordinate employment in the Custom House, had a quarrel with the com- 
mandant, Gutierrez, relative to the posting of a guard of soldiers on the beach, whether 
to assist or prevent the smuggling of a vessel in port was best known to the parties 
concerned. High words and mutual threats ensued. Alvarado went in the night to 
consult his friend, Jose Castro, and the next day, they both went to the Pueblo de 
San Jose, and thence to Sonoma to confer with the officer in command of that post. 
They mutually agreed to expel Gutierrez, and all the Mexican employes of every class. 
They assembled in haste a few people from the neighboring farms, and repaired to 
Monterey in a secret manner. In this promiscuous assemblage were about twenty or 
thirty foreigners ; some five or six were American hunters. These were under the 
command of I. Graham, a hunter from Kentucky, and John Coppinger, an Irishman. 
They took possession of the old fort without opposition, and fired one shot at the pre- 
sidio in which the Mexicans were. Negotiations immediately took place, which ended 
in a capitulation of all the Mexicans, who were forthwith embarked for the coast of 
San Bias (a port in the State of Guadalaxara, Mexico). The California patriots, who 
had succeeded beyond their own expectations, hardly knew what to do with their cheaply 
bought victory. They, however, issued various contradictory proclamations, in one of 
which they declared themselves independent of Mexico until the re-establishment of the 
Federal Constitution. Alvarado was declared Governor (1836), and General M. G. Val- 
lejo. Military Chief All this was done by the people of the northern part of the 
country, and particularly of Monterey, while all the southern districts were opposed 
to the new order of things. After a series of bloodless campaigns and paper battles, 
peace was restored by giving ample spoils from the missions to the principal aspi- 
rants. Mexico, in the meantime, fulminated furious proclamations and awful threats 
against such unnatural sons of the Republic. 

After Alvarado had enjoyed his usurped authority about a year, he was acknowl- 
edged as legitimate Governor by Mexico (1838); and he himself, with the greatest 
facility, swore fealty to the Central Government. The administration of Alvarado, 
as the only one in which the Government had been for any length of time in the hands 



180 History of Alameda County, California. 

of a native, for its long duration and for the important events which took place under 
it, must be considered as the most important era in the Mexican domination over 
California. It has become a portion of the history of the country', and as such has 
become a legitimate subject for discussion. Taken as a whole, it must be regarded as 
an entire failure. It entirely failed to accomplish any part of the good it promised at 
the outset, and has only served to perpetuate the evils it proposed to remove. The 
friends of good order and a just administration of the laws, of whom, notwithstanding 
appearances, 'the number had always been considerable, had great hopes of seeing 
better times at the commencement of Alvarado's government. His constant declara- 
tion was: " Let me have a little time to tranquilize the country, and I will provide for 
the strict enforcement of the laws and the punishment of crimes and offenses." But, 
after being in office more than five years, he left things in a worse condition than he 
found them. Even if we give him credit for good intentions at the beginning, he 
never had the necessary knowledge, intelligence, or firmness of purpose to have done 
any good for the country. The whole period of his administration was a perpetual 
struggle to maintain himself in office. He was compelled to make every kind of 
concession to preserve even the ostensible support of pretended friends. The wealth 
of the missions, which at the beginning of his administration was very considerable, 
had, in this way, been completely exhausted. All these, together with the revenue 
derived from the Customs, amounting in the aggregate to a vast sum, were lavished 
on his relatives, partisans, and favorites, and, at last, when he had nothing more to 
give, he found himself deserted. (About 1849, Don Juan B. Alvarado, removed from 
Monterey to San Pablo, Contra Costa County, where he resided up to the time of his 
death, July 13, 1882.) 

The most prominent event in the administration of Alvarado, and the one that will 
be longest remembered, is his attempt to expel, by force, all the foreigners, and particu- 
larly Americans, from the country. The true motives which led to this step, were, for 
along time, involved in obscurity. The facts as far as could be known at the time are 
handed down by Doctor Marsh in these words: " It was secretly determined bj- 
Governor Alvarado and his friend and aviipadre, Don Jose Castro, that they would 
seize and transport to Mexico all the foreigners, and particularly Americans, that 
were in California, and, as a pretext, the}- pretended that they had discovered a secret 
conspiracy of the foreign residents to kill the Governor, Military Commandant, and 
some others, and to possess themselves of the country. This was so manifestly fal.se, 
that no person could be made to believe it after the first few days. One solution of 
the affair is, that as Castro was at bitter enmity with Vallejo, the Military Com- 
mander, and desired to supplant him in his office, and knowing, at the same time, 
that public opinion in Mexico at the time was highly exasperated against Americans, 
on account of the recent defeat and disaster of the Mexican arms in Texas, and that 
he, by feigning the conspiracy of the Americans in California, and capturing and 
carrying them prisoners to Mexico, would thereby acquire to himself great merit with 
the Government, and by that means obtain the office to which he aspired. This 
opinion derived additional probabilities at the time from a knowledge of the character 
of Castro — artful, subtile, intriguing, utterly unprincipled, and grossly ignorant. The 
project, however, was concerted and executed with considerable skill. 



Political History of the County. 181 

"At an appointed time, the foreigners, who hved widely dispersed in almost 
every part of the country, entirely unprepared and without the least apprehension of 
danger, were seized and marched to Monterey by night, strongly guarded. Isaac 
Graham, who has been heretofore mentioned, was captured by Castro himself, with 
his own chosen followers. The house was attacked at midnight, the door forced open, 
and a volley of fire-arms discharged at Graham and his partner, Nale, before they had 
left their beds. Nale received two severe wounds, and was left for dead. Graham 
was knocked down, severely beaten, bound and carried to Monterey, where he was 
heavily ironed and strictly guarded. For the next week, more or less men were daily 
brought in, loaded with irons, and thrust into a loathsome prison, which was so 
crowded that space was not left to lie down. At last the ship arrived which had been 
chartered to transport them, and they were marched on board like criminals, between 
two files of soldiers. Graham, alone, was not suffered to walk, but with his irons still 
upon him, was carried on board on the shoulders of Indians. The brutal treatment 
of these men on their voyage to San Bias, and on the route from that port to the City 
of Tepic, I shall not attempt to describe, as I have no desire to stir up feelings that 
may as well be left at rest, but it may well be believed that feelings were excited, aye, 
deep and burning feelings, that will not be soon forgotten by the witnesses as well as 
the victims of these horrible acts of cruelty and injustice. On the arrival at Tepic, 
they were taken from the hands of Castro and his myrmidons by the influence of the 
British Consul, and, although still prisoners, were treated with kindness. After a long 
detention, during which several of the number died, by the strenuous interposition of 
the British Minister in Mexico, they were fully liberated, and those who chose to return 
to California were sent back at the expense of the Government. From some docu- 
ments, which have but very recently come to light, it is rendered probable, and in fact 
almost certain, that the foreigners were seized and sent away prisoners by the express 
order of the Government of Mexico, which they were afterwards base enough to deny." 

So far we have gained an insight unto the feelings of some of the native Califor- 
nians regarding foreigners, and which shows a bitter enmity to their presence in the 
country. It will be our duty now to place before the reader the manner of govern- 
ment whereby these people were guided, 

Prior to the year 1839, not much is known of the political divisions of Upper 
California; on February 26th of that year Governor Alvarado dubbed it a Depart- 
ment, and partitioned it into three districts. In the second of these was the original 
Contra Costa section. The government was vested in a Governor and Departmental 
Assembly, from which was constituted the Legislative Assembly that held its sessions 
in Monterey, the then capital. In order of precedence, the political officers next to 
the Governor were the Prefects, having jurisdiction over districts; Sub-Prefects, 
Ayuntamientos or Town Councils, Alcaldes, and Justices of the Peace. 

We are informed, on reliable authority, the Mexican law contemplated the 
formation of a Superior Tribunal for each department, and that provision for the 
establishment of such a Court, with two lesser ones for California, had been made. 
The tribunal was to be composed of four Judges and one Attorney-General, the senior 
three of the former to sit upon the first, and the junior one on the second bench. 
This latter, known as the Court of Second Instance, heard appeals from the Court of 



182 History of Alameda County, California. 

First Instance and had original jurisdiction in certain cases. The senior court sat at 
the capital of the Department, while that of the First Instance held its sessions at the 
chief town in a district, where it exercised a general jurisdiction and attended to ca.ses 
involving more than one hundred dollars, those for a less sum being tried by the 
Alcalde and Justice of the Peace. 

There is no record of a Superior Tribunal ever having been established in Cali- 
fornia under the Mexican Government, and no Court of First Instance in San Jose, 
the chief town of the district now under consideration, until 1849, when they were 
commissioned by the authority of the United States. The first Alcalde to be thus 
installed, for the Contra Costa, was the honored pioneer, Hon. Elam Brown, N. B. 
Smith being the first Sub-Prefect of the district. 

The law was administered then in a peculiarly lax manner; fortunately or unhap- 
pily, as the case may be, lawyers had not yet penetrated into the supposed wilds of 
the Pacific Slope. The Alcalde's word was the supremest effort of legal wisdom; his 
silver-headed cane a badge of office which the most captious must respect, and could 
not gainsay, while, there being no prisons, it was usual to sentence the Indian to be 
flogged, and others to be fined. 

Military Government. — Between the years 1846 and 1849 the country 
remained under the control of the United States military. In regard to law it was 
utterly at sea. A military commander controlled affairs, but there was no Govern- 
ment. As long as the war lasted it was only natural to expect that such would be 
the case, and the people were content; but after peace had been attained, and the 
succession of Military Governors remained unabated, a people who had been brought 
up to govern themselves under the same flag and the same Constitution chafed that 
a simple change of longitude should deprive them of their inalienable rights. With 
those views General Riley, who succeeded General Persifer F. Smith, April 13, 1849, 
entirely sympathized. When it was found that Congress had adjourned without effect- 
ing anything for California, he issued a proclamation, June 3d, which was at once a 
call for a convention and an official exposition of the administration's theory of the 
anomalous relations of California and the Union. He strove to rectify the dominant 
impression that California was ruled by the military. That had ceased with the 
termination of hostilities, and what remained was the civil government, which was 
vested in a Governor appointed by the Supreme Government, or, in default of such 
appointment, the office was vested in the commanding military officer of the Depart- 
ment, a Secretary, a Departmentalor Territorial Legislature, a Superior Court with 
four Judges, a Prefect and Sub-Prefect, and a Judge of the First Instance for each 
district, Alcaldes, Justices of the Peace, and Town Councils. General Riley, more- 
over, recommended the election, at the same time, of delegates to a convention to 
adopt either a State or Territorial Constitution, which, if acquiesced in by the people, 
would be submitted to Congress. The proclamation stated the number of delegates 
which each district should elect, and also announced that appointments to the judi- 
ciary offices would be made after being voted for. The delegates from the district of 
which we then formed a portion to the Convention were Joseph Anim, Kimball H. 
Dimmick, J. D. Hoppe, Antonio M. Pico, Elam Brown, Julian Hanks, and Pedro Sain- 
sevain. 



Political History of the County. 



183 



Constitutional Convention. — On September i, 1849, the Convention met 
at Monterey, Robert Semple, of Benicia, one of the delegates from the District of 
Sonoma, being chosen President. The session lasted six weeks, and, notwithstanding 
an awkward scarcity of books of reference and other necessary aids, much labor was 
performed, while the debates exhibited a marked degree of ability. In framing the 
original Constitution of California slavery was forever prohibited within the jurisdic- 
tion of the State; the boundary question between Mexico and the United States was 
set at rest; provision for the morals and education of the people made; a seal of 
State was adopted, with the motto EUREKA, and many other subjects discussed. The 
Constitution was duly framed, submitted to the people, and at the electon held on the 
1 3th of November, ratified by them and adopted by a vote of twelve thousand and 
sixty-four for and eleven against it, there being, besides, over twelve hundred ballots 
that were treated as blanks, because of an informality in the printing. The vote of 
the District of San Jose on the occasion was five hundred and sixty-seven votes for 
and nine against its adoption, while five h»andred and seventeen votes were cast for 
Peter H. Burnett as Governor. In Contra Costa, on that occasion, one hundred and 
seventeen votes were polled at the three precincts then established; Governor Burnett 
received seventy-four votes; Lieutenant-Governor John McDougal thirty-one, and F. 
J. Lippett sixty-four, while W. R. Bascom, of San Jose, was elected Senator, and 
Elam Brown, of Lafayette, Contra Costa County, Joseph 'Aram, Dr. Ben. Cory, and 
J. H. Mathews were sent to the Lower House of the State Legislature, Edward Gil- 
bert and George W. Wright being sent to Congress. 

Among those who took a prominent part in the Convention were Hon. Chas. T. 
.Bottsand J. Ross Browne, who was its official reporter, both gentlemen long associated 
with Alameda County. 

We here reproduce, as curiosities, two of the tickets which were voted at the 
time, and distributed in and around Sacramento and the upper portion of the State; — 



PEOPLE'S ticket. 



PEOPLE'S TICKET. 



FOR THE CONSTITUTION. 

FOR GOVERNOR, 

John A. Sutter. 

FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, 

John McDougal. 

FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, 

William E. Shannon, 

Pet. Halstead. 

FOR STATE SENATORS, 
John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, 
Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, 
Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, 
Gilbert A, Grant, Vernon. 

FOR ASSEMBLY, 
H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, 
P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, 
John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, 
J. Sherwood, 
Elisha W, McKinstry, 
Madison Waltham, Coloma, 
W. B. Dickenson, Yuba, 
James Queen, South Fork, 
W. L. lenkin, Weaverville. 



FOR THE CONSTITUTION. 

FOR GOVERNOR, 

Peter H. Burnett. 

FOR LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR, 

John McDougal. 

FOR REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS, 

Edward Gilbert, 

George W. Wright. 

FOR STATE SENATORS, 

John Bidwell, Upper Sacramento, 
Murray Morrison, Sacramento City, 
Harding Bigelow, Sacramento City, 
Gilbert A. Grant, Vernon. 

FOR ASSEMBLY, 
H. C. Cardwell, Sacramento City, 
P. B. Cornwall, Sacramento City, 
John S. Fowler, Sacramento City, 
H. S. Lord, Upper Sacramento, 
Madison Waltham, Coloma, 
W, B. Dickenson, Yuba, 
James Queen, South Fork, 
Arba K Berry. Weaverville. 



184 History of Alameda County, California. 

The popular voice also made San Jose the Capital; but let us here describe the 
interesting preliminaries attending this consummation. 

San Jos6 Made the State Capital. — During the session of the Convention 
the residents of San Jose, in public meeting assembled, elected a committee to pro- 
ceed to Monterey, to there use their utmost endeavors with the members to have San 
Jose named in the Constitution the State Capital. They found a staunch opponent 
at once in the person of Dr. Robert Semple, the President, who coveted the honor 
for his then rising town of Renicia, he offering at the time that if the favorers of the 
San Jose scheme would agree to permit the first session to be held at the former place he 
doubted not but the permanent location at the latter could be readily effected. This, 
however, did not suit the views of San Jose's plenipotentiaries, and, as if to bait the 
hook, they emphatically promised to be ready with a suitable building by the 15th of 
December, about the time when the Legislature would sit — a rash promise enough 
when is taken into consideration the fact that such an edifice had not then been 
completed in the town. Let us see how the pledge was redeemed. At that time there 
stood on the east side of what is now called Market Square, San Jose, a large adobe 
structure, erected in the year 1849 by Sainsevain and Rochon, which was meant by them 
for a hotel. This edifice, as the most suitable the town could offer for a State House, 
the Ayuntamiento, or Town Council, proposed to rent for the Legislature, but the 
price asked was so exorbitant, four thousand dollars per month, that it was deemed 
best to purchase the building outright; but here the proprietors declared themselves 
unwilling to take the public authorities as security, who were consequently placed in 
the two-fold dilemma of being without the requisite funds to effect the purchase and' 
no credit to rent it. Happily those citizens in whose coffers lay most of the 
wealth, rather than see the future glories attendant on the presence of the Legislature 
in San Jose glide from them, with marvelous generosity came forward to save the 
honor of the delegates to the Convention, as well as the credit of the Town Council, 
and nineteen of them executed a note for the ]3rice asked, thirt}'-four thousand dol- 
lars, with interest at the rate of eight per cent, per month from date until paid. A 
conveyance was made to three of their number, who held the premises in trust for 
the purchasers, to be ultimately conveyed to the Town Council when it could pay 
for them. An appropriation of fifty thousand dollars, purchase money for the build- 
ing, was made by the Legislature, and bonds bearing interest at the rate of two and 
one-half per cent, per month for that amount were issued; but the credit of the new 
State, unfortunatel)-, was below par; actual cash in hand was the slogan of the 
vendors. The bonds were sacrificed at the rate of forty cents on the dollar, and the 
amount received thereby u.sed in partial liquidation of the debt, the liability remain- 
ing being subsequently the cause of vexatious and protracted litigation. 

On Saturday, December 15, 1849, the first State Legislature of California met 
at San Jos(^, E. Kirby Chamberlin being elected President pro tern, of the Senate, 
and Thomas J. White Speaker of the Assembly. Oi) the opening day there were 
only six Senators present; the following day Governor Riley and his Secretary, H. 
W. Halleck, arrived, and on Monday nearly all members were in their places. 





Oy 



exK/-^ 



Political History of the County. 185 



Members of First California Legislature. — We will now introduce to 
our readers a number of those of California's first Legislators — an interesting record 
of by-gone times: — 

SENATORS. 

David F. Douglass. — Bom in Sumner County, Tennessee, the 8th of January, 
1 82 1. Went to Arkansas with Fulton in 1836. On the 17th of March, 1839, had a 
fight with Doctor William Howell, in which Howell was killed; imprisoned fourteen 
months; returned home in 1842; emigrated to Mississippi; engaged in the Choctaw 
speculation; moved with the Choctaws west as a clerk; left there for Texas in the 
winter of 1845-46. War broke out; joined Hays' regiment; from Mexico emigrated 
to California, and arrived here as a wagoner in December, 1848. 

M. G. Vallejo. — Born in Monterey, Upper California, July 7, 1807. On the 
1st of January, 1825, he commenced his military career in the capacity of a cadet. 
He served successively in the capacity of Lieutenant, Captain of Cavalry, Lieutenant- 
Colonel, and General Commandant of Upper California. In 1835, he went to Sonoma 
County and founded the town of Sonoma, giving land for the same. He was a mem- 
ber of the Convention in 1849 and Senator in 1850. 

Elcan Haydenfeldt. — Born in Charleston, South Carolina, September 15, 
1821. Emigrated to Alabama in i84i;from thence to Louisiana in 1844; to California 
in 1849. Lawyer by profession. 

Pablo DE la Guerra. — Born in Santa Barbara, Upper California, November 
19, 1819. At the age of nineteen he entered the public service. He was appointed 
Admistrator-General " de la rentas" which position he held when California was taken 
by the American forces. From that time he lived a private life until he was named a 
member of the Convention which framed the Constitution of the State. Represents 
the districts of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo in the Senate. 

S. E. Woodworth. — Born in the city of New York, November 15, 181 5. Com- 
menced career as a sailor, A. D. 1832. Sailed from New York March 9, 1834. Entered 
the navy of the United States June 14, 1838. Emigrated to California, via Rocky 
Mountains and Oregon, April i, 1846. Resignation accepted by Navy Department 
October 29, 1849. Elected to represent the district of Monterey in the Senate of 
the first Legislature of California, for the term of two years. 

Thomas L. Vermeule. — Born in New Jersey on the nth of June, 1814. Immi- 
grated to California November 12, 1846. Did represent San Joaquin District in the 
Senate. Resigned. 

W. D. Fair. — Senator from San Joaquin District, California. Native of Virginia. 
Emigrated to California from Mississippi in February, 1849, as President of the 
"Mississippi Rangers." Settled in Stockton, San Joaquin District, as an Attorney- 
at-law. 

. Elisha O. Crosby. — Senator from Sacramento District. Native of New York 
State. Emigrated from New York December 25, 1848. Aged thirty-four years. 

D. C. Broderick. — Senator from San Francisco. Born in Washington City, D. 
C, February 4, 18 18. Emigrated from Washington to New York City March, 1824. 
Left New York for California April 17, 1849. 

E. KiRBY Chamberlin, M. D. — President /w tern, of the Senate, from the dis- 

13 



186 History of Alameda County, California. 

trict of San Diego. Born in Litchfield County, Connecticut, April 24, 1805. Emi- 
grated from Connecticut to Onondaga County, New York, in 1X15; thence to Beaver, 
Pennsylvania, in 1829; thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1842; served as surgeon in the 
United States Army during the war with Mexico; appcjinted surgeon to the Bound- 
ary Line Commission, February 10, 1846; embarked from Cincinnati, Ohio, February 
15th; arrived in San Diego June i, 1849, and in San Jose December 12, 1849. 

J. BiDWELL. — Born in Chautauqua County, New York, 5th of August, 18 19. 
Emigrated to Pennsylvania; thence to Ohio; thence to Missouri; thence, in 1S41, to 
California. Term in Senate, one year. 

H. C. Robinson. — Senator from Sacramento; elected November 15, 1849. Born 
in the State of Connecticut. Emigrated at an early age to Louisiana. Educated as a 
lawyer, but engaged in commercial pursuits. Arrived at San Francisco, February, 
1849, per steamer California, the first that ever entered said port. 

Benjamin S. Lippencott. — Senator from San Joaquin. Born in New York. 
Emigrated Februar\', 1846, from New Jersey. By pursuit a merchant, h'-lected for 
two years. 

ASSEMBLYMEN. 

Elam Brown. — Born in the State of New York in 1797. Emigrated from 
Massachusetts in 1805; to Illinois in 1818; to Missouri, 1837, and Platte County, in 
Missouri, 1846, to California. 

J. S. K. Ogier. — Born in Charleston, South-Carolina. Emigrated to New Orleans. 

1845, and from there to California, December 18, 1848. 

E. B. Bateman, M. D. — Emigrated from Missouri, April, 1847. Residence, 
Stockton, Alta California. 

Edmund Randolph. — Bom in Richmond, Virginia. Emigrated to New 
Orleans, 1843; thence to California, 1849. Residence, San Francisco. 

E. P. Baldwin.- -Born in Alabama. Emigrated from thence in January, 1849. 
Arrived in California, May i, 1850. Represents San Joaquin District. Resides in 
Sonora, Tuolumne Count\^ 

A. P. Crittenden. — Born in Lexington, Kentucky. Educated in Ohio, Ala- 
bama, New York, and Pennsylvania. Settled in Texas in 1839. Came to California 
in 1 849. Represents the county of Los Angeles. 

Alfred Wheeler. — Born in the city of New York, the 30th day of April, 1820. 
Resided in New York City until the ist of May, 1849, when he left for California. 
Citizen and resident of San Francisco, which district he represents. 

James A. Gray. — Philadelphia, Monterey, California. Emigrated in 1846 in the 
first New York Regiment of Volunteers. 

Joseph Aram. — Native of the State of New York. Emigrated to California, 

1846. Present residence, San Jose, Santa Clara County. 

Joseph C. Morehead. — Born in Kentucky. Emigrated to California in 1846. 
Resides at present in the county of Calaveras, San Joaquin District. 

Benjamin Cory, M. D. — Born November 12, 1S22. Emigrated to the Golden 
State in 1847. Residence in the valley of San Jose. 

Thomas J. Henlen'. — Born in Indiana. Family now resides in Charlcstown in 
that State. Emigrated to California in 1849, through the South Pass. Residence at 
Sacramento. 



Political History of the County. 187 

Josfi N. COVARRUBIAS. — Native of France. Came to California in 1834. Resi- 
dence in Sa.nta Barbara, and representative for that district. 

Elisha W. McKinstry. — Born in Detroit, Michigan. • Emigrated to California 
in March, 1849. Residence in Sacramento District, city of Sutter. 

George B. TiNGLEY. — Born August 15, 1815, Claremont County, Ohio. Emi- 
grated to Rushville, Indiana, November 4, 1834. Started for California April 4, 1849. 
Reached there October i6th; was elected to the Assembly November 13th, from Sac- 
ramento District, and is now in Pueblo de San Jose. 

John S. Bradford. — Represented the district of Sonoma. 

At the start considerable dissatisfaction was felt in respect to the accommodation 
offered by the State House, and only four days after its first occupation, George B. 
Tingley, a member from Sacramento, introduced a bill to remove the Legislature to 
Monterey. It only passed its first reading and was then consigned to the purgatory 
of further action. 

Governor Burnett Assumes Office. — Governor Riley resigned his Guberna- 
torial functions to Governor Peter H. Burnett on the 20th of December, 1849; on the 
same date Secretary of State Halleck was relieved of his duties, and at noon of the 
day following the new Governor delivered his first message. On this day also Colonel 
J. C. Fremont received a majority of six votes, and Dr. William M. Gwin a majority 
of two, for the United States Senate. 

State Capital Removed. — And now a monster enemy to the interests of San 
]os6 appeared in the field. 

In the year 1850 General-Senator Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo became convinced 
that the capital of California should be established at a place which he designed to 
name Eureka, but which his colleagues in the Legislature, out of compliment to him- 
self, suggested should be named Vallejo. To this end the General addressed a memo- 
rial to the Senate, dated April 3, 1850, wherein he graphically pointed out the advan- 
tages possessed by the proposed site over other places which claimed the honor. In 
this remarkable document, remarkable alike for its generosity of purpose as for its 
marvelous foresight; he proposed to grant twenty acres to the State, free of cost, for 
a State Capitol and grounds, and one hundred and thirty-six acres more for other State 
buildings, to be apportioned in the following manner: Ten acres for the Governor's 
house and grounds; five acres for the offices of Treasurer, Comptroller, Secretary of 
State, Surveyor-General, and Attorney-General, should the Commissioners determine 
that their offices should not be in the capitol building; one acre to State Library and 
Translator's office, should it be determined to separate them from the State House 
building; twenty acres for an Orphan Asylum; ten acres for a Male Charity Hospital; 
ten acres for a Female Charity Hospital; four acres for an Asylum for the Blind; four 
acres for Deaf and Dumb Asylum; eight acres for four Common Schools; twenty acres 
for a State University; four acres for a State Botanical Garden; and twenty acres for 
a State Penitentiary. 

But with a munificence casting this already long list of grants into the shade, 
he further proposed to donate and pay over to the State, within two years after the 



188 History of Alameda County, California. 

acceptance of these propositions, the gigantic sum of three hundred and seventy 
thousand dollars, to be apportioned in the following manner: For the building of a 
State Capitol, one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars; for furnishing the same, 
ten thousand dollars; for building of the Governor's house, ten thousand dollars; for 
furnishing the same, five thousand dollars; for the building of State Library and 
Translator's office, five thousand dollars; for a State Library, five thousand dollars; 
for the building of the offices of the Secretary of State, Comptroller, Attorney- 
General, Surveyor-General, and Treasurer, should the Commissioners deem it proper 
to separate them from the State House, twenty thousand dollars; for the building of 
an Orphan Asylum, twenty thousand dollars; for the building of a I'^emale Charity 
Hospital, twenty thousand dollars; for the building of an Asylum for the Blind, 
twenty thousand dollars; for the building of a Deaf and Dumb Asylum, twenty 
thousand dollars; for the building of a State University, twenty thousand dollars; 
for University Library, five thousand dollars; for scientific apparatus therefor, five 
thousand dollars; for chemical laboratory therefor, three thousand dollars; for a 
mineral cabinet therefor, three thousand dollars; for the building of four common 
schools, ten thousand dollars; for purchasing books therefor, one thousand dollars; for 
the building of a Lunatic Asylum, twenty thousand dollars; for a State Penitentiary, 
twenty thousand dollars; for a State Botanical Collection, three thousand dollars. 

In his memorial the General states, with much perspicacit\', his reasons for claim- 
ing the proud position for the place suggested as the State Capital. Mark the single- 
ness of purpose with which he bases these claims: — 

" Your memorialist, with this simple proposition (namely, that in the event of the 
Government declining to accept his terms, it should be put to the popular vote at the 
general election held in November of that year — 1850,) might stop here, did he not 
believe that his duty as a citizen of California required him to say thus much in addi- 
tion — that he believes the location indicated is the most suitable for a permanent seat 
of government for the great State of California, for the following reasons: That it is the 
true center of the State, the true center of commerce, the true center of population, and 
the true center of travel; that while the Bay of San Francisco is acknowledged to be the 
first on the earth, in point of extent and navigable capacities, already, throughout the 
length and breadth of the wide world, it is acknowledged to be the very center between 
Asiatic and European commerce. The largest ship that sails upon the broad sea can, 
within three houis, anchor at the wharves of the place which your memorialist pro- 
poses as your permanent seat of government. F"rom this point, by steam /lavigation, 
there is a greater aggregate of mineral wealth within eight hours' steaming, than 
exists in the Union; besides, from this point the great north and south rivers — San 
Joaquin and Sacramento — cut the State longitudinally through the center, bringing 
the immense gold deposits on the one hand, and untold mercury and other mineral 
resources on the other; from this point steam navigation extends along the Pacific 
Coast south to San Diego, and north to the Oregon line, affording the quickest possible 
facilities for our sea-coast population to reach the State Capital in the fewest number 
of hours. This age, as it has been truly remarked, has merged distance into time. 
In the operations of commerce and the intercourse of mankind, to measure miles by 
the rod is a piece of vandalism of a by-gone age; and that point which can be 



Political History of the County. 189 

approached from all parts of the State in the fewest number of hours, and at the 
cheg.pest cost, is the truest center. 

" The location which your memorialist proposes as the perrrianent seat of govern- 
ment is certainly that point. 

" Your memorialist most respectfully submits to your honorable body whether 
there is not a ground of even still higher nationality? It is this: that at present, 
throughout the wide extent of our sister Atlantic States, but one sentiment seems to 
possess the entire people, and that is, to build, in the shortest possible time, a rail- 
road from the Mississippi to the Bay of San Francisco, where its western terminus 
may meet a three weeks' steamer from China. Indeed, such is the overwhelming 
sentiment of the American people upon this subject, that there is but little doubt 
to apprehend its early completion. Shall it be said, then, while the world is covet- 
ing our possession of what all acknowledge to be the half-way house of the earth's 
commerce — the great Bay of San Francisco — that the people of the rich possessions 
are so unmindful of its value as not to ornament her magnificent shores with a 
Capital worthy of a great State?" 

Upon receipt of General Vallejo's memorial by the Senate, a committee, com- 
posed of members who possessed a local knowledge of the country, comprised in 
the above-quoted document, both geographical and topographical, were directed to 
report, for the information of the President, upon the advantages claimed for the 
location of the capital at the spot suggested, in preference to others. The report, 
in which the following words occur, was presented to the Senate on April 2, 1850: 
" Your committee cannot dwell with too much warmth upon the magnificent propo- 
sitions contained in the memorial of General Vallejo. They breathe throughout the 
spirit of an enlarged mind, and a sincere public benefactor, for which he deserves the 
thanks of his countrymen and the admiration of the world. Such a proposition 
looks rnore like the legacy of a mighty Emperor to his people than the free dona- 
tion of a private planter to a great State, yet poor in public finance, but soon to be 
among the first of the earth." 

The report, which was presented by Senator D. C. Broderick, of San Francisco, 
goes on to point out the necessities which should govern the choice of a site for 
California's capital; recapitulates the advantages pointed out in the memorial; and, 
finally, recommends the acceptance of General Vallejo's offer. This acceptance did 
not pass the Senate without some opposition and considerable delay; however, on 
Tuesday, February 4, 1851, a message was received from Governor Burnett, by his 
private secretary, Mr. Ohr, informing the Senate that he did this day sign an Act 
originating in the Senate, entitled "An Act to provide for the permanent location 
of the Seat of Government." In the meantime General Vallejo's bond had been 
accepted; his solvency was approved by a committeee appointed by the Senate to 
inquire into that circumstance; the report of the Commissioners sent to mark and 
lay out the tracts of land proposed to be donated was adopted, and, on May i, 185 1, 
the last session of the Legislature in San ]os6 was completed; but the archives were 
not moved to the new seat of government at Vallejo at that time, the want of which 
was the cause of much dissatisfaction among the members. 

The Legislature first met at Vallejo on January 5, 1852, but there was wanting 



190 History of Alameda County, California. 

that attraction of society which would appear to be necessary to the seat of every 
central government. With these Sacramento abounded, from her proximity to, the 
mines. The Assembly, therefore, with a unanimity bordering on the marvelous, 
passed a bill to remove the session to that city, ball tickets and theater tickets being 
tendered to the members in reckless profusion. The bill was transferred to the Sen- 
ate, and bitterly fought by the Hons. Paul K. Hubbs and Phil. A. Roach. The 
removal was rejected by one vote. This was on a Saturday, but never was the proverb 
of '■ we know not what the morn may bring forth," more fully brought to bear on any 
consideration. Senator Anderson, it is said, passed a sleepless night through the 
presence of unpleasant insects in his couch; on the Monday morning he moved a 
reconsideration of the bill. The alarm was sounded on every hand, and at two I'. M.. 
on January 12, 1852, the Government and Legislature were finding their way to 
Sacramento by way of the Carquinez Straits. On March 7, 1852, a devastating 
flood overwhelmed Sacramento, and where they had before feared contamination, 
they now feared drowning. The Legislature adjourned at Sacramento May 4, 1852, 
the ne.xt session to be held at Vallejo. On January 3, 1853, the peripatetic Govern- 
ment met again at Vallejo, whither had been moved in the previous May the State 
offices. Once more the spirit of jealousy was rampant. Sacramento could not with 
any grace ask for its remo\"al thither again, but she, working with Hcnicia, the Capi- 
tal was once more on wheels, and literally carted off to the latter town for the 
remaining portion of the session, where it remained until a bill was passed to fix the 
Capital of the State at Sacramento, and thereafter clinched b)' large appropriations 
for building the present magnificent capitol there. 

The Capital being removed from San Jose, the Town Council sold the State 
House for thirty-eight thousand dollars, which sum it \\ as intended should be applied 
to the liquidation of the note mentioned above. The money, it would appear, was 
not so applied, therefore legal proceedings were instituted by the gentlemen holding 
the premises in trust for the purchasers, or their repre.sentati\es, against the city, to 
obtain the foreclosure of a mortgage executed to them by the civic authorities in 
1850, to secure the purchase of the property. A decree of foreclosure was obtained, the 
public lands brought to the hammer, and bought in by the trustees of the plaintiffs 
who had organized themselves into a land company, and claimed title to all the 
pueblo lands, a claim which was resisted to the bitter end by the pueblo authorities. 
The question of the legality of the removal was brought up in 1854, before the 
Supreme Court, when a majority of the Justices, Hcydenfeldt and Wells, held that, 
according to law, San Jose was the Capital of the State, who thereupon made the fol- 
lowing order, March 27th: — 

"It is ordered that the Sheriff of Santa Clara Count)- procure in the to^\■n of San 
Jose, and properly arrange and furnish, a Court-room, Clerk's office, and consultation 
room for the use of the Court. It is further ordered that the Clerk of this Court forth- 
with remo\'e the records of the Court to the town of San Jose. It is further ordered 
that the Court will meet to deliver opinions at San Jose, on the first Monday in April, 
and on that day will appoint some future day of the term for the argument of cases. 

"Heydf.nfeldt, J. 

"Attest: D. K. W00U.SIDE, Clerkr "Well.s, J. 



Political History of the County. 191 

A writ of mandamus, on the strength of the above, was issued from the Third 
District Court against all the State officers, commanding that they should remove 
their offices to San Jose, or show cause why they should not do so. The argument 
was heard and the theory maintained that San Jose was the proper capital of the 
State, whereupon an appeal was carried to the Supreme Court. In the interim Justice 
Wells had died, his place being filled by Justice Bryant. On the appeal, the Supreme 
Court decided that San Jose was not the State Capital, from which decision Justice 
Heydenfeldt dissented. 

Hitherto we have dwelt principally upon the establishment of the State Capital, 
a matter but little known to the general public ; we will now turn to the particular 
records of Alameda County, before touching upon which, however, we will briefly 
allude to the position of Contra Costa County before the year 1853. 

Political History Prior to 1853. — In the year 1852, and while Alameda 
was still a portion of Contra Costa County, an Act providing that " the stream called 
San Antonio Creek, in the county of Contra Costa, is declared navigable from its 
mouth to the old Embarcadero of San Antonio, and no obstruction to the navigation 
thereof shall be permitted," was passed ; yet notwithstanding, the question has fre- 
quently "cropped up" since then, and indeed has been the subject of much legislation 
not only in our own State Capital, but in Washington also. In this year, too, the town 
of Oakland was incorporated, the chief promoter of the scheme being Horace W. 
Carpentier, while early in the following year the towns of Clinton and Oakland were 
commenced to be connected by a bridge across the slough of San Antonio, an affair 
whose history we now place before the reader, as given in a "Statement of Facts," 
drawn up for the State Legislature by Judge Thomas A. Brown of Contra Costa: — 

On October 28, 1852, the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County made a 
contract with T. C. Oilman to build a bridge across the San Antonio Creek, in Oak- 
land, the contract price being seven thousand four hundred dollars. It was stipulated 
in the contract that should the Treasurer refuse to pay any warrant or order drawn in 
favor of Oilman, the Treasurer having in his hands any money belonging to said 
county, they agreed to pay Oilman a penalty of five per cent, per month, to be deemed 
an interest. On March 8, 1853, the Board of Supervisors met and accepted the bridge, 
and made an order directing the County Auditor to draw a warrant upon the County 
Treasurer, in favor of Oilman, for- seven thousand six hundred and sixty-two dollars 
and fifty cents, being the contract price of the bridge, together with interest thereon 
at five per cent, per month from the time the bridge had been completed up to the 
period the order was made. A warrant was drawn (number two hundred and sixteen) 
by the Auditor, in favor of Oilman, and delivered to him, March 8, 1853, for seven 
thousand six hundred and sixty-two dollars and fifty cents. The warrant was accepted 
by Oilman, and on the same day was presented by him to the County Treasurer, and 
the Treasurer made the following indorsement on the warrant : " Not paid for want of 
funds; March eighth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three; D. Hunsaker, Treasurer, by A. 
M. Holliday, Deputy." Oilman retaiiied the warrant. It does not appear that Oil- 
man presented his warrant to the Treasurer for payment again. On November 15, 
1854, Oilman commenced an action against the county of Contra Costa to recover taj 



192 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

contract price of the bridge, together with five per cent, per month interest from and 
after March 8, 1853. The cause was tried in Solano County, and judgment was ren- 
dered in favor of the county. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court, the judg- 
ment of the District Court was reversed and a new trial ordered. The cause was again 
tried in the District Court on January }o, 1856, and judgment was rendered against 
the county for twenty thousand four hundred and twenty-seven dollars, being the 
amount of the original contract price of the bridge, with five per cent, interest thereon 
from March 8, 1853, to the date of the judgment, and the said judgment to bear inter- 
est at five per cent, per month. On February 14, 1855, an Act was passed funding all 
the indebtedness of Contra Costa County which accrued prior to April 1, 1855, and 
the thirteenth section of the act provided that it should not be lawful for the County 
Treasurer to pay or liquidate any of the indebtedness of said county of Contra Costa, 
which accrued prior to February i, 1855, i// niiy ot/ier manner \.\\a.n in such l-'unding 
Act provided (Statutes 1855, page 12). Oilman did not present his claim to be funded. 
That on January 10, 1857, Oilman caused execution to be issued on the judgment in his 
favor, recovered on January 30, 1856, for twent>- thousand four hundred and twenty- 
seven dollars. The execution was levied on all the monies in the countv treasury 
belonging to all Funds. This levy was made January, 19, 1857. On February 25, 
1857, the Sheriff, under the direction of Oilman, levied on the Court House, and on 
March 5, 1857, again levied on the funds in the county treasury. In March, 1857, 
the county moved the District Court to quash the execution and the several levies. 
The District Court denied the motion. The cause was appealed to the Supreme Court, 
and the Supreme Court reversed the order of the District Court, and ordered the exe- 
cutions should be quashed and the levy vacated, the Court holding that the county 
buildings were exempt from seizure and forced sale on execution; and also held that 
the levies upon the revenues in the hands of the Treasurer were illegal and void; that 
the revenues were authorized by law, and appropriated to distinct purposes, and were 
not the object of seizure upon execution (8 Cal. Rep., page 58). 

On July 9, 1857, Oilman caused another execution to be issued on said judgment, 
and levied on private property, being an undivided eighth of the San Pablo Rancho. 
The property was advertised for sale, and the owner, Joseph Fmeric, obtained an 
injunction from the District Court of the Seventh District, enjoining the sale. The 
case was appealed to the Supreme Court; that Court decided (10 Cal., p. 404) that 
the private property of an inhabitant of a county is not liable to seizure and sale on 
execution for the satisfaction of a judgment recovered against the county, and that 
no execution can issue upon a judgment rendered against the county. Oilman again 
caused an execution to be issued on his judgment against the county, on April i, 1858, 
and levied the same on the funds in the county treasur)-. A motion was made to 
set aside the execution and quash the lev}'; the District Court granted the motion, 
and Oilman appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Ccjurt affirmed the order 
of the District Court (10 Cal. Rep., p. 508). This left Oilman without any remedy 
whatever to collect his debt, and the county without any power or auliiority whatever 
to pay. The Supreme Court having decided, in the case of Hunsaker 7>s. Borden 
(5 Cal. Rep., p. 288), that the county of Contra Costa had no power to pay any of 
the indebtedness which existed against that county prior to February i, 1855, in any 












/^ 9hMuJ/^z^ 



Political History of the County. 193 

other manner than as prescribed in the Act to fund the indebtedness of said county, 
passed February 14, 1855, and that the payment in any other manner was unlawful. 
Gjlman's debt having been contracted prior to February i, 1855, and he having failed 
and neglected to fund his debt, he was without remedy. The rights of the parties 
continued thus until March 14, i860, when an Act was passed entitled "An Act 
providing for the payment of a judgment in favor of Trusten C. Oilman, against the 
County of Contra Costa." (Stat, i860, p. 94.) In the preamble of the Act it is 
recited: — 

"Whereas, The Supreme Court has affirmed a judgment entered in the Seventh 
Judicial District Court, in favor of Trusten C. Oilman against the county of Contra 
Costa, which judgment was entered in said District Court on the twenty-second of 
March, eighteen hundred and fifty-six, for the sum of twenty thousand, four hundred 
and twenty-seven dollars, and interest and costs." 

The Act provides for levying and collecting a special tax of one per cent, on the 
taxable property in the county to pay said judgment, together with interest thereon 
at ten per cent, per annum from its date. The fifth section of the Act provides that 
the Treasurer of the county of Contra Costa should pay the money collected by virtue 
of the Act from time to time, upon demand, to said Trusten C. Oilman, his executors, 
administrators, or assignees, and at the same time take a receipt therefor from his 
assigns; and have said judgment credited with said payment or payments by the 
proper party or parties entitled to receive the same; and the said party or parties 
entitled to receive from the Treasurer the payment of said judgment, shall, before any 
payments are made by the Treasurer on account of the same, deliver to the Treasurer 
the warrant heretofore issued in favor of said Oilman, and known as Warrant Number 
Two Hundred and Sixteen, and the Treasurer shall cancel the same. Section eight 
of said Act provides that said T. C. Oilman, or his assigns, should be allowed until 
the first Monday in August next hereafter to make known to the Board of Super- 
visors of said county his or their acceptance of said amount in full satisfaction and 
payment of all demands accruing at any time in his favor against the county of Con- 
tra Costa for building a bridge across the San Antonio Creek; provided, that if he 
fail to declare said acceptance to the Board of Supervisors on or before the first Mon- 
day in August next, then said special tax shall not be collected. 

That on August 6, i860, Oeorge F. Sharp, to whom Oilman had assigned said 
judgment, and who was the legal assignee of the judgment, rendered in favor of Oil- 
man against the county of Contra Costa on March 22, 1856, for twenty thousand four 
hundred and twenty-seven dollars, with interest and costs, came before the Board of 
Supervisors of Contra Costa County, and in writing accepted the provisions of the 
Act of March 14, i860, in full satisfaction and payment of all demands accruing at 
any time in favor of said Oilman against the county of Contra Costa for building a 
bridge across the San Antonio Creek, and he also surrendered to the Treasurer of 
said county, as provided in said Act, the county warrant, number two hundred 
and sixteen, for seven thousand six hundred and sixty-two dollars and fifty cents, 
which was canceled, as provided in the fifth section of the Act. On the same day, 
August 6, i860, the Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County levied a tax of 
one per cent, on the taxable property of the county, as provided in said Act,, for the 



194 History of Alameda County, California. 

payment of said claim. The payments made by the Treasurer to Sharp, as the 
assignee of said judgment and in satisfaction of said claim, amounted in the aggre- 
gate, on June 19, 1862, the time of the last payment, to thirt\'-onc thousand, six hun- 
dred and eleven dollars and twenty-one cents, that being the full sum due for prin- 
cipal and interest, as in said Act provided. And upon making the several payments 
the Treasurer took from said Sharp receipts as follows: "Office of the Counf\- Treas- 
urer of Contra Costa County. — Received from Hiram Fogg, County Treasurer of 
Contra Costa County, the sum of ten thousand dollars, lawful currency of the United 
States of America, in part payment and satisfaction of the judgment recovered by 
Trusten C. Oilman against the county of Contra Costa. The said sum is paid out 
of the Oilman Judgment Fund, which was levied and collected in pursuance of an Act 
of the Legislature of the State of California, entitled an 'Act providing for the payment 
of a judgment in favpr of Trusten C. Oilman against the county of Contra Costa, 
approved March 14, i860, and by order of the Board of Supervisors of Contra 
Costa County, made on the sixth of August, eighteen hundred and sixty, a copy being 
annexed to this receipt; the said sum is received in part satisfaction of said judgment, 
in accordance with the provisions of the said Act of the Legislature, and I hereby 
authorize satisfaction of the amount receipted for to be entered." There were thir- 
teen different payments made, and thirteen receipts given by Sharp, as assignee of 
Oilman, to the Treasurer, of like tenor to the above. The debt was fully paid, as 
provided in said Act, on June 19, 1862. 

That on March 15, i860, prior to the passage of the Act of March 14th men- 
tioned, Oeorge F. Sharp, as the assignee of Oilman, commenced an action in the 
District Court of Solano County to revive the judgment of March 22, 1856, in favor 
of Oilman and against the county, for twenty thousand four hundred and twenty-seven 
dollars, with five per cent, per month interest. Judgment was entered in said action 
in favor of Sharp, assignee of Oilman, by default, in the Clerk's office, on July 18, 
i860, for eight)-five thousand and fort}'-two dollars and eighty cents. No action was 
taken by Sharp on this last judgment until long after he had been full\- paid, as 
stated, on and prior to June 19, 1862. 

That on July 16, 1865, Sharp commenced another action to revive the last judg- 
ment of eighty-five thousand and forty-two dollars and eighty cents, against the 
county. The action was commenced in the Fifteenth District Court in San Fran- 
cisco City and County. The county defended the action on the ground that the 
debt had been fully paid, satisfied and discharged. The cause was tried; judgment 
was rendered in the District Court in favor of the county. The Court decided that 
the county had fully paid and satisfied the said debt and the said judgment, and 
ordered and directed that Sharp should cancel and satisfy said judgment of record. 
Sharp appealed from said judgment to the Supreme Court. The judgment of the 
District Court was affirmed. The Supreme Court held that the county was not 
either legally or equitably indebted upon the demand in any sum whatever, but on 
the contrary, that the county had, under the Act of March 14, i860, fully paid and 
discharged the said claim. The case is entitled "Sharp vs. Contra Costa County," 
and is reported in 34 Cal. Rep., p. 284. 

Oilman's claim is now (1872) made to the Legislature for the same identical 



Political History of the County. 195 

claim for building the bridge across the San Antonio Creek, and in relation to which 
the litigation named was had, and the same for which payment was provided in the 
Act of March 14, i860, and is the same which was fully paid and satisfied under said 
Act. His county warrant has been surrendered and canceled; his judgment has 
been paid, satisfied, and discharged, and satisfaction entered of record ; he now makes 
a claim against the county of over six hundred and seventy-six thousand and ninety 
dollars upon this claim. It is submitted that the county has not only paid the claim, 
but has actually paid more than double what was due him according to law. When 
Gilman received his warrant for seven thousand four hundred dollars, on March 8, 
1853, and presented the same to the Treasurer, the Treasurer made the indorsement 
thereon required by law. From that time the debt drew ten per cent, per annum, 
interest, and no more. Section ten of the Act concerning County Treasurers, passed 
March 27, 1850, (Statutes, 1850, p. 115) provides when any warrants shall be pre- 
sented to the County Treasurer for payment, and the same is not paid for the want 
of funds, the Treasurer shall indorse thereon "not paid for want of funds," annexing 
the date of presentation, and sign his name thereto; and from that time till redeemed, 
said order or warrant shall bear ten per cent, per annum. That section of the Statute 
has been in force ever since it was passed in 1850. When Gilman accepted his war- 
rant, and presented it to the Treasurer and procured it to be indorsed by him, and 
had received it back into his possession, he knew, or was bound to know what the law 
was; and from that time no officer was authorized by law to pay any greater rate of 
interest on that debt than ten per cent, per annum. The interest on the debt up to 
June 19, 1862, the time when the full amount was paid under the Act of i860 — being 
nine years and three and one-third months, would have been six thousand eight hun- 
dred and sixty-five dollars, which, added to the principal, seven thousand four hundred 
dollars, amounted to fourteen thousand two hundred and sixty-five dollars. • The 
county actually paid thirty-one thousand six hundred and eleven dollars and twenty- 
one cents, being seventeen thousand three hundred and forty-six dollars and twenty- 
one cents more than was due on the warrant, according to the law concerning indebt- 
edness of counties. 

The facts in this case are fully set out and authenticated in the record on the 
appeal of the action of Sharp vs. The County of Contra Costa, in the Supreme Court, 
in the case reported in 34 Cal. p. 284. The transcript, briefs, and decisions of the 
District Court, with its findings, and the testimony in the case, will be found bound 
in Volume LXX of California Supreme Court Records, pp. 50 to 102. 

The petitioner has no claims whatever upon the county, either legal or equitable;- 
but he has been paid by the county actually more than twice as much as was justly 
due him, and his present claim is a sham without foundation, and is neither supported 
by equity nor good conscience, and should be postponed indefinitely. 

Ere the segregation of Alameda County, an election for the position of Member 
of the Assembly was held on March 26, 1853, when three candidates, viz., Horace W. 
Carpentier of Oakland, Robert S. Farrelly of " Squatterville " or San Lorenzo, and B. 
R. Holliday of Martinez, entered the field. The election was subsequently contested 
in the House, and is here mentioned to give to the reader, not only an idea of what 
the voting strength of the district was then, but also to throw light upon the manner 



196 History of Alameda County, California. 

in which elections were carried on. The hitjhcst number of votes were polled by 
Mr. Carpentier, against which Mr. Farrelly protested on the ground of fraud, upon 
which plaint a certificate of election was refused to Mr. Carpentier by the County 
Clerk, and the matter handed over to be unraveled by the Committee on Elections 
of the Legislature. Mr. Carpentier claimed five hundred and nineteen votes; Mr. 
Farrelly, two hundred and fifty-four, and Mr. HoUiday one hundred and ninety-two, 
thus showing a majority of seventy-three votes in favor of the first named. S. J. 
Clark, attorney for Mr. Farrelly, presented various grounds of objection, and forcibly 
signified fraud on the part of Mr. Carpentier, as well as collusion on the part of the 
Board of Judges, Inspectors and Clerks of Contra Costa or Oakland Township. In 
the examination it was ascertained that the whole number of votes cast in the town- 
ship was three hundred and seventy-seven, while, according to the testimony of the 
agent who took the census of the township, but ten short weeks before, there were 
only one hundred and thirty votes within its limits — a rather unprecedented influx of 
people in so limited a space of time. It was also declared that it took almost two 
hours to count the Carpentier tickets which lay in a compact jx-llow mass at the top 
of the box, ere any white ones, representing Farrelly, were reached, and yet three of 
the last voters who cast their ballots at sundown swore positively that they had voted 
white tickets for Farrelly. An affidavit was made by a man named Ford, that he 
crossed on the ferry-boat to San Francisco on the day of the election and there found 
a man called Oilman who said he had thirty-seven workmen for his bridge on board 
and was arranging for their fare. These men, or some of them, Ford afterwards 
recognized voting at the polls, while he heard one of them say that he had voted 
seven times. The Board of Supervisors of Contra Costa County, however, took the 
view that Mr. Carpentier was duly elected, and made affidavits to that end, and a 
majority of four to six of the Committee on Elections were of the like opinion, and 
reported in favor of his taking his seat, in which he was duly confirmed, and sworn in 
April 1 1, 1853. 

We will now proceed with the recorded events as found in the minutes of meet- 
ings and proceedings of the Courts of Sessions and Boards of Supervisors. 

The Records. — In the month of May, 1853, the first election of officers took 
place, when any man who sought official distinction was at full liberty to seek the 
suffrages of his fellow-citizens. This election was long known as the " steeple chase " 
for there were from five to six candidates for each office, while many of the would-be 
county officers appeared in the poll-lists under nick-names. The following gentlemen 
were eventually elected in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Act: Addison 
M. Crane, County Judge; A. N. Broder, Sheriff; William H. Coombs, District 
Attorney; A. M. Church, County Clerk; J. S. Marston, Treasurer; Joseph S. Watkins, 
Public Administrator; William H. Chamberlain, Coroner; H. A. Higley, Surveyor; 
George W. Goucher, Assessor; W. W. Brier, Superintendent of Schools. The 
Senator was Jacob Grewell, who continued to act as Joint Senator for the three 
Counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, and Contra Costa, while the first chosen Member 
of Assembly was Joseph S. Watkins. The Third Judicial District held sway over 
this portion of the State, the Judge being Craven P. Hester. 



Political History of the County. 197 

1853. — The first meeting of the Court of Sessions was held in the town of 
Alvarado on Monday, June 6, 1853, when there were present Hon. A. M. Crane, 
County Judge; A. M. Church, County Clerk; Andrew H. Broder, Sheriff; William 
H. Coombs, District Attorney; together with the five Justices of the Peace elect, viz., 
A. W. Harris, I. S. Long, David S. Lacey, A. Marier and John McMurtry. The first 
duty undertaken was the selection from among these last-named gentlemen of two to 
serve as Associate Justices, the choice falling upon Messrs. Lacey and Long, who, 
after producing their certificates of election, were duly installed, and with the County 
Judge constituted the first Court of Sessions of Alameda County. Mr. Coombs, the 
District Attorney elect, then produced his license as attorney and counselor at law, 
and was duly admitted to practice in open court. The county was next divided into 
the six townships of Oakland, Contra Costa, Clinton, Eden, Washington, and Murray, 
as mentioned elsewhere, and thus was the machinery of Alameda put in motion. 

On August 4, 1851, the Court of Sessions of Contra Costa County granted a 
license to H. W. Carpentier and A. Moon to run a ferry "from Contra Costa, in the 
township of San Antonio, to the city of San Francisco," the tariff being then fixed as 
follows : — 

For one person ■; $i.oo 

" one horse 3.00 

" one wagon 3- 00 

" one two-horse wagon 5.00 

" neat cattle, per head 3. 00 

" each hundred-weight 50 

" each sheep i.oo 

" each hog i.oo 

This enterprise had blossomed into a joint stock company during the two years 
of its existence, for we find, at the first meeting of the Court of Sessions of Alameda 
County, that H. W. Carpentier as attorney for the Contra Costa Steam Navigation 
Company, made application for a renewal of the license for one year, which was 
granted and the following rates declared leviable: — 

For one foot passenger $ .50 

" horses, mules and cattle, per head 2 .00 

** empty wagons, each 1.50 

" hogs and sheep, per head 50 

" freight, per hundred-weight 25 

Then came petitions for public roads and the designation of road districts, and, again, 
Mr. Carpentier, with a proposition in writing, concerning a matter which continued 
for several years thereafter to furnish an apparently exhaustless supply of material for 
county legislation, and which, like Banquo's ghost, would not down at any mortal's 
bidding. This morsel of ancient history we here reproduce in its entirety: — 

County of Alameda, June 6, 1853, 
I hereby propose to complete the bridge across the creek known as San Antonio Slough, opposite the resi- 
dence of Messrs. Patton, on the following terms: The bridge shall be commenced forthwith and finished with 
expedition. I will charge and receive to my own use tolls at the following rates, to-wit: Each footman, twelve 
cents; horses, cattle, etc., each twenty-five cents; vehicle drawn by one or two animals, fifty cents, and other 
things in like proportion. Said bridge shall be free from taxation or asscssvient, I will surrender said bridge to 
the county, to be made a free bridge and to be used only as a bridge, at any time w^ithin twelve months, on their 
payment to me of the original cost of its construction, together with interest thereon at three per cent, per month. 
It shall be finished from bark to bank. This proposition to be binding on its acceptance by the Court of Sessions 
of Contra Costa County. [Signed] H. W. Carpentier. 



198 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

This is the first appearance of the Twelfth-street bridi^e, but by no means the 
last. 

The Court after due consideration ordered that the proposition be accepted, care- 
fully guarding the county, however, from any obligation to redeem the same, or in any- 
wise to become pecuniarily responsible in the matter. The Court then proceeded to 
levy a poll-tax for highway purposes of two da\s' work on all able-bodied men be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, for the year 1853, after which catholic 
and comprehensive legislation, it proceeded to bring its first day's labor to a close by 
adjournment " till to-morrow morning at eight o'clock." The record of this adjourned 
meeting is dated May 7, i8jj, a month prior to the first one. The only business 
transacted by the Court at this time was the fi.xing of allowances to officers of the 
late election at five dollars per daj-, and passing claims against the county, aggre- 
gating six hundred and twenty-three dollars and forty cents, divided as follows: — 

D. S. Lord, for blank books and stationery $425.00 

A. M. Church, services, obtaining books, stationery and trimming for desk, etc 49.00 

Homer & Stevens, himber for county desk 26.00 

Perham & Weaver, work on county desk 81.00 

Justices Long and Lacey, two days' services as Associate Justices @ $5.00 per day each .... 24.00 
Justices Marier, Harris, and McMurlry, one day's services so as to elect Associate Justices (ni 

$6. 00 per day each i S. 00 

At the next meeting the election precincts in the different townships were estab- 
lished, after which the Court resolved itself into a Board of Equalization and proceeded 
to levy a tax upon all real and personal property in the county, of sixty cents upon 
each one hundred dollars, " instead of thirty cents heretofore ordered by this Board at 
a special term held at this place on the i ith day of May, 1853." As the Court was 
organized on June 6th, this levy refers to the proceedings of Contra Costa County. 
From this date forward the time of the Court was chiefly occupied with road matters, 
with occasional variations, as for instance, on August 2d, George Kerr & Co., presented 
a bill for thirty dollars for printing one hundred hand-bills, which the Court, after due 
consideration, cut down to fifteen dollars, therein setting an example of careful 
scrutiny and rigid economy in public affairs far more worthy of imitation than modern 
legislative bodies generally seem to consider it. In this connection it ma_\' be truly 
said that this county was unusually fortunate in the selection of its first officers. They 
were very careful, accurate, methodical men, leaving for the most part clear and intel- 
ligible record of their public work behind them, and if further e\idence be required 
of this, it is to be found in the fact that the only two survivors of the first elected 
officers of Alameda County are still occupying elective positions of honor and trust 
among the descendants of those whose excellent judgment first called upon them for 
public service. The well-worn proverb, "As the twig is bent the tree's inclined," 
receives ample confirmation both in the legislative and executive history- of this 
county, for, with rare exceptions, the confidence reposed in those selected for office has 
never been violated. It is but just and proper that the full measure of praise should 
be meted out to the faithful public officer. The difficulties that beset his path are no 
more understood by the people at large than are the duties devohing upon him by 
statute; he is required to interpret as well as to execute the law, and, upon his decision 
important private as well as public interests ofttimes depend. When attention is 



Political History of the County. 199 

called to these facts and well-earned praise is bestowed upon him, it is too often met 
with the contemptuous and contemptible reply that "anybody can do as well." This 
same anybody is occasionally tried and found wanting, and then what a howl goes up 
from the virtuous people! The individual is taken for the class, denunciation is poured 
forth with unstinting measure, and the honest public official hangs his head in shame 
for his race, feeling that in retiring from his trust he will carry within himself the only 
reward of a well-administered official career — a mind conscious of right. Honest 
officials outnumber dishonest ones a thousand-fold, popular clamor to the contrary not- 
withstanding, and the time has come when we should understand this, and though 
late in the day, yet render equal and exact justice to all — to the good as well as to the 
bad. 

On September 9th an election was held in the county, at which the following 
officers were chosen for one year: Asa Walker, S. P. Hopkins, H. M. Randall, B. F. 
Ferris, A. Marshall, William Fleming, Calvin Rogers, and S. H. Robinson, Justices of 
the Peace; A. B. Atwell, D. N. Van Dyke, William H. Walker, Constables. The 
Court of Sessions makes no record of this election, either by proclamation or by can- 
vass of returns. In October following, these Justices convened and elected A. Mar- 
shall and S. H. Robinson from among their number as Associate Justices, while, the 
most noteworthy event that occurred thereafter was the presentation of a claim for 
seven thousand two hundred and four dollars, seventy-three cents, against Alameda 
by the county of Santa Clara. 

By a reference to section eleven of the Organic Act, it will be seen that two Com- 
missioners were to be appointed from each of the counties of Santa Clara and Contra 
Costa to meet like Commissioners of Alameda County who should determine and fix 
the amount of indebtedness due to the two former by the latter. The report of this 
Commission is preserved and shows that on July 25, 1853, the Board of Supervisors^ 
of Santa Clara County appointed H. C. Melone and John Yontz as their members. 
Mr. Melone was County Clerk and certifies to the genuineness of his own appointment. 
The Court of Sessions of Contra Costa County, on June 8th of the same year appointed 
J. F. Williams and Thomas A. Brown their members, the latter gentleman being the 
County Clerk of his county at the time. These four gentlemen met in Alameda 
County, and the record of their proceedings, bearing date August 15, 1853, sets forth 
that they find the sum of seven thousand two hundred and four dollars and seventy- 
three cents due from Alameda to Santa Clara, and the sum of six thousand two hun- 
dred and forty-seven dollars and sixty-four cents due to Contra Costa from the same 
source. The claim of Santa Clara County was therefore presented to the Court of 
Sessions as above stated, at the September Term thereof, and was held under advise- 
ment until the December Term following, at which time the claim was rejected on the 
ground that the award was made "wholly without authority of law; " the Court further 
"do not in any way admit the same to be correct as to amount, or that anything what- 
ever is due from Alameda to Santa Clara County." 

It is difficult to understand how the Honorable Court arrived at this conclusion, 
with the recently enacted statute before them. They might have disputed the claim 
as regards its equitableness, but the mandatory character of the law covering the case 
seems to dispel all doubt as to its legality. 



200 History of Alameda County, California. 

The matter again became the subject of State legislation and on May i, 1854, an 
Act was passed fixing the indebtedness at six thousantl four hundred and seventy- 
four dollars, to be paid in two equal sums on or before January i, 1855 and 1856, and 
ordering the Court of Sessions to make the necessary tax levies to meet the obligations. 
Accordingl)', the first levy was made August 24, 1854; the first payment on account 
was made March 3, 1855, of two thousand one hundred dollars, and they were con- 
tinued at irregular intervals until October i, 1857, at which time the account showed 
that six thousand two hundied and thirt\'-fivc dollars had been paid, leaving a balance 
on hand of seventy-eight dollars. 

In December, 1853, the county was again divided into townships, the number 
being reduced to five, and that of Contra Costa being absorbed in Oakland, while the 
boundaries of the others were materially altered. 

1854. — The year 1854 brought to Alameda County, among its first offerings, the 
claim of Contra Costa, which was certified to at the same time as that of Santa Clara 
County. The Court of Sessions made the same disposition of this claim that it did 
of the other: the like resort to the Legislature was had, and that body, under date 
May 15, 1855, enacted that B. C. Whitman of Solano Count_\- be appointed a Com- 
missioner to adjust the indebtedness, and that he should enter on the discharge of his 
duties "as soon as a suit now pending in the District Court in favor of T. C. Oilman 
and against the county of Contra Costa shall be finally terminated," at a time 
appointed by himself, at the town of Martinez, and in conjunction with the County 
Clerks of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. 

This matter of the county's indebtedness dragged its slow length along — let us 
follow it. On April 26, 1862, B. C. Whitman and Charles Fish were appointed to 
ascertain and award the amount of indebtedness of Alameda County to Contra Costa. 
In their report, presented in the form of a communication addressed jointly to the 
Supervisoral Boards of the two counties interested, the following decision is found: 
"They (the Commissioners) find that the county of Contra Costa has paid on account 
of obligations existing at the time of the organization of the count}' of Alameda the 
sum of thirty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-five dollars, fifteen cents. That 
the said county of Alameda was justly and equitably bound for a portion thereof, 
amounting to fifteen thousand five hundred and eighteen dollars, se\cnty-eight cents. 
That under and by virture of an award heretofore made on June 4, 1858, said county 
of Alameda has paid to the county of Contra Costa the sum of three thou.sand nine 
hundred and forty-five dollars, si.xty-six cents; leaving unpaid a balance of eleven 
thousand five hundred and seventy-four dollars, twelve cents, equitabh- due from the 
county of Alameda to the county of Contra Costa, arising out of obligations existing 
against the county of Contra Costa, at the time of the organization of the said county of 
Alameda. Therefore we do hereby award said sum of elc\ en thousand five hundred 
and seventy-four dollars, twelve cents, as equitably due under and by virtue of the pro- 
visions of the A :t aforesaid from the county of Alameda to the county of Contra Costa, 
and, by virtue of the powers conferred upon us, we declare and certifj' the same to 
your honorable bodies, as by said Act directed and charged." 

In an appeal from the Fourth Judicial District Court to the Supreme Court, 
Justice Lorenzo Sawyer, in the case "The People e.v rel. The County of Contra Costa 




c-^^^f^ . XJ^ 



coc-eyy^r^ 



Political History of the County. 201 

versus The Board of Supervisors of the County of Alameda" (Cal. Rep. pp. 646-652), 
rendered the following decision in this matter: — 

"In 1852, one Gilman built abridge for the county of Contra Costa, upon a 
contract for about eight thousand dollars, to bear interest at the rate of five per cent, 
per month till paid. The bridge was not completed till some time in 1853. On the 
23d of March, 1853, the county of Alameda was created by the Legislature out of 
territory taken from the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, and the said 
bridge fell within the new county of Alameda. The contract for building the bridge 
being with the county of Contra Costa, and the money being unpaid, Gilman sued 
that county for the amount due, and in 1856 recovered a judgment of upwards of 
twenty thousand dollars, with accruing interest and costs. In 1858, the Legislature 
passed an Act appointing Commissioners to adjust the amount to be paid by Ala- 
meda County to Contra Costa County, as her share of the debt that had accrued 
while a portion of Alameda County formed a part of the county of Contra Costa, 
but the Commissioners in their award were limited by the Act to the indebtedness 
which had accrued prior to the 23d of March, 1853, the date of the creation of the 
new county. At that date no interest on the bridge contract had accrued. The 
Commissioners awarded against Alameda County the sum of three thousand nine 
hundred and forty-four dollars and sixty-six cents, but, for reasons before stated, the 
award did not include any interest on the bridge contract. This award was afterwards, 
in i860 and 1861, paid to the county of Contra Costa. On the 14th of March, i860, 
the Legislature passed an Act empowering and requiring the Board of Supervisors 
of Contra Costa County to levy a special tax for the payment of the judgment, inter- 
ests and costs recovered by Gilman in 1856 on the bridge contract, which was accord- 
ingly done and the judgment paid by the county of Contra Costa. 

"In 1862, another Act was passed, reciting in its preamble the payment by 
Contra Costa County, in pursuance of said Act of i860, of the said Gilman judgment 
of ' thirty-one thousand dollars, some twenty-four thousand dollars of the amount 
being for interest * * * on an obligation contracted before the organization of 
Alameda County,' etc., and in the body of the Act appointing Commissioners 'to 
ascertain and award the amount of indebtedness, if any be found equitably due, from 
the county of Alameda to the county of Contra Costa on account of obligations 
existing at the time of the organization of the said county of Alameda.' The Com- 
missioners are required, if any award be found against the county of Alameda, to 
certify the same to the Boards of Supervisors of the respective counties, and there- 
upon the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County are required, within a specified 
time, to levy a tax for the purpose, and pay the amount so awarded to the county of 
Contra Costa. Under this Act the Commissioners awarded in favor of Contra Costa 
County against the county of Alameda the sum of eleven thousand five hundred 
and seventy-four dollars and twelve cents, the sum being for a portion of the said 
interest paid by the county of Contra Costa on the said bridge contract, and the 
judgment thereon, and for nothing else. The award having been certified to the 
Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, and a demand that the tax for its payment 
be levied in pursuance of the Act having been made, and the said Board having 
refused to levy the same, an alternative mandamus was issued by the District Court 
14 



202 History of Alameda County, California. 

of the Fourth Judicial District against said Board in this case, which was afterwards 
by the judgment of the Court, made peremptory. F"rom the judgment this appeal is 
taken. 

" The appellants make two points: Firstly, the county of Contra Costa has no 
power to act as a relator, for the county is not a party beneficially interested. 
Secondly, the Legislature has trespassed upon the judicial power. 

"There is nothing in the first point. The judgment paid was against the county 
of Contra Costa, and the money awarded is to go into the treasury of the county. 
It makes no difference that the law provides that ' it shall be apportioned in the 
treasury of the county of Contra Costa,' for certain specified purposes, viz., for the 
construction of certain roads, and to the ' County School Fund.' The county has 
charge of the funds, and is the trustee appointed by the law to apply it to the public 
uses specified, all of which are appropriate county charges. The county is, we think, 
'a party beneficially interested,' within the meaning of the Practice Act. 

" It is objected that in appointing Commissioners to ascertain and award the amount 
to be paid by Alameda County to Contra Costa County, the Legislature conferred 
upon them judicial functions, and thereby usurped powers that, under the Constitu- 
tion, belong exclusively to the judicial department of the Government. It will be 
observed that the money claimed was not a legal demand by one county against 
another, growing out of contracts or transactions between themselves, which could be 
litigated between them and enforced by suit in a court of justice. The claim as 
between the counties arose solely out of legislative action in creating the new county 
of Alameda in part out of the county of Contra Costa, and wholly independent of 
the action of either county as between themselves. The Legislature is charged by the 
Constitution with the power and duty of establishing a system of county and town 
governments. (Article IX., Section 4.) It may divide counties and create new ones, 
or change the boundaries, as in its wisdom it may deem the public interest to require. 
And in creating new counties out of territory taken from counties already organized, 
it is but just that it should apportion the debts already accrued between the new and 
old counties in the ratio of the territory, population, ta.xable property and benefits 
conferred on the respective counties or portions of counties affected by the change. 
It possesses the taxing power, and the power to determine for what objects of public 
interest, and to what extent, the taxing power shall be exercised. As incident to 
these powers, it is authorized to apportion the ta.xes either upon the whole State, or 
upon particular districts, according as the object is one of general or local interest or 
benefit. It may say what amount shall be paid by one district, and what amount 
by another. 

" In the case of Toivn of Guilford vs. Supervisors of Chenango County (3 Kcr., 
149), the Court of Appeals of New York say: ' The Legislature is not confined in its 
appropriation of the public moneys, or of the sums to be raised by taxation in favor 
of individuals, to cases in which a legal demand exists against the State. It can 
thus recognize claims founded in equit)- and justice, in the largest sense of these 
terms, or in gratitude or charit\-. Independently of express constitutional restrictions, 
it can make appropriations of money whenever the public well-being requires, or 
will be promoted by it; and it is the judge of what is for the public good. It can, 



Political History of the County. 203 

moreover, under the power to levy taxes, apportion the public burdens among all the 
tax-paying citizens of the State, or among those of a particular section or political 
division. 

" This was in a case where certain parties had sued the town of Guilford for 
expenses incurred and paid by them in conducting, by direction of the town, certain 
litigation on the part of the town, but in said suit failed to recover against the town 
the amount so expended, because the town was not legally liable. Subsequently 
the Legislatflre authorized the town, upon the vote of the majority of the inhabi- 
tants, to raise the sum expended and equitably due from the town, by tax, and to pay 
the demand; but directing that the decision of the people should be final. The inhab- 
itants voted the proposition down. The Legislature then passed a law authorizing 
Commissioners to determine and award the amount expended by the parties in the 
litigation, and directing the Supervisors of the county to levy a tax upon the town 
of Guilford and pay the amount so awarded. The town resisted the tax on the 
ground that it was unconstitutional, and among other points it was insisted that the 
Legislature had usurped judicial functions. But the law was upheld. The Court 
further say in the case: ' The statute-book is full, perhaps too full, of laws awarding 
damages and compensation of various kinds to be paid by the public to individuals 
who had failed to obtain what they considered equitably due to them by the deci- 
sion of administrative officers acting under the provisions of former laws. The courts 
have no power to supervise or review the doings of the Legislature in such cases.' 

" The Legislature, then, may, in its discretion, determine the objects for which, 
and the extent to which, the taxing power shall be exercised, and may apportion the 
taxes to be levied. In ascertaining the amount that ought equitably to be charged 
upon the different districts, as a guide to the exercise of this discretion, it may pur- 
sue its own methods, and employ its own instruments. 

" In this case the county of Contra Costa, in making a necessary public improve- 
ment — a bridge — incurred an obligation, which was chargeable upon the entire 
county. After the obligation was incurred, but before the entire amount subsequently 
paid had become due, the county was divided and a large portion of the territory, 
population, and taxable property liable for the demand was, by the Legislature, cut 
off from the county of Contra Costa, and erected into the new county of Alameda — 
the new county including the bridge for the erection of which the obligation was 
incurred. Equity, at least, required that the Legislature, in making the division of 
the territory, should then, or at some subsequent time, ascertain, in some manner, the 
portion of the debt then accrued or to accrue on existing obligations, that should be 
equitably apportioned to each of the counties. The Legislature chose to make the 
apportionment through Commissioners appointed by itself The amount chargeable 
upon the whole territory originally liable had, at the time of the passage of the law, 
been fixed by the judgment of a competent Court, and it was only necessary to make 
the apportionment. There are two apportionments necessary: firstly, between the two 
counties, and secondly, each county is to apportion its share among the taxable inhab- 
'itants of the county. The latter apportionment as much involves the exercise of 
judicial functions as the former. Both require an examination of facts, and the exer- 
cise of judgment. Both depend upon the same principles, and stand upon the same 



204 History of Alameda County, California. 

footing. But neither is in the nature of a suit litigated between contending parties. 
The entire amount to be paid is fixed by judgment. The Legislature provides the 
mode and designates the officers who shall make both apportionments; and we think 
the power is peculiarly within the province of the legislative department of the 
Government. It makes no difference whether each county is directed to levy its pro- 
portion of the debt and pay it directly to Oilman, or whether the whole is first raised 
by the county of Contra Costa and paid to Oilman, and then the county of Ala- 
meda rai.ses its portion and pays it to the county of Contra Costa. We think, 
therefore, the apportionment of the amount to be paid by the respective counties was 
not an encroachment upon the powers with which the judicial depai'tment is charged 
within the meaning of the Constitution. It is a power that has usually been exer- 
cised in other States, as well as heretofore in this State, by the political, and seldom, 
if ever, by the judicial department of the Oovernment. 

" Mr. Justice Shaftcr, having been of counsel in the case, did not participate in 
the decision." 

On May i, 1854, the Court of Sessions made the tax levy, there being directed 
to be collected a special tax of twenty-five cents on each one hundred dollars' worth 
of property, for the purpose of erecting county buildings. In August they established 
the first Salary Fund, four thousand five hundred dollars being set apart out of the 
county revenue as a Judicial Fund for the payment of the County Judge, District 
Attorney, and Associate Justices of the Peace, who formed the Court for one year. 
In the month of September the township of Alameda was created by these function- 
aries, and its boundaries slightly changed at the ne.xt subsequent meeting. October 
2d, John Travis and S. H. Robinson were elected Associate Justices, while, at the 
same time, Assessor Goucher resigned and was succeeded by Charles W. Breyfogle. 
About the same date Arunah Marshall was reappointed Jiicccs del Caiiipo (Judge of 
the Plains). This was an office that had its origin under Spanish rule, and was con- 
sidered of sufficient importance to be continued under the State Government; accord- 
ingly we find the office created under the Act approved October 2, 1854, and its 
functions defined. The Jiteces del Caiiipo were officers whose duties were confined to 
the cattle interests of the country; they attended the annual rodeos, and .settled all dis- 
putes arising as to ownership, brands, etc. The Act referred to conferred substantially 
the same powers upon the office as continued. 

1855. — The time of the Court of Sessions in its supervisory capacity was now 
rapidly drawing to a close: its last meeting as such bears date January 22, 1855, and 
its last record, like its first, was in the interest of the county roads. 

On March 9, 1855, the Act creating a Board of Supervisors for Alameda County 
was approved. It provided that the first Board should be elected on the third Mon- 
day of March, and annually thereafter. This election was duly held March 19th, and 
on April 2d the Board convened at the Court House in San Lcandro for the trans- 
action of business. There were then present: Henry C. Smith, of Washington 
Township; A. C. Austin, of Clinton Township; James W. Dougherty, of Murray 
Township; J. L. Sanford, of Oakland Township; James Millington, of Alameda 
Township; and S. D. Taylor, of Eden Township. Mr. Dougherty having been elected 



Political History of the County. 205 

Chairman of the Board, and the labors of their office commenced, their first duty 
was the appointment of a committee to examine claims against the county, and the 
fixing of the yearly tax levy. At the same meeting the County Treasurer was 
empowered to expend two hundred dollars for a safe. 

The necessity for more commodious accommodation for the public offices had 
been for some considerable time pressingly felt, the rented apartments occupied, 
although they had hitherto served their purpose, having become inadequate to the 
increasing wants of the community. From the previous years' tax collections there 
had accumulated a fund to which an addition was made by a provision in the levy for 
the current year; a committee was accordingly appointed by the Board of Super- 
visors of Alameda County, " to contract for the erecting of a frame building thirty by 
sixty feet and twelve feet high to the eaves, not to exceed in cost twelve hundred 
dollars, to be erected in San Leandro." Sealed proposals were invited therefor, to be 
opened on the fifteenth day of May, which is the last record in the matter until July 
lOth following, when the Building Committee report the structure completed at the 
rather startlingly extravagant sum of twelve hundred and sixty-five dollars. 

The history of the seat of justice of Alameda County is somewhat interesting, 
and is worthy of extended notice. At first, as we have seen, it was located at Alva- 
rado, the then center of the county's population. So soon as it had been determined 
to erect county buildings, in the year 1854, the various towns, villages, and hamlets 
with wonderful unanimity came forward and pleadingly urged their several claims for 
the distinction which popular sentiment had already decided could no longer be 
accorded to Alvarado. Petitions were actively circulated and a sufficient number of 
signatures obtained to justify the calling of an election to determine the future county 
seat. The matter came to a vote on December 5, 1854, and the canvass showed a 
total of one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two votes cast, which were divided 
among seven locations, as follows: Alameda, 232; Alvarado, 614; San Leandro, 782; 
Oakland, 18; San Lorenzo, 220; Haywards Town, 4; Hay wards, n ;* 

No town having received a majority of all the votes cast, another election was 
ordered to be held on December 30th. This time public interest centered upon two 
places only — Alvarado and San Leandro, the former receiving ten hundred and sixty- 
seven, and the latter thirteen hundred and one votes, and thus securing the prize. It 
will be remarked that the aggregate vote of the last-mentioned election, viz., two 
thousand three hundred and sixty-eight, exceeded that of the first-named by over 
five hundred ballots, a fact which must not be taken as an indication either of increased 
interest in the matter, or of sudden growth in population. It was accomplished by 
the most bare-faced fraud, in support of which statement we have the evidence of 
those yet living, who know whereof they speak. An election in that day was a "free 
to all:" men were imported from San Francisco by the boat-load; no conditions were 
imposed at the polls that were not readily complied with by such characters, and as 
a consequence numerical results were obtained that were not equaled years afterwards, 
under more salutary regulations of the election franchise. 

The newly-acquired honors of San Leandro, however, were not destined to 
remain long uncontested. 

*lt is probable that the last two mean one and the same place. 



206 History of Alameda County, California. 

The county buildings, as before stated, were finished in July, 1855; On August 
9th following. Supervisor Dougherty was delegated " to represent the Board of Super- 
visors of this county at the hearing of an application for peremptory mandamus 
before the Hon. C. P. Hester, Judge of the Third Judicial District, to be held at San 
Jose on the lOth instant, and to adopt such measures as may be necessary and proper 
to protect the interests of this county in the matter." The mandate was presumably 
issued to determine the legal right of the County Judge to order the election, and to 
determine therefrom the location of the county seat. The qu estion was settled at 
once, and in a manner not favorable to the claims of San Leandro, for the next 
meeting of the Board of Supervisors is recorded on the i6th August "at the Court- 
room in Alvarado." This arrangement, however, was not at all satisfactory to those 
who were managing the San Leandro scheme, and resort was next had to the Leg- 
islature, and on February 8, 1856, a bill was approved which once more gave them 
the coveted prize. Justice again betook herself to wheels, and on the' loth of March 
following we find her proclaimed once more from the Court House at San Leandro, 
destined at least to enjoy the quiet happiness of a fi.xed and permanent abode for a 
number of years to come, and here we will take advantage of her state of quiescence 
to resume the thread of current history so abruptly broken off 

At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors on July 10, 1855, a resolution was 
adopted authorizing the Auditor hereafter to draw their warrants for mileage both 
going to a.nd relit ruing from the county seat, a measure authorized by section eighteen 
of the Act approved March 20, 1855, though not strictly applicable to this Board, 
which was created by a special Act. Shortly after this another peculiar order appears, 
as follows: "That the total amount of the county's proportion of the nassessed {sic) 
taxes for the year 1854, when collected, be applied to the County Common School 
Fund." At the same time a property tax of two cents on each one hundred dollars 
was levied for road purposes, and a road poll tax of three dollars was made levia- 
ble on all adult males between the ages of twenty-one and fifty years. At this 
session the District Attorney, at his own instance, was instructed to bring suit " upon 
the official bond of Jotham S. Marston, late Treasurer of said county, to recover a 
judgment for any defalcation as such Treasurer." 

As soon as the county officials had betaken themselves to .Alvarado in August, 
1855, a question very properly arose touching the legality of all county business 
transacted at San Leandro during its occupancy as the shire town, from April 2d to 
August 15, 1855. The Board of Supervisors, therefore, to make their record unim- 
peachable, passed a curative resolution affirming and re-enacting all resolutions and 
enactments passed by them during that time. On September 17th the returns of 
the general election held on the 5th of that month were canvassed, and the statement 
ordered on file. 

The propriety of making election returns a matter of record was not observed 
until the year 1859; as a consequence the matter of accurately determining official 
incumbency and succession up to that time is beset with more difficulties than would 
at first appear. Documentary evidence is not always at hand; tradition is not always 
reliable, and the final resort is the examination of events with which, the official 
record sought may be directly or indirectly connected. Great care should be bestowed 



Political History of the County. 207 

upon the preservation of official history in a county; records can scarcely be made 
too full and minute; matters that appear of minor importance at the time may assume 
serious importance in the future. The filing away of a paper usually results in its 
loss, and this may lead to extensive and expensive litigation; the time spent in 
recording it may prove to be time saved a thousand-fold. 

October i, 1855, the Supervisors-elect assembled and proceeded to organize, there 
being present: Henry C. Smith of Washington, Thomas Eager of Clinton, Henry 
Haile of Alameda, George Fay of Eden, F. W. Lucas of Murray, S. D. Taylor of 
Oakland — the last holding over by virtue of a tie vote, and Mr. Smith being chosen 
Chairman. This Board evidently understood that county matters had heretofore been 
handled with a rather loose rein, therefore they went to work in good earnest to bring 
them up to a more distinct business standard. The official bonds of all officers-elect 
were carefully examined, all county and township officers were required to make report 
at once; a committee was appointed to examine and report upon the condition of the 
Treasurer's books; that official himself was required to file an additional bond of 
thirty thousand dollars, within ten days (which he did); the acting Coroner, S. H. 
Crocker, having failed to file an additional bond, was ousted; and matters generally 
were "brought up with a round turn." More attention was also paid to school affairs 
than had hitherto been manifested; the pay of School Trustees was fixed at three 
dollars per dietn, while on duty. Washington Township was divided into three school 
districts, and another one formed in each of the townships of Oakland and Eden, and 
one from parts of Eden and Clinton. A special election was also ordered for Super- 
visor in Oakland Township, to be held November 24, 1855, made necessary by the tie 
vote at the general election. No further record appears of this, but as Mr. Taylor con- 
tinues to occupy the position on the archives, he was doubtless re-elected at that time. 

1856. — Up to January, 1856, county officers had not responded promptly to the 
order of the Board regarding their reports, therefore, on the 8th of that month they 
were notified that unless their quarterly reports were forthcoming as required by law 
their duty in this regard would be legally enforced. This edict had the desired effect 
and thenceforth these matters were more promptly attended to than ever before. 
At this time, also, it was determined that the Special Act creating a Board of Super- 
visors should be repealed and the county be brought under the General Act of March 
3, 1855, for the evident reason that under this latter bill the scope of the Board was 
more extended and its duties and powers more general. Accordingly, April 3, 1856, 
an Act was approved repealing that already mentioned, and subjecting the county to 
the General Act above referred to, which provides that certain counties, Alameda 
among the number, should be allowed five Supervisors instead of three, as provided for 
the counties at large. 

On March 10, 1856, the county seat being again at San Leandro, a resolution 
introduced by Supervisor Eager was adopted " that the places called San Antonio 
and Clinton, and the township heretofore known and called Clinton be, and they are 
hereby consolidated, and that the whole territory embraced within the original limits 
of said township of Clinton shall hereafter be known as and called Brooklyn." This 
matter had been acted upon at a previous meeting in March but the resolution then 



208 History of Alameda County, California. 



adopted did not correctly state, nor full\- cover the case as petitioned for b>- the citi- 
zens of the territor)- referred to. A committee was also appointed to ascertain the 
probable cost of a brick jail, an in.stitution that, up to this time, the county had man- 
aged to get along without, the worst cases of criminals ha\ing been confined in the 
San Francisco prison, and the others cared for as best could be done. In the month 
of May more school districts were formed; the sum of five hundred and si.xtccn dollars 
was appropriated to pa\- R. J. Horner for a bridge built by him above Aharado across 
the Alameda Creek; and a resolution was adoincd looking to the building of a Court 
House and jail, a committee being appointed to visit the newly-erected buildings of 
this nature at Martinez, also one to ascertain upon what terms Carpentier's Bridge 
(Twelfth Street Bridge, Oakland) could be purchased. The ])a\- of the .Supervisors 
was at that time fixed at four dollars per day; the surve}- of the count)- and township 
boundary lines, and the construction of maps proposed; and to close the month's pro- 
ceedings the Clerk was directed to procure from the Secretary of State a copy of the 
laws affecting Boards of Supervisors in general, and that of Alameda County in par- 
ticular, our Honorable Board being evidentl)' determined that all of their acts should 
stand the test of legal scrutinj-. 

In June the Building Committee presented a plan for count)- buildings and were 
instructed to ascertain the probable cost thereof; the Treasurer was instructed to pro- 
cure the county's portion of the State IndigenJ Sick Fund — now due for two quarters; 
while a new township called Jefferson was created out of portions of Fden and Wash- 
ington, the order creating it being, however, rescinded and vacated at the next meet- 
ing. In July sealed proposals were invited for building a Court House and jail, to be 
opened August 5th, and the annual tax levy was made. On August 5, 1856, nine 
bids for erecting county buildings were opened and found to range from twenty-six 
thousand to thirty-nine thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars; on the 8th of that 
month the contract was awarded to C. B. Tool at thirty-two thousand four hundred 
dollars w hich was subsequently reduced to thirty thousand dollars by modifications in 
the plans. On the 18th of August it was decided to emplo)- a suitable person to 
tighten the scn'tcs of San Leandro Bridge. This was undoubtedly meant to be construed 
literally although previous as well as subsequent action on the subject might warrant a 
figurative interpretation of the order. The County Surve)'or at the same meeting was 
authorized to complete two maps of the count)- for which he should receive twenty- 
six hundred dollars when finished and approved. ' 

In the month of October the count)- was di\ided into five Superxisoral Districts 
in accordance with the general law, which were de.scribcd and designated as follows: 
Township of Oakland, District Number One; Townships of Brookl)-n and Alameda, 
District Number Two; Township of Eden, District Number Three; Township of 
Washington, District Number Four; Town.ship of Murray, District Number Five. 

At this meeting the office of Public Administrator was declared vacant, the 
incumbent, Edwin Barnes, having failed to file the additional bond required of him; 
while on the same date Mr. Tool received his first installment on account of his con- 
tract of fifteen hundred dollars, and Mr. Fairfield is allowed fift)- dollars for working 
the Court House plans. 

On November 4th a general election was held throughout the .State for Presidcn- 



Political History of the County. 209 

tial electors, Members of Congress, State, County, and Township officers, the result of 
which in Alameda County will be found in the tabulated statement published herein. 
At this session of the Board, Noble Hamilton and Edward R. Carpentier were each 
allowed one hundred and twenty-five dollars for legal services in the case of The People, 
ex rel. vs. C. P. Hester which grew out of the assessment made during the month of 
August for a County Building Fund. Those opposed to it made application to Hon. 
C. P. Hester, District Judge, for a writ of certiorari to review the said proceedings of 
the Supervisors. This the Judge refused to grant, whereupon application was made 
to the Supreme Court for a writ of mandaiiius directed to the said Judge compelling 
him to issue a writ as asked. The Court sustained the Judge in his decision. On the 
25th Hiram Keeney was appointed to superintend the building of the Court House; 
and with a vote of thanks to the Chairman the Board of Supervisors adjourned sine 
die. The ist of December following found the newly-elected Board assembled and 
ready for business. Mr. Dougherty was elected Chairman, the other members being, 
Thomas Eager, J. H. Mason, William Hayward, and J. A. Hobart. After the appoint- 
ment of the usual standing committees, the remainder of the meeting — the only one 
in this month — was devoted to road and bridge matters. 

1857. — In January, 1857, and for some time following, the new Court House 
appeared to demand considerable attention. Doubts having been expressed as to the 
manner in which the w(5rk was being done it was ordered that a competent brick-mason 
be employed to examine it carefully. A committee was also appointed for the same 
purpose. No fault appears to have been found, however, and the work progressed to 
its completion, July 8th, on which day the contractor was paid in full including five 
hundred and eighty dollars for extra work, his receipt for thirty thousand five hundred 
and eighty dollars being spread upon the records, while a committee received the key 
and delivered it to the Chairman of the Board. March 2d, Jotham S. Marston, the 
first County Treasurer, petitioned to be released from all liability on account of money 
stolen from the treasury during his term of office. The petition was refused. 

The history of this affair as gathered from those who were residents of the county 
seat at the time is as follows: Sometime during the year 1854 the safe containing the 
county funds at Alvarado was robbed of about twelve thousand dollars. Hcn. A. W. 
Crane, then County Judge, was in San Francisco at the time and being apprized 
of the robbery immediately crossed the bay and took the stage for Alvarado. Upon 
arriving he at once proceeded to examine the locality of the occurrence closely. The 
rear of the building in which the safe was kept projected over the shelving bank of 
Alameda Creek affording standing room underneath. Here the Judge, while poking 
around in the loose sand with his cane, discovered under the part of the build- 
ing on the bank, an old boot which he hooked on to and noticing that it 
appeared to be very heavy, but still not attaching much importance to that fact, he 
drew it out, and emptied it of about four thousand dollars in gold. Other parties 
then provided long poles with hooks attached and succeeded in reducing the loss to 
about seven thousand dollars. Suspicion rested strongly upon certain parties but no 
evidence could be obtained that would warrant their arrest. Mr. Marston appealed 
to the Legislature — his only resort for relief — and that body in an Act approved Feb- 



210 History of Alameda County, California. 

ruary 3, 1857, granted it to him so far as the State's loss was concerned, and authorized 
and permitted the Board of Supervisors to give him credit and acquittance for the 
sum of seven thousand one hundred and fifty-six dollars and forty-four cents, the total 
shortage.' Mr. Marston's petition, as above stated, was refused; but in August follow- 
ing, upon payment of three thousand four hundred and forty-one dollars and forty 
cents, he and his bondsmen were released from all responsibility in the matter and 
legal proceedings against them stopped. 

At this time two irregularities in the acts of former Boards were discovered and 
it was ordered that all Auditor's warrants drawn previous to July i, 1856, be destroyed, 
and a committee be appointed to. examine and check up, to same date all allowances 
made by previous Boards. Some doubt existed at this period also as to whether 
sufficient power was conferred upon County Supervisors by the General Act of 1855 
to justify a tax levy for erecting county buildings, and the delegation from Alameda 
County was instructed to put forth every effort to have the question settled by legis- 
lative enactment. This resulted in a Special Act, approved April 18, 1857, authoriz- 
ing a tax levy of a quarter of one per cent, for the building of a Court House and jail 
in Alameda County. Matters of ordinary interest occupied the Board during most 
of this year. On August 3d the annual tax levy was proclaimed; on the 8th it was 
ordered that possession of the new Court House be taken at once by the county officers, 
the same having been made ready for occupancy. August loth Surveyor Higley 
presented the county maps contracted for in 1856, and received his stipulated price 
therefor, viz.: two thousand si.x hundred dollars; while, at the same time the plan of 
Mr. Hobart for furnishing the Court House was adopted, the contract for which was 
awarded to Freeman & Smith at eleven hundred dollars. The tax levies for the 
years 1854-55-56 having been declared null and void were ordered stricken from the 
rolls so far as the State's portion was concerned and the Collector ordered to receive 
fifty per cent, of the county portion in full of all demands. Then, after having can- 
vassed the returns of the late election, and attended to the inevitable road matter the 
Board adjourned shie die. 

On October 5, 1857, the following-named gentlemen assembled at the county seat, 
to whom were delegated the care of the county's interest for the following year: James 
W. Douf^erty, F. K. Shattuck, James B. Larue, J. R. Mason, and C. P. Wray, the first- 
named serving as Chairman. At this meeting two luckless Justices of the Peace, 
John R. Wales, of Washington, and B. F. Ferris, whose claims had been ignored by 
the Returning Board, petitioned for their rights, and, upon due consideration, the 
former was granted a certificate, but his fellow-sufferer was forced to wait for his 
position until the ne.xt meeting. 

1858. — In February the contract with the Alameda County Gasette for printing 
the proceedings of the Board was annulled; the salary of the School Superintendent 
was fixed at four hundred dollars, payable quarterly, scarcely enough to pay his livery 
bill if he discharged his duties as prescribed; on the same date the monthly pay of 
the Treasurer was increased seventy-five dollars. The Act appro\cd April 28, 1857, 
regulating fees in office of certain counties — Alameda among the number — received 
the hearty endorsement of the Board; on February 2d the annual tax levy was made; 



Political History of the County. 211 

this levy is remarkable in that the authoritative Act for each item in the count is 
referred to. On the day following, the Legislature, by Act approved February 2, 
1858, fixed the maximum of State tax at sixty cents; the cha.nge above referred to 
in this connection was made in March. The 26th of February should be known as 
a red-letter day in the calendar of Alameda County, for upon that day the Honorable 
Board of Supervisors attempted to reduce its own per diem allowance from four to 
three dollars, and failed. Mr. Wray was the image smasher who precipitated this 
unwholesome and unparalleled piece of legislation upon his Honorable confreres^ 
and that, too, without any previous warning. The party of " old ideas " was equal 
to the emergency, however, and promptly squelched this bit of audacity by a tie vote, 
the rash author of the resolution and his coadjutor, J. B. Larue, being met by Messrs. 
Mason and Shattuck. How the Honorable Chairman, Mr. Dougherty, would have 
recorded himself had he been present those who know best can say; we only give the 
facts as they appear on record, for the benefit of any who may hereafter attempt 
such a rash innovation upon established precedents. 

In April we find that H. M. Vesey, Clerk, issued to H. M. Vesey, Auditor, three 
thousand blank county licenses, under Act of April 17, 1858, which is noteworthy 
only as one of the many absurdities that grew out of the combination of these two 
offices, another one of which is that the County Clerk files his official bond with 
the Auditor, and that, officer his with the County Clerk, both being the same party. 

At the first meeting in June, 1858, the matter of the Contra Costa County debt 
came up for action. In April previous the Legislature approved a bill appointing B. C. 
Whitman, of Solano County, John H. Livingston, of Contra Costa County, and J. W. 
Dougherty, of Alameda County, a committee to adjust and certify the amount of the 
debt; the same Act also fixed the time of paying the claim, viz.: March i, 1859, and 
i860, one-half at each date. The amount found to be due was three thousand nine 
hundred and forty-four dollars and sixty-six cents, and a special tax of five cents was 
levied to meet the first payment. In the month of August the Santa Clara indebted- 
ness was finally settled by an order of the Board instructing the Auditor to issue a 
warrant for eight hundred and eighty-two dollars and forty-seven cents, that being the 
amount found to be yet due thereon by Commissioners Melone and Dougherty. 
The general election for this year took place on September 21st, but there is no 
record of the returns ever having been canvassed. The Supervisors elected were F. 
K. Shattuck, for Oakland; Jonathan Mayhew, for Washington; J. A. Griffin, for 
Eden; S. M. Davis, for Alameda and Brooklyn; and Charles Duerr, for Murray. Mr. 
Shattuck was chosen Chairman, he being also the only member of the outgoing Board 
returned. 

1859. — The new guardians of the public weal, following the proverb of the "new 
broom," made a clean sweep of all former county legislation on the subject of 
indigent sick, by repealing the same; they also examined the jail and reported 
alterations and improvements affecting its safety and sanitary condition; and gave 
the printing of their proceedings to the Gazette at six dollars per column. 
They also adopted an order of business and twelve rules for the government of their 
deliberations. Supervisor Mayhew at this time developed a talent for architecture, 



212 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

and profited thereby to the extent of ten dollars, that same having been allowed him 
for executing plans and specifications for an out-house. On Februarj' 9th, one 
Miguel Marquis petitioned for the refunding to him of one hundred and fifty dollars 
paid by him under protest for violating the .Sunday Law, the same having been 
declared unconstitutional. Here we see the " little cloud no bigger than a man's 
hand " that was destined to spread over our entire political sky in the years to come, 
and prove a veritable Pandora's box to opposing parties. On the 28th of the same 
month the annual ta.x levy was made. A grant for a wharf at Fleming's Point was 
made by the Board on the 17th of May under provisions of the Act of April 8, 1858, 
while at the same session no less a sum than seven hundred dollars was allowed to Dr. 
Cole for medical care of an indigent. 

The care of sick and afflicted persons was a matter that had to be dealt with 
from the very organization of the State and legislative provisions relative thereto 
were enacted as rapidly as observation dictated the method or financial ability 
permitted their consummation. The first Legislature that assembled wisely foresaw 
that great suffering would necessarily follow unless legal provision should be made for 
the care and maintenance in sickness of the thousands who were flocking to the 
shores of the Pacific in their " sacred hunger for gold." The character of the early 
immigration to California differs widely from that to any other of the new States of 
the Union. The pioneer of Illinois brought with him his wife and children; his 
sturdy arm at once laid low the mighty oaks of the primeval forest; his cabin was 
soon built; and cheered and encouraged by the presence of those he held most dear 
he entered at once upon the enjoyments — rude though they were — of an established 
home. 

Not so, however, with the "forty-niner" of California. He bade adieu to the 
loved ones at home and started forth upon his perilous journey over thousands of miles 
of tr.ickless waste, beset with dangers on all sides, in pursuit of the land of gold. 
His journey accomplished, he at once sought the mines, and in rain and in sunshine, 
through night and day, " from morn till noon, from noon till dewy eve," he toiled with 
his pick and pan for the acquisition of the fortune that alas too often eluded his 
grasp. Finally, worn out by his excessive and unnatural toil, his physical vigor gave 
way and he lay upon a bed of sickness in his rude miner's hut. No loving wife nor 
mother to minister to his necessities and cheer and soothe him with her presence, but 
he was forced to combat with the Angel of Death single-handed, with only such 
help as could be expected from his associates, whose kindly hearts could not supply 
skill and proper care. As a consequence, his life was either cut off, or he rose from 
his bed ruined in fortune and so shattered in health as to become at once a burden 
and an object of charity. 

To meet this state of affairs we find among the statutes of 1H50 one establishing 
a Marine Hospital at San Francisco, to which the sick of that city could be admitted 
upon proper application. Further legislation in 1851 located State Hospitals at Sac- 
ramento and Stockton, and in the month of April following two thousand dollars per 
anmiiit was allowed to the city of San Diego for the care of indigent sick arriving at 
that port. In May, 1853, a General Law was passed establishing a State "Indigent 
Sick Fund " providing means for its maintenance and prescribing the manner of its 



Political History of the County. 213 

distribution to the organized counties of the State. This law was amended and its 
scope enlarged by the Act approved April ii, 1855, which, among other matters, 
delegated the care of indigent sick to the Boards of Supervisors of the respective 
counties, giving them power to appoint physicians, to erect hospital buildings, to levy a 
tax and to draw from the State Hospital Fund the amount apportioned to their county 
quarterly. 

Under this Act we find the first record of the county of Alameda in this matter, 
bearing date May 1, 1855, at which time the Board of Supervisors appointed Doctors 
D. C. Porter of Oakland, A. W. Powers of Eden, H. C. Sill of Washington, and 
William Wilworth of Clinton, County Physicians, who were allowed two dollars per 
visit and one dollar per mile traveling expenses, and in July following the first 
requisition was made for the amount of Hospital Fund due. The first bill allowed 
on this fund was to W. J. Wentworth for medical attendance, etc., on Frederick 
Campbell, one hundred and eighty-three dollars. 

The Board of Physicians was continued, with various changes and one removed, 
until January I, 1856, at which time they were all discharged, the Supervisors prob- 
ably fearing that the bills resulting from their former order might prove a serious 
matter. Up to this time the indigent sick, though possessing a "name" in law, had 
no "local habitation." Their care was delegated to citizens, and it must have been a 
pleasure in those days to a poor sick person, if the comforts offered them were at all 
in proportion to the magnitude of the bills therefor that were audited and paid. The 
matter continued in this condition until the following August, when it was decided to 
procure a suitable place and means of providing for the indigent sick; accordingly a 
contract was made with Orrin Hamlin to that end, at the per capita allowance of 
twelve dollars a week. This arrangement continued but a short time, and on April 
4, 1857, an order appears abolishing the County Hospital, from date, and again com- 
mitting to the care of the Supervisors the sick of their respective districts. This was 
retrograde legislation, and merely serves to show that, in the face of what were more 
important matters, this very momentous one had not had bestowed upon it the 
thought and study that it deserved. However, a silent yet impressive influence was 
constantly being exerted in its favor, as bills poured in, and had to be disposed of; 
and in November, 1858, it was decided to ascertain at what expense the indigent sick 
could be cared for in hospital at San Francisco; also to advertise for sealed proposals 
for their care, and then to clear away all obstacles in the way of future legislation — 
all orders, rules, or resolutions appearing on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors 
relating to the care or attendance of indigent sick were repealed, and Supervisors were 
clothed with the authority of hospital stewards. This legislation seemed to affect the 
sanitary condition of the county unfavorably, as bills for medical attendance, nursing, 
etc., appeared in increased volume. As an instance, in June, 1859, the bill of Dr. 
Thomas Payne for attendance on indigent sick, five hundred dollars, was allowed, as 
was also that of Dr. Cole, mentioned above, for seven hundred dollars for one man. 
These bills were closely examined by the Finance Committee, and their payment 
recommended. 

We can easily imagine the feeling of relief that was experienced when, in Feb- 
ruary, i860, a proposition was received from St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, 



214 History of Alameda County, California. 

offering to take charge of the indigent sick of the county, at a per diem charge of one 
dollar and twenty-five cents per capita. Without hesitation the offer was accepted, 
and presumably all who could be safely moved were at once transferred thither, and 
yet we find among allowances shortly after, one of one hundred and forty-six dollars 
and twenty-five cents to the hospital, and an aggregate to others for the same purpose 
of four hundred and eighty-eight dollars and thirty cents, from which it may be 
inferred that either the hospital was unable to attend to all the indigent sick in Ala- 
medaCounty or, that the private citizens found county nursing far too profitable a source 
of revenue to be tamely surrendered; preponderance of evidence is found to sustain the 
latter view, for, up to February 2, 1861, forty-five per cent of all allowances on account 
of Indigent Sick Fund were made to parties other that the hospital. This was 
observed, in all probability, by the Supervisors, for, on the day last named, it was 
decided to advertise for sealed proposals for the care of the indigent sick of the 
county. 

Four bids were presented as follows: Thomas Green, M. D., for board, medical 
and other cares, one dollar and seventy-five cents per day; Joseph Ralph, for the like 
offices, one dollar and fifty cents per day; Henry Haile, twelve dollars per week; and 
Thomas Payne, two dollars per day. The records show that this last-named gentle- 
man accompanies his bid with a letter of considerable length, in which he states, 
among other things, that should he be awarded the contract, he will do what he can 
to make them (the sick) comfortable, cost what it may, and adds, underscored and in 
quotations, ''Liberality is my forte". He also adds a bit of financial history to the 
effect that county scrip has been as low as seventy-five cents on the dollar since his 
residence in the county. 

In due time thereafter a contract, covering twelve months, was made with Dr. 
Henry Haile " to board, lodge, take care of and furnish all medicine and medical 
attendance necessary for the indigent sick at twelve dollars per week for each individ- 
ual;" his first bill was audited in August following, at two hundred and twenty-one 
dollars and thirteen cents, and the contract with St. Mary's Hospital was also con- 
tinued and claims allowed under it, amounting to three thousand seven hundred and 
fifty-two dollars and twenty-five cents up to May 5, 1862, at which date it was decided 
''that all patients remaining in said hospital from this county be discharged there- 
from, from and after this date, and that all contracts express or implied heretofore or 
now e.xisting with said hospital for the care of the indigent sick are hereby discon- 
tinued and ended from and after this date. " At the same time the contract with 
Doctor Haile was renewed for one year from May 14, 1862, at ten dollars per week 
for each person; and was continued with him the following year at seven dollars and 
twenty-five cents /.?/- crt/z/rt. In May, 1864, the period for making the annual con- 
tract, time was taken for consideration and Doctor Haile was instructed to continue 
under his last contract till further orders. The object of this delay is clearly to be 
seen. While everything had been working smoothly under tiie contract system, and 
the monthly reports of the committee appointed to supervise the matter were favora- 
ble, yet, the necessities of the case were not fully met. Either from lack of room in 
Doctor Haile's hospital, or from some other cause, numbers of sick were still cared 
for on the outside and the monthly bills paid on their account aggregated a large 



Political History of the County. 215 

per centage of the total disbursements of the fund. Added to this was the apparent 
fact that the contract system was a profitable business for at the last opening of bids 
the lowest one was less than one-half the rate of 1861. It was therefore thought best 
to establish a County fiospital, the management of which should be directly in the 
hands of the Board of Supervisors, and it was so decided in August, 1864. A Board 
of Managers was at once appointed, consisting of Supervisors Shattuck and Cummings 
and Doctor Edward Gibbons as Hospital Physician. A building was procured of Mrs. 
Lyon in the city of Oakland, at a monthly rental of thirty-five dollars and the new order 
of things was inaugurated at once, for we find on the 15th of the same month allow- 
ances to various parties for supplies for County Hospital, three hundred and fifty 
dollars, and on the 22d Doctor Haile was paid (presumably) in full under his contract, 
eight hundred and forty-five dollars and twelve cents. 

The hospital Steward, H. T. Burr, filed his quarterly report to date on February 
1 1, 1865, and regularly thereafter up to his dismissal in August following. 

The first year under the hospital system proved conclusively the wisdom of^he 
arrangement. The total expense, including rent, furniture, pay of employes, and two 
hundred and seventy-one dollars paid outside for care of a small-pox patient, being 
only, three thousand six hundred and nine dollars, six cents, which compared with the 
expenses of preceding years showed a very substantial retrenchment. No charge on 
account of medical attendance appears against the county during- this year, and, on 
August 14th, a letter from Doctor Newcomb tendering his services in the medical 
department of the hospital gratuitously for one year was filed. The following year 
Doctor Van Wyck was Hospital Physician at fifty dollars per month, and Orrin 
Hamlin, Steward. In May, 1867, Doctor Pinkerton succeeded Dr. Van Wyck and 
continued in office to the end of the County Hospital period, December 12, 1868. 
Thus after a struggle of eleven years with this question the solution was finally 
reached and henceforward there were to be only temporary obstacles to ever come in 
the pathway — the way itself was clearly defined. 

On April 18, i860, the Legislature enacted a law to establish County Infirmaries 
and amendatory of an Act to provide for the Indigent Sick, etc., approved in 1855. 
Under the provisions of this Statute the Supervisors of every county in the State, 
with the exception of seventeen, which are designated by name in section twenty-six, 
are authorized to establish County Infirmaries whenever in their opinion such a 
measure will be advantageous; to purchase one hundred and sixty acres of land, or 
less, and erect thereon suitable buildings, the expense to be defrayed by a tax levy 
not to exceed one-quarter of one per cent. They were also to act as a Board of 
Directors and in general to exercise a supervisory care over this as over other county 
interests. Under the provisions of this Act it was decided, in December, 1868, to 
establish a County Infirmary. The matter had evidently been unofificially canvassed 
previous to this time, as the proposition of C. Puff to sell fifty acres of land in 
Eden Township to the county for this purpose was accepted, and a committee ap- 
pointed to enter into a contract with him for purchase of the said tract. A County 
Infirmary tax of fifteen cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of property was 
levied, and in May, 1869, proposals were invited for erecting a suitable building thirty- 
six by fifty-six feet in dimensions, the cost not to exceed three thousand dollars. In 



216 History of Alameda County, California. 

the meantime the committee had closed the contiact for the land with Mr. Puff; in 
the month of June following the contract was let to Messrs. Taylor & (Goodrich at- 
two thousand nine hundred and twenty-five dollars; work was commenced at once, 
and on July 7th the contractors were allowed their first two payments, nineteen 
hundred and fifty dollars and six hundred and ninety-one dollars and forty cents, on 
account of extra work; on August 5th they were allowed one thousand three hundred 
and seventy-five dollars and fifty-si.x cents, and Robert Dalziel was granted four 
hundred and seventy-one dollars for work which, with a subsequent allowance of 

sixty-five dollars for painting, brought the cost of the building up U) $4,552 96 

To which add cost of land, i23fVij acres of C. Puff 1,632 46 

F. D. Atherton 3,786 60 

$9,972 02 
The new Infirmary was occupied about August 15, 1870, this being the date from 
which Doctor Coleman, the first attending physician, was paid. There is no record of 
theS3oard of Directors beyond that contained in the minutes of the Board of Super- 
visors prior to October 3, 1870, at which date a meeting was called, officers elected, 
and minutes taken. This was continued up to May 4, 1874, three and two-thirds 
years. The report of the Hospital Committee for the )'ear ending December 31, 1874, 
is as follows: — 

Number in hospital, Janiuiry 1 1, 1874 36 

Number adniilteil during the year 191 

Total 227 

Number discharged during the year 162 

Number of deaths during the year 22 

Total r84 

Number of inmates on December 31, 1874 43 

Yearly expense for salaries, supplies, coffins, etc., 5^13,274.52 

Relief granted to persons outside of Infirmary 2,842.49 

Total amount of warrants drawn .$16,117.01 

Average daily expense per patient during year 51 

Cash accrued during the year 225.35 

Cash accrued during the year expentled 167.85 

Balance on hand, December 31, 1874 ^57-5° 

On April 12, 1875, the Board of Supervisors ordered the erection of four new 
wards, at a cost not to exceed one thousand dollars, this expense becoming necessary 
on account of the want felt for increased accommodation. These were reported com- 
pleted on June 14th, at a cost of eight hundred and eleven dollars and thirty-three 
cent.s, but even this extra room proved insufficient, as on May 15, 1876, the Infirmary 
was reported full, therefore it was thought advisable to make some lasting addition 
to the building. At the .session of the Board on July 6th, the Hospital Committee 
were instructed to have plans and specifications draw n out for the increase in size of 
the building, which were duly submitted to the Board, who, ..August 17th, directed them 
to advertise for bids for building additions in accordance with submitted plans and 
specifications on file. September nth four bids, ranging from five thousand two 
hundred and sixty to five thousand dollars were offered, and all rejected, while the 




- f 




'^ 




i^^-ty^^ 



. Political History of the County. 217 

plans were returned to the committee for alteration in consonance with the wishes of 
the Supervisors, who desired to expend a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars. 
The plans were again submitted on the 25th of the same month, and bids, etc., once 
more called for. On the loth of October ten offers were opened, at surns ranging 
from five thousand • one hundred and, fifty to three thousand two hundred and fifty- 
five dollars, at which latter figure the contract was awarded to J. W. Watson. The 
building was reported completed, accepted by the Board of Supervisors, warrants 
ordered to be issued to the contractor for the sura contracted for, and one hundred 
and ten dollars to J. J. Newsom for services as architect, on December u, 1876. On 
November 26, 1877, the Hospital Committee submitted to the Supervisors for their 
consideration and approval, a set of new rules and regulations intended for the guid- 
ance of physicians, superintendent, steward, cook, nurses, and other employes, as well as 
patients, which were adopted, ordered printed in pamphlet form, with County Infirm- 
ary Law, and also on cards, to be placed in the several wards of the hospital. 

On December 17, 1877, a resolution was adopted appointing a committee to 
inquire into the necessity of purchasing twenty-five or fifty acres of land, convenient 
to the city of Oakland, suitable for a poor-farm or alms-house, where the old, infirm, 
poor and homeless, and orphans, could be sent, at the same time making it a self-sustain- 
ing institution, similar to those in the Eastern States, while the District Attorney was 
requested to draft a bill for presentation to ths Legislature so that such an establish- 
ment should be placed on a sure foundation. The matter, it would appear, did not 
find favor in certain quarters, however, for on March 4th, following, appears on the 
records a resolution protesting against the passage of a bill " to establish a County 
Hospital in the city of Oakland"; the Board, however, claimed ample power, under 
existing laws, to provide for the dependent poor an J sick of the county, and believed 
that the division of the Infirmary Fund would be impolitic. 

On December 27, 1877, a corporation named the Oakland Homeopathic Hospital 
and Dispensing Association, founded by the ladies of the county, petitioned the Board 
of Supervisors for the use of two rooms in the city of Oakland wherein to establish 
their institution and afford free medical aid to the poor. The petition was denied at 
the time, but afterwards, on February 11, 1878, an allowance of forty dollars per 
month was voted, under the understanding that the Supervisors should have the priv- 
ilege of sending patients to their establishment. In March, 1878, a resolution was 
introduced to farm out the care of the county poor, the contractor to furnish medical 
attendance, medicine, all necessary help, provisions, and supplies, and to have the use 
of the Infirmary buildings, grounds, furniture, etc. In accordance with the above, 
bids were advertised for during the month of April. In due time they were received 
and found to range from sixty-four to forty-five cents a ddiy per capita, but nothing 
was done permanently until May 17th, when it was decided to reject all bids and 
continue the institution under its present management. In July, 1878, it was resolved 
to select a site in Oakland Township for the Infirmary, the District Attorney being 
requested to decide the question as to the right of the Board of Supervisors to dis- 
pose of the present Infirmary grounds and remove the establishment. The decision 
of that officer was favorable to the scheme, on which the Hospital Committee selected 
a building site in Fruit Vale — but there the matter would appear to rest. In the follow- 
15 



218 History of Alameda County, California. 

ing November the hospital steward presented a plan for an addition to the Infirmary, 
which was referred to a committee and adopted. Plans and specifications were, under 
proper directions, advertised for. On presentation these were referred to a Committee 
of the Whole, a motion to refer to the Hospital Committee having been lost. The 
plans of S. & J. C. Newsom were duly adopted, and bids for building the same were 
ordered to be placed in public competition. Ten contractors responded to the call 
with bids ranging from six thousand five hundred to four thousand nine hundred and 
fifty-six dollars, at which latter figure Messrs. Ingerson & Henderson were awarded 
the contract on January 13, 1879. This addition was reported finished March 24th, 
and the Board, after visiting and examining, "pronounced it good," and recorded, March 
31, 1879, their formal acceptance of the work. 

We now append the last report of that institution : — 

The Alameda County Hospital was located in Oakland August 16, 1864. F"rom 
that date to 1869, a period of five years, there were 356 patients admitted for treat- 
ment; 200 were discharged cured, 91 improved or left voluntarily, and 54 died. 

In 1868 the Board of Supervisors purchased 123^ acres of land near the foot- 
hills, two and a half miles from San Leandro and ten and a half miles (not fourteen 
or sixteen miles, as often stated) from Oakland, for an Infirmary, paying therefor 
$5,535. In 1869 a building was erected and the hospital closed in Oakland and the 
Infirmary established at its present location. 

Other buildings were erected in the years 1875, 1877, 1879, and 1882. At 
present there is room for nearly 200 patients. 

From the establishment of the hospital in Oakland, August 16, 1864, to Decem- 
ber 31, 1882, there have been 3,778 admissions, of whom 466 have died and 3,197 
have deen discharged, cured, improved, or leaving voluntarily, except a few each year 
sent away for disobedience. 

The following report of the Infirmary for the year ending December 31, 1882, 
was presented to the Board of Supervisors: — 

To THE Honorable the Board of Supervi.sor.s of Alameda County, 
California — Gentlemen: I have the honor to present the following report of the 
Infirmary for the year ending December 31, 1882. 

Respectfully, J. F. BURDICK, Secy. 

Patients present January I, 1882 I03 

Patients admitted 365 

Total present 468 

Patients discharged ... , 315 

Patients died 38 

Total deduction 353 

Patients present December 31 1 15 

Average number present during year 113 

Of those admitted 99 have been former inmates of the Infirmary, and 266 were 
admitted for the first time. 

Of those discharged, 225 were cured, 81 were improved, 5 left voluntarily, not 
improved, and 4 were discharged for disobedience. 



Political History of the County. 219 

THE SEX, RACE, AND NATIVITY OF PATIENTS. 

Present January ist — Males 397, females 71; natives of United States, 182; 
foreigners, 286; white, 457; black, 5; Indians, 6. 

Deaths — Males 35, females 3; natives of United States, 15; foreigners, 23; white, 
35; black, i; Indians, 2. 

Discharged — Males 265, females 50; natives of United States, 121; foreigners, 
194; white, 310; black, 3; Indians, 2. 

Remaining December 31st — Males 97, females 18; natives of United States, 46; 
foreigners, 69; white, 112; black, i; Indians, 2. 

The following shows the number admitted, readmitted, discharged, died, and the 
average number of patients present, by months, during the year: — 

Total number admitted in January, 27; February, 38; March, 35; April, 38; May, 
32; June, 30; July, 31; August, 28; September, 21; October, 29; November, 28; Decem- 
ber, 28. Total, 365. 

Discharged in January, 22; February, 19; March, 38; April, 35; May, 33; June, 
35; July, 26; August, 25; September, 26; October, 20; November, 17; December, 19. 
Total, 315. 

Died in January, 4; February, 3; March, 2; April, i; May, 5; June, 7; July, 5; 
August, 1 ; September, 3; October, 2; November, 2; December, 3. Total, 38. 

Average number in January, 105; February, 118; March, 120; April, 123; May, 
121 ; June, 113; July, loi ; August, loi ; September, 99; October, 105 ; November, 109; 
December, 115. 

Patients were received from the different townships as follows: From Alameda, 
7; Brooklyn, 17; Eden, 35; Murray, 41 ; Oakland, 242; Washington, 21 ; born in hos- 
pital, 2. Total, 365. 

Also from the Supervisors as follows: From Messrs. Brown, 11; Clement, 26; 
Dusterberry, 15 ; Green, 33; Hanifin, 91 ; Marlin, 44; Myers, 104; McClane, 26; Judge 
Green, i ; Dr. DuBois, 5; admitted by the Superintendent, 7; births, 2. Total, 365. 

RELATIVE AGES OF PATIENTS PRESENT DURING THE YEAR. 

Under twenty years, 30; from twenty to thirty, 79; thirty to forty, 86; forty to 
fifty, 98; fifty to sixty, 86; sixty to seventy, 56; seventy to eighty, 19; eighty to 
ninety, 13; above ninety, i. Total, 468. 

RELATIVE AGES OF THOSE WHO DIED DURING THE YEAR. 

Under twenty years, i ; from twenty to thirty years, 5 ; thirty to forty, 3 ; forty to 
fifty, 9; fifty to sixty, 8; sixty to seventy, 6; seventy to eighty, 2; eighty to ninety, 3; 
above ninety, i. Total, 38. 

Cause of death: Abscess of brain, i ; cancer of face, 2; heart disease, 5; inflam- 
mation of lungs, I ; paralysis, 3; chronic alcholism, 2 ; consumption, 19; gunshot wound, 
I ; old age, 4. Total, 38. 

TABLE OF EXPENSES FOR THE YEAR. 

Salaries officers and employis f 4,7^0 oo 

Fuel , . • 864 56 

Medicines ... 461 65 

Meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables 4,728 51 

Contract supplies, dry goods, and groceries .- 5>705 ^9 

Repairs and improvements 2,857 ^^ 

All other supplies, incidentals, etc 486 86 

Total expenses $19,884 43 



220 History of Alameda County, California. 

Average daily expense per patient, for all expenditures, exclusive of repairs and 
improvements, 41 ^ cents. ,, 

During the year there has accrued from various sales, cash left by deceased 
patients, and for board of pay patients, $535.25. 

There has been expended for fares, and cash paid discharged patients, and for 
various incidentals, $482.80, leaving a balance of cash on hand, $56.45. 

The amount paid for salaries during 1882 is less than that paid in any year since 
1873, when there were only thirty-five patients present daily; it being $500 less than 
that paid in 1874, when there were only thirty-nine patients daily, and nearly $1,600 
less than paid in 1877, when the daily attendance was only si.xty-five patients. 

The following shows the expense incurred during each of the past five years: In 

1878, for repairs and improvements, $440.52 for all other expenses, $20,954.15; in 

1879, for repairs and improvements, $8,250; for all other expenses, $20,424; in 1880, 
for repairs and improvements, $945.58; for all other expenses, $17,357.92; in 1881, for 
repairs and impro\ements, $1,782.37; for all other expenses, $17,048.18; in 1882, for 
repairs and improvements, $2,857.16; for all other e.xpenses, $17,027.27. From the 
above it will be seen that the total expenditures, exclusive of repairs and improve- 
ments, have decreased each year, being $3,900 less during 1882 than in 1878. 

While the total number of days' board for patients during 1878 was 32,120, the 
total number of days' board for patients during the past year was 40,515, an increase 
of 8,400 days, or the equivalent of 25 years for one person. 

It would appear as if there were a fatality attending the office of County Treas- 
urer, human nature being, it seems, too weak to be trusted with monetary responsibility. 
In nearly every county of the State the unfortunate charge of malfeasance in the 
office has occurred, and still more sad is the fact that it still occasionally happens. 
Though temptation surround us, so much the more resolute should we be in meeting 
it: it is a timid heart and a weak mind that cannot work for the honor and glory o 
the public weal without descending to the debasing and treacherous act of pecula- 
tion. On August 17, 1859, the Finance Committee reported a deficiency of six 
thousand five hundred and eleven dollars and ninety-nine cents in the County Treas- 
ury. The Board of Supervisors at once directed the District Attorney to bring suit 
against C. C. Breyfogle as Treasurer of the county of Alameda, and his bondsmen. 
On the next day that officer's resignation was tendered and accepted, and the position 
offered to Joseph S. Watkins, but this gentleman declining, James Scott was 
appointed. On the assembling of the new Board of Supervisors, their first duty was 
to order the pressing of the suit against Breyfogle and his sureties for " eight thous- 
and dollars and more." The end of the affair was that the county was no loser, as 
the security was sufficient and the sum missing was made good, all of which was so 
reported by the Finance Committee on August 13, 1861. 

On November 7, 1859, the new Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, con- 
sisting of J. W. Dougherty, of Murray Township; M. Fallon, Oakland Township; 
James Shinn, Washington Township; A. A. Anderson, Eden Townshi]i; S. M. Davis, 
Brooklyn Township, met, the first-named gentleman being chosen Chairman. On the 
iith of November, they recommended the pa.ssage of a law granting the County 
Treasurer from three to five per cent, on all sums less than fifty thousand dollars 
disbursed by the treasury. 



Political History OF the County. " 221 

;: During the session of the Legislature in this year (1859), the bridge question 
again cropped up although it was thought to have been finally settled two years pre- 
viously. In this year an attempt was made by the owners to pass an act confirming 
the original contract as granted by the Court of Sessions, as it was contemplated to 
construct a new one in its place. The Legislature, however, refused the legislation 
desired, and the question remained in statu quo. 

As a matter of curiosity, we now produce some of the assessments, showing in 
whose coffers lay the wealth of the county: — 

J. J. Vallejo $190,050 G. W. Patterson $ 17,320 

William Castro. 148^00 Mrs. A. C. Colombet 17,000 

Estudillo Family 120,359 Thomas G. Carey I5i400 

Hathaway, Brady & Crabb 60,800 H. N. Carpenter 15,000 

Soto Family - ... 60,392 Benjamin Holladr^y 15,000 

J. B. Larue 56>I45 C. J. Stevens 14,725 

Ygnacio Peralta 54iioo A.Lewelling 13,700 

A. Alviso 45,900 California Steam Navigation Company 13,500 

S. B. Martin 43,250 Z. Hughes 13,450 

H. G. Ellsworth 38,975 Richard Threlfall , 12,450 

J. W. Dougherty 31,800 William Glaskin 12,000 

F. Higuerra 28,950 Coffee & Risdon 12,000 

Livermore Estate 28,300 H. I. Irving 11,675 

Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company . , . 28,000 Wm. H. Souther . . : 1 1,500 

Edward Minturn. 27,200 E. S. Eigenbrodt 1 1, 450 

Robert Simpson 26,750 Mulford&Co 11,425 

E. L. Beard 26,285 William H. Maddox 11.250 

A.M. Peralta 25,550 Cull&Luce.. 11,040 

Clemente Colombet 25,100 R. B. Donovan IO,9';o 

A. B. Fabes 23,000 Jesse Beard 10,625 

Antonio Sunol ... 21,400 J. Lewelling 10,385 

W. M. Lubbock 20,000 A. L. Pioche 10,300 

Earl Marshall 18,000 Domingo Peralta 10,000 

i860. — Early in the year 1859 the Alameda County Agricultural Society was 
organized and fully placed in working order. On February 7, i860, we find them 
applying to the Supervisors for the five hundred dollars appropriation authorized by 
the Legislature, but this sum the Board pleaded its absolute inability to pay, owing 
to " the present depressed state of the finances " of the county, although it was per- 
fectly willing to hear and act upon the petition. The amount of five hundred dollars 
was, however, paid on the 27th of the same month, and another like sum, appar- 
ently, on August 3, 1 86 1. On June 15, i860, two Commissioners were appointed to 
investigate the matter of county licenses, these gentlemen each to receive twenty 
dollars per month for their services. The office was abolished on the 8th of August, 
however. 

The new Board of Supervisors met on December 10, i860, the members being 
P. K. Shattuck, Oakland Township; A. W. Swett, Brooklyn Township; John Lew- 
elling, Eden Township; C. S. Eigenbrodt, Washington Township; Michael Murray, 
Murray Township; from whom Mr. Lewelling was chosen Chairman, but their 
operations, though of much profit to the county for the balance of the year, are of 
not much profit to the historian. 

We are not a partisan in politics, but the year i860 is one the memory of which 



222 History of Alameda County, California. 

should not die. In it the RepubUcan party, which came into existence in 1856, 
ousted the Democrats from their position, which they had held for more than 
three decades. The Republicans became dominant throughout the country, the 
State, and the county, and the first martyed President, Abraham Lincoln, was called 
to the highest position in the gift of the people. 

1 86 1 — The initial record for the year 1861 demonstrates the idea that the Board 
of Supervisors had not found the bills presented by Justices of the Peace and Con- 
stables always in order — indeed, that they usually bore on their faces the brand of 
extravagance. To remedy this they passed an order, on February 4th, introducing a 
system of "red-tape," whereby the accounts of these officers should all be certified 
to ere presentation. At this meeting Supervisor Eigenbrodt, of Washington Town- 
ship, spoke of the desirability of constructing a good, durable road through the county 
that can be traveled at all seasons of the year, on which the Board resolved to orig- 
inate and present a plan. On February 5th two hundred and seventy-five dollars 
were paid, for engraving and printing county bonds on account of the bar at the 
mouth of San Antonio Creek, to Benjamin F. Butler. Not long after this gentleman 
became famous, and is, we are informed, the now renowned Ben. Butler, the lawyer- 
general-Governor of Massachusetts. The county, on the same date, purchased from 
J. W. Carrick, at a sum of three hundred and seventy-five dollars, a safe for the 
Treasurer's office, that in which the public funds had been hitherto placed being 
provided by that official himself at his private expense. In the minutes of Febru- 
ary 1 2th we find that the Board had knowledge of a petition having been presented 
to the Legislature whereby Washington Township should be given back to Santa 
Clara County, but the Representative in the Legislature was instructed that such a 
proceeding would be unwise, and the matter finally dropped. May 5th J. O. Miner 
and Joseph Chadbourne, having petitioned that the span in the Oakland Bridge 
(Twelfth Street Bridge) be widened, at their own expense, so that they could be able 
to ship bricks through it, a committee was appointed to investigate and report, the 
prayer of the petition being finally granted. 

In the year 1861 there were no less than three parties in the field, namely, the 
Republicans, Democrats, and Union Democrats, the first being successful in all parts 
of the State. For the distinguished office of State Senator, A. M. Crane, Repub- 
lican, received twelve hundred and seventy-four votes; H. Linden, Democrat, two 
hundred and eighty-eight; and N. Hamilton, Union Democrat, six hundred and 
sixteen votes, while there were no less than six candidates in the field for the office 
of Member of Assembly, the successful competitors being the two Republicans, S. B. 
Bell and J. M. Moore. The Supervisors elected were: Charles S. Eigenbrodt, Wash- 
ington Township; William Meek, Eden Township; Michael Murray, Murray Town- 
ship; H. Robinson, Brooklyn and Alameda Townships ; F. K. Shattuck, Oakland 
Township, the last-named gentleman being chosen Chairman. Having adopted rules 
of procedure, as well as the committees of their predecessors, the>- commenced their 
labors on November 4, 1861. 

It can never be forgotten that during this year (1861) the great Civil war burst 
upon the country carrying with it all its accompanying heart-burnings, havoc, and 



Political History of the County. 223 

desolation. Though the scene of actual warfare lay thousands of miles away, our own 
California was not without its sympathizers. Military companies sprang up on every 
side determined to maintain the integrity of the Central Government, and Alameda 
County was not behindhand in practically asserting her loyalty. On August 31, 1861, 
the Oakland Home Guard was organized and properly officered by gentlemen whose 
names will be found elsewhere, while, on November 4th, it is of record that they were 
allowed a monthly apportionment of twenty dollars, which, January i, 1862, was raised 
to Mty dollcLTS per mensem, wherewith to provide an armory. Of the further doings 
of the Oakland Home Guard and other corps we speak in our chapters of Township 
Histories; but we may here record, while on this subject, that, February 18, 1862, 
the Board of Supervisors passed the following preamble and resolutions, which were 
carried tzei/z con: — 

"Whereas, The news of the succfess of our arms at Fort Donelson (captured February i6, 1862) and else- 
where inspires us with feelings of joy and gratitude and lively hopes of a speedy restoration of the Federal Union 
and the supremacy of the Constitution ; therefore, 

^^ Resolved, That this Board do now adjourn for ten minutes for the purpose of raising the glorious old flag of 
the Union and saluting it with three cheers and a tiger." 

The record then follows with these words: "All of which being done with a 
will and with the proud emblem of our Country's Liberty floating at the mast-head 
the Board resumes the tame business of consideration of accounts." The probable 
author of the foregoing, Supervisor Eigenbrodt, afterwards sealed his patriotism with 
his life as an officer of the California Hundred. 

In this year crime was rife throughout the county, and especially in Murray 
Township, it frequently occurring that first-class misdemeanants escaped from out of the 
reach of the law. The Sheriff was at too great a distance to effectively interfere, he 
therefore appointed James S. Kapp his Deputy for that district — the initial step 
towards suppressing lawlessness in that out-of-the-way section of Alameda County. 

In 1 86 1, the county had to deplore the loss by death of Hon. A. L. Rhodes of 
San Jose, the Joint Senator representing Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, a 
gentleman much respected by all, and -of high literary attainments. We may now 
close the record of 1861 by mentioning that notwithstanding the Republican Ticket 
having carried all before it at the general election, the Democracy held sway at the 
Charter election for the officers of the city of Oakland. 

1862. — This year opened with a series of devastating floods throughout the 
county, remarks on which will be found elsewhere in this work. The first matter of 
interest to be noticed in this place as performed by the Board of Supervisors was the 
appointment of a committee to ascertain the probable cost of a perfect and accurate 
map of the county, which it is presumed was supplied, for later we find a copy of one 
in the Recorder's office mentioned. On May 5, 1862, we find that the county printing 
was given to the Gazette at twenty-five dollars per quarter. It would appear that 
the Grand Jury found, in this year, the Court House, jail, and other county build- 
ings in a state of disrepair, on which some condemnatory remarks were passed, other- 
wise, the affairs of the county were in a very flourishing condition, while the manner 
in which the different offices were conducted, and the integrity of the officials in 



224 History of Alameda County, California. 

charge were highly commended. The periodicals of the day hand down to posterity 
the following rather absurd blunder on the part of the then Senator from Alameda. 
It would appear that the copies of a bill which he introduced in the Legislature con- 
cerning roads in the county, in its sixth section read: " The Board of Supervisors shall 
not open or establish any road or highway through the ornamental grounds of any 
dwelling-house of over three years' growth, etc." The relator goes on to state that 
Mr. Oulton of San Francisco, rose in amendment, and with much gravity moved to 
insert after the word "through," this clause: "The number of years which the house 
has been growing shall be determined by the rings of the chimney," this gentleman 
evidently drawing his inspiration from a rather recent visit to the Calaveras and 
Mariposa Big Trees. On April 24th of this year, in defiance of the determined 
opposition of Senator Crane, the bill providing for the payment of the Oilman debt to 
Contra Costa by Alameda County was carried by a large vote. The Board of Super- 
visors at their May term directed the levy of fifteen cents on each one hundred dollars' 
worth of property, as a war tax, as well as 2. per capita tax of two dollars on each male 
inhabitant between the ages of twenty-one and sixty years. 

June 14, 1862, a Union County Convention was held at San Leandro when 
delegates to the State Convention to be held in Sacramento on the 17th were selected 
as follows: A. M. Church, A. M. Crane, W. W. Crane, Jr., A, J. Kelly, William 
Kennedy, S. W. Levy, William Meek, J. M. Moore, F. K. Shattuck. The presiding 
ofifi:er at the State Convention was Walter Van Dyke, of Humboldt, but subsequently, 
for many years, an honored resident of Alameda. For the purpose of nominating 
candidates for the Assembly, a second Union Convention was held at San Leandro 
on August 13th, when there were present o\er fifty delegates, who were about equally 
divided between Democrats and Republicans. On the occasion resolutions of un- 
swerving loyalty were passed, and some opposition to the candidature of Milton S. 
Latham for United States Senator expressed. Henry Robinson of Alameda, Repub- 
lican, and Thomas Scott of Washington, Democrat, were the choice for the Assembly 
of the Convention. The election in the month of September proved the wisdom of 
this selection, as the accompanying votes .will explain: For Assembly, Robinson, 
(Union) nine hundred and fourteen votes; Scott, eight hundred and thirty-four; John- 
son, (Union Democrat) seven hundred and seventy-seven; Fallon, six hundred and 
forty. It may be mentioned, and it is generally conceded, that the creation of the 
Union Democratic party is due to Alfred A. Cohen, an eminent lawyer of San Fran- 
cisco and a wealthy resident of Alameda. 

On November 3, 1862, the new Board of .Supervisors consisting of F. K. Shat- 
tuck, of Oakland Township; WfUiam Meek, of Eden Township; S. M. Davis, of 
Brooklyn and Alameda Townships; H. Overacker, of Washington Township; and J. 
West Martin, of Murray Township, took their seats, elected Mr. Shattuck Chairman, 
and adopted the rules of procedure of the year 185!). In this month an election 
for District Judge of the Third Judicial District was held, with a majority lor 
Samuel Bell McKee of seventy-six votes, as will be gleaned from the following 

figures: — 

S. B. McKee. T. a. Brown. 

Monterey 349 Santa Clara 420 

Santa Cruz 199 Contra Costa 385 — 805 

Alameda 333— 881 



Political Hisi-ory of the Couhty'. ■ • -225 

1863. — The political aspect of the country remained unchanged, for the dreadful 
civil war was yet raging; in our own county, however, demonstrations were not want- 
ing to intensify the patriotism of the people, while it is rendered famous in the history 
of the county as that in which the question of subsidy to railroads was tested in the 
instance of the Alameda Valley Railroad, and in. that 'of the world as.the year in 
which the first sod was cut for the great Central Pacific Railroad. In this year too 
the functions of the time-honored Court of Sessions were ended, and their mantle 
descended upon the shoulders of the Board of Supervisors. 

On January 2d, intelligence was received from . San Francisco of the death 
ef Judge Lent, of the Alameda County Court, after a long and painful illness. His 
place was soon filled by Governor Stanford, who appointed Major Noble Hamilton to 
the office, Asa Walker and George Fleming being chosen Associate Justices. by Mr. 
Hamilton. Owing to another of the county's officials being called upon to cross the 
dark river, we find recorded under date April 6, 1863, the following resolutions, in 
■meinoriani : — 

■"WHERE.^s, Since the last meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the county of Alameda, Satauel M. 
Davis, one of the members of this Board, has departed this life, and the other members of the Board being desir- 
ous of manifesting their respect for his memory; therefore, 

" Resolved, That in Samuel M. Davis we have always found, in the discharge of his duties as a member of 
this Board, uprightness of purpose and a strong solicitude to follow the path of right. In our social intercourse 
we found him the warm and generous friend, with affable disposition and deportment; we therefore sincerely 
deplore his loss. 

"Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of this Board in token of respect to his 
memory." . i 

On January 10, 1863, articles of incorporation of the Alameda Valley Railroad 
were filed in the office of the Secretary of State, the length of the line being twenty- 
two miles, and its terminus at Niles, the estimated cost of which was seven hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, shares being put at one hundred dollars each, with ten 
per cent, paid down. The first Board of Directors were:-B. C. Horn, President; 
Timothy Dame (President of the San Jose Road), Treasurer; George E. Potter, Sec- 
retary; and William Hayward, J. A. Mayhew, J. B. Felton, E. M. Derby. The Board 
of Supervisors being authorized by the Legislature, the direct result of a bill intro- 
duced by Senator Crane, approved April 21, 1863, to subscribe for Alameda County 
two hundred and twenty thousand dollars' worth of stock in the enterprise, should the 
sanction of the people be obtained, a special election was held June 2, 1863, when 
the proposition was declared lost, as under: — 

Precinct- Whole No. Votes. Yes. No. 

Oakland ■ 419 389 30 

Temescal , 50 49 I 

Ocean View 52 51 

Brooklyn 258 103 155 

Half-way House. ; 65 5 60 

San Leandro 90 12 78 

Haywards 1 17 49 68 

San Lorenzo 65' 6 60 

Mount Eden 45 11 34 

Alvarado 132 16 1 116 

Mission San Jos^ 152 26 126 

Centreville , 198 24 174 

Hart's (Murray) 57 56 i 

Dougherty's Station 62 4 58 

Alameda ■, . 49 28 21 

1812 829 982 



220 History of Alameda County, California. 

Giving a majority against the proposition of one hundred and fifty-three votes. In 
this year J. R. Larue, A. W. Swett, and William H'ayward obtained a franchise in San 
Francisco for constructing a wharf for the accommodation of the ferry hne of steam- 
ers plying between Oakland and San Francisco. They grounded their petition on 
the plea that the line had been in operation since 1858, and that it had become a neces- 
sity to the public. About this time Senator Porter of Contra Costa had the claim 
against Alameda County submitted to a committe of the Senate hoping to compel its 
payment, but they reported against it; suit was thereupon instituted and, August 8th. 
O. L. Shafter was paid by the Board of Supervisors the sum of five hundred dollars 
to defend the case. On August 18th we find that the Board of Supervisors deter- 
mined to lay a side-walk on either side of the road between Alvarado and Centreville 
and make provision for shading the same with trees; but although the first part of the 
proposition was carried out, the matter of planting trees was revoked March 7, 1864- 

On June 13th a Union Party Convention assembled at San Leandro under the 
presidency of Asa Walker, with F. M. Campbell, Secretary, when the following dele- 
gates to the Union State Convention at Sacramento were appointed: Alameda Town- 
ship, Henry Robinson; Brooklyn Township, A. W. Swett; Eden Township, William 
Meek; Murray Township, (no delegate); Oakland Township, John McMann; Wash- 
ington Township, H. Overacker. The Democratic County Convention was held at 
the same place on the 27th of June, and among those who took a part in its affairs 
was ex-Governor Weller, who, in 1863, was a resident of Fruit Vale, while on August 
1st the Union County Convention met for the purpose of nominating the county 
ticket, which at the election was triumphant in every instance. At this election the 
vote in Alameda County for Governor was. Low (Union), one thousand three hundred 
and ninety-two; and Downey (Democrat), eight hundred and five. In regard to the 
Judicial election held October 21st, Judge McKee defeated Judge Brown of Contra 
Costa, who had received the Union Nomination, by three hundred and thirty-three 
votes. 

In September of this year a mandamus was issued by Judge Re\nolds, of Contra 
Costa, with the purpose of compelling the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County 
to levy a ta.x to pay the Contra Costa judgment, but on application to the Supreme 
Court a stay of proceedings was granted. On the 14th of the same month panels of 
grand and trial jurors were apportioned in the following manner: Alameda Township, 
three; Brooklyn Township, nine; Eden Township, eleven; Murray Township, six; Oak- 
land Township, .seventeen; Washington Township, fourteen. 

During the year 1S63 the Legislature passed an Act providing for the election of 
two additional Supervisors -for the county, and that the townships of Brooklyn and 
Alameda have power to elect one Supervisor for each township; therefore, on October 
5th, when the new Board met it was composed of A. Cummings, of Alameda Town- 
ship; Robert S. Farrelly, of Brooklyn Township; William Meek, of Eden Township; 
John Green, of Murray Township; F. K. Shattuck, of Oakland Township; and H. 
Overacker, of Washington Township; Mr. Shattuck being again chosen Chairman, 

On November 2, 1863, plans and specifications for a bridge across the San 
Leandro Creek at the town of that name were adopted, and sealed proposals for build- 
ing the same were desired to be<:alled for, the work being eventually let to Dole & 



Political History of the County. 227 

Brother, at the contract figure of two thousand five hundred dollars. November 3d, 
the Alvarado Guards asked for an apportionment for rent of armory and were allowed 
fifty dollars per month from that date, while, December 7th, the last record of the 
year, District Attorney W. W. Crane resigned his position and was replaced by 
George M. Blake. 

1864. — The Grand Jury which met in January of this year having declared the 
county jail to be a public nuisance, the Board of Supervisors must have taken the 
matter to heart to some extent, for we find them, on February 2d, appealing to the 
Representatives in the Legislature to have a bill passed as soon as possible, authoriz- 
ing the levy of a special tax for the erection of a county jail and making urgently- 
required repairs to the Court House. In the meantime a watchman was placed in 
charge "until the parties at present confined therein for grand larceny be discharged;" 
while on the 23d of the same month a committee was appointed to make a thorough 
investigation into the condition of the premises, who it would appear'reported that its 
state was far from satisfactory, and that additional accommodation was imperatively 
necessary. To this end a contract was entered into with Messrs Kittredge & Leavitt 
for the construction of an iron cell to cost sixteen hundred dollars, a work that was at 
once proceeded with, reported complete, and paid for, September 5, 1864. On 
May 23d a proposition to make the jail of the city of Oakland a branch .of that of the 
county for the confinement of persons where the city was liable for the expenses of 
keeping, was received and referred to the District Attorney. At the previous meet- 
ing of the Board, a committee was appointed to report upon the advisability of build- 
ing a board fence around the Court House Square, a proceeding they considered 
unwise. However this does not appear to have been the opinion of the majority of the 
Supervisors, for they adopted a plan presented by E. H. Goff, and specifications there- 
fore were received, and proposals to build advertised for; and on the 15th August, 
another committee was appointed to superintend the construction of a high fence to 
inclose the jail, repair the well, etc., at a cost not to exceed five hundred dollars, a 
labor that was apparently performed, as, on the 19th October, a charge of four hun- 
dred and seventy-five dollars for such work appears on the minutes. 

During the month of January J. B. Larue, at a meeting of the Board of Super- 
visors, presented a scheme for their approval having as its object the improvement of 
the navigation of the San Antonio Creek, provided he were allowed a franchise and 
permitted to levy a toll. Frequent attempts to effect this boon had been previously 
made but to no avail, while he deprecated the idea that the granting of such a privi- 
lege would have the appearance of the Supervisors' countenancing a monopoly, as 
there were already two ferry lines having cdmmunication between Oakland and Ala- 
meda and San Francisco, irrespective of that which used the creek. Mr. Larue made 
the proposal in the name of the Oakland and San Antonio Steam Navigation Com- 
pany, of which corporation he was the President. Further resolutions were introduced 
by him, February 2d, but the subject was left in abeyance for some time; the Super- 
visors, however, subsequently thought favorably of the plan, which was embodied in a 
bill that was, although passed by the Legislature, vetoed by the Governor. 

On February 18,1864, the Oakland News was given the publishing of the proceed- 



?28 History of Alameda County, California. 

.-ings-ofjthe Board of Supervisors at the same rate as charijed by the Alameda County 
Gazette. March 3d, Socrates Huff, the newly-elected County Treasurer, presented his 
receipt, showing that he had received from J. W. Carrick, the late incumbent of that 
office, the sum of ten thousand two hundred and twenty-pne dollars and sixty-six 
cents, being the amount of funds on hand in the County Treasury; and on the 7th, 
twenty thousand dollars were distributed among the Road Districts of Alameda, 
Brooklyn, Eden, Murray, Oakland, and Washington. On the 3d of the same month 
occurs the first bid for national aid to improve the navigation of the San Antonio 
Creek, at which time resolutions, setting forth the immense advantages that would 
accrue to the county were such a scheme perfected, were passed and ordered to be 
sent to the Senator and Assemblymen of Alameda in the Legislature. 

Under the chairmanship of Dr. W. Newcomb, of Oakland, and S. S. Saul, Sec- 
retary, a Union County Convention was held at San Leandro on March 19th, at 
which time delegates were appointed to the State Convention to be held in Sacra- 
mento, who selected those to proceed to the National Union Convention to choose 
candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States, their 
unanimous sympathy, as the sequel showed, being with Abraham Lincoln. In contin- 
uation of this subject we may state that the Democratic County Convention met at 
the same place on the 7th of May for a similar purpose, with William S. Moss pre- 
siding, and Harry Linden, Secretary, when William S. Moss, P. E. Edmondson, W. 
H. Glascock, and Harry Linden, were appointed delegates to the State Convention. 
These political meetings culminated on the 29th October, when a very numerously 
attended and enthusiastic gathering of Union followers at San Leandro — the largest 
then that had been had in the county — met to do honor to their popular nominees. 
L A. Amerman, President of the Lincoln and Johnson Club of San Leandro, 
officiated as Grand Marshal of the Day, with E. M. Smith, Lysander Stone, and E. 
C. Jacobs, as Aides-de-Camp. As the sun reached the meridian the strains of music 
from the south proclaimed the arrival of the contingent from that portion of the 
county, headed by a brass band. It included a delegation from Centreville, with 
Capt. J. M. Moore as Marshal; another from Alvarado, with whom was the military 
company in full uniform and accoutered, with Judge Williams as Marshal; while 
there came under the marshalship of Henry Smith, a strong body from San Lorenzo. 
This column presented a most imposing appearance when on the line of march, as 
it occupied the space of road between San Lorenzo and San Leandro, with its flag- 
bedecked wagons and gaily-caparisoned horses. The hour of noon had scarcely tolled 
ere the phalanx from the northern portion of the county came in sight with 

"Fife and steed, and trump and drum, and roaring culverin," 

This last being a mounted cannon, bearing the label, " The Peacemaker." This con- 
tingent was marshaled by F. K. Shattuck, of Oakland, accompanied by Gen. Irwin 
McDowell, the members of his staff, and the Oakland Gu ird. The Brooklyn dele- 
gation, with some men from San Francisco, marshaled by Hon. Thomas Eager, 
numbered a thousand men. The Alameda division was headed by Judge Hastings, 
and when moving stretched from Alameda Lane to San Leandro, a distance of four 
miles and a half, these two making a procession eight miles in length. This vast 
concourse passed in review order before General McDowell, who stood in his carriagei 



PotmcAL History ob- -the County. 



with uncovered head, company by company, as they filed past, making the welkin 
ring with their loyal cheers. The Hon. Edward Tompkins was President of the 
Day, who made a most eloquent and soul-stirring speech, and was followed by Hons. 
Delos Lake, Nathan Porter, F. M. Pixley, J. G. McCallum, Attorney-General McCullough, 
W. H: L. Barnes, and Judge Tyler, the Secretaries for the dcGasiofl being Messrs. Saul," 
Gagan, and Estabrook Smith. This demonstration was in every sense a most enthu- 
siastic one, as is now remembered with great gratification by those now alive who par- 
ticipated in it. ■ 

At this time great dissatisfaction was felt at a fee bill that had passed the Legis- 
lature through the instrumentality of Assemblyman Scott,- therefore it became neces- 
sary to pass a new Act, making the fees of the Sheriff the same as those established" 
by the enactment of 1855, and repealing the clause relative, to the fees of Justices of 
the Peace and Constables; while, about the same period, Andrew- B. Forbes and his 
associates made application to the Legislature for the grant of a wharf franchise, to 
maintain and construct such a pier at Green Point, for the public convenience and the 
accommodation of steamers plying between San Francisco and Alviso. The South 
Pacific Coast Railroad have now built to that point from San Jf)se, and in its 
vicinity has since sprung up the town of Newark. 

On May 2, 1864,^ Dole & Brother were paid the sum of two thousand dollars on 
account of the building of the bridge at San Leandro, while the time for finishing 
the same was extended to the ist of June. It was, however, completed and accepted 
by the:county on May 23d, and the balance of two thousand four hundred and forty- 
five dollars due to them paid; while, it was ordered, August Sth; that a fine of fifteen 
dollars be imposed for rapid driving over it. On May 5th, the Auditing Committee 
on the accounts of the Auditor and Treasurer, from February i, 1862, to February i, 
1864, reported that they found these in a satisfactory state and correct;' and on the 23d 
it was reported that a bridge over Alameda Creek, near the Bell Ranch, was impera- 
tively necessary. On the same date plans and specifications for repairing and replank- 
ing the Oakland Bridge were ordered and bids for doing the same called for. This 
contract was let to A. W. Hawkett & Co., for nineteen hundred and ninety-five dol- 
lars, to be paid in county warrants on completion, which was duly done August 8, 
1 864. The old lumber was thereafter sold, and the proceeds, seventy-seven dollars 
and fifty cents paid into the Treasury. 

As is too well remembered, party feeling ran very high at this period, and many 
were the disloyal statements made by the unthinking portion of the community. 
The county, however, never had itself so startled as it was when the intelligence was 
received from San Francisco that its District Attorney had been apprehended by a 
United States Marshal for using seditious language, and incarcerated on Alcatraz 
Island. The crime, however, proved to be less serious than was at first imagined, for, 
soon after. Gen. J. S. Chipman was released on taking the oath of allegiance. 

In June of this year the following excellent joke was perpetrated on Judge 
Church, the first County Clerk and Recorder of Alameda, and at present a very able 
and efficient Justice of the Peace of Oakland Township. It would appear that sev- 
eral gentlemen had determined to subscribe a monthly amount towards the Soldiers' 
Relief Fund, during the Continuance of the war, and among those who subscribed ten 



230 History of Alameda County, California. 

dollars per month was our excellent friend. ' Upon the receipt of the contribution, 
the Committee of the Soldiers' Relief Fund published the acknowledgment in the 
Aita California — then, as now, a morning paper — of ten dollars from "A. M. Church, 
San Leandro," which appeared in the BuUelin of the same evening, transmogrified 
into the following: " African Methodist Church of San Leandro," thus taking a very 
strange, though innocent, liberty with Mr. Church's initials. 

On November 8, 1864, th-e Presidential election showed a majority in this county 
for Lincoln of six hundred and fifty-eight votes, while his plurality throughout the 
State was sixteen thousand six hundred and thirty-four votes; and, for Congress, 
Higby received fourteen hundred and fifty-eight votes, as against seven hundred and 
ninety-seven for Coffroth. 

The new Board of Supervisors met December 5, 1864, as follows: F. K. Shat- 
tuck, Oakland Township; L. Fassking, Alameda Township; R. S. Farrelly, Brooklyn 
Township; William Meek, Eden Township; H. Overacker, Washington Township; 
John Green, Murray Township. Mr. Shattuck was chosen Chairman. Standing 
Committees on Auditing and Finance, Roads and Bridges, Judiciary and Hospital, 
were appointed, and Dr. E. Gibbons, L. Fassking, and F. K. Shattuck, elected man- 
agers of the County Hospital. It should be mentioned that duriug the )'ear 1864 
was the first term that the Legislature sat under the biennial system inaugurated by 
the amended Constitution. 

1865. — Besides a general activity in railroad building, there was nothing of great 
political significance occurred in Alameda County, although the assassination of Pres- 
ident Lincoln occupied much attention. The first item of note is the allowance, on 
February 11, 1865, of fifty dollars a month to the Hayward Guard for the purpose 
of providing an armory; while, August 21st, the like sum for the same object was 
granted to the Brooklyn Guard, another military organization. In this month the 
Supreme Court affirmed the judgment obtained by Contra Costa County against 
Alameda County, for the old Oakland (Twelfth Street) Bridge indebtedness, the 
amount being fifteen thousand dollars, and, on November 25th, under the Act 
approved April 26, 1862, the amount paid by Alameda to Contra Costa, if any, was 
directed to be apportioned, fifty per cent, to be applied to building a road from the 
Walnut Creek House, in Contra Costa County, to the Alameda County line, to super- 
intend which, on the 27th of December, F. K. Shattuck was appointed Commissioner 
to meet a like official from Contra Costa. On March 2, 1865, the collection of the 
road poll tax was systematized, and Road Commissioners were directed to procure a 
sufficient number of receipts for the purpose of issuing them to Township Assessors, 
who were to make monthly and _\early reports of the same and be held liable, on 
bond, for any deficiency. On the same date the petition of the San Francisco and 
Alameda Railroad Company and others, for permission to lay their track through 
Alameda Street to Ward Street, and through the latter to the easterly side of the 
county road, was granted, so far as crossing the county roail at the termination of 
Ward Street was concerned; while, at the same session of the Board, the following 
apportionment of grand and trial jurors was made: Oakland Township, seventy- 
eight; Alameda Township, fourteen; Brooklyn Township, thirty-six; Eden Town- 



Political History of the County. 231 

ship, thirty-seven; Washington Township, fifty-six; Murray Township, nineteen. In 
the month of March, in this year, we find that the committee to whom was delegated 
the duty, examined and passed that now distinguished lawyer, A. A. Moore, who was 
admitted to practice in the District Court. Mr. Moore was the first law student from 
Alameda County to make such an application. 

The profound sensation caused on the receipt of the intelligence of President 
Lincoln's assassination may be more readily imagined than described. On April 17, 
1865, the Board of Supervisors held a meeting, there being present Messrs. Fassking, 
Farrelly, Meek, Overacker, and Green. Mr. Farrelly being chosen Chairman /ra tern., 
upon taking his seat he offered the following resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted: — 

" Whereas, The sad intelligence has recently come to us of the death of our beloved President, Abraham 
Lincoln, who has been inhumanly nmrdered in cold blood by a brutal assassin, the like of which cowardly 
assault does not find its parallel in the history of the world, therefore be it 

" Resolved, That as we have always loved and respected Honest Old Abe, our Good President, while he 
lived, and in common unison with our fellow-citizens throughout the Union, we are sad ancj sorrowing to-day at 
the great loss our nation has sustained, trusting in the God of our fathers, who has always sustained our nation, 
and who ever keeps her destiny in his hands to still uphold our country during this terrible affliction. It is 
hereby further 

"Resolved, That we do now, as a Board of Supervisors, adjourn without transacting any business until the 
first Monday of May, and that all matters coming before us at this time be continued until the said first Monday 
of May, and that the Sheriff of the county be -directed to drape the Court House with appropriate badges of 
mourning, the same to remain thirty days. 

" And the Board then adjourned. F. K. Shattuck, Chairman. 

"Attest: G. E. Smith, Deputy Clerk. 

About this time the late Hon. J. B. Felton was a prominent candidate for the 
position of United States Senator, and many were the remarks made as to the means 
used to further his candidature, but with these we have nothing to do. His cause 
was warmly espoused by the Oakland News, and as strenuously opposed by the San 
Leandro Gazette. On the 5th of August the Union County Convention was held in 
San Leandro, and the Democratic Convention at the same place on the 24th, the 
platform adopted being: First — In favor of a hard money currency, with an exten- 
sion of the Specific Contract Act, to include verbal contract for workingmen's wages. 
Second — Opposition to negro or Chinese suffrage. Third — In favor of the recon- 
struction of the Southern States on the principles established by President Johnson. 
At the general election which followed, on September 6th, the Union candidates were 
successful in every instance; while, at the Judicial election held in the following 
month, S. W. Sanderson, the Republican nominee for Judge of the Supreme Court, 
received, in Alameda County, three hundred and ninety votes more than did Hartley, 
the Democratic candidate. 

On October 23, 1865, the new Board of Supervisors, consisting of F. K. Shat- 
tuck, Oakland Township; A. Cummings, Alameda Township; R. S. Farrelly, Brook- 
lyn Township; J. B. Marlin, Eden Township; H. Overacker, Washington Township; 
John Green, Murray Township, met, while among their first duties was the granting 
of a contract to E. Dole to build, for thirteen hundred dollars, a bridge across Ala- 
meda Creek near the Bell Ranch, which was completed and duly accepted November 
20, 1865. 



232 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

1866. — In the month of January, 1866, a bill was vetoed by the Governor which 
had for its object the granting to the Alameda Railroad Company a subsidy of ten 
thousand dollars a mile, to be raised by a tax of twenty-five cents on each one hun- 
dred dollars' worth of property, but fortunately it brought numerous remonstrants 
and was very properly demolished. The chief questions during the session of the 
Legislature in this year was what was known as the " No Fence Law," and the rail- 
road subsidy. The first of these, introduced by Hon. Thomas Eager, was subse- 
quently withdrawn, and the .second, although it passed; was strongly opposed by the 
citizens, who, in meeting as.sembled at Oakland, March 27th, called upon the Governor 
to veto it, which he did. In this year Senator Robinson introduced yet another bill 
in the Legislature. It was for the purpose of imposing and regulating a dog tax. 

On March 26, 1866, the Jackson Guards, another military organization, was 
allowed by the Board, the sum of fifty dollars per month for rent of an armory; 
on April 4th further payments to military companies were ordered suspended to await 
legislative action on the militia law, which subsequently allowed warrants to them up 
till April 1 , 1 866, and no farther. A commission was appointed jointl)' by the Alameda 
and Contra Costa Boards of Supervisors to survey the Telegraph Road with a view 
to its permanent improvement, about this time; while on March 26th the salaries of 
the Auditor and Clerk of the Boardvvere respectively fixed at nine hundred and two 
hundred and fifty dollars per annurrt. 

In the beginning of March, 1866, the San Antonio (Twelfth-street) bridge ques- 
tion again cropped in the rendering of a judgment against the claimant, in the case of 
Gilman vs. Contra Costa County, in the Supreme Court at Sacramento. Larly in this 
chapter we have touched upon this subject (pp. 191 to 195, and 200 to 204) and shown 
to the reader how an original claim of seven thousand four hundred dollars may be 
increased to eighty-five thousand dollars and upwards. 

On May 7, 1866, five Pound Districts were established, keepers appointed, and 
rates for the county established as follows: — 

Cattle, horses, mules, etc. First clay Sl.oo 

Each subsequent day 50 

Swine, sheep and goats. First day 50 

Each subsequent day 25 

On the same date a change in the Road Districts was effected, while the road 
poll tax, and road ta.x, collected for 1866-67 was directed to be set apart to the 
credit of its own especial district. On the 29th the following Road Commissioners 
were appointed: Henry P. Barlow, Alameda Township; M. C. LaGrangc, Brooklyn 
Township; Hiram Madden, Eden Township; O. Morgan, Washington Township; J. 
Donlon, Murray Township; Samuel C. Percy, Oakland Township; whose bonds were 
fixed at one thousand dollars each. This scheme, it is presumed, did not work satis- 
factorily, for on September 10, 1866, the road ta.x was ordered to be distributed once 
more, the Auditor being directed to call in all outstanding road warrants drawn on 
the different Township Road Funds and issue, in lieu thereof warrants on the General 
Road and Bridge Fund of the County for the amount of principal and interest of said 
warrants called in. The County Superintendent of Schools, Re\-. C. E. Rich, pre- 
sented a report on the re-establishing and more clearly defining boundaries of the 



^ 



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>7^, /2^a^, 



2::: 



Political History of the County. 233 

several School Districts, which being fully considered at their meeting of June 5th, 
the Board then established: Oakland, Temescal, Peralta, Ocean View, Bay, Brooklyn, 
Lockwood, Redwood, Alameda, Encinal, Union, San Lorenzo, Eden Vale, Eureka, 
Alvarado, Alviso, Lincoln, Centrcville, Mowry's Landing, Washington, Mission San 
Jose, Warm Springs, Mission Peak, Murray, Pleasanton, Livermore, Suiiol. On June 
1 2th, the Contra Costa Water Company were granted the privilege to lay pipes in 
Brooklyn Township. 

In accordance with the law requiring all persons claiming the right to vote should 
be enrolled in their respective townships, the following Enrolling Clerks were ap- 
pointed: Charles H. Haile, Alameda; , Brooklyn; Joel Russell, Eden; J. W. 

Dougherty, Murray; Perry Johnson, Oakland City; T. L. Walker, Oakland Township; 
J. Shinn, Washington. 

On Septe.Tiber 5, i855, the folio, ving Supervisors were elected: F. K. Shattuck, 
Oakland Township; Robert S. Farrelly, Brooklyn Township; J. B. Marlin, Eden 
Township; John Green, Murray Township; William Threlfall, Washington Township; 
A. Cummings, Alameda Township. There was a tie between Messrs. Cummings and 
Millington for the office of Supervisor for Alameda Township, each candidate 
receiving forty votes, but the special election held on the 22d of the same month 
resulted in the choice of Mr. Cummings. 

Henry Dobbel, under date Decembsr lo, 1866, put in a claim for four hundred 
dollars, alleged value of a mule killed in crossing an insecure bridge near Dougherty's 
Station, which, on being delegated to a committee, was finally rejected on January 6, 
1867. The. condition of the Court House would still appear to have been a cause of 
solicitude to the Board, for we find them on December loth appointing another com- 
mittee to examine into its condition, who reported that thirty dollars would make all 
the repairs necessary. At the same time Goffs plan for fencing that building, long 
since "pigeon-holed," was once more brought to light, and subsequently a contract 
was entered into with John Taylor, for fourteen hundred dollars, it being paid for, and 
therefore completed, March 23, 1867. 

The Board of Supervisors, on December loth, adopted a rule that the first day of 
each meeting should be devoted to petitions, reports of county officers and auditing 
bills, unless otherwise ordered by two-thirds of the members present; and also, 
decided upon explicit regulations for the government of Justices of the Peace and 
Constables in their reports; also for those of Road Commissioners. 

In compliance with the requirements of the law, on December 3d the Board of 
Supervisors made a semi-annual statement of the revenue and finances of the county 
and the debt existing at that date. The receipts from all sources were as follows: — 

From State Fund $56,711.26 

" County General Fund • 19,752.11 

" Common School Fund : 15,469.67 

" Road and Bridge Fund 23,176,70 

" Indigent Sick Fund 4,379.02 

■■'■ Oakland Bar Fund 3,882.52 

" Contra Costa Fund 2,453.01 

Total $125,824.29 

Ca.sh on hand June 4, l865 13,137.22 

Grand total of Receipts $138,961.51 

16 



234 History of Alameda County, Cai.ikornia. 

The total value of assessed property in Alameda County for the year was five 
millions six hundred and twenty thousand nine hundred and seventy-six dollars and 
fifty cents. 

1867. — This year is remarkable as one when the Sheriff's office was no sinecure; 
crime was rife, and owing to the amount of individual lawlessness, the Grand Jury 
were three days in getting through the business of the January term. The)' returned 
into court with eleven indictments, embracing all the range of crime from man- 
slaughter to petit larceny. It appears that at this sitting of the court, one prisoner 
was tried for the grave offense of stealing a horse, but was acquitted — so said the 
Gazette — by ^ix?, peers. This legal phraseology, however correct, did not find favor 
with some of the jury in the case, who thought that the mighty wielder of the shears 
and paste-brush had branded them as horse-thieves, he was therefore' called upon for 
an explanation, which no doabt he made, as it is not recorded that vengeance fell ujion 
his devoted head. 

In January, 1867, an important decision was rendered by the Supreme Court, 
touching the question of damages and benefits to property by railroads. The partic- 
ular case of which we speak was that of the San Francisco, Alameda, and Stockton 
Railroad vs. Andrew Caldwell and others, land-owners on the route of the road. It 
had been decided by Judge McKee that it was wrong for Commissioners to take the 
supposed benefits conferred by a railroad as whole or part compensation for lands 
taken from an owner for right of way. This decision the Supreme Court reversed, 
maintaining that the difference in the value of property before and after the improve- 
ments should be taken into account in awarding damages and benefits. Justices 
Curry, Shafter, and Sanderson sustained this view, but Justice Rhodes dissented, on 
the ground that " benefits" could not be considered in ascertaining the "just compen- 
sation" to which the land-owner is entitled under the Constitution. 

On February 4, 1867, the Board of Supervisors resolved to e.xpend three hundred 
dollars in laying out Court House Square and planting trees therein, but that sum 
being considered insufficient for the purpose, two hundred and fifty dollars more were 
appropriated, and on April 13th a flag-staff, to cost fifty jdollars, was ordered for the 
square. On April 23, 1867, Supervisors Green and Threlfall endeavored to rescind 
the order in force in regard to the distribution of the Road Fund, but were voted 
down by Messrs. Marlin, Cummings and Farrelly, but the old order was subsequently 
adopted on April 13th. The Board having heard that Dr. Haile had a claim against 
the county for medical services rendered to prisoners in the jail, under order of the 
former Board, on April 13th, annulled such order and notified the doctor not to render 
service unless so ordered. At the following meeting he was allowed three hundred 
and tvventy-fiv^ dollars. On this same date the Contra Costa Water Company 
obtained permission to lay pipes in Oakland Township; and, on May 27th, Dr. T. H. 
Finkerton was elected resident physician of the County Hospital. 

On June 8, 1867, the Union County Convention was convened at San Leandro, 
but discord had crept into the ranks of the party, and there was an undoubted diver- 
sity of opinion in the assembly. Judge A. M. Crane was chosen Chairman, and A. 
M. Church and William Gagan, Secretaries, while there were some fifty delegates 



Political History of the County. 235 

in attendance from all the townships in the county, and the following emissaries were 
appointed to the State Convention at Sacramento: John VV. Dwinelle and B. F. 
Ferris, Oakland Township; A. M. Church and B. F. Marston, Washington Township; 
William Meek, Eden Township; S. Milbury, Brooklyn Township; A. M. Crane, Ala- 
meda and Murray Townships jointly. Mr. Dwinelle offered two resolutions, which 
were adopted. The first presented Hon. E. D. Wheeler, as a candidate for the office 
of Attorney-General; the second indorsed the official course of Hon. William Higby 
, as representative of the district in the United States Congress. Judge Crane (the 
Chairman) took the floor and offered a series of four resolutions, the first indorsing 
the reconstruction policy of Congress; the second favoring the amendment of the 
Constitution, as proposed by the Thirtieth Congress, and the disfranchisement of the 
leaders of the Rebellion; the third favored the amendment of our State Constitution, 
removing the discrimination then made against the better educated of the colored 
people of the State; the fourth resolved that " while this Convention refrains from 
instructing the delegates to the State and Congressional Conventions in favor of any 
particular persons, yet we do instruct them to vote for no candidate known to be a 
crafty and unprincipled politician, seeking his own good and the consummation of 
corrupt schemes for the enriching and aggrandizement of a class at the expense of' 
the people; for no one heretofore known as a corrupt lobbyist, seeking to impose upon 
the people an immense public debt for the sole benefit of already overgrown corpora- 
tions or secret cliques and 'rings' of public thieves; for, no one, in short, whose record 
in public and private life is not pure and clear from all such corrupt contaminations." 
The mover sustained his resolutions in a lengthy speech, after which Mr. Dwinelle 
moved that they be voted on separately. The first and second resolutions were unan- 
imously carried; the third gave rise to a discussion in which most of the members of 
the Convention took part. Mr. Dwinelle opposed the resolution at length, taking 
strong grounds against negro suffrage, contending that the negroes were inferior to the 
Chinese, and finally moved that the resolution be laid upon the table. Mr. Crane and 
Mr. Shinn replied, condemning Mr. Dwinelle's utterances, and said the speech of the 
gentleman from Oakland would have been a very proper one for a Democratic Con- 
vention. S. G. Nye defended the resolution as far as it went, but thought suffrage 
should not be based on complexion, but on manhood. On a division, it was found 
that twenty-five voted for Mr. Dwinelle's proposition, and twenty against, while four 
declined to vote, all the Oakland delegates but two voting in the majority. The 
fourth resolution, which was evidently aimed at the candidacy of George C. Gorham 
for Governor, was withdrawn, and peace and harmony restored by Judge Hamilton 
moving that the word white be stricken out of the State Constitution, wherever it 
occurred. 

On the 15th of June the Democratic County Convention was held at the same 
place, when J. West Martin, C. H. Gushing, J. W. Dougherty, William Moss, and John 
Threlfall were appointed delegates to the State Convention. 

When the Convention met at Sacramento the name placed at the head of the 
ticket was that of George C. Gorham for Governor, who, it was afterwards charged, 
had secured his nomination by smart tactics and " trading;" the real choice of the 
Convention was General John Bidwell, of Chico. Be this charge as it may, the 



236 History of Alameda County, California. 



Union men that were expected to have led him triumphantly to victory, became dis- 
affected, and at the election held in the month of October, the ticket was ingloriously 
defeated. The Democrats seeing this weakening of the opposing host, published a 
platform denouncing the Mongolian infiu.x, declared labor to be the true foundation 
of all prosperity, and placed at the head of their ticket the name of Henry H. Haight 
of Alameda as Democratic candidate for Governor, who, amid much enthusiasm, 
obtained a signal majority over Gorham of eight thousand five hundred and twenty- 
seven votes. 

On July 6, 1867, the Contra Costa indebtedness was reported fully settled, and the 
Treasurer ordered to discontinue the fund set apart for that purpose, and to transfer 
all sums on hand or due to that fund to the General County Fund. 

On July 22d, the Union County Convention met at San Leandro for the purpose 
of nominating County and Judicial officers; the Democrats meeting for that purpose 
on the loth of August. In the ticket presented by the last-mentioned party there 
was for the office of District Attorney, George M. Blake, a convert from the Union 
ranks, while, in the person of Captain Mayhew, who had been a prominent member of 
the other party, the Democracy also found a new follower, yet notwithstanding these 
recruits the Union ticket was that which won. The Board of Supervisors elected on 
October 4th was composed of, F. K. Shattuck, Oakland Township; Duncan Cameron, 
Brooklyn Township; E. M. Smith, Alameda Township; J. B. Marlin, Eden Township; 
John M. Horner, Washington Township; Dan.' Inman, Murray Township; who 
appointed Mr. Shattuck, Chairman, and Messrs. Shattuck, Cameron, Smith, and 
Marlin, the Hospital Committee. December 12, 1867, it was ordered that no more 
armory claims would be allowed unless accompanied with evidence of approval by 
the State Board of Military Auditors. 

1868. — Early in this year the late distinguished citizen of Alameda County, J. 
Ross Browne, was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Peking, but 
not being impressed either with the " Flowery Kingdom " or the officials thereof, he 
returned /o these more congenial shores and at once set about unmercifully satirizing 
the Burlingame Treaty, that marvelous covenant which, in the language of its author 
and originator, was to establish the " comity of nations, and place a shining cross upon 
every hill " in China. 

Once again in this year did the removal of the State Capital obtain prominence, 
and once more did Alameda County make an offer for the prize. At a meeting of 
the Board held February 3, 1868, on motion of Supervisor Horner, the following pre- 
amble and resolution were unanimously adopted: — 

" Wherk.'VS, The question of the removal of the State Capital is now pemling in the Legislature; therefore, 

" Resolved, That a committee of three members of this Board be appointed to prei)are a Bill to be sul)niitlcd 

to said Legislature, authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County to issue bonds to the amount of one 

hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be appropriated to the erection of suitable buildings for use of the State, in 

the event of the Legislature locating the State Capital in this County." 

Messrs Shattuck, Cameron, and Smith were appointed such committee. On the 
21st F"ebruary, the State Legislature visited Oakland, but it is needless to say the 
Capital was not given to the county. On the 29th of this month County Surveyor 
Boardman was requested to keep an office at the county scat and remove thither all 
public records of his department. 



Political History of the County. 237 

In this year a bill was introduced in the State Senate, the Committee on Com- 
merce and Navigation recommending its passage, granting a tract of submerged lands 
with a frontage of nearly a mile on ship channel lying between Alameda and San 
Leandro to the Western Pacific Railroad Company for a terminus, the company to 
give bonds that the terminus would be there located and that a large amount of 
money would be expended in improvements. A bill was introduced by Mr. Church, 
in this year, recommending a considerable diminution in the emoluments of county 
officers, which gave rise to much discussion and was the cause of a good deal of pleas- 
antry, as may be gleaned from the following suggestive advertisement which appeared 
in the columns of the Gazette: — 

"County Clerk's Office. — Notice! Except duringthe sessions of the courts, or meetings of the Board of 
Supervisors, the Clerk will be found somewhere about the neighborhood, sawing wood. Any business connected 
with the office will be attended to after work hours. N. B. — Orders for wood-sawing left on the order-slate will 
he promptly attended to at two dollars per day, and board." 

On March 1 8, 1868, there passed the Legislature, an Act to provide for the erection 
of a jail and County Recorder's office in San Leandro; and another, concerning roads 
and highways in Alameda County. About the same time another bill was introduced 
by Mr. Church, having for its object the purchase of land for charitable purposes and 
the establishment of an institution thereon for the care of "unfortunates." This has 
since developed into the County Infirmary., The Legislature in this year, too, failed 
to pass an Act in favor of granting a subsidy to the Alameda Railroad Company to 
aid it in extending their line to Washington Corners, which caused its abandonment. 
• In regard to political meetings, the Union County Convention assembled at San 

Leandro on March 18, 1868, and elected delegates to the State Convention at Sacra- 
mento, while that of the Democrats was there convened on the 25th of April, when 
they passed resolutions highly complimentary to Governor Haight, and strongly urged 
his being put forward as the next Democratic candidate for the highest office in the 
gift of the people of the United States — the Presidential Chair. 

On May 11, 1868, the County Treasurer was directed to divide the late Alameda 
County Road and Bridge Fund equally among the several townships; but on the 1st 
of June this order was amended, and that officer instructed to set apart ten per cent, 
of the road and bridge tax and establish the " Special Road and Bridge Fund," from 
which appropriations were immediately made, as follows: one thousand dollars to each 
of the roads — from Alvarado to Centreville; Stockton Road, in Murray Township; 
Salt Marsh, in Eden Township; and five hundred dollars for a new bridge across 
Alameda Creek, south of Alvarado. On June 1st, a petition addressed to the Board 
of Supervisors by the County Superintendent of Schools for an increase of salary was 
received and the prayer granted, his stipend being then fixed at one hundred dollars 
a month, with the understanding that he devote his entire time to the duties of his 
office. 

On Saturday, July 18, 1868, a grand Democratic ratification meeting at San 
Leandro, in honor of the nomination of Seymour and Blair as candidates for .the Pres- , 
idency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, was held, among the speakers being 
Governor Haight and Lieutenant-Governor Holden. The chair was occupied by 
William S. Moss, while the Secretary was W. J. Collier, editor of the Democrat. 



5!:J8 History of Alameda County, California. 

There was a great deal of excitement among politicians during the Presidential 
election of this year, mass meetings of both Republicans' and Democrats being held 
throughout the county, while the most able speakers were arrayed on both sides. 
The Republican candidates were General U. -S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, and those 
of the Democracy already mentioned, the former of whom, at the election held Octo- 
ber 3d, received a majority in Alameda County of five hundred and thirty-six votes, 
the winning candidates receiving one thousand eight hundred and si.xty-one votes, 
and Seymour and Blair, Democratic nominees, twelve hundred and sixty-two. In 
this year there were enrolled on the Great Register, after the cancelled names were 
struck off, four thousand six hundred and twenty-three names, while there were 
recorded on the poll list only three thousand five hundred and ninety-si.x names, 
showing that there were two thousand and twenty-seven persons who did not feel 
sufficient interest to have their names registered; therefore, taking the number of 
votes cast, viz.: three thousand one hundred and twenty-three, from the number on 
the Great Register, and we have fifteen hundred persons in the count)- who were enti- 
tled to vote but did not make use of the privilege. 

On October 26, 1868, the county jail of San Francisco was designated as that 
for Alameda County also; while, at their meeting of November i6th, the Board of Super- 
visors agreed upon plans for a new Court House, jail and Recorder's ofifice, the latter 
to be a fire-proof brick building, and the prison to be provided with iron cells. The 
Board also appointed, at this time, a special committee to purchase a piece of ground 
on which to establish the County Infirmary, who were instructed to obtain fifty acres of 
land belonging to Mr. Puff, and located betwcn San Leandro and Haywards, above 
the county road. The Supervisors elected for this term were: F. K. Shattuck, Oak-' 
land Township; Duncan Cameron, Brooklyn Township; E. M. Smith, Alameda 
Township; J. B. Marlin, Eden Township; Dan. Inman, Murray Township; William 
Whidden, Washington Township. On December 11 th the county, conjointly with 
the city of Oakland, established a pest-house on the San Pablo Road; while, on the 
same date, rates of dockage, etc., were established for the Ocean View Wharf, under 
1 868. 

1869. — This year opened with the ranks of our citizens being decimated by 
small-pox, which was then prevalent in the county, and accounts for the establish- 
ment of the pest-house mentioned above, in which, in the first week in January, there 
were four patients, attended by a cook, nurse, and visiting physician; beyond this 
there was little of any moment. 

At a previous meeting a petition was presented to the Board tor widening Tele- 
graph Road from the charter line of the city of Oakland to the town of Berkeley, 
and February i, 1869, ^et as the day for hearing claims for damages resulting from 
same. Claims aggregating nearly forty thousand dollars were made, and proof 
brought before the Supervisors, who, on May 25th, awarded as such a little over eight 
thousand dollars. On August 8th a second petition was received for the same pur- 
pose, with claims totaling seven thousand five hundred and fifty dollars, of which six 
hundred dollars were allowed. The road was finally ordered opened. May 5, 1870. 
On February 13th, the report and field notes of survey of the boundary line between 



Political History of the County. 239 

San Joaquin and Alameda Counties were submitted, approved and adopted; and, on 
May 3d, a special road and bridge fund was again created. 

Early in the year the new Court House was completed, but its appearance, style, 
and discomfort, excited general complaint; for its embellishment, however, a new 
national flag was ordered on June 6, 1869. On July 7th we find the first petition for 
the creation of a Swamp and Tide Land District, under the Act approved March 23, 
1868; on the 17th the Union County Convention was held in San Leandro, while 
the Democrats made no nominations; but an Independent party was formed and a 
ticket put in the field, headed by Edward Tompkins for State Senator. On the ist 
of September the election was held, portions of both tickets being successful. For 
the office of County Recorder there was a tie vote between P. S. Marston and M. W. 
Levy, which, at a special election held on October 25th, was set at rest by the first- 
named gentleman being chosen. The Board of Supervisors elected were: A. C. 
Henry (Chairman), Oakland Township; Duncan Cameron, Brooklyn Township; 
Louis Fassking, Alameda Township; William Haywaid, Eden Township; M. W. 
Dixon, Washington Township; Thomas Scott, Murray Township; who commenced 
their duties on October 4th. On the 2d November it was ordered that the county 
printing should be thereafter done by contract, such being awarded, on December 
1 2th, to the Oakland News, Transcript, and Alameda County Gazetle for one twelve- 
month, at one hundred dollars each yearly On the 12th December E. L. Beard, 
for Swamp Land District No. 82, reported work commenced, in ^accordance with the 
Act, and made a demand for funds, when a warrant on the Swamp Land Fund 
for eleven hundred dollars was ordered to be issued 

1870. — Early in this year a bill was introduced in the Legislature providing for 
the building of a bridge over the estuary of the San Antonio, between Oakland and 
Alameda, but the people of Brooklyn, thinking that such would materially interfere 
with their commercial prosperity, strongly protested against its construction, to no avail, 
however, for the bridge was built and is now known as the Webster-street Bridge. 
Another scheme of the same nature was the introduction in the Legislature for an 
Act authorizing the construction of a bridge between Oakland and Brooklyn, for 
which plans and specifications were authorized to be called on March 14th. These, 
as prepared by W. F. Boardman, were adopted on the 2d of May, the county agreeing 
to pay fifteen thousand dollars in bonds, and the balance to be supplied from the 
Road Funds of Oakland and Brooklyn Townships. This action, however, was recon- 
sidered on the 7th June, when all bids received in the matter of building were ordered 
to be rejected, and the Auditor directed to issue fifteen thousand dollars in bonds to 
the Road and Bridge Committee, who were empowered to commence the construction 
without delay, but under no circumstance was the expense to exceed the sum men- 
tioned above. On July ist the contract to supply piles and lumber therefor was let 
to Samuel Merritt, and on the 20th August the work was commenced under the 
superintendence of Roadmasters Thorne, of Brooklyn, and Hersey, of Oakland, who 
did the preliminary grading, cut down the hill n the Clinton side, and filled in 
the roadway with earth. It was not until the clo.se of the year, however, that the 
work was completed. 



240 History of Alameda County, Camkornia. 

It is always a pleasant task to chronicle tributes of praise to deserving public 
officials, as that which we here append. At the meeting of the Board, held February 
7, 1870, the following preamble and resolutions were introduced by Supervisor Henry: — 

" Whereas, I. A. Amerman, Es(|., will retire from the oltice of County Clerk before this Board will 
meet again; therefore be it 

" /icsolved. By the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, that we recognize in I. A. Amerman an hon- 
orable citizen, and one who has for the last four years discharged the duties of the office of County Clerk with 
fidelity and honor to the people and himself. 

" Resolved, That a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolutions be spread upon the minutes of this Board." 

Besides this eulogium, that gentleman was presented with a handsome gold 
watch, chain and key, by the clerks in the Court House, Deputy Recorder, A. A. 
Moore, making the presentation speech. A few days later Mr. Amerman received 
from the members of the bar a set of silver table ware, the offering being made by 
Lewis Shearer, Esq. 

March 7, 1870, the official bond of the County Treasurer was increased to sixty 
thousand dollars; and, on March 14th, the Board of Supervisors entered an earnest 
protest against the attempt being made by the city of Oakland to remove the county 
seat, setting forth that it is wrong and detrimental to the best interests of the tax- 
payers of the county. Thus we see the commencement of that bitter feud that so 
long existed between Oakland and the country residents. On the same date the 
Board also condemned the "draw-bridge project," to be built by parties resident at 
Alameda Point and Oakland, and declared it against the interests of the citizens of 
the county. Copies of these resolutions were sent to the Legislature. 

The proposition authorizing the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County to 
issue bonds for the construction of a new bridge between Brooklyn and Oakland, to 
the value of twenty thousand dollars, was approved March 12, 1870, and bec.ime law; 
while, on the 4th April, petitions were received from F. K. Shattuck for a franchise to 
build a wharf from the south half of Plat No. 59, Oakland; another from Ezekiel 
Brown for similar privileges at Berkeley Point, whence a ferry was to be run to San 
Francisco; and a third from William A. Bray, to construct railroads in Oakland and 
Brooklyn Townships. On the same date Adeline or Regent Street was declared a 
public thoroughfare from Twenty-second Street to San Pablo Road, Oakland. 

On April 5, 1870, the Board of Supervisors declared themselves dissatisfied with 
the boundary lines of the county and called for a resurvey of the same " from junction 
of San Joaquin and Tuolumne Counties northwardly on the west line of San Joaquin 
County to the slough known as the Pescadero, and also to establish that portion of 
the boundary from the Pescadero Slough, westwardly, in a straight line, until it strikes 
the dividing ridge in the direction of the house of Joel Harlan in Amador Valley." 
This order was modified on June 7th, however, and Horace A. Higley was appointed 
Deputy Surveyor, by the Surveyor-General of California, to survey the boundary lines 
of the county of Alameda. He was directed first to establish the line between 
Alameda and San Joaquin, to be subsequently approved by the Surveyor-General, 
and afterwards erect monuments, execute maps for filing, etc., for which he was to 
receive one thousand dollars in county scrip. These duties being completed he 
received his warrant September 9, 1870, and on the nth November the Board of 
S-ipervisors of San Joaquin County were notified that the boundary line established 
by Mr. Higley was that recognized as the true one by Alameda County. 







^^.^ ^ 



<?Vc- 



Political History of the County. 241 

On May 2, 1870, Hiram Tubbs, J. West Martin, W. A. Bray, F. K. Shattuck, 
W. Van Voorhies, T. Le Roy, A. J. Snyder, George M. Blake, Harry Linden, and 
Allen J. Gladding, on petition, were allowed to lay down and operate for twenty-five 
years, a railroad from Fruit Vale to and upon Twelfth-street Bridge, Oakland; and 
one on Adeline Street to University Avenue. On the same date, B. F. Mann, Fred- 
erick Kapp, E. A. Haines, C. C. Webb, and S. Burpy et al., were granted similar 
privileges from the boundary line between Alameda and Contra Costa Counties on 
San Pablo Road to Broadway, and thence to the water front of the City of Oakland; 
while, on July 1st, the same company were granted the right to operate a horse rail- 
road, as follows: Commencing at Washington Corners; thence along the main county 
highway, through Centreville, Alvarado, and San Lorenzo to San Leandro; thence 
along the public highway to Fruit Vale Avenue in Brooklyn Township; and thence 
to connect with the contemplated railroad to San Pablo in Contra Costa County. 

Under the provisions of the " Gopher and Squirrel Act," passed March 2, 1870, a 
special tax of one and a half cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of property, to 
be called the Bounty Fund, was ordered to be levied; while, another special levy of 
one cent, with the same conditions, was ordered in accordance with the Act approved 
March 8, 1870, to be known as "Interest Bridge Fund." On June 7th the County 
Recorder was authorized to re-record in the proper book the following maps: Kellers- 
berger's Map of the City of Oakland; Map of town, of San Leandro, by H. A. Higley; 
and a map of Oakland showing the position of the property of Joseph Irving, deceased. 
At the same time the map of the ranchos of Vicente and Domingo Peralta were 
ordered to be framed. 

On June 11, 1870, the articles of incorporation of the Decoto Land Company 
of Alameda County were filed in the office of the County. Clerk of San Francisco; 
while, among other corporations connected with Alameda whose documents were filed 
in this year, were the Bay Spring Water Company, in the office of the Secretary of 
State, April 4th; the Berkeley and Oakland Water Works Company, in the office of 
the County Clerk of Alameda County, April 12th; and the articles of association, 
amalgamation and consolidation of the Central Pacific of California with the Western 
Pacific Railroad, under the name of the Central Pacific Railroad, in the office of the 
Secretary of State, June 23d. 

On July I, 1870, the petition of E. S. Moulton et al., to build a wharf in Alameda, 
was received and the prayer granted; while, from the report of the Grand Jury for the 
September term of this year, we find that the balance in the treasury vault on the 
23d of that month was twelve thousand nine hundred and fourteen dollars; and the 
assessed value of the real and personal property in the county was eleven millions 
seven hundred and eighty-six thousand three hundred and eighty-one dollars; the 
amount of tax levied for the year 1870 being two hundred and fifty-five thousand 
seven hundred and sixty-four dollars and forty-eight cents. 

On October 3, 1870, the new Board of Supervisors took their seats and com- 
prised: F. K. Shattuck (Chairman), Oakland Township; R. S. Farrelly, Brooklyn 
Township; Louis Fassking, Alameda Township; W. J. Stratton, Eden Township; 
M. W. Dixon, Washington Township; Thomas Scott, Murray Township. Among 
their first duties was the appointment of a eommittee to obtain plans and specifica- 



242 History of Alameda County, California. 

tions for a draw-bridge across the Alameda Creek, near Alvarado, and to order the 
Road Commissioners of Eden and Washington Townships to advertise for bids to 
build the same. On the 7th November, Mr. BurrcU, to whom was granted the con- 
tract at eleven hundred and ninety dollars, invited examination of the work, and for 
this purpose the Board appointed a committee, who, on January 9, 1871, reported 
that the building of the bridge was not in accordance with the plans and specifications, 
and recommended its rejection. Upon this the contractor was granted thirty days' 
extension of time wherein to complete the work, and on the 2d February was allowed 
one thousand dollars on account, while John Caddy was appointed to inspect and 
report upon the work March 3d. Mr. Burrell demanded a settlement in full, but this 
the Board refused on the plea that the bridge had not been made in accordance with 
the plans adopted by them, but on the nth the Supervisors agree to examine the 
structure, evidently it was found to be unsatisfactory, however, for we find, under date 
March 20, that the Road Commissioners of Washington Township were required to 
put the bridge in proper order to subserve the purposes for which it was intended, 
that official, on April 14th, reporting its completion by B. F. Ingalls at a cost of four 
hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. 

The certificate of incorporation of the San Jose Mission Land Company was filed, 
October 13th; and, on the 17th, the fifteen thousand dollars' worth of bonds issued on 
account of the Twelfth-street Bridge was reported as exhausted and the work unfin- 
ished; whereupon the Board ordered the issuance of three thousand dollars additional 
bonds to complete the work. A committee appointed for this purpose, December 5th, 
report all bills paid, and after selling the last-mentioned bonds at par, held a cash 
balance of four hundred and ninety dollars and forty-nine cents. 

The population of Alameda County, according to the census of 1870 is given at 
twenty-five thousand, seven hundred and thirty-seven. 

1871. — It is said the year 1871 was remarkable in Alameda County for its hom- 
icides, criminal calendar, educational enterprises, and short crops. 

On January 2d, Judge Nye, in his charge to the Grand Jury, dealt roughly with 
the California Legislature for passing an Act in opposition to the spirit of the Con- 
stitution of the State, permitting the Mercantile Library Lottery in San Francisco. 
He declared, that, without exaggeration, no single Legislative Act in the history of the 
State had been so baneful to society, and urged upon them to indict any parties get- 
ging up lotteries or raffles in the county, several of which were known to be in prog- 
ress. This Grand Jury reported that they had found twelve true bills out of the 
seventeen cases examined; while, an order was issued which transferred the famous 
case of Laura D. Fair, tried for the murder of A. P. Crittenden, in the month of Octo- 
ber of the previous year, to the Third District Court. It will be remembered that 
Mrs. Fair shot Crittenden on the Oakland Ferry Boat after she had left the wharf, 
which as we all know, juts for a great distance into the bay; consequently a doubt 
arose in which county the crime was committed, and upon the survey of Surveyor- 
General Bost it was found that the offense took place outside of the boundaries of 
Alameda County, therefore it became necessary to transfer the case to San Francisco. 

William C. Blackwood and William Meek, two of the chief taxpayers in the 



Political History of the County. 243 

county, on January 30, 1871, entered suit in the Third District Court against County 
Treasurer McCIure, to recover the amount of State and county taxes paid under pro- 
test by them, claiming, among other things, that the assessment roll was made by 
Edwin Hunt, who was not County Assessor, and who was not authorized by law to 
make such assessment. On the 6th February the District Attorney requested the 
Board of Supervisors to supply him with assistance in defending the suits, when Hon. 
John W. Dwindle was employed. These were cases of great interest and moment 
to the county, and as a decision of the suits was not likely to be reached for some 
months, and as the legality of the assessment for the current fiscal year was involved, 
Mr. Dwindle consulted Attorney-General Hamilton, who brought an action o{ quo ivar- 
ranto against Edwin Hunt, the acting County Assessor, charging him with usurpation 
of office, setting out all the facts, including Mr. Hunt's election. A demurrer was 
entered by Mr. Dwinelle, the case argued in the Fourth District Court, before Judge 
Morrison, and a decision in Mr. Hunt's favor recorded. The case was appealed. On 
February 13th, it was resolved by the Board of Supervisors, "That it is expedient 
that proceedings be instituted to procure a speedy decision by the Supreme Court as 
to the rightful authority by which the assessment of State and county taxes can be 
made in the county of Alameda." It came on before that tribunal, who affirmed 
Judge Morrison's decision, and it was decided that the office of County Assessor of 
Alameda Cbunty is a county office; that Edwin Hunt was lawfully elected and was 
last year, and was then, lawfully in office. 

On March 6, 1 871, the boundary line between Eden and Washington Townships 
was rectified as follows: "Commencing at the junction of North and Alameda Creeks; 
thence running up said North Creek to the mouth of Mathewson Ditch, so called; 
thence up said ditch to its intersection with the Mountain Road; thence following the 
line of said ditch produced to its intersection with the old township line at a point on 
the lands of Andrew Patterson; thence following the old township line between Eden 
and Washington Townships easterly to the corner of Washington, Murray, and Eden 
Townships." 

Under the Act approved April 4, 1870, the Board of Supervisors authorized the 
building of the drawbridge at the foot of Webster Street, Oakland, the cost not to 
exceed forty-five thousand dollars, to be borne equally by the city of Oakland and town- 
ship of Alameda, for which purpose, at this meeting, under the report of the Commis- 
sioners, a tax of three dollars and eighty cents on one hundred dollars of assessed 
property in Alameda Township was also levied. To this levy there was, however, 
some objection, and to test its validity suit was brought against the Board of Super- 
visors by Thomas A. Smith, in whose favor Justice McKee decided, on the ground that 
the levy was in excess of the amount authorized by the Act, and therefore void. The 
Board therefore ordered another levy of three dollars and sixty cents on each one 
hundred dollars' worth of taxable property. On March 20th, the Oakland Gas Light 
Company asked for further privilege to lay pipes across the Twelfth-street Bridge, 
while, on the loth April, E. L. Beard was paid seven thousand three hundred and 
twenty-one dollars on account of work done in Swamp Land District No. 82, from May, 
1870 to May, 1 87 1. On May 9th, the deed of J. S. Emery's rock quarry was made by 
that gentleman to Road Commissioner Hersey, of Oakland Township, and his succcs- 



244 History of Alameda County, California. 

sors in office, which was duly accepted and ordered recorded, the rock from the quarry 
being directed to be used in the macadamizing of roads in Oakland Township. On 
June 1 2th, bonds were ordered to be issued to the amount of two thousand dollars for 
the purpose of completing the Twelfth-street Bridge, in accordance with the Act 
approved March 12, 1870, said bonds to be issued "out of the Oakland and San 
Lcandro Bridge Fund." This order was amended, however, August 25th, by omitting 
these words. On the 2d October, the repairs were reported as nearly completed; but 
these matters would appear to have rested for a time, for we find on the 6th November 
the attention of the Supervisors being called to its unfinished condition. On August 
25th, two thousand dollars from the Special Road and Bridge Fund was directed to be 
set apart for constructing a bridge over the Arroyo de Laguna, in Murray Township, 
for which the plans and specifications were adopted on September 18th, and the con- 
tract awarded to E. Dole, who reported its completion at a cost of two thousand 
eight hundred dollars, on the 1 3th November. Eight hundred dollars of this sum 
was contributed by private individuals, the balance being paid by warrants on the 
county treasury. On the 1 8th September, another sum of one thousand seven hundred 
and five dollars was paid from the Swamp Land Fund to K. L. Beard for work per- 
formed between the 15th July and 15th September. 

At the election of September 6, 1 87 1, for Congressional, State, County, and 
Township officers, Newton Booth received a majority in Alameda of nine hundred 
and eighteen votes, a result which gave great pleasure to his adherents, more espe- 
cially as it was thought that his opponent. Governor Haight, was almost certain of 
re-election. On the 2d October the new Board of Supervisors, composed of the 
following gentlemen, took their seats: F. K. Shattuck (Chairman), Oakland Town- 
ship; W. B. Clement, Alameda Township; Isham Case, Brooklyn Township; J. B. 
Marlin, Eden Township; H. Overacker, Washington Township, Joshua A. Neal, 
Murray Township; and at once entered upon their duties. 

1872. — The chief object of interest in this year was the question of the removal 
of the county seat The first gun was fired on February 6th, when Supervisor Marlin 
introduced a resolution on the subject which was " simply received and filed." The 
Legislature was in session at this time, and there the city of Oakland, which was 
represented in the Senate by Hon. Ed. Tompkins, and in the Assembly by Doc- 
tor Pardee, felt that a better fight could be made than in the year 1870, when the 
matter was last contested. But the honor was not by any means to go undisputed, 
for the citizens, outside of Oakland, were all on the side of the residents of Eden 
Township, who wished the prize for San Leandro. This contest has been .so fully 
described by different writers that we reproduce one of these: "Assemblyman Crane 
took up the cause for his country constituents; the Board of Supervisors, excepting 
the Oakland delegate, were a unit in favor of San Leandro; an able delegation, con- 
sisting of Hon. L A. Amerman and John Nugent, watched over their interests at 
Sacramento, where they had the support of some of the ablest men on both sides of 
either house. On one side the cry raised was convenience, and, on the other, cost. 
The Oakland people maintained that they supplied the greater part of the business 
transacted at the county seat, which was nine miles distant from them. There were 



Political History of the County. 245 

the principal lawyers and professional men, the banks and real estate agents of the 
county. The Edenites maintained that San Leandro was more central; that it 
was accessible and convenient for all parts of the county, and was served by two rail- 
roads; that the county was in possession of a valuable piece of property, which was 
donated to it by the Estudillo family, which would revert to the original owners in 
case of disuse of the purpose for which it was granted; that county offices, a Court 
House, and jail, sufficient for the wants of the county, were already erected; and that 
removal would entail great expense on the people for new county buildings and 
grounds upon which to erect them. 

The Oaklanders met some of these objections by showing that the upper portion 
of the City Hall could be used for years yet to come for county offices; that a fire- 
proof Hall of Records could be built on the city property adjoining the City Hall; 
or, in case of failure in this, the two city plazas, consisting of two town blocks in 
the lower part of the city, on Broadway, could be secured for the purpose of county 
buildings. 

Oakland had a committee, or an association, established, called the Citizens' 
Union, which directed the agitation in favor of removal, and of which Harry Linden 
was agent. A petition was prepared and names sought for it all over the county, and 
active steps taken for legislative action. This aroused the Eden people, who also held 
meetings and organized. Their first public meeting was held in the Court House, 
San Leandro, on January lo, 1872. It was addressed by I. A. Amerman and John 
Nugent, of Eden; R. S. Farrelly and A. H. Griffith, of Brooklyn; and J. R. Palmer, 
of Murray. A committee was appointed to report a plan of action and resolutions, 
consisting of County Judge Nye and four of the gentlemen already mentioned. The 
following resolutions were adopted: — 

Whereas, Certain people in the city of Oakland are endeavoring to remove the county seat of Alameda 
County from its present central location to the city of Oakland; and 

Whereas, Said removal is contrary to the wishes of a large majority of the tax-payers of Alameda County; 
therefore, be it 

Resolved, That our Senator and members of Assembly be, and they are hereby earnestly requested to delay 
any action upon the petition for the removal of the county seat until they receive a remonstrance of the tax-pay- 
ers who are opposed to such removal. 

Resolved, That a copy of the above proceedings be forwarded to the Senator and members of Assembly of 
Alameda County, duly certified by the Chairman and Secretary. 

A committee, having a representative in every school district in the county, was 
appointed to procure names to a remonstrance, which, in due time, was forwarded to 
Sacramento, largely signed. 

Mr. Amerman, having been commissioned to go to Sacramento to watch legisla- 
tion and defeat action there, immediately after his arrival addressed a communication 
to Senator Tompkins, in which he put to that gentleman six leading questions touch- 
ing removal. Mr. A.'s communication was dated the 17th of January, and the Sen- 
ator's answer came promptly on the i8th, and in which he took strong ground favor- 
able to the Oakland agitation. 

Then followed a public meeting in Brayton Hall, Oakland, on the 24th of Janu- 
ary, at which the following preamble and resolutions were adopted: — 



246 History of Alameda County, California. 

Whereas, It has become necessary for the accommodation of a large majority of the citizens of Alameda 
County, that the county seat of said county should be removed to the city of Oakland, and a petition of the voters 
of said county has been presented to the Legislature of the State asking the passage of a law authorizing such 
removal; and 

Whereas, Objections to said removal are being mide by some, on the ground that a heavy debt would be 
incurred by such removal, in the purchase of land and the erection of the necessary buildings for county purposes; 
it is therefore 

Resolved^ By the citizens of Oakland, that the seconti story of the City Hall shall be finished at the expense 
of the city, and partitioned into suitable rooms for the District Court, the County and Probate Courts, the 
Sheriff, the District Attorney, the grand jury, the petit jury, the County Surveyor, and the Judge's chambers, and 
that rooms shall be provided on the first floor of said hall for the Board of Supervisors and the Superintendent 
of Public Schools, and in the basement of said hall, if required, room sufficient for a jail. And that the city 
will also dedicate to the county a lot of land, parcel of the City Hall lot, situated in the southwest corner of the 
same, fifty feet wide, on Fourteenth Street, by one hundred feet in depth, for the purpose of erecting a Hall of 
Records for the use of the County Recorder, County Clerk and County Treasurer. And that the use and 
control of said rooms and said land shall be vested in the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, for so long 
a time as said Board may use and occupy them for the purposes aforesaid. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting transmit to our Senator and Representatives, and to the City 
Council, a copy of these resolutions, 

Messrs. F. K. Shattuck, E. C. Sessions, John Benton, and Dr. Samuel Merritt 
were appointed to see that the matter was brought before the Legislature. 

At a meeting of the City Council, held on the 29th of January, a bill was pre- 
sented and adopted, which was sent to the Hon. Mr. Tompkins for introduction in 
the Senate. 

The bill provided for an election to determine the future location of the county 
seat — San Leandro or Oakland. 

In case of the success of the latter, the City Hall of Oakland was to be fitted 
up for the use of the county officers; the basement of the same given up for a jail; 
and furthermore, a pi :ce of ground, fifty feet front by one hundred and fifty feet in 
depth, granted on Fourteenth Street, for the purpose of building a fire-proof Hall of 
Records thereon; and bonds issued for the purpose of erecting the necessary build- 
ings thereupon. The bill provided that the removal should be at the expense of the 
county; but the rooms in the City Hall were to be fitted up at the expense of the 
city of Oakland. 

Tuesday, the 17th of February, was the day fi.xed for the discussion of the bill 
in the Senate. The bill was read by the Clerk, Mr. Ferrall, in a distinct voice, 
after which Senator Tompkins rose and offered a series of amendments, meeting 
some of the objections that had been raised to the bill; among which was one 
providing for the use of the plazas on Broadway for county purposes, and another 
making the city of Oakland liable for the election expenses in ease of a defeat at 
the polls. His argument was strong, plausible, and persuasive. In his masterly 
manner he portrayed the justice of his cause and delivered an exceeding able argu- 
ment. No one in that Senate chamber knew better how. It had all the facts and 
figures of the case to perfection, and placed them in a manner best calculated to 
enforce his opinions. Oakland was fortunate in possessing so able an advocate. He 
was one of the most brilliant men that ever shone in a California Legislature, and 
in point of ability and effectiveness was superior to every man there. Not a point 
was lost, not an advantage left untouched. All he wanted was a vote on the ques- 
tion. Nothing was fairer than that the will of the majority should be respected and 
their demands granted. 



Political History of the County. 247 

Senator Pendergast, of Napa, was expected to reply. The San Leandro lobby 
depended upon him. He was considered, next to Alameda's Senator, the most 
eloquent man in the Senate. But no reply came from him. Senator Larkin, of El 
Dorado, objected to the bill because it was a species of special legislation, while there 
was a general law to cover the case. In Senator Farley, of Amador, however, the 
Edenites found their strongest champion. He espoused their cause warmly, and he 
was a power. He was Chairman pro tern, of the Senate, and the leader of the Demo- 
crats in that House. He referred to the remonstrance that had been presented against 
the bill, which, he said, contained five hundred more names than the petition in favor 
of it. The Board of Supervisors of the county, he said, were all opposed to it, with 
one exception, and had officially so declared; he showed that the townships repre- 
sented by the Supervisors contained thirteen thousand one hundred and thirty-three 
inhabitants, while the population of the city of Oakland was but eleven thousand one 
hundred and four. He maintained that there were facts to show that the county 
seat was best situated where it then was, to serve a majority of the people of the 
county. He had seen so many discreditable proceedings in connection with county 
seat removals that he was cautious in such matters. Senators Maclay, of Santa Clara, 
and Minis, of Yolo, followed on the same side, and Mr. Tompkins had to reply to 
them all; and this he did ably and clearly, meeting their objections in the most 
forcible manner. But there was an asperity in his manner and a bitterness in his tone 
that was unpleasant. 

The bill was ordered engrossed by a majority of one, there being nineteen for, to 
eighteen against it. 

On the 28th of February the vote on the passage of the bill was taken, when 
there appeared a majority of one against it. Senator Goodale, of Contra Costa, having 
reversed his former vote. The vote to reconsider, next day, stood nineteen for, to 
seventeen against. 

There was rejoicing throughout the county precincts, and the San Leandroans 
received their lobby back from Sacramento with bon-fires, music, and the ringing of 
bells, followed by a public ball. But the contest was not yet over. On the 20th of 
March Assemblyman Pardee gave notice that he would introduce a new bill in his 
House in reference to the subject, but it was not necessary that he should, for the 
revised Codes provided the means for ending all such disputes, and of these the people 
of Oakland subsequently availed themselves. 

At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors, on September 24th, a petition was 
presented to that body praying the Board to order an election for the purpose of 
allowing the citizens of the county to vote on the question of change of location of 
the county seat. W. W. Foote and William Van Voorhies appeared on behalf of the 
petitioners and R. B. Moyes and A. H. Griffith opposing the same. The petition 
was accompanied by the affidavit of Harry Linden as to the signatures upon the 
petition being those of qualified electors of the county, and also by the certificate 
of the County Clerk as to the number of votes cast at the last Gubernatorial elec- 
tion. Messrs. Moyes and Griffith opposed the petition upon the ground that the 
county seat had already been once removed, thereby making it necessary that two- 
thirds of the voters upon the Great Register should sign a petition for removal of the 



248 History of Alameda County, California. 

county seat, and Joseph DuMont was sworn and testified that the cnint)' seat was 
formerly located in Alvarado, and was removed from there some time in 1854. J. V. 
B. Goodrich and C. B. Reed were each sworn an J testified as to the number of uncan- 
celled names upon the Great Register, both setting the number liown at fi\c thou- 
sand. 

The Board appeard to be dissatisfied as to all the names upon the petition being 
those of qualified electors, on motion, the petitioners were, allowed to withdraw the 
petition, for the purpose of presenting the same at the ne.\t meeting, w ith the neces- 
sary proofs as to all the signatures being thoseof qualified electors. At a subsequent meet- 
ing of the Board of Supervisors, held on the 22d of October, Col. Harry Linden again 
presented the county seat removal petition, signed by over one-third of the voters at 
the last general election, one thousand seven hundred and seven names. W. W. 
Foote introduced Colonel Linden, who was sworn and testified that he obtained over 
fourteen hundred of the signatures on the petition. Richard Moyes asked Colonel 
Linden to point out the names he had obtained, which was done. John Coffee was 
sworn and testified that he had compared seventeen hundred and seven names on the 
petition with the Great Register, with the assistance of Mr. Collins and Mr. Knox. 
He could point out all the names as he had marked them. ]\Ir. Collins was sworn 
and testified that he had assisted in comparing about one hundred names on the peti- 
tion, and found them on the Great Register. J. V. B. Goodrich, County Clerk, was 
sworn and testified that the Great Register presented contained all the names of the 
voters of the county. He knew that at the last general election four thousand and 
sixty votes were cast. On examination of Mr. Moyes, he said there were five thou- 
sand seven hundred and fifty-four names on the Great Register. Mr. Foote said the 
petition was presented under section three thousand nine hundred and seventy-six of 
the Political Code, under which the petitioners demanded that the Supervisors should 
act. Mr. Kno.x was here sworn and testified that he had compared down to fifteen 
hundred and sixty-two of the names on the petition. 

The question whether the count}' seat had been once removed by a popular vote 
was brought up. Judge Williams was sworn on this point. In 1855 or 1856, the 
election was held for the re-location of the county seat from Alvarado to San Leandro. 
There was no Board of Supervisors at that time, and the Court of Sessions called the 
election. The election resulted in the removal. The county became a countj' in 
1853. The county seat remained at Alvarado until 1855. A popular vote was taken 
in that year, and it was in favor of San Leandro. Subsequently it was removed back 
to Alvarado. In accordance with an Act of the Legislature, after that, the county 
seat was again removed to San Leandro. 

Supervisor Case moved that the petition be received and the election ordered. 
Mr. Moyes objected on the ground of unauthenticity of the names. Mr. Griffith 
argued against the motion. A writ of mandamus compelled the removal of the 
records from San Leandro to Alvarado. A similar case came up in Sutter County at 
that time, and the Supreme Court decided that the Courts of Record must be kept 
where they were prescribed by law. The District and County Court must be held at 
the county seat. The Legislature deemed it their duty to fix the place where the 
courts should be held. An election, called by this Board, would amount to nothing. 





^^^ui.s^^A-iX 




Political History of the County. 249 

An Act of the Legislature must be had. He claimed that the petition did not come 
up to the requirements. The county seat had been once removed; to remove it again 
it must be done in the manner prescribed by the Act. One-'third of the votes pf the 
Great Register was required. There are five thousand seven hundred and iifty-four 
names on the Great Register, and the petition contains but fourteen hundred and 
fifty-three. 

At the meeting held on October 7th, W. W. Foote appeared before the Board 
and stated that the parties who had been at work comparing the names on the peti- 
tion for the county seat removal had as yet only compared about eight or nine hun- 
dred names. He stated that in two weeks from then the petition would be presented; 
and, if the Board refused to grant the petition, proceedings would be instituted to com- 
pel the Board to do so. Mr. Moyes arose to speak on the question. Mr. Shattuck 
said it was unnecessary to say any more on the subject. He was satisfied that a 
majority of the Board would vote against the petition. John R. Glascock read a 
decision of the Supreme Court, in the case of Upham vs. The Supervisors of Sutter 
County, in support of the argument that the Supervisors have the power to order the 
election. Supervisor Case called upon the county's legal advisor for his opinion on 
the point as to whether the Board is requir ed to grant an election upon the petition 
of one-third of the voters of the last general election. Mr. Moore said he did not 
think the present case came under three thousand nine hundred and eighty-five, but 
does properly come under section three thousand nine hundred and seventy-six. 
Mr. Moyes requested that Judge Nye's opinion be asked. Mr. Moore said it 
was proper for him to state that Judge Nye differed from him. Judge Nye was sent 
for and returned word that he thought it better for him not to give his opinion, as 
the matter might come before him judicially. A vote was taken, and the motion lost 
by the following vote : Neal, Overacker, Clement, Marlin, No; Chase, Shattuck, 
Yes. The petition was ordered on file. 

The next step was to apply to the Supreme Court for a mandamus, which was 
done on the 12th of November, by Mr. Foote. The Court granted an alternative 
writ, returning on the following 19th. It commanded the Board of Supervisors to order 
an election or show cause for declining to do so. A demurrer was filed, and on the 
19th of November the case was argued before Judge McKee, in the Third District 
Court; General Irvine of San Francisco and A. H. Griffith of San Lorenzo represent- 
ing the Board, and William Van Voorhies of Oakland and W. W. Foote of San Fran- 
cisco appearing for Linden. The Court sustained the demurrer, on the ground that 
Harry Linden was not the proper party to bring the action — he, in fact, having no 
more interest in the question than any other of the petitioners. The Court held that 
the suit should have been brought in the name of the people. 

No further action was had in the matter during 1872; but, as will be seen here- 
after, a new complication of the matter was in process by the' annexation of the 
town of Brooklyn to the city of Oakland. 

On February 12, 1872, the District Attorney was ordered to prepare and forward 

to the Legislature a bill authorizing the county to issue fifteen thousand dollars of 

ten-year bonds to be applied to the building of a bridge across Alameda Creek near 

Niles. On the 19th March, specifications and plans for the structure, to consist of 

17 . 



250 History of Alameda County, California. 

three spans of one hundred and thirt\'-three and one-third feet each, resting on stone 
or iron piers, all timber except the floor, to be preserved by the " Robins" process, 
were called for, which. May 5th, brought out a series of bids ranging from ten thou- 
sand two hundred and fifty to fourteen thousand nine hundred dollars. On the i ith 
of May the contract was awarded for a "Smith Truss" to the Pacific Bridge Com- 
pany, at twelve thousand four hundred and ninety-six dollars, and the work at once 
proceeded. To meet this amount county bonds for fourteen thousand dollars were 
ordered to be issued; and on September 30, 1872, the bridge was reported completed 
and satisfactory, and the contractors paid. 

Owing to the great destruction of roads and bridges, consequent upon the floods 
of the winter of 1871-72, the Road Commissioner of Washington Township issued 
certificates for labor and material expended in repairing, one thousand and six dollars 
in excess of the amount apportioned to that township, but the Board of Supervisors 
doubting its autliority to allow such an outlay, on March 5th resolved to prepare an 
empowering bill for presentation to the Legislature for the purpose of absolving him 
from an)- responsibility in the matter. 

In the month of February of this year the Central Pacific Railroad Company 
brought suit against the city and county of San Francisco, and the county of Alameda, 
and the city of Oakland, for the purpose of determining in which county their wharf 
was situated, and to what corporation they were justly compelled to pay taxes. This 
action brought about a considerable amount of discussion and the services of such 
eminent engineers as Surveyor-General Bost; S. J. Clarke (a member of the first Cali- 
fornia Legislature); Captain E. F. Rogers, of the Coast Sur\-ey; G. F. Allardt, chief 
engineer of the Tide Land Survey; Luis Castro, County Surveyor of Alameda; and 
Colonel Coffee, were called into requisition, it being finally arranged that the end of 
the wharf was in San Francisco County, which was competent to collect taxes from the 
company. 

Under provisions of the Act approved February 1 , 1872, entitled "An Act .sup- 
plemental to and amendatory of an Act entitled an Act to authorize the construction 
of a swing or draw-bridge across the San Antonio Creek in the county of Alameda, 
approved April fourth, eighteen hundred and seventy," authorizing the issue of bonds 
of the county to the amount of thirteen thousand three hundred and forty-four dollars 
and sixty-six cents, payable as follows: — 

On December 12, 1872, one hond for $1500.00 

" '■ 1873 " 1600.00 

" " 1874 " 1800,00 

" '■ 1875 " •• 2000.00 

" " 1876 " .. 2200.00 

1877 " 240t).oo 

1878 " 1944.66* 

Was directed by the Board, the payment to be made in gold coin of the United States 
at ten per cent, per annum. On the same date, March 11, 1872, in response to a 
petition of citizens an election was ordered to be held at " Kelsey's Rowling Saloon," 
on Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, to decide as to the annexing of the following de- 

*Opposite the last bond on the margin ol the record is written in pencil, " Last bond is $1844.66, (signed) 
E. C. Palmer." 



Political History of the County. 251 

scribed territory to the city of Oakland: "Bounded on the north by the hne of division 
between plots ten and eleven on Julius Kellersberger's Map of the Rancho of Vicente 
and Domingo Peralta, filed in the office of the County Recorder, January 21, 1857 
said line being produced in a straight line with itself westerly till it intersects the 
westerly boundary of the county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco, and pro- 
duced in like manner easterly beyond the easterly line of Webster Avenue until it 
intersects the small creek known as Cemetery Creek, which rises in the grounds of the 
Mountain View Cemetery Association and flows southwesterly to its junction with 
another creek rising east of said Webster Avenue on the east by said Cemetery Creek, 
and the other creek aforesaid below their junction until they empty into Lake Mer- 
ritt or Peralta, and thence southerly along the west shore line of the northwestern arm 
of said lake till the same intersects the northerly line of the city of Oakland; on the 
south by said north line of said city, and on the west by the westerly line of said 
county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco, to its point of intersection with the 
north line already described of the territory sought to be annexed." To effect this 
plan an election was held with the following result: In favor of annexation, seventy- 
nine votes, and against it, forty-two. 

Under provisions of an Act approved March 7, 1872, the town of Alameda was 
incorporated, while San Leandro had similar honors conferred upon it, March 21, 
1872. 

On July 28th, the Republican party held a Convention at San Leandro, with the 
object of electing delegates to the Congressional Convention, at Sacramento, when, 
after a keen contest, Hon. Nathan Porter, of Alameda, was put forward as the choice 
of the Republicans of the county. Although Mr. Porter appeared to be the favorite 
at Sacramento, there was present an unseen influence that gave the nomination to 
Horace F. Page, of Placerville, who was put forward by the friends of the Central 
Pacific Railroad, and thus that company commenced to work what cannot but other- 
wise be a questionable influence upon the politics of California. 

At the meeting of the Board of Supervisors held October 7, 1872, a petition was 
received from the citizens of the town of Brooklyn, praying to be annexed to the city 
of Oakland under provisions of the Act passed February i, 1872, and requesting that 
an election be held to determine the question. The prayer was duly granted and an 
election called for October 21, 1872, when the following .was the result: one hundred 
and eighty-si.x votes were in favor of annexation; seventy-three against it; while there 
was one rejected ballot. This scheme was mooted with the ultimate view of securing 
the county seat, for obtaining which there appeared to be a tacit understanding; there 
was also a feeling that a close union of the people on this side of the bay would be 
more likely to advance the improvement of the harbor facilities of San Antonio Creek 
in the eyes of the United States Congress, thus promoting the mercantile advantages 
and resources of the towns situated on the estuary. The opponents of the scheme, 
the minority, were those who saw a neglect of the interests of Brooklyn under a con- 
solidated city government and squirmed at the ogre of increased taxation conjured 
up by themselves. The wisdom of the more far-seeing has since fully proved the 
sagacity of their views. 

Then came Alameda with a like petition. Its prayer was granted, October 22, 



252 History of Alameda County, California. 

1872, and, on the 9th November, the election to decide the question was held, when 
it was ascertained that there were only forty-seven votes in favor of annexation, and 
one hundred and forty-one against it; thus the township-town was permitted to retain 
its pristine glories. 

On October 22, 1872, the Oakland and Alameda Railroad Company, assignee of 
H. F. Shepardson, et a/., was granted permission to lay their track upon the west side 
of the cross-road between the Webster-street Bridge and Euclid Street, and on the west 
side of Euclid Street, Alameda; while, on the same date, two additional bonds of 
five hundred dollars each were ordered to be issued to meet the remaining debt on 
the Niles Bridge. 

Let us now glance at the financial state of the county as made by the Treasurer 
up to October 7, 1872: — 

FUNDED DEBT. 

Oakland Bar Bonds S 34,ooo 00 

Oakland Bridge Bonds 20,000 00 

Niles Bridge Bonds 15,000 00 



Total $ 69,000 00 

FLOATING DEBT. 

Registered Warrants $ 74,221 94 

(Interest on entire debt 10 per cent. All registered warrants will be 

paid by January I, 1873) 

Value of property owned by county: Court House, buildings, and 

land I 40,000 00 

Infirmary buildings 6,000 00 

Infirmary lands 6,000 00 

Total S 52,000 00 

Cash in County Treasury 20,329 12 

VALUE OF PROPERTY IN COUNTY. 

Real estate $24,738,246 00 

Improvements ■ 5,498,020 00 

Personal property 6,748,655 00 

Amount of money 341,675 00 



Total $37,326,59600 

TAXES. 

Levied for 1872-73 $ 327,61862 

Special tax in Alameda Township 2,015 '° 

Total $ 329.63372 

On November ii, 1872, the Board of Supervisors passed the following resolution, 

which speaks for itself: — 

Whereas, Mr. F. K. Shattuck, now and for many years a member and Chairman of this Board, is now 
about to retire from his duties in this Board, 

Resolved, That we do now extend to Mr. Shattuck the thanks of this Board for the able, untiring, and 
energetic manner in which he has for so long a time discharged his duties among us, and the cordial and uniform 
kindness and correctness which has always characterized his conduct as a Supervisor and Chainiian of this Board. 

On November 14, 1872, Alameda County lost one of its brightest ornaments and 
most efficient public servants in the person of Hon. Edward Tompkins. Senator 



Political History of the County. 253 

Tompkins was distinguished alike for his vast learning as he was for his oratorical 
gifts, and when the Fell Reaper gathered him to his sheaf he was in the zenith of his 
fame. 

The new Board of Supervisors, composed of W. B. Clement, Alameda Town- 
ship; Isham Case, Brooklyn Township; J. B. Marlin, Eden Township; J. A. Neal, 
Murray Township; E. Bigelow, Oakland Township; H. Overacker, Washington 
Township, took their seats and elected Mr. Case Chairman of their meetings. They 
at once set apart ten per cent, of the Road Fund for the Special Road and Bridge 
Fund, as heretofore, the township of Alameda being excepted from the above; and, 
on the 30th, ordered that the rate of riding and driving across bridges should be 
restricted to a walk, and that the number of horses and cattle driven over a bridge at 
onetime .should be limited to fifteen. 

1873. — Once more have we the county seat controversy, which was re-opened at a 
meeting of the Supervisors held February 3, 1873, when W. W. Foote and Col. Harry 
Linden appeared before the Board with the request that a new election be ordered, 
the gallant Colonel and R. G. Knox giving testimony in regard to the names on the 
petition. Supervisor Bigelow moved that an election be ordered, which was seconded 
by Mr. Clement, but was declared lost by the following vote: Ayes — Bigelow, Clem- 
ent, Case. Noes — Marlin, Neal, and Overacker. A vote that showed a change in 
the aspect of affairs, for both the Supervisors from Brooklyn and Alameda Townships 
had changed their colors. It is thought that the reason for this lay in the hope that 
the Brooklyn portion of the city of Oakland would be chosen as the locality in 
which the Court House and public offices would be built. 

Notwithstanding this last rebuff dealt by the Supervisors, Mr. Foote procured 
from the Supreme Court an order commanding the Board to call an election, a charge 
which they could not ignore after a certified copy of the order of the Supreme Court 
directing a peremptory writ of mandate in the matter of the county seat removal had 
been served on the Chairman by Mr. Foote, on the 17th of February. It was there- 
upon moved that an election be called for Saturday, March 29, 1873, and that the 
Clerk be directed to give the proper order, all the members of the Board, save Super- 
visor Marlin, who was absent, voting in the affirmative. The following proclamation 
was subsequently promulgated: — 

State of California, \ 

County of Alameda, f 

A petition having been heretofore presented to the Board of Supervisors of the county of Alameda, signed 
by more than thirteen hundred and fifty-five qualified electors of said county, praying the Board of Supervisors 
to order an election, to be held to determine the question of removing the county seat of Alameda County from 
the place where it is now fixed by law, and to determine to what place it shall be removed. And it having been 
determined and established satisfactorily, and it appearing to the Board that said petition does contain the requi- 
site number of names of qualified electors, and is in all respects in compliance and conformity with law, it is 
therefore ordered by the Board that a special election be held in the county of Alameda on Saturday, March 29, 
1873, to determine whether or not the county seat of Alameda County shall be removed from the town of San 
Leandro, in Alameda County, the place where the same is at present located by law, and to what place the 
same shall be removed. Said election to be held and conducted, and the returns made in all respects in the 
manner prescribed by law for general elections in said county. 

At such election each elector must vote for the place in the county of Alameda which he prefers as the seat 
of justice, plainly designating it in his ballot. And it is further ordered by the Board that, at such election the 



254 History of Alameda County, California. 

election precincts, polling places, and officers of election of each precinct in said county shall be as follows: 
[Here follows the usual description of places constituting election precincts, polling places, officers of election, 
etc.] J. V. B. Goodrich, 

By C. G. Ueed, Deputy Clerk. Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County. 

San Leandro, February .jj*, jSyj. 

The morning of the day big with fate broke clear and bright; the sympathizers 
with the opposing factions were early afield, but, seeing that Brooklyn had come up in 
line with Oakland, the result was a foregone corFclusion. Yet a good fight was made 
on the part of the Edenites. The. result was a total ballot of three thousand five hun- 
dred and twenty-seven votes, divided as follows: — 

Oakland 2, 254 votes 

San Leandro 1,180 " 

Eight other towns in the county ... 88 " 

Scattering and rejected 5 " 

3,527 votes 

Thus giving the city of Oakland a majority of nine hundred and eighty-one votes- 
We have said the fight was keen, if possible the preliminary skirmishes were 
more so. The San Leandrans hoped against hope, but slackened not in the combat; 
they had learned to believe that discord had found its way into the Oakland camp, 
chiefly on account of the choice of location, an idea they fostered with much solici- 
tude, for there is no doubt that those favoring the City Hall scheme, and those partial 
to the plaza plan, upheld their rival claims with a good deal of bitterness, thus should 
any breach occur it would incline to the benefit of the old county seat. Brooklyn, 
also, was at fever heat, supported as she was by a large number of citizens, but, on 
account of a compromise with Oakland, who threatened to place '" Oakland Town- 
ship" on their ballots instead of "Oakland City," which latter included Brooklyn as 
well as the original section of the city, she put no ticket in the field. But, though the 
indications pointed to victory, nothing was certain, therefore a number of the citizens 
of Oakland proceeded to the Council Chamber and presented to the City Fathers 
the following resolution, which, on being read, was full}- discussed, and the deputation 
assured that the Council had been promised, b\- prominent citizens, sufficient inoney 
to fulfill the promises made in the resolution: — 

"That in case the people of the county vote for the removal of the county seat, the Council hereby tender 
the county the free use of the unoccupied portion of the City Hall, the same to be finished by the Council, within 
sixty days after notice by the Supervisors. And that whenever the Supervisors deem it expedient to erect build- 
ings, the Council will then dedicate public squares on Broadway for county purposes. And, in the meantime, to 
secure the county records, the Council will cause to be erected a fire-proof building adjoining the Cily Hall, for 
the use of the county, free of charge. And that we are opposed to a division of the county. " 

Then was read the following petition signed by six hundred persons: — 

To THE Honorable the City Council of the City of Oakland — 

We, the undersigned, residents and property-holders in the city of Oakland, respectfully ask that Your Hon- 
orable Body offer to the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, for temporary county purposes, for such length 
of time as the said Board may deem proper to meet, the use of the City Hall of said city, and as much land 
mmediately adjacent thereto belonging to said city, as may be required for the erection of su ch other buildings 
as may be found necessary to the proper and safe management of county affairs. Also, that Your Honorable 
Body offer to the said Board the two plazas fronting on Broadway, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, in said city, 
as pennanent locations for such county buildings as said Board may in future see fit to erect thereon. 



Political History of the County. - 255 

Contrary arguments now sprang up like mushrooms. It was said that the city 
had neither the power nor the authority to give away pubhc squares which they held 
only for specific purposes; others declared that the completion of the City Hall would 
be of no bsnefit to any other place in the county save Oakland; while should it 
become necessary to build, the county could ill afford the construction of expensive 
buildings suitable to such a rising city. All these various topics were, however, of no 
avail. Oakland City became the county seat March 29, 1873. On the 5 th of April, the 
Board of Supervisors paid a visit to Oakland to make choice of the three sites placed 
at their disposal, namely, the City Hall, the Broadway plazas, or Brooklyn (East Oak- 
land) where Independence square, or failing that, a block of the Larue estate was 
signified for their acceptance. This duty having been performed by the Supervisors, 
who were escorted by several prominent citizens, among them being Mayor Spauld- 
ing, Councilman Ferris, ex-Supervisor Shattuck, Councilman Larue, Judge Glas- 
cock, etc., adjourned to hold thsir next meeting at San Leandro on the following 
Monday, when it was understood their choice should be determined upon. The matter 
was then taken up, when Councilman Larue, on behalf of the executors of the Larue 
estate, and the people of Brooklyn, handed in an offer donating for county purposes a 
certain block of land on Adams Avenue, numbered twenty-two on the map of the 
old town of San Antonio, and a tender of ten thousand dollars in coin, accompanied 
by properly executed bonds. Judge Glascock appeared on behalf of the City Coun- 
cil of Oakland, and read to the Board the resolutions offering to the county the use 
of the upper portion of the City Hall so long as they might require the same, and 
promising to place it in a fit condition for reception. The resolution also promised the 
erection of a fire-proof Hall of Records on the City Hall property, without charge, 
besides the donation of the plazas already noticed. He also stated that there were 
citizens present, who were willing to enter into bonds in the sum of fifty thousand 
dollars, guaranteeing that the offers would be faithfully performed. The care of the 
Brooklyn interests was in the hands of Leonidas E. Pratt of San Francisco, who 
belittled the gift from Oakland, and praised that which he represented, stating, that 
that city had no title to the plazas and no powef to turn aside any city property from 
its original destiny. These statements over, the Chairman declared that they should 
now proceed to make a selection, but Mr. Bigelow, the Supervisor from Oakland, 
stated as his opinion that the subject was worthy of further consideration, and sug- 
gested that it remain over for one week. A resolutian accepting the grant of the 
Larue estate in Brooklyn was next proposed by Supervisor Clement of Alameda and 
seconded by Marlin of Eden, and on being put to the vote, resulted in its adoption by 
a vote of six to one. 

Here was a contretemps ! Where Oakland wanted the county seat she was ignored; 
the Supervisors all, save Mr. Bigelow, the representative from that city, had voted that 
it should be located within a few hundred yards of the city's eastern limit, and one 
mile or more from the City Hall. 

This decision gave the whole county, except the residents of Oakland, supreme 
satisfaction — th;ir bete noir had been conquered. Yet this triumph was short-lived, 
but we may not anticipate. 

As if to put further movement beyond the reach of Oakland, the Supervisors at 



256 History of Alameda County, California. 

once advertised for plans and specifications for a Hall of Records, to cost ten thou- 
sand dollars, while temporary arrangements were made by the citizens of Brooklyn 
for the reception of the county officers and the archives. 

On the 13th of April the Board met at San Leandro, when the matter of county 
seat removal once more came up. The Chair having made the announcement that 
the Board would now receive petitions, B. F. Ferris presented him.self, and informed 
the meeting that he was Chairman of a special committee, deputed by the Coun- 
cil of the city of Oakland to wait upon the Board for the purpose of reading the fol- 
lowing bond to them: — 

Know all men by these presents, that we, the undersigned, undertake and promise, and hereby guarantee, 
that the City of Oakland will faithfully carry out all that is expressed and contained in the resolutions hereunto 
annexed. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That in case the people of the county of Alameda, at the approaching election, vote for the removal 
of the county seat from San Leandro to the city of Oakland, the City Council of the city of Oakland do hereby 
tender to the county of Alameda the free use of the unoccupied portion of the City Hall, the same to be finished 
by the City Council, so as to accommodate the county government, within sixty days after notice from the 
Board of Supervisors of their acceptance, for such time as the Supervisors of said county may desire; and that 
whenever the Board of Supervisors deem it expedient to erect buildings for county seat purposes, the City Council 
will cause, free of cost to said county, to b% dedicated for such purposes, the public squares, situated upon Broad- 
way in said city, usually known as Washington and Franklin Squares, and also known as the plazas: and in the 
meantime, and for the purpose of securing the public records, the City Council will cause to be erected, free of 
cost to said county, a good and sufficient fire-proof building upon a lot adjoining the City Hall for the use of the 
county, free of charge, so long as the county may desire the use of the same for said i)urposes. 

B. F. Ferris, Samuel Merritt, F. K. Shattuck, 
Wm. H. Glascock, John Scott, A. C. Henry, 

P. S. Wilcox, Gusta\ e Touchard. F. Warner, 

James De Fremery, Benjamin Akerly, Henry Durant, 

Mack Webber, Israel Knox, Henry Rodoers, 

Attest: H. Hillebrand, City Clerk. 

A resolution passed by the City Council April 13th, to build a Recorder's office, 
fire-proof throughout, free of expense to the county, and to cost not less than twenty 
thousand dollars, was also read by Mr. Ferris, while he, at the same time, presented 
the following petition from citizens of "Washington Township: — 

To the Honorable the Board ok Supervisors of Alameda County — 

The undersigned citizens of Washington Township respectfully request that you will reconsider your action 
in locating the county seat of Alameda County on Block twenty-two, in the town of Brooklyn, for the reasons: — 

1st. We believe that the location selected is not a desirable one. 

2d. In our opinion it does not conform to the intentions of the majority as expressed in the recent election. 

3d. We believe that it is not for the best interests of the county financially. 

Samuel Marston, T. W. Millard, R. Blacow, 

H. Crowell, H. M. Holland, W. Bl.vcow, 

J. C. Palmer, M. Siurist, Peter Campbell, 

E. L. Beard, Louis Sigrist, J. S. Marston, 

John M. Horner, Henry Muli.er, Lorenzo (i. Yates, 

Joseph Hirsch, Peter Werringer, R. B. Hull, 

A. O. Rix, J. J. Stokes, W. F. B. Lynch, 

Edward Rix, O. P. Tiiller, Jacob Salz, 

Ehrman & Bachman, Geo. W. Cook, S. Salz, 

Stephen Murray, E. F. Palmer, Joseph Horner, 

N. Bergman, Plutarco Vallejo, John Lowrie, 

C. W. T. Bergman, Joseph Herbert, W. J. Eggi.eston, 
J. L. Lang, 'M. M. Smith, Jos. McKeown, 
Alkred K. Henry, G. M. Walters, August May, 
Isaac L. Lang, W. H Mack, August Hecer, 
Michael Rogan, R. Threi.fall, 





C/ly 



Political History of the County. 257 

The Board of Supervisors ordered the documents presented by Councilman 
Ferris to be laid on the table. 

Next came a communication from Mr. Estudillo stating to the Board that on 
December 30, 1854, a plot of land for a Court House site had been deeded by his 
family for so long a period as the county offices should be retained at San Leandro, 
but now that their removal was contemplated, he requested the Supervisors to execute 
a quit-claim deed for the land, a statement which was referred to the Judiciary Com- 
mittee and the District Attorney. The next step taken was the opening of plans for 
a Hall of Records, those of S. C. Bugbee & Son being adopted on motion. But here 
a difficulty arose, for the County Auditor, Mr. Goodrich, questioned his right to issue 
warrants to pay for these plans, should they be adopted, and on the matter being 
referred to District Attorney Moore that officer gave it as his opinion, guided by a 
decision in a similar case in Monterey County, that the power to erect county build- 
ings without first being authorized to do so by a tax levy, was not vested in the 
Board. The whole subject was then referred to the Committee on Ordinance and 
Judiciary, who were directed to report at the next meeting. This was held on the 
20th of April, when they stated that the point of authority of the Board to direct 
payment of premiums for plans and specifications, etc., had been carefully considered 
by them, and they had arrived at the conclusion " that the Board had sufficient power 
under the law to order said payments, and it is its duty to do so; " therefore the plans 
of S. C. Bugbee & Son for the Hall of Records were adopted, the Clerk being ordered 
to advertise for building such, the bids to be received up till the 25th April. Bugbee 
& Son now presented a bill amounting to two hundred and fifty dollars for the plans, 
etc., which on being allowed, was handed to the Auditor, who refused its audit, there- 
upon, on ascertaining this action of Mr. Goodrich, Supervisor Clement moved that 
the Board employ counsel in the matter, for the Auditor was acting under the advice 
of the District Attorney. The motion was adopted. On April 25th George W. 
Babcock was awarded the contract to build a Hall of Records, the price to be eighteen 
thousand two hundred and forty dollars, while to superintend its construction, a Build- 
ing Committee was appointed, but this movement was also doomed to failure, for on 
the 28th April, while in session, the Chairman and each member of the Board were 
served with a complaint made at the instance of Harry Linden, and an injunction 
granted by Samuel Bell McKee, Judge of the Third District Court, to restrain the 
Board from entering into any contract for the erection of any buildings for county 
purposes, or for the payment of any bills against the county for such purposes. The 
complaint was required to be answered within ten days. 

This document, which was signed by Haight & Sawyer, attorneys for plaintiff, 
averred that the site selected by the Board of Supervisors was not within the city of 
Oakland; that the location was procured by the votes and influence of President 
Case, who was charged with being interested in the adjacent property; that the 
defendants had advertised for one week for proposals for the erection of a County 
Recorder's office upon said block, which would involve an expenditure of about 
eighteen thousand two hundred and forty dollars; that such expenditure would be 
an incumbrance upon the tax-payers of the county, and that no authority of law 
existed for the outlay; that the Board had not yet acquired a title to the 



258 History of Alameda County, California. 

property, and that unless the Supervisors were restrained from proceeding with their 
proposed disbursement, great embarrassment would result to the tax-payers and to the 
county. It then wound up with a genei;^.! prayer that the defendant.? might be 
enjoined from entering into any contract for the erection of a Hall of Records, or 
other county buildings, and that said injunction might be made perpetual. 

Having each been served, as stated above, with the complaint the Board of 
Supervisors then adjourned. 

While the injunction stayed the buildings being proceeded with on block twenty- 
two, it did not prevent the Brooklyn Joint Stock Company, who had purchased block 
twenty-one, from proceeding with the erection of a Court House and other public 
offices there, thus the intention of the decree was set at naught and Brooklyn fixed as 
the county seat, from which position it appeared as if nothing but an Act of the Legis- 
lature could oust it. The deed to block twenty-two was presented by the represen- 
tatives of the Larue estate on the 20th May, which, on its being referred to the 
District Attorney, that officer reported favorably upon, June loth, James Larue in 
the meantime tendering to the Board the use of a wooden building that stood upon 
block twenty-one for the use of the county, at the nominal rental of one dollar per 
month, the new Hall of Records being at the same time offered for seventy-five dollars 
a month, -which propositions were duly accepted, and the District Attorney directed 
to draw up leases embodying the condition that the property would be rented by the 
county for one year, with the privilege of two — the leases to be vacated upon three 
months' notice of either party. The following resolution locating the count)- seat on 
block number twenty-one was adopted by the Board June 17, 1873: — 

Whereas,- This Board did heretofore, by resolution duly passed and entered, in pursuance of law, designate the 
city of Oakland, in the county of Alameda, State of California, as the county seat and seat of justice of said county, 
from and after the 25th day of June, A. D. 1873; "°^ ''^ it further resolved and ordered, that the wood and lirick 
buildings erected and being finished upon Block twenty-one, of the late town of Brooklyn (now Oakland), in 
said county, together with the land upon which they stand, is, and shall be from and after said 2Sth day of June, 
1873, ^"^ until the further order of this Board, the county seat and Court House of said county, and the abiding 
place of all the offices and records of said county. 

The county jail was then located by the following order: — 

It having been ordered by this Board that the seat of justice be, from June 25, 1873, at the city of Oakland, 
in this county, and it appearing to the Board that no adequate facilities exist in said city for the safe keeping 
and detention of prisoners and persons accused of crimes, it is resolved and so ordered that until the further 
order and action of this Board the jail of said county be and remain in the town of -San Leandro, and as at 
present used. 

Thus, after two years of vigorous conflict, was San Leandro deprived of her 
" capitolian crown;" but was Brooklyn to be allowed to continue in calm pos.session 
of her newly-earned honors? That was the question! It was hardly to be expected 
that the twice baffled citizens of Oakland proper would remain supinely indifferent 
while its late acquisition of Brooklyn bore away the trophy of victory. The war was 
to be maintained; the combat must be fought to the bitter end. 

The archives were duly transferred to their new home on the 26th June, and 
then did the county officers take possession of the buildings located at what is now 
known as East Fourteenth Street and Twentieth Avenue. On the 5th of July 



Political History of the County. 259 

the Board of Supervisors held their first meeting there, and on the 7th the County 
Court had its first session. On the 15th a certain amount of doubt as to the 
action taken in accepting the deed of block twenty-two from the Larue estate was 
manifested, and gave cause for considerable discussion. It had been hinted that the 
title in fee simple still remained vested in the grantor, who, it was contended,'' in 
the event of the county not being able to build upon the land, would maintain his 
right to it; while, if the title was not vested in the county, any persons that might 
object to the erection of buildings thereon would have good cause for an injunction; 
and, should the fee simple of the land be vested in the county, on the other hand, 
and the county fail to erect buildings thereon, the ground would inevitably be 
lost to the estate of Larue. The matter was then laid over for further consideration. 
Meanwhile the Board of Supervisors expectantly looked forward for the decisi'on 
from the Supreme Court on an application for an injunction, as they were bent 
upon the erection of a jail on block twenty-two, and they had those against them 
who were unfavorable to the scheme and would not hesitate to make the most 
strenuous opposition. The Supreme Court delayed n6t in their judgment; the appli- 
cation was made on the i8th July, and on the 19th the decree was given to the 
public. Having stated its reasons for granting a temporary injunction, the Court 
goes on to say: — 

Waving the question of whether the action is properly brought by the plaintiff and against the defendants, 
without making tWfe county by name a party thereto, we are satisfied that the complaint states no cause of action. 
It is settled in this State that no order made by the Board of Supervisors is valid or binding unless it be legally 
chargeable to the county; and if claims not legally chargeable to the county are allowed, neither the allowance 
nor the warrants drawn therefor create any legal liabilities. [People ju. Supervisors of EI Dorado County, n 
Cal., 170; Branch Turnpike Company vs. Supervisors of Yuba County, 13 Cal., 190; Trinity County vs. 
McCammon, 25 Cal., 117.] 

If therefore it be true, as alleged, that no authority of law exists for the expenditure proposed, and neither 
the defendants nor the Board of Supervisors are authorized by law to make provision for the payment of any 
claim for or on account of the work proposed, it must follow, as a consequence, that by no legal possibility can 
the plaintiff or the other tax-payers of the county be injured by the supposed illegal acts of the defendants. The. 
expenditure, if made, would, in that event, be no charge upon the plaintiff's property, and he has, therefore, no 
interest in the question presented. If illegal claims are allowed by the Board against the county, it will be the 
duty of the Auditor to refuse to draw warrants therefor; and if warrants are drawn it will then be the duty of 
the Treasurer to refuse to pay them. The presumption is that these officers will faithfully discharge their duty 
in the premises. 

Order reversed; remittitur to issue forthwith. , 

We concur: Belcher, J. 

Wallace, C. J. 
Rhodes, J. 

And now, with right on their side, the Supervisors commenced to advertise for 
plans and specifications for a fifty-thousand-dollar jail, offering a premium of three 
hundred dollars to the successful architect. On August 6th the tender of G. W. 
Babcock was accepted for building the proposed structure on block twenty-two for 
thirty-two thousand and sixty-six dollars, to be paid in county warrants; Mr. Larue, 
at the same meeting, presenting a new deed for that parcel of land, which was 
accepted and the erection proceeded with. 

At this juncture the Civil Code providing for the division of cdunties into Super- 
visoral Districts, according to population, came into operation and gave Oakland 



260 History of Alameda County, California. 

Township three Supervisors instead of one as heretofore, thus manifestly improving 
her position in voting on the vexed question of county seat removal. Yet the coun- 
try members of the Board, who were all re-elected at the September election, stuck 
to each other as against their "common foe," and lively times were experienced 
within the walls of the Board-room. They held their first meeting on the 6th of 
October, when, after much heated discussion, Isham Case, of Brooklyn, was called to 
the Chair. Triumph number one for the Brooklynites ! The vote went to show the 
feeling of the Board, it being the three members from Oakland as against the four 
from the non-metropolitan districts. Henceforward the fights at the Board were 
extremely bitter; hardly a question that came up but was hotly contested; meanwhile 
Brooklyn, or rather East Oakland, as it was then being generally called, retained the 
hofior.s — but the end was not yet!! 

Leaving this subject for the nonce, we will now proceed with the several other 
official actions connected with the year 1873. 

A generous offer of two thousand young trees, to be planted on either side of 
the county road, between San Antonio and San Leandro, was made in the month of 
March to the Board of Supervisors by Henry S. Fitch, of Fitchburg, but it is not 
on record that any notice was taken of the tender, although the Board had in con- 
templation such an improvement. 

On the 17th of June a committee was appointed to divide the county into 
Supervisor Districts, a duty that was reported completed on August ^d, as follows: 
First Supervisor District, Murray Townships Second Supervisor District, Washington 
Township; Third Supervisor District, Eden Township; Fourth Supervisor District, 
Alameda and Brooklyn Townships; F"ifth Supervisor District, all that part of the 
city of Oakland in Oakland Township south of Tenth Street and east of Adeline 
Street; Sixth Supervisor District, to comprise all that part of the city of Oakland in 
Oakland Township north of Tenth Street and east of Adeline Street; Seventh 
Supervisor District, to comprise all that part of the city of Oakland west of Adeline 
Street, and all that part of Oakland Township outside of the limits of the city o' 
Oakland. 

On August II, 1873, the Republican County Convention met at San Leandro 
under the presidency of George M. Finney, when Charles Webb Howard, W. J. 
Gurnett, and I. A. Amerman^ were nominated as State Senator and Members of 
Assembly; and on the 23d, a meeting of the Independent Reform Convention 
was held at the call of the Democratic County Committee at the same place. Doctor 
Beverly Cole being Chairman and J. M. Estudillo, Secretary of the Convention. The 
nominations made by this new party in county politics are curious as showing a fusion 
of the two opposing factions, and are here produced as an example of attempting to 
mi.x oil and water. The information is obtained from Mr. Halle\''s work: " Hon- 
Edward Gibbons, Independent, received the nomination for State Senator, ami Hon- 
]% W. Dwinelle, Republican, and Hon. Daniel Inman, Democrat, both former repre- 
sentatives of the county, were nominated for Assembly. For Treasurer, Robert Far- 
relly was nominated by acclamation. Mr. Farrelly had been a candidate before the 
Republican Convention, having hitherto co-operated with that party; but by one of 
those mysterious political manoeuvres, which sometimes surprise people, the nomina- 



Political History of the County. 261 

tion was snatched from him. This was believed to be done through the influence of 
a secret politico-religious organization, known as the 'Crescents,' which had a strong 
delegation in the Convention, and Mr. Farrelly felt free to accept the Independent 
nomination, which he did. Ellis E. Haynes, a Republican, was nominated for Sheriff; 
J. M. Estudillo, Democrat, for County Clerk; Eben C. Farley, Democrat, for 
Recorder; Henry Evers, Republican, for Auditor; W. W. Foote, Democrat, for Dis- 
trict Attorney; Newton Ingram, Democrat, for Tax-Collector; Thomas W. Millard, 
Democrat, for Assessor; V. S. Northey, Independent, Commissioner of Highways; 
John Doherty, Democrat, Surveyor; Eugene Thurston, Democrat, for Superintendent 
of Schools; S. W. Mather, Republican, for Coroner; and Dr. W. P. Gibbons, Republi- 
can, for Public Administrator." At the election which took place on the 3d Septem- 
ber, the entire Republican ticket was elected save for the offices of State Senator and 
County Treasurer, in which the Independents were successful, while the candidates for 
the positions of Coroner and Public Administrator were endorsed by both parties. 
The new Board of Supervisors, who took their seats on the loth October, were: J. A. 
Neal, District No. i; H. Overacker, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; Isham 
Case, District No. 4; W. B. Hardy, District No. 5; P. S. Wilcox, District No. 6; F. K. 
Shattuck, District No. 7. This Board was elected for three years and by law were 
required to divide themselves as nearly as possible into three classes to hold for one> 
two, and three years respectively. The District Attorney gave it as his opinion that 
this could be done legally at any time within the first year after their election, where- 
upon a resolution to classify at once, as follows: two for one year, three for two years, 
and two for three years, was indefinitely postponed by a vote of four to three, following 
which. Supervisor Case was elected President of the Board for the ensuing year.' 

In this fall the People's Independent party was organized in California, with 
Governor Newton Booth at its head; and, at the judicial election held October 15th 
Judge McKinstry was elected on the Independent Ticket, although Judge McKee, 
the Democratic nominee, had the greater majority in this county. At this election the 
candidature of G. E. Freeman and A. M. Church for the office of Justice of the Peace 
of Murray Township resulted in a tie, but, at a special election held on the 22d 
November, Mr. Church received the position by a plurality of forty-six votes. 

On October 20th a franchise was granted to the San Francisco and Oakland 
Water Company to lay water-pipes along and across the main county road to San 
Jose and "in, through, along, and across any and every other public highway in the 
county" for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of said county with pure, fresh 
water, conditional, among other things, upon water being furnished free for extinguish- 
ing fires, and at half rates or less for sprinkling purposes to the county. 

On November 11, 1873, a resolution was introduced by Supervisor Marlin, that 
County Assessor Edwin Hunt be requested to resign his office on account of failure 
to discharge his duties, etc. It was so ordered and a committee appointed to investi- 
gate into the affairs of that department. It would appear that Mr. Hunt had been 
arrested on the 21st of October, under a charge of embezzling public funds, but the 
decision come to by Judge McKee, before the case came up for trial on December 2d, 
sustained the demurrer to the complaint on the ground that the provisions of the 
Political Code, authorizing Assessors of counties to collect poll-taxes were inapplica- 
ble to those officers who were elected before the adoption of the Code. 



262 " History of Alameda County, California. 

About the same time, Mr. Northey, who had been elected Commissioner of High- 
ways, was refused, by the County Clerk, a certificate of election, on the ground that 
the office in this county was not authorized by law. On application to the Third 
District Court for a writ of mandate to compel the issuance of such certificate, 
judge McKee decided against the existence of such an ofifice. 

On November 22d there died at the residence of his brother-in-law, James Beebo 
at Temescal, Colonel Harry Linden, a gentleman who had been politically prominent in 
Alameda County. Coming to California in 1850, he maintained his residence here 
for a long series of years. He was appointed Colonel on Governor Haight's staff; 
held the office of Public Administrator of the county, and for several years anterior 
to his death was Commissioner of the Third District Court. Not long before his 
death, he filled the position of member of the Board of Commissioners and Treasurer 
of the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute. In this gentleman the Democratic party 
lost one of its most ardent supporters. 

It would appear that on the 3d November it was resolved that when the Board 
of Supervisors meets on the same day as such, and as a Board of Directors of the 
County Infirmary, the allowance of six dollars per day shall be for said day only. It 
is therefore presumed that this sum was allowed in the first instance for more than 
one day, as, on the 24th, Supervisor Hardy notified the Board that he had placed the 
warrant issued to him in his favor for the bill allowed on the 3d November in the 
hands of the Clerk, and asked that he be allowed to withdraw it as he had ascertained 
that the same was incorrect. Thereupon, on motion, the bill of each member of the 
Board allowed at that date was referred to the District Attorney, who was requested 
to point out any error that might exist. This he did on the 23d December, and after 
an attempt to legalize their bills for the past year, on F"ebruary 23, 1874, they decided 
to surrender the warrants previously issued to them, amounting to two thousand four 
hundred and seventy-seven dollars and eighty cents, and have issued in lieu thereof 
warrants for two thousand one hundred and fifty-nine dollars and eighty cents. 

During the month of December a bill was introduced into the Legislature to 
change the sittings of the Supreme Court from Sacramento to Oakland, but to no 
avail; while, the Assessor's reports at the end of the year showed Alameda to have 
gained the proud position of being the chief rural county of California. Her assess- 
ment roll showed a value of thirty-five millions, one hundred and fifty-four thousand, 
and si.xty-five dollars; her total State and county ta.x amounted to four hundred and 
thirteen thousand, three hundred and forty-four dollars and sixteen cents; while, her 
indebtedness was one hundred and eighty-si.x thousand, si.x hundred and twent\'-five 
dollars and thirteen cents. 

1874. — Chief among the events that transpired in the )-ear 1874 were the steps 
taken by the Baard of Supervisors of Alameda County towards the improvement of 
Oakland Harbor; and the completion of the third fight over the count}' seat. 

On January 12, 1874, the following memorial to Congress in respect to the 
improvements of Oakland Harbor, was adopted by the Board of Supervisors: — 

Whereas, It is now understood by your petitioners that an official survey has been made by officers of the 
United States for the purpose aforesaid, and that a plan is about to lie reported by the Board of Supervisors of the 
I'acific Coast, 

Wherefore, Your petitioners, on behalf of the citizens of Alameda County and of the city of Oakl,\nd, anp 



Political History of the County. 263 

in view of the very important geographical location of the harbor of the city of Oakland, relative to the marine and 
land traffic and travel connecting the shores of Asia and Europe across the continent of America, and joining the 
Atlantic and Pacific seaboards of the United States, most respectfully ask that Your Honorable Bodies will be 
pleased to grant such an appropriation for the improvement of the harbor of Oakland, California, as may be 
recommended by the Board of Engineers of the Pacific Coast and endorsed by the Chief of Engineers of the 
United States Army. And further your petitioners will ever pray, etc. 

Like memorials were transmitted by the City Council of Oakland, and the Board 
of Trustees of San Leandro, which culminated in the appropriation of one hundred 
thousand dollars for the commencement of the work. Its further progress will be 
found recorded in our history of the city of Oakland. 

An attempt was made ^bout this time to incorporate Berkeley as a town, but the 
farmers being unfavorably disposed to the scheme, it was not brought to full fruition. 
It was also attempted, by a bill introduced in the Legislature, to take a strip of land 
of about two miles from off the southern portion of Alameda County and annex it to 
that of Santa Clara, but this too failed; while, the Tide Land Commissioners had it 
on the tapis to dispose of a part of the tide land at the head of Lake Merritt, but this 
also failed on the passage of an Act ceding the territory in question to the city of 
Oakland. 

It was in the Supreme Court that the county seat question made its reappearance 
in 1874. The manner of its resuscitation was in this wise. Upon George W. Bab- 
cock, the contractor for building the jail, making application to Auditor Goodrich for 
payment of his claim on that account, that officer declined to allow it, therefore the 
first-named gentleman applied to the Supreme Court for a peremptory writ of man- 
date to compel the County Auditor to allow his demand. The Court gave a decree 
in favor of Babcock, and thereafter a bill was passed by the Legislature, March 28, 
1874, allowing him the sum of one thousand dollars and no more. 

On February 4, 1874, "An Act to enable the Board of Supervisors of the 
County of Alameda to erect the county buildings of said county upon Washington 
and Franklin Plazas, in the city of Oakland," was approved, and is as follows : — 

Section One. — Whenever so directed by a resolution passed by the City Council of the city of Oakland, at a 
regular meeting of said Council, the President and Clerk of the said Council shall execute, under the common 
seal of said city, and acknowledge grant from said city of the plazas situate in said city arid known as Washing- 
ton and Franklin Plazas, to the county of Alameda, for the purpose of erecting thereon a County Court House 
and other county buildings for said county. 

Sect-ion Two. — Such grant, when so executed and acknowledged, shall be delivered to the President of the 
Board of Supervisors of said county, who shall cause it to be recorded in the Recorder's office. Upon the receipt 
of such grant the Board of Supervisors of said county shall have power to remove the county buildings of said 
county to said plazas, and to erect therein such county buildings as they may be authorized by law to construct. 

Section Three.- — In case such plazas shall be conveyed to the county of Alameda, as hereinbefore provided, 
and the same, or either of them, shall not be occupied by the county of Alameda for the purposes aforesaid, 
within four years from the delivery of such grant, the city of Oakland may have and maintain an action against the 
county of Alameda for a reconveyance to it of the property not thus occupied. 

Section Four. — This Act shall take effect immediately. 

This bill was brought to the attention of the Supervisors at their meeting held 
on the nth February, when it was read; besides, a certified copy of a resolution 
passed by the City Council of Oakland, and a deed, duly signed, was presented by 
Mr. Shattuck, who moved that the conveyance be accepted, but it was adversely met 
by the "Big Four" from the rural districts, who stated that they were but the mouth- 



264 History of Alameda County, Calikoknia. 

pieces of their constituents, who were all inimical to the accepting of the proposition. 
Mr. Case, who, like the ill-fated Duke of Brunswick on the field of Quartre Hras, 
" rushed into the field, and foremost, fighting, fell," contended, with much warmth, 
that the lease was illegal, and that the change had been by no manner of means 
required by a majority of the people, he finally moving that the resolution be indefi- 
nitely postponed. Then ensued one of those conflicts of words that do not confer 
honor upon the august body charged with conducting the affairs of the county. The 
upshot of the whole was, however, that the unfailing four carried the motion of indefi- 
nite postponement against the voice of the usual three, and ended the matter .so 
far as the Board of Supervisors was concerned, while Oakland had exhausted all her 
resources in that quarter. 

Of the succeeding action, Mr. Halley, who has evidently given the question his 
closest attention, says, the Country Delegation at Sacramento could only be par- 
tially relied upon. Senator Gibbons had expressed no opinion on the matter, and 
had made no pledges in this regard when before the people of the county seeking 
election. He had, in fact, refused to commit himself, and had consequently met with 
opposition where he would otherwise have gained votes. He was an Oakland man, 
to be sure, but then he had the example of Senator Tompkins, who had incurred the 
hostility of the country people on account of his alleged special advocacy of Oak- 
land, to warn him. Assemblyman Amerman, until the time of the removal to 
Brooklyn, had conducted the fight for San Leandro, and it could not be suppo.sed 
that his support would be forthcoming. Mr. Gurnett, alone, of the three delegates, was 
the only man who could be relied upon to warmly espouse the cause of Oakland in the 
Legislature, and this, of course, he did. 

Then there was the question^What could the Legislature legally do that had 
not already been done? Could it properly interfere in deciding what part of a town 
a Court House was to be located in? The matter, at any rate, was to be tested, as 
Oakland had already exhausted every other resource. 

At a meeting of the City Council, held on the i6th February, Mayor Durant 
sent in a message in which he urged the Corporation to take the initiative in a move- 
ment for the division of the county, with a view to the erection of the city of Oak- 
land and the adjoining townships into a separate count}-, to receive the name of 
Oakland. No action, however, was taken on this message, which no doubt was 
merely meant as a threat to be put in force under certain contingencies. With the 
aid of the daily papers, which had very warmly entered into the controversy in favor 
of the claims of the city, public opinion wasaroused to action and the legislative remedy 
sought. The best legal opinion was obtained, and a bill drawn up to suit the emer- 
gency, at the instance of a committee having the matter in hand, called the Citizens' 
Union, which consisted of prominent property owners. By this bill, which was enti- 
tled : "An Act to provide for the erection of county buildings in the county of Ala- 
meda, and for the issuance of bonds therefor," the Board of Supervisors was directed 
to issue eight jier cent, twenty years' bonds, to the amount of one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, to be redeemed by an annual tax, which raised one thousand dol- 
lars. The Governor was required to appoint five Commissioners, who were to have 
sole management of the money. They were to take possession of the Oakland 




(^crfiy^ ^^^nrnJ^CTM,.^ 



Political History of the County. 265 

plazas and proceed to erect such county buildings as they might deem proper. They 
were authorized to complete the jail then erecting on Block twenty-two, if they saw 
fit. The bill contained many restrictions, and it was intended that the Supervisors 
should not have any control over it, or in any way defeat the progress of the work, 
even by resigning. 

Doctor Gibbons introduced the bill without comment in the Senate, and it soon 
went before the Committee on Corporations. Both sides were advised, and, on the 
evening of March 3d, the matter was discussed. Supervisor Case, E. G. Mathews, 
and William Meek, were heard on behalf of the Supervisors; W. W. Foote followed 
as counsel for the city, speaking more than an hour. Then Senator Gibbons declared 
himself He was in favor of the bill, but said he- had offered a compromise to locate 
the county seat in the vicinity of Tubbs' Hotel, but the idea was not tolerated. Then 
followed a speech by Mr. Gurnett, before and after which there was a running cross- 
fire of assertions and contradictions from both sides. 

It will be seen that so far Mr. Amerman had taken no part in this year's inter- 
necine warfare. The Sacramento correspondent of the Oakland News, Mr. Harwood, 
who took a very zealous part in the controversy, and may be said to have kept the 
life in it for the Oakland people, wrote very despondingly one day that Amerman 
would "oppose any legislation intended to break the ring in the Board of Super- 
visors," and this left the matter in not an altogether encouraging condition. The 
Chairman of the Committee on Corporations, too, was Senator Farley, who, two 
years before, haS championed the cause of San Leandro in the Senate, in opposition 
to Senator Tompkins. 

On the 5th of the month, the committee met again and heard further statements 
in reference to the matter. The Chairman said, on calling the committee to order, 
the question before them was whether they should take from the Board of Supervisors 
certain functions they were vested with by law; whether it was good policy in this 
case for them to do so. Supervisor Shattuck appeared and made a full statement of 
the existing troubles. He cited the example of San Francisco, where the erection of 
county buildings had been taken out of the hands of the Supervisors and vested in 
Commissioners. The subject of title to the plazas was discussed, when Mr. Shattuck 
stated how they were donated and what they were worth; and Senator Gibbons ' 
said the original owners of the town site, Hays and Caperton, had recognized the plazas 
as public property, and for twenty years they had been so considered. Mr. Gurnett 
read a letter from Judge Glascock, Attorney for Hays and Caperton, stating-that he 
was authorized and would execute any kind of deed that was required. The Chair- 
man asked what was the general sentiment of the people on the question. Shattuck 
replied that they denounced the action of the Supervisors. Senator Laine asked how 
the vote of the county would stand on the proposition, when Shattuck answered, "two 
to one." Case asked if the jail then building would be sacrificed; Shattuck then went 
into a statement of the building difficulty; showed how the Supervisors were elected 
for three years under the Code; how they had endeavored to obtain a classification of 
the Board as to years of service, and been defeated, and how, under a late decision of 
the Supreme Court, the Board could raise four hundred thousand dollars annually by 
taxation and put up fine buildings at the expense of the people. F. J. Clark of 
18 



266 History of Alameda County, California. 

Livermore, said those who voted for removal in Murray Township were in favor of 
the plaza proposition. Mr. Shattuck said, in Washington Township, many represen- 
tative men were in favor of the Oakland plazas. Case said that the jail would be 
completed in thirty days. Senator Gibbons stated that he had received a letter from 
Samuel Marston, of Centreville, stating that a majority of the people of Washington 
Township favored the pending bill. Mr. Mathews read an article from the Oakland 
News, which stated that if the Brooklyn people would anne.x to Oakland, her plazas 
should be included in an offer to the county. Senator Gibbons replied to this that 
he had offered to compromise in favor of the plaza near Tubbs' Hotel, in Brooklyn, a 
most beautiful location, but Mr. Case paid no attention to the proposition. Case and 
Mathews said they would be very glad to give up the Court House and get back their 
town government, and be once more independent of Oakland. And here follows 
another pause in the controversy before the final and abrupt close of the protracted 
farce. 

After this Mr. Harwood wrote to his paper that success was quite certain, if the 
bill was got through the Senate. Gurnett could get it easily through the Assembly 
whether Amerman opposed it or not. A day or two after there was suddenly a talk 
of compromise in favor of the Washington (Brooklyn) Plaza, near Tubbs' Hotel; then 
an opsn declaration that Case would agree to a compromise by which the jail would 
remain on block twenty-two, and the Court House be built near Tubbs' Hotel; and 
that Senator Gibbons was a party to the compromise. Then came a crj- of "treason,'' 
and a declaration that Oakland was without a particle of public spirit? There was a 
sudden awakening, however. Senator Gibbon's course was criticised, and a public meet- 
ing called by "Many Tax-Payers" on Saturday evening, March 14th, in Brayton 
Hall, Oakland, whose rallying cry was "No Compromise!" Hon. Zach. Montgomery, 
on motion of Judge Ferris, was voted to the chair; W. D. Harwood and A. W, Bishop 
the editors of the News and the Transcript, were appointed Secretaries. Then fol- 
lowed a long list of Vice-Presidents. Judge Ferris moved the first resolution instruct- 
ing "our Senators and Members of Assembly to use their best endeavors to pass, 
without delay, the original bill in relation to the removal and location of the county 
buildings, and opposing their location elsewhere than upon the Broadway plazas." 
•Senator Gibbons was called for, but was not forthcoming. Mr. Gaskill said he was 
at the Grand Central Hotel, and moved the appointment of a committee to wait upon 
him, where he was accordingly waited upon by Messrs. Gaskill, Wilco.x, and E. Bigelow. 
They subsequently reported that they had seen the Senator, but he excused his non- 
attendance on the ground of illness. He admitted being a party to the compromise, 
and would not pledge himself to the removal to the plazas, as contingencies might 
arise that would influence him. Mr. Shattuck gave his version of the new devclope- 
ment, with which he associated the name of A. A. Cohen. He said Senator Farley 
would report the bill on Monday, unless he received instructions to the contrary, and 
expressed the opinion that the people were opposed to any compromise. Judge Blake 
followed in a speech, wondering at the conduct of Senator Gibbons, and opposing 
a compromise. This was to allow the jail to remain on block twenty-two, and 
pay the Larue estate twelve thousand dollars for the land. Hon. R. C. Gaskill fol- 
lowed in a "ringing" speech, condemning the course of the Senator, and declaring 



Political History of the County. 267 



the Senate would pass the bill in spite of him. Supervisor Wilcox made a speech in 
which he described the horror of a " stench," and said he would prefer to have the 
county buildings back to San Leandro, or even Alvarado, than that they should 
remain where they were. He favored " no compromise." He accused the members 
of the Board of Supervisors of telegraphing each other with their thumbs, whenever a 
vote on this question was taken. Marlin had told him he would vote for the plazas 
but when thumbs went up he "fell down." Mr. Foote accused some of the members 
■of the Board with perjury, and spoke' encouragingly of the bill. He believed Doctor 
Gibbons would withdraw his support from the compromise; he knew that Amerman 
■who was a prospective candidate for Congress, would not dare to oppose it; and 
Gurnett, he was sure, was in favor of it. The resolution was unanimously carried, and 
a committee of five appointed to go to Sacramento, to assist in the passage of the 
Senate bill. The proceedings concluded by taking up a subscription to defray 
expenses. The Secretaries were instructed to furnish the delegation with a copy of 
the resolution, and then the meeting adjourned, feeling that success would surely 
follow. 

The meeting had its effect, and the result was an immediate surrender. The 
committee appointed proceeded to Sacramento on Sunday. They met at Amerman's 
apartments, and talked the matter over. It was stated that Case would not oppose 
the bill if the Commissioners were stricken out and the Supervisors allowed to erect 
the buildings. All but Judge Ferris agreed to this. Senator Gibbons said the bill 
should be so altered; it was the weak part of the bill, and the concession was a trifling 
one. Amerman said he had taken no part in the contest, but could not, as expected, 
champion block twenty-two. He favored the bill with the Commissioners stricken 
out. Gurnett did not care who did the work, so long as the buildings were placed on 
the plazas; so that the whole delegation were united, and the bill would go through 
both Houses without a word of dissent. 

About midnight Case was called upon. He was not in favor of the bill in any 
shape, but as all Alameda County's representatives had united to pass it, as an officer 
of the law, he should obey. He would not do anything to obstruct the erection of 
the buildings, and as a Supervisor he would act in connection with all building oper- 
ations on the Broadway plazas, just as if they were on the location of his first choice. 
The praise of Mr. Case, as a man of honor, who had made a gallant fight for his sec- 
tion and friends, then followed. He had never broken his promis; nor violated his 
•word, and all that remained to end this prolonged county-seat controversy — to finish 
this three years' local warfare^was the arrangement of the formalities. On the fol- 
lowing Thursday, Senator Farley reported a substitute for the original bill. Gibbons 
moved a suspension of the rules, in order to consider the bill at once. Edgerton 
opposed it, and said he had been requested to oppose it, and wanted time to consider 
their reasons. Evans said the committee had heard both sides, and the substitute 
was the result. Gibbons explained; and on a call of ayes and noes there were thir- 
teen noes to eighteen ayes, showing that the Brooklyn party were far from being 
-without strength, even after this compromise was concluded; and it is doubtful, con- 
sidering that this was within twelve days of the end of the session, if the fight had 
iaeen kept up, the original bill could be carried through. 



268 History of Alameda County, California. 

A few days after there was a hitch; some of the Brooklyn men — Larue and Cam- 
eron — having heard what was going on, proceeded to Sacramento and rather disjointed 
matters. Some new arrangement was effected, however, and the parties appeased, 
and on the 19th the bill passed the Senate unanimously and went to the Assembly. 
It provided for the issue of bonds to the amount of two hundred thousand, instead of 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars as at first proposed, and allowed the deeding 
back to James Larue of block twenty-two should the county jail be removed. In 
case the jail should be completed on block twenty-two, the Supervisors were to pay 
Mr. Larue a reasonable compensation for the property. Mr. Larue, however, did not 
want the jail on his property, and simply asked for a return of the land, which of 
course could not be, and was refused. There were several Brooklyn gentlemen pres- 
ent, who did not relish the turn things had taken, as some of them had invested 
largely in the company to put up the temporary county buildings; and it was no wonder 
if they felt as if they had in some way been deceived. 

The bill passed the Assembly on the 20th, and at four o'clock on the 25th it was 
signed by the Governor, and became a law. Until the very last there was some oppo- 
sition to it, and there remained yet a dread that the majority of the Supervisors would 
carry on a hostility, or that the legality of the bill would be tested in the courts. 
Indeed, a slight move in this direction was made, but all opposition was .soon aban- 
doned. The jail building on block twenty-two was pulled down, and the material 
removed to Washington Plaza, where it was reconstructed. This little matter cost the 
county about twenty thousand dollars. As we have seen, a bill was passed through 
the Legislature allowing Mr. Babcock, the contractor, one thousand dollars for law 
expenses in his contest with the Auditor, who very injudiciously put the county ta 
that and other outlays, in taking a position that the Judges made clear to him he 
had no right to take, in disputing an order of the Supervisors. 

In looking over the whole of this protracted contest, the writer cannot help 
thinking that the greater part of the acrimony and passion that entered into it might 
have been avoided, and all that was desired accomplished by the use of conciliation 
and a clearer forecast. At the start the agitation for removal was consigned to the 
management of one man, who, however active and zealous, was not the proper person 
to conduct so delicate a business. Col. Harry Linden was suffering from ill-health, 
and was not able to use that argument of the manner which pleases, if it does not 
convince. Had only one of the outside townships been won, the battle was assured 
for Oakland. A respectable deputation from the city at the proper time would have 
done it, but, instead of persuasion, there was too much wordy warfare — too much 
assumption for conciliation. The Supervisors, however improper their conduct might 
have been, when violently attacked received the sympathy of their constituents and 
an opposition was constructed, so inflexible as nearly to conquer and endanger the 
decision of the county. That block twenty-two was not a desirable location no one 
will now pretend to maintain; but in it was centered the local pride of a .spirited 
community, who believed that they were entitled, by an unwritten compact, to the 
county seat. Again, the southern section of the county, formerly the ruling portion 
of it, saw the seat of justice gradually slipping away from it — from Alvarado to San 
Leandro; from San Leandro to Brooklyn — and it was only natural that they should 



Political History of the County. .269 

resist its establishment on Broadway as an Oakland aggression and a centralization 
of power and advantages. But it is very doubtful if the location were open to dis- 
turbance to-morrow that the slightest effort would be made to effect another change. 

Since the close of the contest two splendid structures, on either plaza, have been 
erected, which, notwithstanding some defects, are both ornaments to the city, and 
proud emblems of the importance of the county. It is hoped that by their cost, 
completeness, and convenience, an end is forever put to all further county seat agita- 
tions. The latter is an ordeal which every county in the land has had to pass through 
some time or the other. In our chapter on the Early History and Settlement of the 
County we have seen the trouble crop out here first in 1835, with our Mexican prede- 
cessors, who desired to see the seat of justice for this district removed from San 
Francisco to San Jose, where laws for the Contra Costa were first administered. 
When Contra Costa County was organized, in 1850, there appears to have been no 
trouble in effecting the location at Martinez, because Alameda was virtually without 
population, a location, or a champion; but when the creation of Alameda came there 
was the first bitter warfare between the northern and southern sides of the county. 
The south, by reason of its earlier settlement, was then the strongest and won. It 
had the population and the resources. The removal to San Leandro was an assertion 
of the growing power of the north; and the removal to Brooklyn was a piece of strat- 
egy that obtained its advantage from peculiar position and tact. The final transfer to 
Broadway, Oakland, was simply the evidence of cumulative power and the irresistible 
force of a rapidly augmenting business center, and a spirit that would brook no resist- 
ance and yield to no compromise. All the localities that have lost the boon of the 
county seat at various times, made gallant contests for its maintenance, and there is 
no just reflection to be indulged in now, only that they had to yield to the inevitable. 

Perhaps the keenest contest ever had in Alameda County was that known as 
the "Local Option," a scheme which emanated from the State of Ohio, and was an- 
other form of a crusade against intemperance. It was the embodiment in one law 
of a p;an to permit townships to determine by a popular vote where the vend- 
ing of liquor should be licensed within them or not. It called forth the energies 
of all enemies to strong drink. Men and women, clergymen and laymen, public 
officers and unofficial persons all took part, and excitement ran at fever heat. On 
April 22, 1874, two hundred and seventy-six citizens of Washington Township peti- 
tioned the Board of Supervisors for a special election to vote upon the question of 
" License or No License," under the provisions of the Act approved March 18, 1874. 
The prayer was granted, and May 23d fixed as the date for holding such. Mean- 
while the question assumed a prominent shape in other townships, and in due course 



of time elections were there held, with what result the fol 

Township. Date of Ele^ition. 

Alameda July 2, 1874, 

Brooklyn June 6, 1874, 

Eden July 11, 1874. 

Murray June 27, 1874, 

Oakland May 30, 1874. 

Washington May 23, 1874, 



owing figures will explain:- 

For License. Against License. 
201 108 

267 350 

305 244 

384 170 

1,038 1,291 



184 167 

Total 2,379 2,330 



270 History of Alameda County, California. 

Showing a total of forty-nine in favor of " Licenses," this general result, however, not 
affecting the result in the separate townships, who had the right to exercise its own 
local option. 

On June 29, 1874, W. H. Foye presented an estimate of the cost of applying the 
" Foye System" to the construction of the walls of the new Court House, placing his 
figures at five thousand nine hundred and ninety-one dollars and fifteen cents, which, 
July 6th, was adopted; while, on June 29th, the resignation of Supervisor Wilcox 
from the Board was accepted. On July 6th bids were opened for the purchase -of 
fifty thousand dollars' worth of county building bonds, for which there were seven 
bidders. The offer of Charles Sutro, at 102 85-100 was accepted. 

On July 13, 1874, the boundaries of Alameda Township were changed to read 
as follows; Beginning in the center of San Leandro Bay, thence northwesterly to the 
mouth of Brick Yard Slough; thence westerly up and along the middle of said slough 
to the center line of Washington Avenue; thence westerly along the center line of 
Washington Avenue to the westerly line of Park Avenue, at the bridge; thence north- 
westerly along the middle of Main Slough, emptying into the estuary of San Antonio, 
to said estuary; thence westerly along the main channel of said estuary to its mouth 
in San Francisco Bay; thence westerly in said bay, following the deepest water, to the 
western boundary line of Alameda County; thence southeasterly along said boundary 
line six and three-fourths miles, more or less, to an angle in the same, and due east 
one and a quarter miles, more or less, to an angle in the same; thence northerly 
to the most easterly extremity of Bay Farm; and thence northerly in a straight line 
to the place of beginning. 

On the 3d of August Judge Nye appointed George C. Potter Superv'isor for 
District Number 6, in the place of Captain Wilcox; while, on the same date, the Board 
of Supervisors was classified as follows: First — Two members to be elected at the 
next general election, in September, 1874. Second — Two members to be elected at 
the general election in 1875. Third — Three members to be elected at the general 
election in 1876. The Supervisors for the First and Sixth Districts were to be 
elected in 1874; those for the Second and Fifth in 1875; and those for the Third,. 
Fourth, and Seventh Districts in 1876. The election being held on the 7th Septem- 
ber, the new Board, consisting of James Beazell, District No. i; H. Overacker, Dis- 
trict No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; Isham Case (Chairman), District No. 4; W. 
B. Hardy, District No. 5; O. H. Burnham (absent), District No. 6; F. K. Shattuck, 
District No. 7, took their seats on the 5th of October and commenced their labors. 

On November 2, 1874, the boundary line between Murray and Washington 
Townships was changed to be as follows: Commencing at a point where the line 
between Murray and Washington Townships crosses the Alameda Creek, running 
thence up the Alameda Creek to the junction of the Alameda Creek and the Arroyo 
Laguna; thence up the Calaveras Creek to the Arroyo Honda; thence up the Arroyo 
Honda to a point where it intersects the boundary line between Alameda and Santa 
Clara Counties; thence following the said boundary line west to Monument Peak; 
thence in a southwesterly direction following the line between the two counties to the 
Bay of San F"rancisco. 

During the year 1874 the elegant Court House, situated on Washington Square, 



Political History of the County. 271 

on the west side of Broadway, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, was constructed of 
wood, brick, stone, and iron, at a cost of upwards of two hundred thousand dollars. It 
is a magnificent building, connected with which is a jail, complete in all its details, 
and a credit to the county. 

1875. — The first item of official importance that may be mentioned for the year 
1875, was the second appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars for the improve- 
ment of Oakland Harbor. This action of Congress was the signal for a general joy 
on the part of citizens, it being looked upon as an earnest of their intentions to pro- 
ceed witfi the work to its completion. In the month of February, the Newark Land 
Association was incorporated with the object of building up a manufacturing town on 
the shores of the bay, in Washington Township. On the 15th of March, permission 
was granted to the Livermore Spring Water Company to lay down water pipes in the 
public highways in and about that town; and, on the 29th of the same month, the 
Sheriff was granted permission to have the prisoners photographed. 

Under a new Road Law subdividing the original road districts into Road Revenue 
Districts and apportioning the Road Fund thereto, some trouble had arisen, for there 
were outstanding at the time of such subdivision warrants on the original districts for 
the payment of which no fund was provided. To meet this. May 3, 1875, Supervisor 
Burnham introduced a resolution, which was adopted, that all road moneys now in or 
that may come into the hands of the County Treasurer be apportioned to Oakland, 
Brooklyn, Eden, Washington, and Murray Townships, as the same were created by 
Act approved March 24, 1862, et seg., and that the County Treasurer pay all the 
indebtedness of said districts for which warrants have been drawn, and apportion the 
overplus to the newly created sub-districts. June 8, 1875, was proclaimed by the 
Board as the date when the new Court House, etc., should be occupied by the county 
officers. 

On June nth the Republican County Convention was held in Oakland, the 
assembly being called to order by George M. Pinney, Chairman of the County 
Central Committee, and Thomas Eager, chosen temporary Chairman, A. W. Bishop, 
being Secretary. Confidence in the National Administration was declared, and 
appreciation of the services of Congressman Page was pronounced, while, delegates to 
the State Convention were appointed. This last was held in Sacramento, not long 
after, when Dr. Ezra S. Carr, received the nomination for the State Superintendency 
of Public Instruction, and F. K. Shattuck, for membership of the State Central Com- 
mittee. On the 19th of the same month, the Democrats held a Primary Election in 
Oakland, when two tickets were placed in the field and the largest vote ever polled 
at a Democratic primary cast. The Democratic County Convention was held on the 
26th when the best harmony did not exist, a result which brought about the defeat of 
the Oakland delegation, who found their path to glory firmly opposed by nearly all 
of the county delegates, and thus lost control of the Convention. The true bone of 
contention was for seats in the State Convention, for which the Hon. Phil. A. Roach 
of San Francisco was being boldly pushed by his Iri.sh admirers, but though defeated, 
a majority of the delegation selected favored the nomination of that gentleman, at the 
State Convention, on the first ballot. The election which followed was the first for 



272 History of Alameda County, California. 

many years in which the Democrats had been successful. The Convention met in 
Union Hall, San Francisco, on June 29th, but no one from Alameda County received 
a nomination, Dr. Carr being left out in the cold. In this month too, the Independent 
County Convention held their session in Oakland and declared their principles to be 
reform in the administration of public affairs, the correction of local abuses, opposition 
to monopolies and the reconciliation of the North and South. On June 22d the 
Convention met at Sacramento when their platform was adopted, and General John 
Bidwell, of Chico, nominated for Governor, there being no one from Alameda County 
placed on the ticket issued by them. The meetings of the Conventions for the nom- 
inations of legislative and county officers, were held as follows: That of the Democrats 
on July 24th, at the Academy of Music on Fifth Street, Oakland, with James Bcazell, 
at its head as State Senator; the Independents met on the same day in the City Hall, 
and named Henry Robinson, of Alameda, for State Senator, endorsed M. W. Dixon 
(D^mocrat^ of Washington Township, for the Assembly, and added the names of 
Walter Blair, of Oakland, and Joseph Taylor, of Murray. On the 2d of August the 
Republican Convention held their meeting in the Academy of Music, with one 
hundred and fifteen delegates. Their ticket had at its head, E. B. Mastick, of 
Alameda, for State Senator, but this gentleman subsequently declined the nomination, 
vi'hen James W. Shanklin was nominated in his stead, and Messrs. John L. Beard, of 
Centreville, A. T. Coville, of San Lcandro, and J. V. B. Goodrich of Oakland, named 
for Members of Assembly. 

The Board of Supervisors met in the new Court House for the first time for 
the transaction of public business on Monday, June 14, 1875; the first session of the 
Third District Court commenced there on the 21st of the same month, while the 
County Court met there for the first time on the loth of July. On that day the 
Grand Jury made their report, and dealt thus severely with the completion of the 
new Court House: "In examining the proceedings of the Board of Supervisors, 
the jury were led to examine the contract for building the Court House, and found 
material as well as minor discrepancies between it and the building as completed, 
particularly as to the front steps. The contract calls for steps fifteen inches wide; 
speaking-tubes and whistles are called for between the Court-rooms and certain offices, 
while none are found. The jury concluded that the architect has been negligent in duty, 
and, to say the least, censurable, if not liable therefor; and that it was the duty of 
the Building Committee and Board of Supervisors, before accepting the building, to 
see that it was completed according to contract, and this they evidently did not do. 
The construction of the floors in the Supervisors' and Recorder's rooms is very 
faulty, and more pillars or other supports are needed under the floors. We con- 
sider it a great oversight, in a climate like this, in allowing the plastering to be 
put upon the brick, instead of furring the walls. The rooms are cold and damp, 
and, in consequence, the walls are nearly all discolored. The whole interior con- 
struction and arrangement of the building is, in our opinion, excellent; and the 
upholstering and furnishing, except in the Surveyor's office, tasteful; but, at the same 
time, unnecessarily expensive, and extravagant for county purposes." 

On the 7th of August, a committee of the Board of Supervisors, appointed to 
investigate the management and condition of the County Infirmary, reported that the 







f,(4/J(p, 



Political History of the County. 273 

state of the establishment was entirely satisfactory, and there was but one head under 
which they could make complaint, and that was the habit, scientific though it was, 
indulged in by the physician, of preparing skeleton figures on the premises. This 
spectral practice they strongly condemned. 

On September 6, 1875, Juana M. Estudillo presented a claim to the Board of 
Supervisors as follows: — 

For value of iron vault taken from old Court House at San Leandro $5,000 00 

For nine iron cells 8,000 00 

Rent of premises from June 25 to January 25, 1875, at $150 per month 2,850 00 

Rent from January 25 to August 25, 1875, at §100 per month. .. . 70000 

Damages to premises (Court House) i,5°° °° 

Total $18,05000 

It may be mentioned that the vault referred to in the foregoing account was 
placed in the Court House to be used for storing the public funds, and figured also 
in the suit entered by F. Rhoda, the proprietor of the temporary county buildings in 
East Oakland. After being referred to the District Attorney, the Supervisors rejected 
the claim of the Senora Estudillo. 

On December 6th, Judge Nye appointed Valentine Alviso to the Board of Super- 
visors in place of James Beazell, who was elected to the Legislature, while, it may be 
stated that, in this year the taxable property of the county had grown to ten millions of 
dollars, thus putting it at the head of all the counties of the State, saving the single 
exception of San Francisco. 

1876. — Besides being remarkable as the centenary of American Independence, 
the year 1876 is one full of interest to Alameda County. In it the city of Oakland 
was first partitioned into wards, while it saw the incorporation of the two towns of 
Haywards and Livermore. The construction of the sea-walls for the protection of 
Oakland Harbor entered upon its second year most auspiciously, while the dredging 
of the estuary of San Antonio and the reopening of the creek route was consum- 
mated. In it a protracted struggle was made by the Contra Costa Railroad Company 
for the right of way through Market Street, Oakland, to ship channel; it was in this 
year the Berkeley branch of the railroad from West Oakland was built and put in 
operation; the Central Pacific Company commenced the building of the Northern 
Railroad; the Southern Pacific Railroad to Los Angeles, with Oakland as its term- 
inus was completed, as was also the Alameda section of the South Pacific Coast 
Railroad. The Brooklyn and High Street Horse Railroad was put into operation, 
as well as the Piedmont Horse Railroad from Seventh Street, Oakland, to Mountain 
View Cemetery. 

On January 24, 1876, the Road Fund tax paid in by townships amounted to 
thirty-eight thousand two hundred and eighteen dollars and twenty-eight cents, which 
was ordered to be distributed among the several township districts. On the 21st of 
February, the City Council of Oakland requested a conference with the Board of 
Supervisors in the matter of repairing the ' Twelfth-street Bridge, which resulted in 
the Alameda Delegation in the Legislature being requested to obtain the passage of 
a bill authorizing the building of a ?olid causeway in the place of bridge, the cost 



274 History of Alameda County, California. 



not to exceed twenty thousand dollars. On March 13th, the Board of Supervisors 
received a petition from the citizens of Ocean View Road District, asking for an 
issue of forty-four thousand dollars in township bonds for the purpose of macadam- 
izing their streets, under section two thousand six hundred and fifty-four of the Polit- 
ical Code, which was denied on the 29th of May, on the ground that it would inflict 
too great a burden of taxation on the people. On the 3d April, the County Treas- 
urer asked and received permission to transfer two hundred and forty-one dollars from 
Bounty Fund to Oakland Bar Bond Fund which would make said fund one thousand 
dollars, and thus enable him to pay off No. 19 — the last bond of the Oakland Bar 
matter. On the same day Sheriff Morse presented a bill of two thousand five hun- 
dred and fifty-five dollars on account of livery furnished by himself for one year, 
which, on being considered by the Audit and Finance Committee, its rejection was 
recommended and ordered. 

The Republican County Convention assembled in Oakland on April 22, 1876, 
and appointed delegates to the State Convention at Sacramento for nomina- 
ting Presidential candidates and electors, while, on the 21st of May, the Democratic 
party held their Convention for the like purposes, and also elected a County Central 
Committee. On the 12th of that month a great anti-Chinese mass meeting was held 
in Oakland, when a memorial to Congress praying for relief from the Mongolian 
incubus was adopted; and the first campaign meetings of the Republicans and Dem- 
ocrats were held respectively on June 19th and July 15th, their individual State Con- 
ventions being held in San Francisco on August 9th and July 26th. 

On the 8th of May a statement of funds in the Treasury was made consequent 
on the death of Joseph Becht, County Treasurer, which occurred in Oakland on the 
previous day. Mr. Becht was a steadfast member of the Democratic party, and 
enjoyed a well-earned popularity. Suitable resolutions of respect to his memory 
were spread upon the minutes of the Bf)ard of Supervisors. The deceased gentleman 
was succeeded in his functions by Deputy County Treasurer, Charles E. Palmer, who 
had been the Republican candidate in opposition to Mr. Becht, at the general election. 
On May 29th the Hospital Committee presented a report which blamed the last 
Grand Jury for making various ill-timed and unwarranted suggestions in regard to 
the management of the institution, for spreading discontent among the employes, 
and for suggesting improvements which the Infirmary Fund would not admit of On 
the same day the Chairman of the Citizens' Anti-Chinese Meeting pre sented the fol- 
lowing resolutions adopted in mass meeting: — 

Whereas, By the great influx of Chinese into this city, and by the dirty and Klthy manner in which they 
keep their premises, they are endangering the health and lives of our citizens; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we, the citizens of Oakland in mass meeting assembled, hereby respectfully request the Hon- 
orable, the City Council of Oakland to pass, an ordinance requiring each person who lodges in any room or house in 
this city to have as many cubic feet of fresh air in said room as is necessary to sustain life, and always to keep the 
said room in a good and healthy condition, and we most respectfully recommend that the number of cubic feet be 
at least five hundred or upwards in each room where any person sleeps. 

It was the spirit and intention of the meeting also that the authorities of the 
county be invited to co-operate and to that end requested the Board of Supervisors 
to also pass a similar cubic air ordinance so that it should apply to every city, town, 



Political History of the County. 275 

and village in the county. What the Judiciary Committee did with the matter, we 
do not know, but on June I2th E. J. Kelly, the Chairman of the meeting mentioned 
above, presented a petition to the Board requesting that they pass an ordinance 
inflicting as part punishment upon all who are convicted of any offense by the author- 
ities of Alameda County that they shall have their hair cut off to within an inch of 
their scalp. This was a move evidently aimed at the Chinaman's "pig-tail," but 
such an action was subsequently declared by Judge Field as interfering with their 
religion, and therefore unconstitutional; but how the erudite justice learned this, we 
know not, for, in China, religions and sects are as common as native vices, and accord- 
ing to the criminal codes of the country, thieves and such like are by law deprived of 
their cues — the absence of that appendage marks the criminal and it is on that account 
that those Chinese who have aped western customs and costumes pretend that they 
do not desire to return to their native land. 

On the 27th November, 1876, permission was granted to the Berkeley Water 
Works Company to lay their pipes in certain streets; and, on the same date, W. F. 
Boardman, Assessor of Oakland Township, appeared with a statement of the affairs 
of his office showing greart irregularity therein and asking for such action as would 
enable him to make a proper assessment for the next year. He set forth therein, that 
there is: First, a large amount of property unassessed; Second, a very long list to 
unknown owners; Third, property assessed to persons who never owned it; Fourth, 
property that is subdivided still assessed to the original owner; Fifth, great discrep- 
ancy in the relative value of property: Sixth, no index of blocks, plots, or tracts; 
Seventh, no proper maps of townships for the purpose of checking off the property to 
see that it is assessed. He suggested the proper remedies for all of these defects. 
But Supervisor Burnham stated that no action could be taken in the matter for the 
reason that Mr. Boardman was not eligible to the office when appointed thereto by 
the Board, and in consequence there was no legal Assessor of the township. Mr. 
Boardman stated his willingness to resign, but it was contended that he held no office 
to resign from. In order therefore to settle the matter the Clerk was directed to pro- 
cure the petitions presented by the various applicants on the 28th August, which, 
being all read, on motion of Supervisor Pumyea, the Board proceeded to the election 
of an Assessor, when Mr. Boardman was unanimously chosen, in the place of Edwin 
Hunt, who had been sentenced to two years' imprisonment in San Quentin. 

On the 4th December, the new Board, elected November 7th, took their seats, 
and were composed as follows : Valentine Alviso, District No. i ; Howard Overacker, 
District No. 2; Joseph B. Marlin, District No. 3; William C. Mason, District No. 4; 
Peter Pumyea, District No. 5; O. H. Burnham (Chairman), District No. 6; Jerry A. 
Chase, District No. 7. On the nth of December, certain additions to the County 
Infiirmary were completed, and the bill of the contractor, J. W. Watson, and architect, 
J. J. Newsom, amounting in the aggregate to three thousand three hundred and sixty- 
five dollars' were accepted and allowed. 

1877. — On January 2, 1877, Supervisor Alviso presented a deed for certain lots 
in Oak Knoll Cemetery, near Livermore, to Alameda County, which were contracted 
for when Mr. Beazell was a member of the Board of Supervisors. On the 8th of Jan- 



276 History of Alameda County, California. 

uary, we find Dr. William Bolton appointed by the Board a Justice of the Peace for 
the city of Oakland, who, F"ebruary 19th applied for ".such statutes or books contain- 
ing the laws of California " as he may be entitled to. On the 5th of March the Dis- 
trict Attorney gave it as his opinion that Doctor Bolton was neither de facto nor de 
jure a Justice of the Peace, for, the office being a municipal one, the Supervisors had 
no power to make such an appointment, consequently on the 19th, Doctor Bolton 
tendered his resignation, but was elected to the office at the municipal election. On the 
22d January, a franchise was granted to F. Chappellet for a horse railroad along Shat- 
tuck Avenue from the terminus of the Central Pacific Railroad at East Berkeley, to 
Cordoneces Creek. On February 2d, the Secretary of State impressed upon the Board 
of Supervisors the necessity under the statutes of having a set of standard weights 
and measures, at a cost of three hundred dollars. 

On February 5, 1877, the Central Pacific Railroad Company offered to pay three 
thousand eight hundred and six dollars and twenty-four cents in full of all taxes 
unpaid by them to the county of Alameda for the year 1872-73, it being understood 
that all suits against them should be discontinued. This matter was referred to the 
District Attorney, who, under date July i6th, consented to the plan provided it should 
receive the approval of the Attorney-General of the State, which it did, June 2, 1879, 
when all suits against the Central Pacific Railroad Company were ordered to be aban- 
doned. On the 24th of April, the Clerk was directed to communicate with the Board 
of Supervisors of Contra Costa County with a view to more definitely establishing the 
boundary line between the two counties, to which an affirmative reply was received May 
25, 1876. About this period Alameda Township had petitioned that the Webster- 
street Bridge being over a navigable stream, should properly become a charge upon 
the county and that the township of Alameda should be relieved from the payment 
of the balance due thereon, amounting to thirteen thousand dollars, incurred under the 
Act approved April 4, 1872, but when referred to the Judiciary Committee they 
reported adversely to the proposition and there the matter rested for the time. In 
the month of June and immediately previous thereto, numerous applications had been 
made b}- paupers discharged from the hospital to have their expenses paid to whith- 
ersoever they wished to proceed, but on July 16th, on the recommendation of the 
Hospital Committee the practice was ordered to be discontinued. Owing to the 
absence of Supervisor Chase in the State of Maine, and his inability to return within 
the prescribed limits of his leave of absence, on September 29th he tendered his 
resignation, which was duly accepted, and on the same day J. B. Woolsey was 
appointed in his stead. On the 1st October, the Superintendent of Schools reported 
the number of census children between the ages of five and seventeen years of age in 
the count)- to be twelve thousand five hundred and forty-four, and that the school 
money required would be fifty-eight thousand dollars. 

On the 1st of October the reorganized Board of Supervisors, composed as follows: 
John Green, District No. i; H. Overacker, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; 
William C. Mason, District No. 4; Peter Pumyea, District No. 5 ; John F. Smith, District 
No. 6; J. B. Woolsey, District No. 7, had their first session, when, on the fourth ballot, 
Mr. Overacker was chosen Chairman. On the 22d of the same month a standing 
reward of one thousand dollars was offered for the arrest and conviction of any person 



Political History of the County. 277 

or persons unlawfully setting fire to any property in Alameda County. On the 29th 
October Sextus Shearer claimed that at a judicial election, held on the 17th instant, 
he was elected Justice of the Peace for Oakland City, and requested a recount of the 
vote, which being granted it was found that he received seventeen votes in the Sec- 
ond Ward, four in the Third Ward, and one in the Fifth Ward, making in all twenty- 
two votes; he was therefore declared elected. A resolution that had been for some 
time before the Board was adopted, November 26th, authorizing the Oakland Rail- 
road Company to operate their road on Telegraph Avenue on the extension outside 
the city limits of Oakland with dummy engine in lieu of horses. On the 3d Decem- 
ber, the custom heretofore prevailing, of drawing monthly warrants in favor of out- 
side indigents, was declared to be wrong, it was therefore directed to be discontinued, 
while it was commanded that thereafter all such matters should come before the Board 
at the regular monthly meetings in the form of bills, and take the usual course. On 
the 17th December, the Supervisors, by resolution, earnestly protested against the 
passage of a bill then pending in the Legislature, whereby the control of the Web- 
ster-street Bridge, Oakland, would be transferred to the county. In spite of this 
opposition, however, the Act was approved December 21, 1877. On December 12th, 
the Oakland Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary Association set forth in a peti- 
tion to the Board that it is a corporation formed by the ladies of Alameda County 
for the purpose of affording free medical and surgical advice and treatment to the 
poor; that they proposed to establish a hospital and dispensary in the city of Oakland 
that would largely benefit the county and they asked the Board to furnish them two 
rooms free. A motion to allow the Society forty dollars per month was lost, and the 
petition referred to the Hospital Committee, who must have reported favorably on 
the matter, for, on February 11, 1878, that amount was granted for rent, the Super- 
visors retaining the privilege to send patients thither. 

1878. — On the 22d January a special election was held to elect a State Senator 
in the place of Hon. Nathan Porter, deceased, which resulted in the election of the 
Workingmen's candidate, John W. Bones, with the following vote: John W. Bones, 
two thousand seven hundred and forty-seven votes; W. W. Crane, Jr., two thousand 
and sixty-four votes; J. B. Lamar, five hundred and seventy-seven votes; scattering, 
two votes. In regard to the establishment of another hospital and poor-farm, the 
committee appointed to report on the scheme, on January 28th, set forth reasons 
adverse to it, stating that they were furnishing aid to many parties outside of the 
Infirmary at much less rates than could be done inside. On the same date the maps 
prepared by Thompson & West were declared to be the official maps of the county. 
In the month of March the Board decided to adopt a new plan in the matter of the 
County Infirmary, and advertised for proposals for the care of the inmates at a stated 
per diem rate per head, the contractor to furnish medical attendance, medicines, 
nurses, food, etc. Five bids, ranging from sixty-four to forty-five cents, were received 
on May 6th, but on the 15th the whole of these were rejected, the Supervisors con- 
cluding to continue the existing management. On the 27th of May a proclamation 
was issued calling for an election to be held throughout the State on June 19, 1878, 
to elect delegates to the Constitutional Convention, the number to be elected being 



278 History of Alameda County, California. 

one hundred and fifty, of which number thirty-two were to be chosen "at large," of 
whom not more than eight should be from any one Congressional District. The dele- 
gates for Alameda County were : J. G. McCallum, J. V. Webster, William Van 
Voorhies, Daniel Inman, Alexander Campbell, Jr. On August 8th, a resolution 
introduced for building the new Hall of Records on Franklin Plaza was taken under 
advisement for two months. The School Superintendent reported, September 2d, 
that fifty thousand dollars would be necessary for his department at next ta.x levy; 
while, on the 4th, H. Dusterberry and F. F. Myers were elected Supervisors for Dis- 
tricts Number Two and Five respectively, thus making the new Board, when they 
took their seats on October 7, 1878, to consist of John Green, District No. i; Henry 
Dusterberry, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; William C. Mason, District 
No. 4; Fred F. Myers, District No. 5; John F. Smith, District No. 6; James B. Wool- 
sey, District No. 7. 

It would also appear as if the report of the last Grand Jury contained some 
charges reflecting upon the acts of the Honorable Board, for one of the members, 
under date October 2 1 St, takes it upon himself to reply in a letter (which is spread 
upon the minutes) couched in language more forcible than grammatical, in which, 
among other matters, he states that he has been twice to Sacramento in the interests 
of the county and saved it thereby fifty thousand dollars, at a personal expense o.' 
one hundred and fourteen, which he was allowed to bear. "I have never," he says, 
"received one dollar for my services, but the abuse of the Grand Jury in payment for 
same." Under date November 4th, we find Robert Stephenson, of Brooklyn, com- 
plaining to the august Board that a negro baby, only a few day.s old, had been left 
at his residence a short time ago, and as he did not want it, he requested that the 
Supervisors would relieve him from this deeply-colored practical joke. The subject 
was referred to Mr. Mason with power to act, but what he did in the premises the 
records do not divulge. In the Financial Report filed on this date, we find that the — • 

Value of County Real Estate and Improvements was .$39, 105,894 00 

Value of County Personalty 3.7'6,983 00 

Giving a total of $42,822,877 00 

On the 2d of December the Board of Supervisors passed the following resolu- 
tion: — 

Kt-sohvci, That commencing January I, 1879, this Board will grant no further relief to those indigents now 
dependent upon, the county and receiving aid, nor to any others who may apply at any time thereafter for the 
payment of rent, or for groceries, or fuel, as all the dependent poor of the county will then and thereafter be 
required to go to the County Infirmary, and no outside relief will be granted, except in extraordinary cases, and 
then only by a vote of the entire Board. 

On the 23d December a proposition to suspend action of the above resolution 
until after the additions to the County Infirmary were completed, or the Alms House 
built, was defeated. 

Ere closing the events of the year 1878 we will introduce the reader to a short 
sketch of the rise and fall of the Workingmen's Party, that political organization that 
flashed upon California for a short time and after an erratic course of about two years, 
as suddenly was interdicted by the better thinking portion of the community. Com- 
munism was slain and law and order pre\-ailcd. 



Political History of the County. 270 

For several years previous to the creation of the Workingmen's Party as a 
political organization, there had been more or less agitation of the Chinese question, 
and the competition of Mongolian with white labor. The steady influ.K of Coolies 
from China, the employment of this cheap labor by manufacturing firms, and the 
consequent driving out of white laborers from many of the branches of mechanical 
employment, aroused the working classes to the highest pitch of resentment. Early 
in 1877, Dennis Kearney, an Irish draymen of San Francisco, commenced holding 
public meetings on the vacant lots near the New City Hall in San Francisco — since 
known throughout the length and breadth of the land as the Sand Lot — and in his 
vulgar, declamatory harangues, worked upon the worst passions of the ignorant mul- 
titude, denouncing all men of wealth, and preaching the extreme doctrines of com- 
munism. Others, who saw a chance for political preferment by catering to the evil 
passions of the mob, followed in the wake of Kearney, holding outdoor meetings all 
over the State. Clubs were formed, and out of these sprang the Workingmen's Party. 
The bold times of 1877-78 helped forward the communistic organization, and to its 
ranks flocked all of the hoodlum and criminal elements of the State. They became 
the terror of San Francisco and Oakland, threatening to burn and destroy the' 
property of the rich, and seize upon the Government by force. The result was that 
Capitalists refused to invest; all improvements came to a stand-still; thousands of 
other workmen were thrown out of employment and joined the hooting rabble. Then 
came the demands for a new Constitution — a Constitution that would cinch Capital, 
and force those who had something to divide with those who had nothing. One or two 
papers of the sensational class joined in this insane movement, and the result was that 
the Democrats and Workingmen of the Legislature of 1877-78 passed an Act calling a 
Constitutional Convention, the election of delegates to which should take place on the 
third Wednesday in June, 1878; the Convention to meet on the 28th of September, 1878. 
To save the State from the communists, Republicans and the better class of Demo- 
crats united upon non-partisan tickets in most of the counties of the State, and thus 
elected a majority of the Convention. But a large minority of the people of the State 
were utterly opposed to the whole programme of the New Constitution, believing the 
Old Constitution answered all purposes — and especially were they opposed to any 
change at that time, when communism ran rampant throughout the State. The 
Convention met, framed the present Constitution, and appealed for a vote of the 
people on its adoption the succeeding May. The time of the election came, and the 
party called the "New Constitution Party," headed by the San Francisco Chronicle, 
united with the Workingmen's Party, and carried the day, adopting the new instrument 
by a small majority. Alameda County gave a majority of two thousand against 
the new organic Act. The first election under the New Constitution occurred in 
September, 1879. Three candidates for Governor took the field. The Republicans 
nominated Hon. Geo. C. Perkins; the Democrats and New Constitution Party put up 
Dr. Hugh Glenn, and the Workingmen's Party nominated William White, a farmer 
of Santa Cruz County. 

During this canvass, one of the fiercest ever waged in the State, the difficulty 
occurred between Charles De Young, proprietor of the San Francisco Chronicle, and 
I. S. Kalloch, the Baptist minister, who had joined the Sand-lot crowd, and was nom- 



280 History of Alameda County, California. 

inated by that party for Mayor. The result of this personal warfare was the shoot- 
ing of Kalloch by De Young, from which Kalloch recovered, and was elected Mayor; 
and afterw.irds the assassination of De Young, in his own o'fice, by I. M. Kalloch, 
son of the Mayor, and al-so a Baptist minister. 

The Republicans gaining control of the State Government, the years 1879 
and 1880 being prosperous, and there being plenty of work for all who wanted 
it, the Sand-lot Party gradually died out; and the large majority finally went back 
to the Democratic party in the Presidential election of 1880, from which it had 
cut loose during the exciting period of over two years. Even Oakland succumbed 
to Sand-lot rule for two years — the Workingmen electing their Mayor in 1878 and 
1879 — '" ^8y8 electing not only their candidate for Mayor, but Police Judge and City 
Attorney, and in 1879, the Mayor, two members of the City Council, and two mem- 
bers of the Board of fCducation. Very little is left of the party to-day — like a mush- 
room, it sprang up in a night, and vanished as suddenly. 

1879. — The first item of interest in the year 1879 that we may record is the 
appointment of Col. E. M. Gibson to the position of District Attorney, upon the 
resignation of Henry Vrooman, who, on retiring, received the highest encomiums 
from the Board of Supervisors. On the 28th of April, Supervisor Smith offered a 
motion, which was adopted, viz.: That proper ballot boxes be supplied to all election 
precincts requiring them, the reason for this action being the impending election 
on May 7th for the adoption or rejection of the New Constitution, and the fear that 
the soap and candle boxes in use in some of the precincts of the county were not as 
secure as the more legitimate receptacles for votes. The result of the election 
mentioned above, in Alameda County, was: — 

For the New Constitution 4,054 

Against the New Constitution 6,054 

^lajority against adoption 2,000 

On the 2d July, the order made allowing forty dollars per month to the Oakland 
Homeopathic Dispensary was rescinded, and, on the 24th, District Attorney Gibson 
gave it as his opinion that the election of Supervisors in September was in no wise 
affected by the New Constitution. Now came the election on the 3d September to 
test the feeling of the people on the subject of Chinese Immigration, which resulted 
as follows: — 

For Chinese Immigration 65 

Against Chinese Immigration 9<40i 

Majority against Chinese Immigration 9o36 

On the 22d September the county treasury contained a cash balance of eighty 
thousand one hundred and fifty-nine dollars and forty-eight cents; while, on the .same 
day, the Superintendent of Schools reported the number of school children in the 
county, who draw money, to be fifteen thousand and twcnt\-, and the amount re- 
quired fifty thousand dollars. The Board also on this date ordered the Court House 
to be decorated and county offices closed on Thursday, the 25th September, and the 



Political History of the County. 281 

day be observed as a holiday in honor of General Grant, who was to be given a recep- 
tion in Oakland on that day. On this date, besides, the Board recorded its opinion 
that the Supervisors-elect from the Third, Fourth and Seventh Districts do not take 
their seats until the first Monday of March, 1880. 

While upon the subject of Supervisors' terms of office it may be mentioned that 
the Code declares the term of office of a Supervisor to be three years, but is silent in 
regard to the commencement of the term. It had been the custom in Alameda 
County for Supervisors to assume their office on the first Monday of the month fol- 
lowing their election. On the first Monday of October, 1879, the Supervisors elect 
expected to take their seats, but it so happened that those gentlemen whose terms 
were supposed to expire on that day need not actually relinquish their offices until 
the first Monday of December, as they were elected at the Presidential election of 
1876, and assumed their office on the first Monday of the following month, which was 
December. Messrs. Chase, Marlin and Mason were elected in 1876, and in Septem- 
ber, 1877, Mr. Chase resigned and J. B. Woolsey was appointed to fill the unexpired 
term. If the election of Supervisors in November, 1876, was legal, the terms of those 
then elected, it was argued, did not expire until December, 1879; therefore, to ascer- 
tain the custom of several counties in this respect, the Clerk of the Board communi- 
cated with those holding the like positions in San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Solano, 
Napa, and Sonoma Counties, to which he received replies stating the invariable 
custom was that the Supervisors took their seats at the first regular session after 
election. Mr. Marlin had been re-elected, therefore it made no difference to him 
when his term commenced. On the 6th of October, Mr. Clement, Supervisor elect 
from the Fourth District, appeared before the Board and made a formal demand for 
his seat, stating that there existed a difference of opinion among lawyers as to the 
proper date for the assumption of office, but he did so then under the advice of his 
attorney. Mr. Mason stated his willingness to give up his seat at any time. On the 
1st of December W. S. McClane, Supervisor elect from the Seventh District, appeared 
before the Board, presented his certificate of election, and demanded his seat, but the 
subject was referred to the District Attorney, and must have been settled, for on Decem- 
ber 8th, the new Board organized and consisted of: John Green, District No. i ; 
Henry Dusterberry, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; W. B. Clement, 
District No. 4; Fred. F. Myers, District No. 5; John F. Smith, District No. 6; W. S. 
McClane, District No. 7. 

On October 20th Mr. DeLacy and others petitioned for permission to erect 
blasting powder works at Damon's Landing, Brooklyn Township, but the prayer, after 
considerable discussion, was denied on the 19th of November. On the loth of 
Nove"mberthe South Pacific Coast Railroad Bridge over Alameda Creek, at the sugar 
mill near Alvarado, about which complaint had been made, was declared an obstruction, 
the company being directed to remodel the same. On the 19th of the same month, 
however, President Davis, of the Company, appeared in response to the above and 
stated that the bridge was built solely for the benefit of the Sugar Company, and that 
he was willing to remodel the same if necessarj'. He also asked for time enough to be 
given in order to make a fractical test as to its being an obstruction. Therefore the 
order of the Board was modified. 
19 



282 History of Alameda County, California. 

On November 24th, 1879, the President of the Bay and Coast Narrow Gauge 
(South Pacific Coast) Railroad Company made an informal request to the Board to 
relinquish to him the Webster-street Bridge to be used as a crossing for his rail- 
road, he agreeing to perform certain things as recompense. The matter was 
referred to the District Attorney, who, in a lengthy report, dated December iSth, 
advised the Board that it had no authority of law to grant the request. On the same 
day an injunction was issued out of the Twelfth District Court of the City and County 
of San Francisco against the Board of Supervisors restraining them from granting any 
such privilege to any person. Messrs. Greathouse and Blanding, attorneys, offered 
their services free to the Board in the matter and were authorized to appear as the 
Attorneys of the Board in conjunction with the District Attorney, before the Court 
above named and take steps to have the injunction dissolved at once. The Board 
states that it "does not propose to act hastily or unjustly in the matter," but to e.xer- 
cise due discretion and judgment, etc. The proposition of Mr. Davis was thereupon 
referred to a Committee of the Whole to report in future. This they did December 
22d, as follows: — 

The Committee of the Whole, to whom was referred the application of AUred E. Davis asking that this 
Board, in whom is invested by law the power to control the Webster-street Bridge across the Estuary of San 
Antonio and regulate its use, shall transfer and set over to the use and benefit of himself and assigns for the period 
of fifty years, respectfully report, that we have carefully considered said application and would recommend that the 
use of said bridge be transferred to said A. E. Davis and his assigns subject to the conditions set forth in the 
accompanying resolutions. 

Respectfully submitted, J. F. Smith, Jos. B. Maklin, 

W. S. McClane. F. F. Myers. 

W. B. Clement, 

The motion to adopt was opposed by Supervisor Green, who stated that under the 
rules the matter should lie over for thirty days, and moved that the subject be referred 
to the Franchise Committee. Mr. Dusterberrj' said that he could not clearly under- 
stand why there should be haste in the matter, "whereupon the following dispatch is 
read": — 

" San Francisco, December 22, 1879. 

"To John F. Smith, President Board of Supervisors— Alameda County Court House. 
" Records show no application to amend without prejudice to injunction in suit of Meelz svi. County. No 
new bond filed since amendment. 

Wm. a. Stuart, County Ckrk." 

Mr. Green's motion to refer to Committee, meeting with no second, the motion to 
adopt the report of the Committee of the Whole was carried unanimously. The fol- 
lowing were then presented, viz.: — 

"Resolved, 1st. The right and privilege is hereby granted to Alfred E. Davis and his assigns to maintain and 
operate a railroad over and along the bridge known as the Webster-street Bridge across the Estuary of San 
Antonio in Alameda County, and the approaches thereto, such railroad to be a single or double track railroad, 
and the cars thereon to be propelled by steam or horse-power, such right to commence upon the passage of this 
order, and to continue for a period of twenty-five years. 

" 2nd. Said Davis and his assigns shall, before they operate such railroad, repair and strengthen or reconstruct 
such bridge under the control, management, direction, and supervision of the Board of Supers'isors of Alameda 
County, so that the use of the same for a public bridge and the lawful uses of the public may not Iw impaired. 



Political History of the County. 283 

The costs of such repairing, strengthening, or reconstruction to be paid by said Davis and his assigns, work on 
such bridge to be commenced within one year from the passage of this order, and to be prosecuted without 
unreasonable delay. 

"3d. Said Davis and his assigns shall also, so long as he or they operate said railroad over such bridge, pay 
the cost of keeping such bridge in repair, except that he or they shall not be required to keep^the floor of such 
bridge in repair, and he and they shall also, during such time, pay into the General Fund of Alameda County an 
amount equal to the salary, not exceeding one hundred dollars per month, which may be paid by the Board of 
Supervisors or the County of Alameda, to the said draw-bridge tender, such payment to commence on demand 
from said Board, and to be paid every three months thereafter. 

"4th. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as impairing the right of the Board of Supervisors to 
regulate and control said bridge and approaches." 

Mr. Myers then moved that the rules be suspended in order that said resolutions 
should be considered, which was so ordered. Mr. Clement thereupon moved that the 
above resolutions be adopted, a motion that was carried by the following vote: Ayes — 
Messrs. Clement, Dusterberry, Green, Marlin, McClane, Myers, and Smith; Noes — 
None. Some other business having been transacted, Mr. Green then made the state- 
ment that he had voted with the "majority" (sic) for the purpose of moving a recon- 
sideration of the action; he therefore made a motion to the effect that the said action 
so taken be reconsidered in order that he may be placed upon the record as voting 
" No." The proposition meeting with no second, the Chair ruled that it could not be 
entertained, and there being no appeal from the decision of the Chair, on motion of 
Supervisor Clement that the request of Mr. Green to have hi ■ name appear upon the 
record as voting "No," be granted, was so ordered. 

1880. — On February 28, 1880, water rates were established under provisions of 
Section fourteen of the New Constitution for the following which were named as the 
water companies of the county: The Contra Costa Water Company, the Mission San 
Jose Water Works Company, the Livermore Spring Water Company at Livermore, 
and the Washington and Murray Townships Water Company in Washington Town- 
Ship. The Board decided that the same rates be established as were charged by these 
companies during the past year, the scale to commence on July ist. On the 28th of 
February, complimentary resolutions were passed upon the retirement of Eben C. 
Farley, Deputy County Clerk, and Clerk to the Board of Supervisors. Under the 
provisions of the Act approved April 7, i88o, authorizing the appointment of a Board 
of Education, on April 19th, O. S. Ingham, Joseph McKeown, A. L. Fuller, and W. 
H. Galbraith were chosen to fill the offices, their salaries being fixed at five dollars 
per day for the time necessarily employed, and twenty cents allowed for mileage in 
going to their place of business. Under a resolution directing the Clerk to furnish 
to the Board "the number, denomination, and amount of all bonds issued show- 
ing the date of issue, to whom issued, in accordance with section four of the 
statutes of 1869-70, page 297," which reads: "It shall be the duty of the said 
Auditor to keep a record of the number, denomination, and amount of all bonds 
issued, showing the date of the issue, to whom issued, and the number of each 
coupon to each particular bond," and also, the Act to provide for the building of 
a bridge and roadway across the estuary of San Antonio, etc. On April 26th 
the Clerk reported that he had examined one of said bonds, and found that they are 



284 



History of Alameda County, California. 



"payable ten years from date to the holder," and hence there were no means of 

ascertaining to whom they were isssued. They were dated and issued as follows: — 



DESCRIPTION. 


NUMBERED. 


VALUE. 


DATE. 


AMOUNT. 


First Lot 


I (ai 15 inclusive 

16 (at 30 inclusive 

31 (a) 36 inclusive 

37 @ 40 inclusive 


$500 00 each 

500 00 each 

500 00 each 

500 00 each 


August 12, 1870 


$ 7,500 00 
7,500 00 
3,000 00 
2,000 00 


Second Lot 

Third Lot 


September 12, 1 870 

November II, 1870 

August 25, 1S71 . . 


Fourth Lot 










$20, 000 00 



Pursuant to the resolution just mentioned, on June 14, 1880, the County Treasurer 
made the following statement of the outstanding indebtedness of the County: — 

Outstanding Warrants on General Fund , $52)457 13 

Outstanding Warrants on Infirmary Fund 9,457 03 

Outstanding Warrants on District Road Fund 8,875 ^9 

Interest on above warrants 882 50 

Total $71,672 55 

Claims allowed and not yet drawn by Auditor about 3,000 00 

NILES BRIDGE BONDS. 
Thirty in number; $500 each, issued August 5, 1872; ten percent, interest; semi-annu- 
ally; ten years to run; redeemable after five years at option of Board of Supervis- 
ors. Statutes 1871-72, p. 206 $15,000 00 

WEBSTER-STREET BRIDGE BONDS. 

'Four outstanding; annual interest, ten per cent. ; Statutes 1871-72, p. 83; also Minutes 

of Board of Supervisors, Vol. 3, p. 589; also Statutes 1877-78, p. 942 $ 8,444 66 

COUNTY BUILDING BONDS. 

Two hundred in number; $1,000 each; issued July 6, 1874; interest ten percent.; 
semi-annually; one-tenth of said bonds due in 1885, and one-tenth each year 
thereafter until all paid. Statutes 1873-74, P- 594 200,000 00 

$223,444 66 
On June i, 1880, the Board issued orders to have prisoners confined in the County 
Jail made to perform eight hours work daily in and about public buildings, roads and 
highways, under Section one thousand si.x hundred and thirteen of the Political Code. 
On June 14th, a resolution consolidating the offices of County Clerk and Recorder, Tax 
Collector and Treasurer, on and after July 1st, was referred to a Committee of the 
Whole. The salaries of deputies of each county and township officer were fixed at one 
hundred and twenty-five dollars per month, June 21st; while, the Building Committee 
having had under advisement the advisability of establishing a Receiving Hospital in 
Oakland, on June 21st reported favorably to the scheme, which on being adopted was 
handed over to the Hospital Committee, who, at the following meeting of the Board,, 
recommended the fitting up of rooms in the basement of the new Hall of Records. 
On July 19th, a resolution to fund the debt and issue bonds therefor was referred 
to a Committee of the Whole, but the matter fell through on account of the County 
Governinent Bill being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. On the 
same date the county was re- partitioned into Supervisor Districts under Section 
four thousand and twenty-five of the Act of 1879-80, the .same districts being 
re-established with the boundaries heretofore designated. On July 31st the Board 



Political History of the County. 285 

adopted a seal; and a communication was received from Sidney Sanders, attorney, 
setting forth that James M. Goggins owns six-thirty-sixths undivided interest in 
Washington and Franklin Squares in the city of Oakland, and wished to know 
what action the Supervisors would take in the premises. The document was " laid on 
the table." Under date the 15th October, J. J. Hanifin, Supervisor elect from the 
Sixth District, appeared with his certificate of election and claimed his seat. Mr. 
Smith, the incumbent, declined to give it up, stating that the election of a Super- 
visor in that district was illegal. After an adjournment for consideration, Mr. Smith, 
in a communication to the Board, desired that Mr. Hanifin be allowed to take the 
seat of the Supervisor for the Sixth District, reserving to himself the right to resume 
it in case the Supreme Court should hold the election 'illegal. Mr. Myers was then 
•called to the Chair, while Mr. Smith introduced Mr. Hanifin as his successor; after 
which the Board then re-organized as follows: John Green, District No. i; Henry 
Dusterberry, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District No. 3; W. B. Clement, District 
No. 4; F. F. Myers, District No. 5; J. J. Hanifin, District No. 6; W. S. McClane, 
District No. 7. Mr. Dusterberry was unanimously chosen Chairman. 

1881. — On January 10, 1881, a resolution introduced by Supervisor Hanifin 
was adopted that the Clerk of the Board immediately indorse upon every bill or account 
allowed the fact of such allowance, the amount ordered paid, the date of such action, 
and sign his name thereto at the time; also, that all bills allowed be signed by at least 
two members of the Auditing Committee. On the 21st a former order offering a thou- 
sand dollars reward in the matter of incendiarism was rescinded. On May 9th, the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company were called upon to render less dangerous their 
crossings on public roads. The Northern Railway having been assessed by the State 
Board of Equalization at one million, five hundred and forty-three thousand and fifty 
dollars, the proportion allotted to Alameda County was ninety-two thousand four 
hundred and seventy-five dollars; that of the Central Pacific Railroad, was fifteen 
millions, fifty-five thousand, five hundred dollars, and the county proportion, two mil- 
lions, eighty-eight thousand dollars. July 5th, the School Superintendent reported, 
as per census, fifteen thousand six hundred and seventy-seven children between the 
ages of five and seventeen years, eight thousand two hundred and forty-two of whom 
were in Oakland Township. On September 6th, the California and Nevada Railroad 
Company were authorized to build their road on Adeline Street from its junction 
with Spring Street, northerly to its junction with Lowell Street, produced southerly 
to Adeline Street. On the 19th of the same month. County Treasurer Palmer resigned 
to take the position of Cashier of the Union Bank, when complimentary resolutions 
were passed, spread upon the minutes, and J. A. Webster appointed in his stead. On 
the 26th September, the proper condolatory resolutions were passed on the death of 
President Garfield; while, on October 31st, the County Board of Horticultural Com- 
missioners were appointed as follows: A. D. Pryal, A. P. Crane, and Martin Menden- 
hall, who were to receive four dollars per day while actually on duty, but no member 
would be permitted to charge for more than thirty days during the year. On Novem- 
ber 2 1st, the Committee of the Whole report adversely as to crossing Webster-street 
Bridge with horse railroad, signed by Supervisors Dusterberry, Marlin, Green, Mc- 



286 History of Alameda County, California. 

Clane. A minority report by Supervisor Hanifin favoring the scheme, which had to 
give way to the majority report, the only votes in the negative being those of Messrs. 
Clement and Hanifin. On December 5th, a communication was received from C. 
O. Rockwell expressing Mrs. Garfield's "grateful acknowledgments for the resolutions 
of the Board of Supervisors." 

1882. — On January 3, 1882. D. C. Brown having presented his certificate of elec- 
tion as Supervisor elect from Fifth District, Supervisor Hanifin proposed that 
Mr. Brown's name be called by the Clerk on all questions and that the Board recog- 
nize the prima facie right of that gentleman to a seat at the Board. The subject was, 
however, laid over to enable Mr. Myers, the incumbent of the contested seat, to have 
legal counsel. On the 4th, Mr. Brown again demanded to have his name called at 
roll call, when he was informed by Chairman Dusterberry that the matter was a pri- 
vate one between him and Mr. Myers to be adjudicated by the Courts. Again on 
the 1 6th the same demand was made by Mr. Brown, and finally he made his appear- 
ance with an appointment signed by Judges Crane and Hamilton, whereupon Super- 
visor Hanifin introduced a resolution that his name be called and his vote recorded. 
which was adopted by a full Board, Mr. Myers voting " No," and Mr. Green declining 
to vote; the Board then reorganized with Mr. Brown seated. The members were: 
John Green, District No. i; Henry Dusterberry, District No. 2; J. B. Marlin, District 
No. 3; W. B. Clement, District No. 4; Dudley C. Brown (vice Myers term expired), 
District No. 5; J. J. Hanifin, District No. 6; W. S. McClane, District No. 7. Mr. 
Clement being Chairman, 

The chief matter of political interest that happened in the county of Alameda 
during the year 1882, is indubitably what has been termed the Democratic wave 
whose swell first rolling up large majorities in the cis-Atlantic States broke upon the 
Pacific Coast, carrying everything before it. It is not our province to enter into the 
causes of this wonderful reaction in politics, suffice it to say that feelings ran high, 
and the Banner Republican county, Alameda, was appalled at the havoc made in her 
ranks. The election of 1882 will long be remembered. 

In closing this chapter we will call the attention of our readers to the tables here- 
with appended. In the first will be found a list of the taxes levied since the formation 
of the county, exclusive of the poll-tax, while in the second we have handed to pos- 
terity a list of all the officers who have served the county, from State Senator to 
Constable, with the votes received by each, and the dates upon which they were elected; 
also notes showing the appointments made by the Courts of Sessions, and Boards of 
Supervisors between each general election. This table is as complete as it is possible to 
make it, and all records of the county have been thoroughly searched for the purpose of 
having it perfect and reliable, while it is with no little degree of pride that we present 
to our patrons the result of our labors, feeling assured it will be well appreciated by 
all who may have occasion to refer to it. 



Political History of the County. 



287 



May,i I 

Augu.st, 4 I 

February, 26 

28 1 

June, 7 

February, 2 

27 

28 

March, i 

M^y,5 I 

February, 23 

March,3 

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" 14 

" 13 

October,7 

** 6 

" 5 

" 4 

September, 22 

October, 4 

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R. A. McClure 

R. A. McClure 

Isham Case 

W. B.Clement 

W. F. Boardman 

Charles Whipple 

A. L. Fuller 


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J. B. Marlin, EdenTp.. 

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E. N. Smith, Alameda Tp 


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Asa Walker. 

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G. E. Smith, 

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Tp 

Tom. Scott, Murray Tp. 
Jas. Lentell, Oakland Tp 
J. E. Whitcher, " 
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Geo. W. Bond, 

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Wm. Eager, 

0. P. Perkins, EdenTp. 

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S. T. Bonner, 

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L. Blanco, Murray Tp . . 
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E. J. Smith, 

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County Clerk 

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Superintendent of Schools 


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292 



History ok Alameda County, California. 



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Stephen G. Nye . . 


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m T. Myles, Oak 
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B. Clement, 
W. Clark, 
C. Risdon, Brookl 
T Howard, ' 
seph Graham, Ede 

E. Smith, 
N. Mark, Murray 

S. Livermore 
s. Lentell. Oaklan 


0. H. Fogg, " 
W.Mdlard.Wash 
G. Gates, " 

Combs, Alameda 

Valentine, 

Whipple, Brookl> 
s. Mulgrave, * 

R. Hall, Eden Tp 

C. Morehouse, " 
in Worth. Murray 

Faville, 

T. Myles. Oaklan 

J. Smith. 
s.A.Trefry,Wash' 

B. Keith. 






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W. Dixon. Wash'n 
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m Hayward. Eden 
Cameron. Brooklyn 
Fasking, .Alameda 


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W. Clark, 
C. Risdon, Brooklyn 
a Howard, " 
seph Graham. Eden 

E. Smith, 

N . Mark, Murray 

S. Livermore. " 
s. Lentell, Oakland 




-•1 Kay, Alameda T 

V.alentine, '■ 
o Lewis, Brooklyn 
*. Mulgrave, " 

R Hall, EdenTp 
( . Morehouse, " . 
\\\\ Worth. Murray 

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y Smith, " 

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Political History of the County. 



293 



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C. G. Reed 

Thos. A. Smith 

Thos. A. Smith 

H. N. Morse 

Joseph Becht 

Chas. E. Palmer 

Wm. Helmer 

..uis Castro 


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Val. Alv so Dist. No. i 
H. Overacker, " No. 2 
J. B. Marlin, " No. 3 
W. C. Mason, " No. 4 
Peter Pumyea, " No. 5 
O.H. Burnham, " No. 6 
J. H. Cnase, " No. 7 


J. W. Clark, Alameda Tp 
C. M. Radcliff, " 
J.B.Merritt, Brooklyn Tp 
Asa Howard, " 
Samuel Wooten, EdenTp 
J. Collingridge, " 
L. A. Coats, Murray Tp 
A. M. Church, " 
Jas. Lentell, Oakland Tp 
Wm. M. Graham, " 
Henry Smith, Wash'n Tp 
L. G. Gates, 


S. Orr, Alameda Tp 
G. H. Moulton, " 
A. GilarJin, Brooklyn Tp 
Jas. Triplett, " 
G. H. Horn, Eden Tp 
J. H. Shirley, " 
S. McConky, Murray Tp 
R. Faville, " 
Wm. T. Myles, Oakl'd Tp 
;. H. 'lilley, 
J. A. Tre.ry, Wash'n Tp 
C. Neal, *' 




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Joseph Becht 

Joseph Becht 

Wm. Helmer _ 


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Val. Alviso, Dist. No. i 
H. Overacker, " No. 2 
J. B. Marlin, " No. 3 
Isham Case, " No. 4 
Peter Pumyea, " No. 5 
0. H. Burnham," No. 6 
F. K. Shattuck, " No. 7 


J. W. Clark, Alameda Tp 
C. M. Radchff, " 
J.B.Merritt, Brooklyn Tp 
Asa Howard, " 
Samuel Wooten, Eden Tp 
J. Collingridge, " 
L. A. Coats, Murray Tp. 
A. M. Church, " 
Jas. Lentell, Oakland Tp 
Wm.M.Graham, " 
Henry Smith, Wash'n Tp 
L. G. Gates, " 


S. Orr, Alameda Tp 

Wro. Valentne, " 

J. W. Still, Brooklyn Tp 

Jas. Triplett, 

G. H. Horn, Eden Tp 

J. H. Shirley, " 

S. McConky, Murray Tp 

R. Faville, 

Wm.T. Myles, Oakl'd Tp 

C;. H. Tilley, 

J. A. Trefry, Wa-sh'n Tp 

C. Neal, " 




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Jas. Beazell, Dist. No. i 
H. Overacker, " No. 2 
J. B. Marlin, " No. 3 
Isham Case, *' No. 4 
W. B. Hardy, " No. 5 
0. H. Burnham, " No. 6 
F. K. Shattuck, " No. 7 


Horace Hoag, Alam'aTp 
Wm. Holtz, 

J.B.Merritt, Bro.iklynTp 
Asa Howard, " 
Sam'l Wooten, Eden Tp. 
Jos. Collingridge, " 
I. N. Mark, Murray Tp. 
A. M. Church, " 
Jas. Lentell, Oakland Tp 
Geo. H. Fogg, " 
W. H. Geary, Wash'n Tp 
L. G. Gates, 


H.S.Barlow, Alameda Tp 
Wm. Valentine, " 

!W. Phelps, Brooklyn Tp. 
H. Nederman, " 
A. R. Hall, Eden Tp. . . 
L. C. Morehouse, " 

IS. McConky, Murray Tp 

iR. Faville, 

i Wm. T. Myles, Oakl'd Tp 

,G. H.Tilley, 

Ij. A.Trefry, Wash'n Tp. 

'A. K. Henry, 

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J. A. Neal, Dist. No. i 
H. Overacker, " No. 2 
J. B. Marlin, " No. 3 
Isham Case, " No. 4 
W. B. Hardy, " No. s 
P. S. Wilco.v, " No. 6 
F. K. Shattuck, " No. 7 


M. Coombs, Alameda Tp 
Wm. Holtz, 

J.B.Merritt, Brooklyn Tp 
Asa Howard, " 
Jos. Graham, Eden Tp. . . 
Jos. Collingridge, " 
I. N. Mark, Murray Tp. 
— Freeman, " 
Jas. Lentell, Oakland Tp 
Geo. H. Fogg. " 
W. H. Geary, Wash'n Tp 
L. G. Qates, 


H.S.Barlow, Alameda Tp 

Wm. Valentine, " 

W. Phelps, Brooklyn Tp 

H. Nederman, " 

A. R. Hall, Eden Tp.. 

F. Bryant, " 
F.B. Enwright, Mur'yTp 
R. Cimpbell, 

Wm. T. Myles, Oakl'd Tp 

G. H. Tilley, 

J. .\. I'refry, Wash'ji Tp 
A. K. Henry, 






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294 



History of Alameda County, California. 



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Political History of the County. 



295 



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W. B. Clement 

L. H. Brown 

L. H. Gary 

(Office abolished.^ 
(Oflice abolished.) 

Addison M. Crane 

W. E. Greene 

Noble Hamilton 

S. P. Hall : .. 

Truman H. Allen 

F. D. Hinds 

Truman H.Allen 

Charles McCleverty 

J. A. Webster 

J, A, Webster 


W. T. Hamilton 

G. L. Nusbaumer 

Louis Gottshall 

P. M. Fisher 


Thos. MoUoy, Dist. No. i 

E. R. Jensen, " No. 2 

Hiram Bailey, " No. 3 

Henry Dusterberry.No. 4 

Malachi Fallon, " No. 5 

J. J. Hanifin, " No. 6 

Jas. Keys, " No. 7 

E. 0. Crosby, Alam'aTp 

C. M. Radcliffe, " 

E. G. Mathews, Brk'n Tp 

G. W. Adams, " 

M. M.G Iman, Eden Tp. 

M. L. Rawson, " 

R. W. Graham, Mur'y Tp 

I. N. Mark, 

A.M. Church, Oakland Tp 

Emil Nusbaumer, " 

C. C. Jenks. " City 

A. M. Bishop, " City 

E.A.Richmond, Wa'n Tp 

W. A. Yates, 

Wm.Valentine,Alam'aTp 

G. D. Crowell, " 

A. Gilardin, Brooklyn Tp 

W. H. Staniels, " 

G. H. Horn, Eden Tp 

J. A. Gallet, 

Geo. Fitzgerald, Mur'y Tp 

Wm. Harvey, 

J. F. I'eague, Oakl'nd Tp 

J. G. Hanks, " 

J. A. Trefry, Wash'n Tp. 

U.C.Hibbard, " 


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P, R. Borein 

Andrew Ryder 

Jeremiah Tyrrel 

Chas. E. Palmer 

Chas. E. Palmer 


W. T. Hamilton 

G L. Nusbaumer 

C. B. Rutherford 

A. L. Fuller 

John Green, Dist. No. i 
H.Dusterberry, " No. 2 
J. B. Marlin, " No. 3 
W. B. Clement, " No. 4 

D. C. Brown, " No. 5 
J. J. Hanifin, " No. 6 
W. S. McClane, " No. 7 
E.O.Crosby, Alameda Tp 
W. B. Hunter, " 

E. G. Mathews, Brk'n Tp 
Geo, Babcock, 

J, D, Austin, EdenTp. 

M. L. Rawson, " 

R.W.Graham, Mur'y Tp 

I. N. Mark, 

A. M. Church, Oak'd Tp 

S. F. Daniels, " 

C. C. Jenks, " City 

A. M. Bishop, " City 

E. A. Richmond, Wa'n Tp 

L. G. Gates, " 

D.F.Chisholm,Alam'aTp 

G. H. Moulton, " 

A. Gilardin, Brooklyn Tp 

W. H. Hamilton, " 

G. H. Horn, Eden Tp 

W. J. Stratton, " 

Wm. Smith, Murray Tp 

L. M. Lyster, " 

A. S. Baker, Oakland Tp 

Rich'd Lloyd, " 

J. A. Trefry, Wash'n Tp 

0. L. Southwick, " 


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Auditor 

Sheriff. 

Treasurer 


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Supervisors 

Justices of the Peat 



Notes— 1853-1854. 

1854, May 6 — A. W. Swett to be Justice of the Peace vzce John Stack, resigned. 

Notes — 1857-1858. 

1857, Oct. 5 — John R. Wares to be Justice of the Peace, Washington Township, vice Bacon, received certificate of election in error 
" Nov. 2— William Hoskins to be Constable, Oakland Township, z'z'ce Wall, failed to qualify. 

" Nov. 3 — Hiram Keeney to be Justice of the Peace, Eden Township, vice John Marshall, failed to qualify. 

1858, Feb. 15 — Chas. Duerr to be Justice of the Peace, Murray Township, vice Pope, resigned. 

" Aug. 16 — Asa Walker to be Justice of.the Peace, Brooklyn Township, z//ci? Luttrell, resigned. 

Notes — 1858-1859. 

1858, Nov. 9— M. McCollier to be Constable, Murray Township, Constable-elect faihng to qualify. 
3859, Jan. 3 — A. O. Bowen to be Constable, Washington Township, vice Lowell, failed to qualify. 

'* May 3 — Asa Walker to be Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, vice iTaylor, resigned. 

" Aug. 3 — L. B. Tarpley to be Constable, Oakland Township, vice Crocker, resigned. 
. " Aug. 18— C. C. Breyfogle resigns, and Jos. H. Watkins appointed County Treasurer. 

*' Aug. 26 — Joseph Scott to be County Treasurer, vice Watkins, deceased. 

'* Sep. 3 — Bond to be County Treasurer, vice Scott. 

" Oct. 5 — ^John W. Carrick to be County 'Treasurej:, vice Bond. 



ship, vice Marier, resigned. 



Notes— i859-i8f 

tS6o, Feb. 6 — Benj. F. Ferris to be Justice of the Peace, Oakland Tow 

Notes — 1S61-1862. 

1861, Dec. 23 — Augustus Johnson to be Justice of the Peace, Washington Township, vice Marshall, deceased. 

1862, Feb. 17 — J. G. VanArsdalen to be Constable, Eden Township, vice Rasmier, deceased. 

*' April 6 — B. N. Seymour to be County Sup. of Schools, vice Strong, removed from county. 



1863, 
May 



Notes — 1862-1863. 

Sep. 3 — Geo. H. Fogg to be Justice of the Peace, Oakland Township 

Feb. 2— W. H. Souther to be- Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, vice Farrelly, failed t 

May 4 — J. H. Atwell to be Constable, Washington Township, vice Potter, resigned. 



lify. 



Notes — iS 



-IS 



Nov. 16 — D. Cameron to be Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, vice Walker, resigned. 
Nov. 16 — Stephen G. Nye to be Senator, vice W. W. Crane, Jr. 

Oct. 19— A. G. Catlin to be Justice of the Peace, Eden Township, vice Crane, failed to qualify. 
2, 1864 — Asa Walker to be Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, 7'^rir Cameron, resigned. 



296 History of Alameda County, California. 

Notes — i S65- 1866. 

1866, Sep. 24 — Samuel Bonner to be Constable, .Murray Township. 

Notes— 1867-1868. 

1867, April 13 — Geo. H. Fogg to be Justice of the Peace, Oakland Township, z'icc Watson, resigned. 

1868, May II — H. P. Barlow to be Constable, Alameda Township. 
" June I — Geo. W. Huff to be Constable, Murray Township. 

" ** — Geo. H. Fogg to be Justice of the Peace, vice Whitcher. 

Notes— 1868-1869; 

1869, Feb. I — L- J. Rector to be Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, vice Warren. 
'* May 3~R. B. Cooley to be Constable, Eden Township, Z'icc Perkins, resigned. 

" " ^C. J. Bond to be Constable, Washington Township, vice Livermore. 

" " 24--Asa Howard to be Justice of the Peace, vice Walker, deceased. 

" Aug. 8 — S. P. Wr.ght to be District Attorney, vice LaGrange, resigned. 

" " ^R. Faville to be Constable, Murray Township, Z'ice Huff, failed to qualify. 

Notes — 1869-1870. 

1870, Jan. 10 — Thomas W. Millard to be Justice of the Peace, Washington Township, vice Rogers, resigned. 
*' Aug. i^G. Whipple to be Constable, Brooklyn Township, vice Lewis, resigned. 

" Sep. 5— M. Coombs to be Constable, Alameda Township, vice K,ay, resigned. 

Notes — 1870-187 1. 

1871, Sep. 18 — J. W. McK.ee to be Justice of the Peace, Alameda Township, ^nce Clement, resigned. 

Notes — 1872-1873. 

1872, Dec. 2—Q. E. Freeman to be Justice of the Peace, Eden Township, z>ice .Smith, resigned. 
" *' 30 — Wm. Holtz to be Justice of the Peace, .\lameda Township, vice Fitch. 

1673, Feb. 5 — John Ball to be Constable, Alameda Township, z>ice Coombs, translated to the office of Justice of the Peace ihei 
" Aug. ig— Thos. W. Millard, Washington Township, x'ice Mills, resigned. 

Notes — 1S73-1874. 

1873, Nov. II — Horace Hoag to be Justice of the Peace, Alameda Township, vice Coombs, deceased. 
" Dec. 8— A. M. Church to be Justice of the Peace, Murray Township, vice Freeman, resigned. 

1874, July 30 — Geo. C. Potter to be Supervisor, District No. 6, vice Wilcox, resigned. 

Notes— 1874-1875. 

1874, Oct. 5 — L. C. Morehouse to be Constable, Eden Townsh'p, vice Bryant, resigned. 
*' Nov. 2 — James Triplett to be Constable, Brooklyn Township. 

1875, March 8 — Samuel McConky to be Constable, ^Iurray Township, vice Campbell, resigned. 

" '* 15 — Ralph Faville to be Constable, Murray Township, z'ice Enwright, failed to qualify. 
" Jij'y 7 — Samuel Wooten to be Justice of the Peace, Eden Township, vice Graham, resigned. 

Notes — 1S75-1876. 

1875, Nov. 15 — C. Nealto be Constable, Washington Township, vice Henry, failed to qualify. 
" Dec. 6— Valentine Alviso to be Supervisor. District No. i, vice Beazell, resigned. 

1876, May 8— G. H. Moulton to be Constable, Alameda Township, z'icc Valentine, resigned. 

'* 15 — Chas. E. Palmer to be Treasurer, vice Becht, deceased. 
" Aug. 28— A. Gilardin to be Constable, Brooklyn Township, vice Still. 

Notes — 1876-1877. 

1877, Jan. 8 — Wm. Bolton to be Constable, Oakland City. Appointment declared informal and holder resigned. 
" Sep. 29 — J. B. Woolsey to be .Supervisor, District No. 7, vice Chase, resigned. 

Notes — 1877-1878. 

1877, Nov. 26 — R. W. Graham to be Justice of the Peace, Murray Township, xnce Church, resigned. 

" " — T. W. LeBallister to be Constable, Brooklyn Township, 7'ice Triplett, resigned. 
1:78, Jan. 22^John W. Bones elected Slate Senator, vice Porter, deceased. 

" Oct. 28 — Seth Warner to be Justice of the Peace, Eden Township, vice Whidden, resigned. 

Notes — 1878- 1879. 

1879, ^^b- 3 — ^ • P- Byler to be Justice of the Peace, .Alameda Township, vice Clark, lesig^ned. 
" March 25^A. B. Lawson to be Constable, Oakland Township, vice Buckley, resigned. 
'* April 3^E. M. Gibson to be District Attorney, z>ic€ Vrooman, resigned. 

Notes — 1879-1880. 

1879, Nov- ^9 — Dennis Noonan to be Constable, Murray Township, vice McConky, resigned. 

1880, Jan. 5— Asa Howard to be Justice of the Peace, Brooklyn Township, vice McLaughlin, failed to qualify. 

Notes— 1880- 1881. 

1881, Jan. ID — W. S. Smith to be Constable Murray I'ownship, vice Noonan, resigned. 

" Jan. 17— J. H. Shirley to be Constable, Eden Township, vice Jackson, disqualified as a non-resideni. 

" March 14 — J. M. .-\lviso to be Constable, Murray To«'nship, vice Hewitt, resigned. 

" May 16 — A. B. Lawson to be Constable, Oakland Township, vice Ballard, resigned. 

" Oct. I — J. A. Webster to be County Treasurer, vice Palmer, resigned. 

" " 31 — Jose H. Neal to be Constable, Murray 'Township, vice .Mviso, resigned. 

" Nov. 14 — Henry \^^\y to be Constable, Oakland Township, :•/((• Lawson, resigned. 

" " — W. A. Vates to be Justice of the Peace, Washington Township, vice L. G. Gates, resigned. 




\V-^^ i<^^ 



/t> ^ t/^Kj e^yt-'t..-^ cyL^-^y^ 



Mexican Grants. 297 



MEXICAN GRANTS. 



EL VALLE DE SAN JOSE — RANCHO SAN RAMON — RANCHO SAN LORENZO — RANCHO SAN LEANDRO — EL SOBRANTE 
TABLE OF LAND CLAIMS — TABLE OF GRANTS. 



IN glancing at the heading of this chapter, we must ask the reader not to indulge 
in the vain hope that a full history of the grants comprised within the confines of 
what is known as Alameda County will be found; such, indeed, would be beyond the 
limits of this work, even had we at hand the infinity of resources to be found in the 
hundreds of cases which have arisen out of them. Our compilation must of neces- 
sity be accepted in its crude form. We have striven to our utmost capacity to pro- 
duce some information which would combine both usefulness and accuracy, and to 
this end have relied on the " Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United 
States District Court for the Northern District of California, June Term, 1853, to 
June Term, 1858, Inclusive, by Ogden Hoffman, District Judge" — a work which is 
now nearly out of print. 

In addition to the information therein contained we append a table most cour- 
teously supplied to us by the Surveyor-General of the State of California, and which 
no doubt will prove both valuable and interesting. 

The United States, Appellants, vs. Antonio Sunol et al, dainiing the Rancho 
El Valle de San Jose'. — No objection made by the District Attorney to the con- 
firmation of this claim. 

Claim for a tract of land, supposed to contain eleven leagues, in Alameda County, 
confirmed by the Board, and appealed by the United States. 

S. W. Inge, United States Attorney, for Appellants. 

Crockett & Crittenden, for Appellees. 

The validity of this claim was proved by the production of the original grant 
and the expediente from the archives. The expediente also shows that the grant 
was registered in the Secretary's office, and also, by order of the Governor, in the 
office of the Prefecture of the first district. Both the expediente and the grant pro- 
duced by the claimant contain the certificate of registry, and of the approval of the 
grant by the Departmental Assembly. 

The evidence shows a substantial compliance with the conditions, and the 
boundaries and extent of the granted land are clearly indicated by the description 
in the grant and the delineations on the map. No objection to the confirmation of 
this claim having been made by the District Attorney, we do not deem it necessary 
to recapitulate at length the preliminary proceedings before the Governor, nor to 
refer particularly to the evidence by which its validity has been established. 

A decree affirming the decision of the Board must therefore be entered. 

The United States, Appellants, vs. Josfi Maria Amador, claiming part of 
the Rancho San Ramon. — The confirmation of this claim not disputed, claim for four 
20 



298 History of Alameda County, CAUFimNiA. 

leagues of land in Alameda County confirmed by the Board, and appealed by the 
United States. 

S. W. Inge, United States Attorney, for Appellants. 

E. W. F. Sloan, for Appellee. 

The Board of Commissioners have confirmed this claim without suggesting any 
doubt as to its entire validity. 

The genuineness of the grant is not disputed, and it appears to have been 
approved by the Departmental Assembly. The conditions have been fully complied 
with, and the premises granted have been the family residence of the grantee from 
a period prior to the issuing of the grant, and he has continued to cultivate and 
improve his land down to the present time. 

A part of his lan'd has been conveyed by him to other parties, and he now asks 
for a confirmation of his claim to the remainder. A decree to that effect was made 
by the Board of Commissioners. 

A decree must therefore be entered in this Court affirming the decision of the 
Board and confirming the claimant's title to the extent solicited. 

The United State.s, Appellants, vs. Barbara Soto, ct al., claiming the Rancho 
San Lorenzo. This claim is valid for the land included within the boundaries named 
in the grant. Claim for one league and a half of land in Contra Costa (now Alameda) 
County,confirmed by the Board, and appealed by the United States. The claim in this 
case is founded on two grants — one by Alvarado, dated October lo, 1842, and the other 
by Micheltorena, dated January 20, 1844, for the sobrante of half a league contained 
within the boundaries of the first. The land was described in the first grant as follows: 
"One league, a little more or less, in the tract called San Lorenzo, the limits of which are 
from the creek of that name to that called ' El Alto,' pertaining to Don Jesus Vallejo, 
and from this creek, drawing a right line to pass by the rodeo, to the beach, and from this 
point to the first ridge which the hills form, excepting the number of varas which have 
been conceded in said tract to Don Guillermo Castro, which shall be determined at the 
time of the possession." At the time the grant issued Castro was owner of a tract of 
six hundred varas square, upon which he resided. He, in October, 1843, obtained a 
concession of a larger tract which was described as bounded by the rancho of Soto 
on the side next the main road, it being considered that there has alreadj' been made 
a concession to the said Soto on the side towards the beach. The main road alluded 
to crosses the tract from creek to creek, and it was contended by Castro that the main 
road was the western boundary of his land, and that the grant to him was a \irtual 
settlement of the line between him and Soto, which in the grant to the latter had 
been left for subsequent adjustment. Proceedings were instituted to settle this dis- 
pute, and it was finally determined by a compromise made with the approval of the 
Governor. The line as thus settled was described in a document drawn up for the 
purpose, which appears in the archives, and a copy of which is indorsed on both expe- 
dientes. The boundary of Castro, as thus settled, is as follows: ' Commencing on 
the sanjon (or ditch) where it is parallel with the southern side of Castro's house, and 
down the sanjon towards the main road si.x hundred varas, from which point where 
they conclude by a straight line to the San Lorenzo Creek. The boundary on the 



Mexican Grants. 299 



other side of the sanjon is the margin (orilla) of the hills towards the plain, measuring 
ten varas up on the hills." These proceedings must be taken as a final and definite 
settlement of the eastern line of Soto's ranch, and as such it was acquiesced in and 
recognized by the parties. The line thus designated can, as appears from the proofs, 
be readily located, and the testimony of the neighbors, particularly that of Guillermo 
Castro, shows that the location as determined from the description in the agreement 
in no respect differs from the line as understood and recognized by the parties them- 
selves and neighboring rancheros. On the 20th of January, 1844, Soto addressed a 
petition to the Governor, setting forth that the concession of the tract which he occu- 
pies, called San Lorenzo, expresses to have an extension of one sitio (league square), 
a little more or less; that the overplus which it may have towards the beach may be 
half a sitio, which he begs may be conceded to him, as, united with the other, it would 
be of much benefit to him. On this petition the Secretary reports that there is no 
objection to granting it, but that the petitioner must subject himself to the limits 
which his first title calls for, and to the agreement celebrated with Don Carlos Castro. 
On receiving this report the Governor acceded to the petition in the following words: 
" In conformity with the foregoing. Micheltorena." It is objected that this was not 
a valid grant of the sobrante or overplus. But, in the first place, it appears from the 
archives that the same formalities were rarely, if ever, observed in relinquishing a 
sobrante to the grantee within the general limits of whose grant it was found, as were 
deemed necessary in making an original concession or a grant of a sobrante to a 
stranger. The grant of a sobrante to him within whose limits it was found was little 
more than a waiver or release of the condition of the original grant, which restricted 
him to a specific quantity, and the original grant (that condition being struck out) 
would by its terms convey the whole land within the limits designated. At all 
events, there can be no doubt in this case that the Governor intended to accede to the 
petition, and the land having, under this grant, or promise to grant, been long occu- 
pied and enjoyed, and on all hands recognized as belonging to the grantee, the latter 
has, in any view, an equitable right which the United States are bound to respect. 
The important question, however, in the case, is as to the location of the southern 
boundary. The tract included within the original limits is claimed by the appellees 
to be in the form of a square, or parallelogram, and bounded on the east by the line 
between Castro and Soto as it was fi.xed by the agreement heretofore alluded to; on 
the south by the Alta and a line through the rodeo to the beach; on the west by the 
beach, and on the north by the San Lorenzo. It is contended on the part of the 
United States that neither the San Lorenzo nor the beach is a boundary of the tract, 
but that the southern line must be run from the point where the rodeo line or north- 
ern boundary strikes the beach, to the first ridge which the hills form. If such a line 
be drawn, it would form a diagonal to the square claimed by the appellees, and the 
tract would have a triangular shape, with the agreed line between Soto and Castro as 
its base on the east, and with its apex touching the beach at a mathematical point. 
The language of the grant has already been quoted. The words, which, it is con- 
tended, call for this location, are as follows: "And from this creek (El Alto) drawing 
a right line, to pass by the rodeo to the beach, and from this point to the first ridge 
which the hills form, excepting," etc. It is claimed, and with much apparent reason, 



300 History of Alameda County, California. 



that the last Hne must be drawn from the "point" where the rodeo here strikes the 
beach to the first cuchilla, or ridge: If the word " punta" had precisely the signifi- 
cation of the English word "point," as used in surveying, or if the grant had specified 
the " point" where the rodeo line strikes the beach as the point from which a straight 
line was to be drawn to the cuchilla for the sourthern boundary, the construction con- 
tended for would be unavoidable. But the language is "a straight line drawn to the 
beach, and from that point," etc. It does not in terms say "and from the point where 
said line strikes the beach;" it merely says "from that point" namely, from the beach. 
A reference to the beach generally by the term " punta" is certainly not in accordance 
with our use of language; but so far as I have been able to discover, such a construc- 
tion of the term is not admissible in Spanish. If, however, there were no other guide 
to the intentions of the grantor, this construction might probably be deemed forced 
and unnatural. There are other considerations, however, which I think remove any 
reasonable doubt as to its propriety. In fixing the limits of land to be granted, both 
the law and usage of the Californians required them to adopt, as nearly as possible, 
a rectangular or square figure. This was not in all cases practicable, but in a country 
used almost exclusively for grazing, and where no fences were built, it became neces- 
sary to designate great natural objects as the boundaries of the tracts conceded. It 
seems therefore extremely improbable that in this instance the natural and obvious 
boundary afforded by the shore of a great estuary should be wholly neglected, and 
the land should assume the form of a triangle, having only a mathematical point at 
its apex resting on the beach, while one of the sides should diagonallj'- cross the 
center of a large plain with no visible object throughout its length, except at its extrem- 
ities, to determine its location. This is the more improbable as the whole of the neigh- 
boring land had been before, or was subsequently, granted, and the piece of land excluded 
by the diagonal line alluded to, if not embraced within the grant to Soto, has remained 
from some unexplained reason the only piece of ungranted land in the vicinity. The 
original grant to Soto was for one league, within the limits specified. He subsequently, 
as we have seen, obtained the sobrante of about half a league more. This was after the 
boundary between him and Castro had been fixed. Taking, then, that boundary as 
determined, there is found within the limits as claimed by him, about one square 
league and a half, precisely the quantity granted to him in the two grants. But if the 
diagonal line be drawn as proposed, he would have but about two-thirds of a league 
in all, leaving his sobrante grant wholly inoperative, for even his first grant of one 
league could not be satisfied out of the tract so limited. It is to be borne in 
mind that Soto did not petition for an augmentation or extension, but for a sobrante 
or overplus — the excess within the original boundaries over and above the quantity 
to which he was restricted. This excess he states to be about half a league, while he 
also mentions that his first grant was for one league. If then, the limits of the land 
as designated in his grant, after the Castro line was fi.xed, included less than a league, 
as is now contended, the petition for a sobrante of half a league more within those 
limits was absurd. Had he or the Governor supposed that the quantity already 
granted could not be found within the limits of the tract, it is not to be imagined that 
one would have asked for and the other conceded half a league more within tho.se 
limits. In such case he would have asked for, not a sobrante, but an augmentation, and 



Mexican Grants. 301 



would have obtained his additional qu-intity outside of and beyond his original 
boundaries. The fact that the land, according to the boundaries he contends for, 
is almost exactly the quantity (one league and a half) granted to him, seems to 
me almost conclusive as to what he intended to ask for, and the Governor to give. 
The value of land to the former inhabitants of this country, in a great degree, 
■depended upon the existence of abundant supplies of fresh water, or "agua dolce," 
for cattle. The line proposed would not only form an acute angle at the beach, 
but would touch the San Lorenzo Creek only at a single mathematical point, thus 
cutting off all access to that stream, and either depriving the rancho altogether of 
fresh water, or else affording it at the El Alto alone for a short distance. The 
adjoining rancho at the south is bounded by the San Lorenzo, and it is impossible that 
in fixing the limits of a cattle rancho access to that stream should have been denied 
to Soto, when the land between his rancho and it was unoccupied and ungranted, 
and the Governor was willing, on his mere suggestion, to increase the quantity given 
him by an additional half league. If with these considerations in our minds we 
recur to the grant, its intention is obvious. It does not profess to give the boundary 
lines except on one side of the tract, but "its limits." Its longitudinal limits are 
declared to be from the San Lorenzo to the Alto, and the rodeo line to the beach. 
Having thus determined its length, the grantor indicates its breadth, viz.: from the 
beach to the first crest of the hills. He does not mention any point in the crest of 
the hills, which would have been natural if he had intended to fix as a southern 
boundary an imaginary straight line drawn from the point where the rodeo line 
struck the beach to the crest; and the indefiniteness of his description, referring as 
it does to a line on the summit of a range of hills, rather than to a point on those 
hills, seems to show that the intention of the grantor was merely to fix the lati- 
tudinal limits of th^ tract, viz.: the beach and the crest; rather than to describe a line 
as a precise boundary. But all doubt on this subject is removed, if the disefio pro- 
duced be received as the original on which the grant was made. It is shown beyond 
any reasonable doubt that it was, with the other title-papers, placed in the hands of 
eminent counsel in this city, in whose custody it has ever since remained. By some 
oversight it was not put in evidence before the Board, but A. M. Pico, Francisco 
Arce, and G. Castro, testify that it is either the identical map or one exactly resem- 
bling that which was handed to Pico when about to give judicial possession to Soto. 
This map is unusually rude, but the form of the tract is sufficiently indicated to show 
it to be a square or parallelogram, with the beach as its western boundary. A further 
confirmation of these views is found in the report of Jimeno, at the time of the dis- 
pute between the Governor and Castro. " It appears to him," he says, "convenient to 
measure to Soto the league, more or less, which has been granted him from the beach 
to the ' lomas,' or hills, but always on the side of the Arroyo del Alto, because those 
are the limits which have been marked out, and from these limits he should follow 
those of Don G Castro." He was thus, according to Jimeno, to have a league on 
the side of the Alto, from the beach to the hill, and from the Alto to the San Lorenzo, 
following Castro's boundary. The sobrante, after measuring the league, would have 
lain between the beach and the San Lorenzo, and would have been, as the testimony 
shows, about half a league in extent, if measured after the Castro line was deter- 



302 History of Alameda County, California. 

mined, and it was precisely this sobrante of half a league which Soto asked for and 
obtained. If to all this be added the fact that Soto himself always claimed, and was 
regarded by his neighbors as owning, the whole tract between the beach and the 
Castro line, and between the Alto and rodeo line and the San Lorenzo, the conclusion 
is irresistible that such are the true boundaries of the grant. The Board confirmed 
the claim to the land within these boundaries, and I see no reason to reverse their 
decree. 

The United States, Appellants, vs. The heirs of Josfi Joai^)uin EstudillO, 
claiming the Rancho San Leandro. Where the description contained in a grant, and the 
circumstances of the case, justify the belief that tiic intenti(jn was to grant all the 
land included within the boundaries named. Then the words " poco mas 6 menos " 
(a little more or less) must be construed as operative to pass to the grantee such frac- 
tional part of a league as may be found in excess of the quantity named in the grant. 

Claim for one league of land in Alameda County, confirmed by the Hoard, and 
appealed by the United States. 

This claim was confirmed by the Board. It has recent!)- undergone so full an 
e.Kamination in the ejectment suit brought in the Circuit Court, that I conceive it 
unnecessary to consider at length the testimony by which its genuineness is estab- 
lished. On the whole, after an attentive consideration of the additional testimony 
taken in this Court, I incline to the belief that the grant issued as alleged by the 
claimant, although the non-production of the original grant and the fact that the 
order of concession is unsigned, leaves some room for doubt on this point. It appears 
to me evident that the grantor intended to fix as the limits of the tract, the San 
Leandro, the sea, and the diramaderos or overflowing of the springs. On the fourth 
side the boundary is designated as "a straight line from the diramaderos to the San 
Lorenzo, but so drawn as not to include the Indian cultivations." This line was, 
from the terms of the grant, to be a straight line, and shoukl be drawn to the nearest 
point of the San Lorenzo to which it can be drawn without including the Indian 
cultivations; whether that line will thus take a southerly or a southwesterly direction 
will depend upon the extent of the Indian cultivations. Such has seemed to me, 
after much consideration, the true construction of the grant and diseno in this case, 
and such was the view taken of it by the Circuit Court and b\- the Board of Commis- 
sioners. But the difficult question in the case is that presented by tlie words " poco 
mas 6 menos." It is certainly not easy to say what precise effect they were intended 
to have. Some operation should clearly be given them, unless they are so hopelessly 
vague and uncertain as to admit of no definite construction. The grant surveys to 
the grantee " a part of the land known as San Leandro," and proceeds to define the 
boundaries with more than ordinary precision. The third condition states the land of 
which donation is made to be one square league, a little more or less, (poco mas 6 
menos), directs it to be measured, and reserves the surplus. The quantit)' of land 
contained within the boundaries will probably exceed one league by a considerable 
fraction. Ought then the words "poco mas 6 menos" to be rejected for uncertainty, 
and the grantee in this and all similar cases to be limited to the preci.se quantity of 
one league, no matter how small the gore or strip of land in excess maj' on measure- 



Mexican Grants. 303 



ment be found to be; or are we at liberty to construe the words referred to as embrac- 
ing such fractional part of a league as may be found within the boundaries ? The 
question is one of intention on the part of the grantor. In most instances the descrip- 
tion in these grants was obviously intended to designate the tract out of which the 
granted quantity was to be taken, rather than to indicate the limits of the land 
granted. In some cases, on the other hand, the boundaries are indicated with much 
precision, and the mention of quantity is obviously rather a conjectural estimate of its 
extent than intended as a limitation of the grant to the quantity mentioned; and yet 
in these cases the sobrante clause is added apparently from habit, or because no pains 
were taken to vary the form of the grant according to the circumstances of particular 
cases. The English equivalent for the words " un sitio, poco mas 6 menos," would 
perhaps be given by the phrase "about one square league." Where under our system 
a grant specifies the boundaries of the land which it conveys in absolute terms, the 
subsequent mention of its extent as of "about one square league," with a reservation of 
the surplus, would probably be inoperative. It may plausibly be argued, that if any 
part of the grant is rejected for uncertainty, the whole phrase (un sitio, poco mas 6 
menos) should be rejected, and not merely the indefinite words which terminate it. 
Certainly, if the expression were in English "about one league," the Court would 
hardly strike out the word " about " and construe the words "one league" as indicat- 
ing that precise quantity — not to be exceeded by a foot. It has on the whole seemed 
to me that where the grant describes in its granting clause a particular piece of land, 
with definite or ascertainable boundaries, and the condition mentions the extent of 
the land so granted as of so many leagues, " more or less," the latter expression should 
be so construed as to embrace such additional fractional part of a league as may on 
measurement be found within the boundaries. There is certainly some difficulty in 
determining what quantity shall by this clause be deemed to pass. To allow under a 
grant of one league, more or less, three or four or five leagues to pass, would evidently 
be unreasonable, unless the condition be rejected in toto. It would seem equally 
unreasonable to restrict the grantee to the precise quantity of one league as determined 
by an accurate survey, and to take from him a gore of land, perhaps a few yards in 
width, along one side of his rancho, and which is clearly embraced within the bound- 
aries as mentioned in his grant. I think the words should be allowed a reasonable 
operation, and that where the description contained in the grant, the previous pro- 
ceedings, and the circumstances of the case justify the belief that the grantor's general 
intention was to grant all the land within the boundaries, the words " poco mas 6 
menos" should be construed to embrace such fractional part of a league as might be 
found to be in excess of the specified quantity. The Circuit Court and the Board 
were of opinion that in the grant under consideration, the excess, such as it was shown 
to be, passed to the grantee, and in that opinion I concur. A decree must be entered 
affirming the decision of the Board. 

Inocencio Romero et al., claiming El Sobrante, Appellants, vs. THE UNITED 
States. — Claim for five leagues of land in Contra Costa County, rejected by the 
Board, and appealed by the United States. It appears from the expediente on file in 
the archives, that on the l8th day of January, 1844, the brother^> Rt^t-o pe'ritioned 



304 History of Alameda County, California. 

the Governor in the usual form for a grant of land, being a sobrante lying between 
the ranches of Moraga, Pacheco, and Welch. This petition was by a marginal order 
referred to the Honorable Secretary for his report. The Secretary referred the papers 
to the First Alcade of San Jose, with directions to summon Moraga, Pacheco, and 
Welch, hear their allegations, and return the papers to the office. On the 1st of Feb- 
ruary, 1844, the First Alcalde reports that the owners of the lands bounded by the 
tract have been confronted with the petitioners, and that the former are willing and 
desirous that the land be granted. He adds that it had come to his knowledge that 
one Francisco Soto claimed the tract some si.x or seven years ago, but as he had 
never used nor cultivated it, the petitioners appeared to him to be entitled to the favor 
they ask. On the 4th of February, 1844, Manuel Jimeno, the Secretary, reports to 
the Governor that, in view of the report of the First Alcalde, there would seem to be 
no obstacle to making the grant. On this report of the Secretary, the Governor makes 
the following order: " Let the Judge of the proper district take measurement of the 
unoccupied land that is claimed, in presence of the neighbors, and certify the result, 
so that it may be granted to the petitioners. — Micheltorena." On the 21st of March, 
1844, the claimants addressed a petition to the Governor, representing that, owing to 
the absence of the owners of the neighboring lands, the Judge of the Pueblo of San 
]os6 had been unable to execute the superior order (above recited), and soliciting that 
his Excellency would grant the tract to them, " either provisionally, or in such way as 
he would deem fit," while there was yet time for planting, etc. On this petition 
Jimeno reports (March 23, 1844) that the original order should be carried into effect 
as to the measurement of the land, and that "as soon as that was accomplished, Seiior 
Romero can present himself with Senor Soto, who says he has a right to the same 
tract." The Governor thereupon made the following report: "Let everything be done 
agreeably to the foregoing report. — Micheltorena." The above documents constitute 
the whole expediente on file in the archives. From the documents produced by the 
claimant from the files of the Alcalde's office, it appears that on the same day, March 
23, 1844, Jimeno communicated to the Alcalde the order of the Governor that the 
sobrante solicited by the Romeros should be measured, and that if it should be neces- 
sary a measurement of the adjoining ranchos should also be made — with the under- 
standing that those parties who should become "agraciados" should bear the expense. 
It is evident that up to the date of the last order of Micheltorena no grant of the land 
had issued. That pursuant to the recommendation of Jimeno, the Governor declined 
to mike even a provisional grant as solicited, and that final action in the matter was 
deferred until a measurement should be made, and until Romero and Soto should 
present themselves. Jimeno does not seem to have finally adopted the opinion of the 
Alcalde that Soto had forfeited his rights to the land, for he recommends to the Gov- 
ernor, as we have seen, that the land should be measured without delay, and that t/ten 
" Romero should present himself joined with Sefior Soto, who stjjs he has a right to 
the same land." In this recommendation the Governor concurs. There is certainly 
nothing in these proceedings which indicate that the Governor had finally determined 
to grant the land, though it is evident that he regarded the application with favor; 
still less can any of the orders made by him be construed to import a present grant. 
On the contrary, it is clear that the Governor refuses to make even a provisional 



Mexican Grants. 305 



grant, but insists that a measurement shall first be made, and then that Romero and 
Soto shall appear before him, evidently with the view of determining the rights of 
the latter. 

The subsequent proceedings, as shown by documents exhibited by the claimants, 
confirm this view. On the isth of January, 1847, Romero and Garcia, the present 
claimants, appeared before John Burton, the Alcalde of San Jos4 and executed a paper 
in the presence of the Alcalde and two witnesses, reciting a sale by Romero to Garcia 
of one-half of the land, and stipulating that both parties should remain subject to the 
final result, "if the Governor grant it in ownership." And if the contrary should be 
" the case, then Garcia should lose equally with Romero, without any right to reclaim 
the consideration paid." This paper is signed by the parties, the Alcalde, and the 
witnesses. On the 28th of May, 1847, Jose Romero addressed a petition to John 
Burton, Alcalde of San Jos^ representing that, as early as 1844, an order from the 
former Governor had been sent to the Alcalde's Court requiring a measurement of the 
land called "Juntas;" that such measurement had not yet been made. He therefore 
solicits the Alcalde to give him a testimonial of the reports, which, in the year 1844, 
were sent to the Government, so" that we can be granted said land!' The Alcalde in a 
marginal order directs that the lands should be measured according to the original 
order of the Supreme Government. In the margin of the order transmitted by 
Jimeno, under date of March 23, 1844, the Alcalde writes: "Be it done accordingly 
on the 9th of April, 1847. The interested parties will proceed to take possession of 
the mentL-ined land according to the order of the Governor. I further order, that in 
case any bordering land-owner demand it, a measurement of his land be ordered. 
John Burton, J. P." It appears, moreover, that about two months before the date of 
their last petition, viz.: on the 31st of March, 1847, Jose Romero had addressed a peti- 
tion to the same Alcalde, representing that some years before he had solicited a piece 
of land in the Canada de San Ramon, and bordering upon lands of Don M. Castro, 
and that His Excellency had ordered the lands of Castro to be measured, which had 
never been done. The petitioners further stated that they were two brothers, with a 
numerous family, and were without any piece of land whatever to raise cattle; they 
therefore begged the Alcalde to provide for them as soon as possible, that they might 
retain and locate their stock. The Alcalde on the 5th of April orders that the fulfill- 
ment of the superior order should be at once proceeded to. The entry in the mar- 
ginal order transmitted by Jimeno was made on the Romeros' petition of the 23d of 
March, and not on that of the 28th of May, above referred to; for it directs the meas- 
urement to be proceeded to on the 9th of April. And, finally, on the 27th of Decem- 
ber, 1847, K. H. Dimmick, then Alcalde, makes an order in which, after reciting that 
disputes as to the boundaries existed between the Romeros and Domingo Peralta, he 
directs that the boundaries be established and adjusted in the manner specified in the 
order of the Governor, dated 23d of March, 1844. I have stated the contents of these 
various documents with some particularity, because an attempt has been made since 
the rejection of the claim by the Board, to show by parol evidence that a final grant 
issued to the Romeros, which has been lost. We have seen that the last document in 
the expediente is the order of the Governor of the 23d of March, 1844, adopting 
Jimeno's recommendation that a measurement should be made before issuing the final 



308 History of Alameda County, California. 

grant, or even a provisional one, as solicited by Romero; and even then it does not 
seem that the grant was certainly to be made, for Romero and Soto were to "present 
themselves," evidently for the purpose of enabling the Governor to ascertain their 
respective rights. Nothing further seems to have been done, either by the Government 
or the petitioners, until 1847 On the 31st of March of that year we find the Romeros 
representing to the Alcalde that the Governor had some years before ordered the land 
to be measured, which had not been done; and that they were without any piece of 
land whatever, and they begged the Alcalde to provide for them. The Alcalde there- 
upon directs that the superior order of March 23, 1844, be proceeded to. On the 
28th of May, 1847, the Romeros again petition the Alcalde, representing that as early as 
1 844, the Governor had sent to the Alcalde's Court an order requiring a measurement 
of the land; they therefore ask a testimonial of the reports and orders in his office, 
" so that ive may be granted the land!' The Alcalde again directs the superior order 
of March 23, 1844, to be complied with, and on the following day a declaration is 
made before the Alcalde by Antonio M. Pico, that Don J. Moraga and Don L. Pacheco, 
the colindantes, ,had declared that for their parts the surplus of land which does not 
belong to them '' cou/d be granted to the Romeros." And, finalh', the deed from 
Romero to Garcia of January 15, 1847, expressly stipulates that both the parties to it 
should remain subject to the final result, " tf the Governor grant it in ozvnership, and 
if tlie contrary should be the ease, then Garcia should lose equally with Romero without 
reclamation." These documents appear to me to establish beyond doubt that ail 
action of the Government on the application of the Romeros terminated with the 
order of March 23, i8z)4, directing the measurement as an indispensable preliminary 
to a grant, either final or provisional. That during the year 1847, the petitioners 
made several attempts to have that measurement effected, but apparently without 
success; and that up to December, 1847, neither the\- nor an\- one else pretended that 
the order of March 23, 1844, was not the last Act of the Government in the premises. 
The parol testimony offered to prove that a grant issued will be briefly adverted to. 
C. Brown swears that the Romeros have lived on the rancho since 1840, and that he 
always understood they had a grant. He does not pretend to have seen it. James 
M. Tice swears that he has searched for the title-papers, but has been unable to find 
them. J. J. P. Mesa saw a bundle of papers in Romero's hands on his return from 
Monterey, in 1 844. The bundle was not opened, but Romero stiid thc\- were his title- 
papers. He subsequently saw Micheltorena's order for the measurement of the land. 
He does not pretend to have seen any grant. It is to be observed that Mesa was 
examined before the Board, and did not mention this circumstance; and that he can 
neither read nor write. Inocencio Romero, who disclaims an\- present interest in the 
land, swears that he had a grant; that he gave it to Mr. Tingle)- to be presented to 
the Board, and that since then he has not seen it. He also states that the grant was 
made by Micheltorena a short time after he arrived in the country, and that Arce, 
who was then his Secretary, delivered it to him. The expediente, however, shows 
that Jimeno was the Secretaiy, at least until March 23, 1844. And as it is clear that 
at that date the grant was suspended until a measurement should be made, the title- 
papers seen by Mesa in the hands of Romero on his return from Montcre)- in 1844, 
must have been the papers now produced. 



Mexican Grants. 307 



The testimony of Mr. G. B Tingley is the only evidence in the cause which 
approaches proof that a grant issued. This witness swears that on the trial of a suit 
between Domingo Peralta and the Romeros, a grant from Micheltorena to the latter 
was produced in evidence; that the petition was for a sobrante; that the signatures 
were genuine; and that one Sanford took the papers, and he has never seen them 
since. On his cross-examination he states that the papers produced were the original 
petition, and the marginal order of reference an information signed by A. M. Pico, 
then a decree of concession, and final a title in form, with a condition that the grant 
should not interfere with the adjoining grants. If these papers were produced, they 
must all, with the exception of the grant, have been procured from the archives, for 
the petition, the informes, and the decree of concession form part of the expediente 
which remains on file. That expediente is in evidence in this cause, and contains no 
decree of concession whatever, nor any draft or "borrador" of the formal title delivered 
to the party, as is almost invariably the case where such a document issued; on the 
contrary, the last order of the Governor, in effect, refuses, as we have seen, to grant 
the petition for even a provisional title until a measurement was made, which clearly 
was not done until after December, 1847, if at all. Besides, if all these papers were 
produced from the archives and were delivered to Sanford, how does it happen that 
only a part of them were restored to the archives, and are now produced? Jos6 
Ramon Mesa, a witness produced on the part ot the United States, testifies that he 
was present at the trial of the suit referred to by Mr. Tingley; that no formal title was 
produced by the Romeros, but only a provisional license to occupy, subject to the 
boundaries of the neighboring proprietors, during the pendency of the proceedings to 
obtain a title. The witness further swore that he heard Inocencio Romero state to 
Domingo Peralta, in reply to an inquiry as to what title he had, that he had no title; 
and that he had intended to take steps to get one, but that all he had was a "provis- 
ional license." This provisional license is in all probability the order made by John 
Burton, Justice of the Jeace, in April, 1847, on the margin of the Governor's order of 
March 23, 1844, for the measurement of the land, and was in compliance with 
Romero's petition to him of the 31st of March, 1847. The Justice of the Peace directs 
that "the interested party will proceed to take possession of the land, according to 
the order of the Government," etc. As a copy of Jimeno's order, with this marginal 
entry of Burton's, appears to have been furnished to Romero, and by him sent to 
Garcia, it is in all probability the "license" referred to. It will not be pretended that 
any rights could be conferred by such an order of an American Justice of the Peace 
in April, 1847. The record of the suit between Peralta and the Romeros has been 
produced. It contains no evidence whatever even tending to show that a grant was 
produced at the trial. Antonio M. Pico, a witness produced by the claimants, swears 
that he received an order from the Governor to put the coterminous neighbors, 
Pacheco and Moraga, into possession of their land, and to measure the same for the 
purpose of separating them from those of the Romeros; that he was directed by the 
same order to put the Romeros in possession of the surplus; that he summoned the 
colindantes, but they did not appear; that he did not then execute the order, but 
repeated the summons to them; that the Romeros made a complaint to the Governor, 
and he, the witness, received from the latter a new order to carry the former into 



308 History of Alameda County, California. 

effect, upon which he told the Romeros to go there — which thc\- did in 1S44. This 
witness exphcitly states that no title to the land in favor of the Romeros was ever 
exhibited to him. The orders referred to by Pico are obviously those contained in 
the e.xpediente. The first order did not, as he supposes, direct him to put the 
Romeros in possession, but only to measure the land and certify the result, "so that 
it might be granted." Romero's complaint or petition to the Governor stating the 
failure of che Alcalde to measure the land, and asking for a provisional grant, we also 
find in the expediente, and also the second order of the Governor, which, like the 
former, only directs the measurement of the land — the Governor having, as we have 
seen, adopted Jimeno's recommendation that the land should be measured, and Soto 
and Romero should present themselves before any grant should issue. On the parol 
proofs alone I should come to the conclusion that Mr. Tingley is mistaken in suppos- 
ing that a grant for the land was ever produced. But the evidence afforded not only 
by the expediente, but by the repeated declarations of the Romeros themselves in 
their various petitions and in the conveyance to Garcia, removes every possible doubt 
on the question. The facts of the case are unmistakable. The Romeros solicited 
land, which the Governor was disposed to grant. He directed a measurement pre- 
paratory to making the grant, and this measurement never was effected. I cannot per- 
ceive how this Court can recognize these proceedings as giving an\' title to the land.s. It 
may be admitted that in 1844 they went upon the land, as stated by Pico — though, if 
so, it is singular that John Burton, Alcalde, should, in April, 1847, have ordered "the 
interested parties to proceed to take possession of the mentioned lands, according to 
the order of the Government." But this occupation, not authorized, so far as it 
appears, by the Government, and onl\- made in pursuance of a verbal permission of 
Pico, and without the measurement of the land, as required by both orders of Michel- 
torena, can hardly be deemed to have conferred any title, either legal or equitable, 
upon the claimants. The case is, perhaps, a hard one, for there seems no reason to 
suppose that the grant would have been refused if the measurement had been made 
and Soto's rights had been found to have been forfeited. But no grant, either perfect 
or inchoate, was made, nor an}- promise given that one should be made. The peti- 
tions were favorably received, a provisional grant refused, and a measurement directed. 
There the action of the Government ended, and certainly such proceedings did not 
confer such a right of property in the land as this Court can recognize. The claim 
must be rejected. (June Term, 1857.) 

decision of the secretary of the interior in the .matter of the sur- 
vey of the rancho el sobrante, in california. 

Department of the Interior, | 

Washington, February 23, 1882. j' 
To THE Commissioner of the General Land Office — Sir: I have con- 
sidered, on appeal from the decision of your office of February 26, 1881, the matter 
of the survey of the California private land claim known as El Sobrante Rancho, 
situate in the counties of Contra Costa and Alameda, and confirmed to Juan Jos^ 
and Victor Castro by the Board of Land Commissioners and the United States Dis- 
trict Court for the Northern District of California, under the Act of Congress approved 
March 3, 185 1 (9 Stats., 631). 



Mexican Grants. 309 



Such facts appearing of record in your office, as are necessary to a proper under- 
standing of the main questions presented for consideration, will be stated as briefly 
as practicable. 

On the 26th of May, 1852, the said Juan Jose and Victor Castro, by their attor- 
neys, H. W. Carpentier and John Wilson, filed in the office of the said Board of 
Land Commissioners a petition in which they set forth, among other things, that on 
the 22d of April, 1841, they presented their joint petition to Juan B. Alvarado, then 
Governor of- Upper California, "for a grant of all the vacant [sobrante] land lying 
between the Ranchos San Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, Valencia, and Moraga, being 
the surplus or overplus left between the said ranchos after .the boundaries to the 
Ranchos" should "be ascertained and settled;" that "on the 23d of April, 1841, the 
said Alvarado, so being Governor, and having full power and authority to do so, 
granted the land as prayed for in the said petition," and directed the petitioners " to 
appear anew before the proper authority with a map of the land so asked * * * 
as soon as the boundaries of the Ranchos named in said petition * * * should 
be ascertained, regulated and settled ;" that they had always been ready to comply 
with the direction of the Governor to present themselves anew to the proper author- 
ity, with a map of the land thus conceded to them, but that the boundaries of the 
ranchos named had not been ascertained and settled; that "the said Victor, several 
years before the date of the grant, had settled upon the land so granted them, had 
built and resided in a house, and cultivated fields thereon;" that both the petitioners 
"pastured their cattle, horses, etc., upon it," the land granted, "before the grant was 
made," and had continued to do so ever since; that the said Victor had "constantly 
since resided thereon," and had cultivated three different ranchos thereon, and had, 
for the last fourteen years (prior to presentation of the petition to the Board), "had 
and held (and which was known to the owners of the neighboring ranchos mentioned 
in the grant * * *) exclusive and continued possession thereof;" and the peti- 
tioners prayed that they might "be allowed to intervene in the cases arising out oi 
the said ranchos when the boundaries thereof" were to be investigated, so that justice 
might be done them and they obtain "all the vacant {sobrante) land lying between 
the said ranchos after their boundaries are properly adjudged and regulated," and that 
their grant might be confirmed and made valid to them "according to the full intent 
of the grant at the time the same was made." (Record of Petitions, vol. i, p. 460, 
et seq.. Land Commission of California.) 

On the same day, to wit. May 26, 1852, the Castros filed another petition, in 
which they represented, as before, that they had petitioned for a grant April 22, 1841, 
of " all the vacant (sobrante) land lying in between the Ranchos of San Antonio, San 
Pablo, Pinole, the ranch of Valencia, and the ranch of Moraga, being the overplus 
lying between these several ranchos, which lie in the county of Contra Costa;" that 
on the 23d of April, 1841, the Governor granted the same to them, "as they peti- 
tioned," and directed them to "present themselves anew before the proper authority^ 
accompanied by a map of the land so granted, so soon as the boundaries of the 
ranchos named should be ascertained and settled; * * * but that the boundaries 
of the said ranchos " had never been ascertained and settled. They therefore prayed 
the Board to ascertain and settle said boundaries, and then they would comply with- 



310 History of Alameda County, California. 

all their duty in the premises. They also stated that they would prove that they had 
been " in the actual possession of said sobrante, or vacant, land so granted them ever 
since the date of the said grant," and that they had " had on it a large stock of cattle, 
horses, sheep, etc." 

They further alleged that the grant had not been approved b\' the Departmental 
Assembly, "because the boundaries of the adjoining ranchos had not been ascertained," 
and set forth other matters not necessary to be stated here. 

They again prayed the Board to confirm their claim, etc. (lb. pp. 634-5.) 

Whether this petition was to amend the one first herein referred to, or vice versa, 
does not appear; but the two may be taken together as the petition of the Castros to 
the Board of Land Commissioners. 

It may be well here to state that about the year 1853, after said petition to the 
Board was filed, and before the claim was confirmed, the county of Contra Costa, in 
which the petitioners alleged their land to be situated, was divided, and part of it 
included in the county of Alameda. There is, consequently, no variance between the 
general location called for in the petition as in Contra Costa County, and that in the 
Board's decree as in the counties of Contra Costa and Alameda. 

In support of their claim the petitioners introduced in evidence the original peti- 
tition and concession, or grant, and a translation thereof, which translation was certified 
as correct by George Fisher, Secretary to the Board. This official translation of said 
petition and grant reads as follows: — 

PETITION. 

To His Excellency, the Governor: The citizens, Juan Jose and Victor 
Castro, natives of this Department, and residents within the jurisdiction of San 
Jose de Alvarado, present ourselves before your Excellenc}- in the most proper and 
respectful manner, and represent that, being desirous of being finally settled upon 
land of our own, for the purpose of devoting ourselves to the labors of agriculture and 
the raising of catfle, in order by these means to obtain the very necessary means of 
subsistence for our numerous increased families, which is of such vital importance, we 
beseech your Excellency that you will deign to grant unto us a piece of vacant land 
which is situate on the immediate limits (inmediaciones) of San Antonio, San Pablo, 
Pinole, the farm (ranch) of Valencia, and the farm of Moraga, which land is the over- 
plus {sobrante) of the ranches aforesaid. 

Wherefore we humbly pray, etc. J LAN Josfi Castro, 

Victor Castro. 

marginal concession or grant. 

Monterey, April 23, 1841. 
As the parties interested petition for in this representation so the land of which 
they make mention is granted unto them, they remaining under obligation to present 
themselves anew, accompanied by a map of the land, so soon as the boundaries of 
the neighboring land-owners shall be regulated. Alvarado. 

(Record of evidence, vol. 19, p. 107, Land Commission, California.) 
Testimony was introduced to prove the genuineness of the grant, its character, 
the settlement of Victor Castro thereon, the possession of the Castros as alleged in 



Mexican Grants. 311 



the petition, and also some testimony concerning the boundaries of the Peraltas' grant 
of San Antonio, and the case was submitted for decision, whereupon, on the 3d day 
of July, 1855, the following opinion and decree were rendered by the Board of Land 
Commissioners : — 

OPINION. 

Juan Jose and Victor Castro, ^ 

TX > No.' 96. For a sobrante, in the county of Contra 

The United States. j . Costa. 

The evidence in this case establishes the following facts: That the petitioners 
presented their expediente for a sobrante of land lying between ranches named in 
said expediente, and in pursuance of said expodiente, Juan B. Alvarado, Governor of 
California, on the 23d day of April, 1841, issued a grant to the petitioners, and requir- 
ing them to report a plat of the same as soon as the adjoining ranches could be surveyed 
and the extent of the sobrante ascertained, which survey has not been had of said 
ranchos so as to enable the petitioners herein to define with certainty the boundaries 
of their said sobrante, and a large amount of testimony has been taken for the pur- 
pose of settling the boundaries, which is rendered inapplicable to the merits of this 
■claim by the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of 
Fremont. 

The grant offered in evidence is proven to be genuine, and the proofs in the case 
go to show that it was issued to the grantees in consideration of services rendered to 
the nation, and for supplies furnished for the use of the Mexican Government. 

We think this claim a valid one, and a decree will be entered confirming the 
same. 

DECREE. 

Juan Jose Castro and Victor Castro, \ 

vs. \ No. 96. 

The United States. j 

In this case, on hearing the proofs and allegations, it is adjudged by the Commis- 
sion that the claim of the said petitioners is valid, and it is therefore decreed that the 
same be and hereby is confirmed. 

The land of which confirmation is hereby made is situated in the counties of 
Contra Costa and Alameda, and is the surplus (sobrante) which on the 23d day of 
April, A. D. 1 84 1, the date of the decree of concession to the present claimants, 
existed, lying between the tracts known as Ranchos of San Antonio, San Pablo, 
Pinole, Moraga, and Valencia, reference being had to the original expediente on file 
in this case. (Record of Decisions, vol. 3, pp. 106 and 107, Lotnd Commission, Cali- 
fornia.) 

The case was taken to the proper United States District Court, as provided in 
section 9 of the Act of 185 1, above referred to, and such proceedings were had before, 
and decree entered by the Court as made the decree entered by the Board the final 
decree in the matter. 

The contest now here on appeal arose over a survey of the claim thus confirmed, 
which was executed by Deputy Surveyor William Minto, in 1878, under contract with 
the Surveyor-General of California, approved by your office. The field notes of the 



312 History of Alameda Countv, Calikoknia. 

survey were returned to the Surveyor-General's office August 26, 1878, and from them 
a plat was made, after which, in September and'October, 1878, notice of the execution 
of the survey and plat was duh- published under section i of the Act of July i, 1864, 
(13 Stats., 332), and the survey and plat were retained in the office of the Surveyor- 
General for inspection, as required by law. 

Many objections to the survey, protests against the sur\e>-ing of the claim as 
demanded by the owners thereof and interventions in the case were filed, some before 
and others after the period of ninety days from the first publication of notice had 
expired; and thereunder a vast amount of testimony was introduced before the Sur- 
veyor=General, which was forwarded with the appeal. It is unnecessary to pass upon 
the status of the various objectors, protestants, intervenors, or to specify those who 
appeared in time and showed such interest as entitled them to be heard, and to dismiss 
the proceedings of all others, under the rule laid down b\^ the Department May 28, 
1879, in the matter of the survey of the rancho El Corte de Madera del Presidio 
(Copp's L. O., vol. 6, p. 52), for the reason that the case is appealed by parties having 
a proper standing therein, who have raised every point, it seems to me, that the cir- 
cumstances of the case admit, or that arises in the case. 

I need not further recite connectedly the history or facts of the case, enough hav- 
ing already been stated to develop the principal questions involved; but such other 
matters of record in your office as shall seem proper to be considered will be referred 
to and discussed as occasion may require. 

It is proper here to state my reasons for not using and discussing the testimony 
of witnesses taken before the Surveyor-General. I have not done so for the reason as 
to one branch of the case no such testimony is admissible, and as to the other, from 
my view of the case, none of it is needed. The explanation is this: The decree 
is said to be ambiguous. Now, if there is a patent ambiguity, it cannot be explained 
by testimony unless the terms used are wholly indefinite and equivocal, and convey 
on their face no certain or explicit meaning, and the decree itself furnishes no mate- 
rials by which the ambiguity thus arising can be removed. In such a case, rather 
than the claim which has been adjudicated upon the principles of equity (Sec. ii> 
Act of 1851, 9 Stats., 633), should entirely fail, the light of intrinsic evidence may be 
brought in to ascertain the intention of the Board. But, in my opinion, the decree is 
not in such a condition. I think that any patent ambiguity in the expressed decree 
can be e.xplained by reference to such matters, as under the rules of interpretation 
applicable to this case, may properly be examined for that purpose as a part of the 
decree. It follows, therefore, that any ambiguity appearing upon the face of the 
decree itself must be removed by construction and not by averment, and hence upon 
this branch of the case the testimony aforesaid is inadmissible. 

The latent ambiguity of the decree can, in my opinion, be sufficiently e.xplained 
by the records of your office or those of the Surveyor-General's office, and therefore 
the testimony of witnesses was not, and is not, needed in this case. In other words, 
that which was confirmed by the decree of the Board can be so surveyed as to do 
substantial justice from light afforded by the records of the Land Department, and no 
testimony dehors the records would make the matter more certain. 

The decree of confirmation in this case is final and conclusive as between the 




i^^<\ w~ 



J^^ZyyCUM^C^^A^-. (^cc 



'AAyi^C-C^AA-- (cc-tu.€yCa-^iX/ 



Mexican Grants. 313 



United States and the Castros, or those claiming under them. If there were error or 
mistake in it, the only remady was by appeal. The appeal from the decree of the 
Board having been dismissed by the District Court, the decree must forever stand as 
the Court thus made and left it. There is no authority or jurisdiction in any tribunal 
to correct, altar, amend, or annul it. Nothing remains to be done except to execute 
it according to its true intent as the law provides. If it is ambiguous and requires 
construction, then this must be done under the rules of the common law. The decree 
must serve as the guide to the Surveyor-General in making a survey in execution of 
the same. It is the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land Office to see to 
it that the survey conforms as nearly as practicable to the decree, and finally, the 
Secretary of the Interior, by virtue of his supervisory powers and appellate jurisdic- 
tion, has authority to review the action of the Commissioner in the premises and 
direct how the survey shall be made. Each of these several propositions of law will 
be found fully sustained by some one or more of the following authorities: Higueras 
vs. The United States (5 Wall, 827, 828, 830, 832, 834); United States vs. Halleck 
(i Wall, 439); United States vs. Billings (2 Wall., 444); the Fossatt case (idid., 649); 
United States vs. Fossatt (21 How., 447); United States vs. Sepulveda (i Wall, 
107); 12 Opins. Attorneys-General, 250; Snyder vs. Sickels (8 Otto., 203); sections 
13 and 15, Act of 1851, 9 Stats., 633, 634; sections i, 6, 7, Act of 1864, 13 Stats., 333, 
334; section i, Act of 1812, 2 Stats., 716; section i. Act of 1836, 5 Stats., 107; section 
3, Act of 1S49, 9 Stats., 395; section 453 Revised Statutes; and decisions of this 
Department of March 3, 1881, in the matter of the survey of the pueblo lands of San 
Francisco, and of May 2 1 , 1 88 1 , in the matter of the survey of the Rancho San Jacinto 
Nuevo y Potrero. 

It has been contended in argument by some of the able counsel that the claim of 
the Castros was not such as, according to the decision of the Supreme Court in numer- 
ous cases, should have been confirmed; because the paper constituting the petition 
and concession was in the hands of the Castros until the organization of the Board of 
Land Commissioners, and until it was filed in the office of the Board; because there 
was no map accompanying the petition, no reference by the Governor of the petition 
for information, no report upon the petition by any Government officer, and the grant 
was not made matter of record in the 'archives of the Mexican Government; and 
hence, that the only title to consideration which the claim has is the decree of con- 
firmation. For these reasons it is contended that, as to the claim, the construction of 
the decree should be strict issimi juris. Others contend that the doctrine applicable 
to public or legislative grants should be applied in construing this decree; that it 
should be strictly construed as against the confirmees. On the other hand, counsel 
for claimants contend that the doctrine above mentioned does not apply to decrees 
especially not to a decree under the Act of 1851, founded upon the principles of 
equity, and that as to such a decree the doctrine of liberal or equitable construction 
should be applied. 

As to the first point, it is only necessary to say that the tribunal created by law 

to execute the decree cannot go behind it. The presumption is that the Board and 

the United States District Court did their duty in the premises, and adjudicated the 

case upon the laws and principles by which they were required to be governed as 

21 



314 History ok Alameda County, California. 

provided by section ii of the said Act of 1851, and hence, that the decree is valid 
and binding upon all parties thereto. Therefore, if construction is necessar)-, the 
decree must be considered as entitled to the same respect and consideration as any 
other final decree of confirmation under said Act. 

As to all the foregoing propositions it may be said that the decree must be 
executed according to its true intent and meaning, and that construction should not 
be employed to any other end. 

Sedgwick, in his work upon Construction of Statutes, etc., after having examined 
many decisions of courts bearing upon the subject of strict and liberal construction, 
concludes a long chapter by giving the judiciary and the legal profession, in the form 
of rules, the benefit of his extended researches, from which I make the following 
quotations: — 

"The intent of the Legislature should control absoluteh' the action of the judiciary; 
where the intention is clearly ascertained, the Courts have no other dutj- to perform 
than to execute the legislative will, without any regard to their o\\ n views as to the 
wisdom or -justice of the particular enactment. 

"The idea that an act may be strictly or liberally construed without regard to 
the legislative intent, according as it is viewed either as a penal or a remedial statute, 
either as in derogation of the common law or beneficial innovation, is, in its very 
nature, delusive and fallacious. 

"In cases where the intent of the legislation is ambiguous, and the effort to arrive 
at it is hopeless, and in these cases only, does the power of construing a statute 
strictly or liberally exist." (Sedgwick on the Construction of Statutory and Consti- 
tutional Law, 325 and 326.) 

The Supreme Court of the United States, in discussing the doctrine of strict con- 
struction as applicable to legislative grants, held that the grant being considered by 
them could not extend beyond the intent it expresssd; that — 

"It should be neither enlarged by ingenious reasoning, nor diminished by strained 
construction. The interpretation must be reasonable, and such as will give effect to 
the intention of Congress. This is to be ascertained from the terms employed, the 
situation of the parties, and the nature of the grant. If these terms are plain and 
unambiguous, there can be no difficulty in interpreting them; but if they admit of 
different meanings — one of extension, and the other of limitation — they must be 
accepted in a sense favorable to the grantor." (Leavenworth, etc., R. R. Co. i>s. 
U. S., 2 Otto, 740.) 

The harmony between the doctrine expressed by the Court and that referred to 
above is at once apparent. Both agree that the intention must prevail, but when the 
terms employed are so ambiguous as to render it impossible to ascertain the intention 
of the framers of the act, then the doctrine of strict or liberal construction may be 
applied according to the nature of the case. The Supreme Court, in the particular 
case, held that when the terms admitted of different meanings, one of extension and 
the other of limitation, they must be accepted in the sense favorable to the grantor. 
The Court supposed a case wherein it was hopeless, from the ambiguity of the terms 
employed, to arrive at the intent of the Legislature, in which case it was authorized to 
employ the doctrine of strict construction as to the grantee, or to take that meaning 



Mexican Grants. 315 



which was favorable to the grantor. A meaning of extension and another of Hmita- 
tion are certainly diametrically opposed to each other, in which case one could be 
taken to the exclusion of the other. But where no such condition of affairs exists — 
where the intent can be reasonably ascertained from the whole act or instrument 
being interpreted — then there is no choice left, and the intent must govern. 

In this connection it may be well to advert to the fact that the decree refers to 
"the original expediente and grant on file in this case." That instrument, therefore, 
may be read with the decree as a part of it (Sedgwick on Construction, &c., 2d edit., 
229 and 230; and Broom's Legal Maxims, 7th edit, 6']'}, et seq., and the numerous 
cases cited therein); not, however, for the purpose of opening anew any question 
adjudicated by the Board and District Court, nor for giving to the instrument referred 
to any other construction or force than that given by the Board and Court, as 
expressed in their decree; hence, not for the purpose of changing the meaning of 
terms that are clear and unambiguous in the expressed decree, but only to explain 
any ambiguity in the decree itself (U. S. vs. Halleck, i Wall., 455; decision of this 
Department of May 21, 1881, in matter of survey of Rancho San Jacinto Nuevo y 
Potrero.) Wherein the decree, on its face, is clear so far as it relates to the subject 
matter or the original petition and grant, it must be held to be the construction of the 
Board and Court upon those instruments, which cannot be questioned here. Further- 
more, in referring to the petition and grant in this decree, we can only look to the 
official -translation thereof; we cannot take any other translation, and by it undertake 
to explain any dubious expression of the decree. The Board had the services of a 
Secretary "skilled in the Spanish and English languages," a part of whose duty it was 
to act as interpreter to the Board, as the law provided. (Sec. i. Act of 185 1, 9 Stats., 
631.) The Secretary certified the translation of the petition and grant above given to 
be correct. The Board and District Court gave consideration to the petition and 
grant, and adjudicated the case in view of that official translation. It follows, upon 
reasons too apparent to require explanation, that the expert testimony of witnesses 
before the Surveyor-General, giving a different translation to some of the words in the 
original petition and concession than that certified by Secretary Fisher, is wholly 
inadm'issible, and that all efforts to inject into the case now any other translation than 
that which the Board and Court adopted, must fail. 

The points raised by the objectors, protestants, etc., are very numerous, and need 
not be recited here. They are all, in some way, embraced in the three following 
general questions or propositions: 

First. It is contended by the owners of the grant that the decree confirmed to 
them all the land within the exterior boundaries of the five ranchos named as colin- 
dantes, which should be left or result as surplus upon the final survey of said ranchos; 
that their grant is not limited, except as by the exterior boundaries of said ranchos 
and their finally surveyed limits, and therefore that the locative call in the decree for 
land "lying between the tracts known as Ranchos of San Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, 
Moraga, and Valencia" should be disregarded in making a survey under the decree. 

Second. Some of the contestants insist that the claim confirmed was a piece of 
vacant land, never within the exterior boundaries of the five ranchos referred to, nor 
any of them, but outside thereof and bounded by them. 



316 History of Alameda County, California. 

Third. Other contestants admit that the land confirmed was surplus of said five 
ranches, or some of them, but insist that it must, from the terms of the decree, lie 
between those ranches as finall}' surveyed, in the sense of being surrounded or partly 
surrounded and bounded by them. 

The better to understand the situation, a short explanation of the location of the 
five ranchos mentioned is necessary. 

The San Antonio Rancho has the Bay of San Francisco for its western boundary', 
the ridge of the Coast Range mainly for its eastern boundary, and extends from a 
small stream called the Cerrito Creek, on the north, to the San Lcandro Creek, on the 
south, a distance of about twelve miles. This was a grant by specific boundaries, and 
was surveyed and patented as such. 

To the north and northeast of San Antonio, at a distance of about five mile.s, is 
the Rancho El Pinole. This, as confirmed, surveyed, and patented, was a grant of 
quantity within larger exterior boundaries. The calls for the exterior boundaries of 
this grant were natural fixed objects, leaving no uncertaint}- as to the lines thereof 

San Pablo was a grant of quantity to be located within the boundaries mentioned 
in the grant, which were the Ranchos of San Antonio, El Pinole, and the Bay of San 
Francisco; the southeastern boundary being thus necessarily uncertain. 

To the east of San Antonio, southeast of San Pablo, and south of El Pinole, was 
the Rancho of Valencia, called Acalanes. It was a grant of quantity, to be measured 
within the general boundaries mentioned in the grant as San Pablo, San Antonio, and 
El Pinole. 

South of the Acalanes and east of San Antonio was the Moraga Rancho, called 
Laguna de los Palos Colorados. It was a grant of quantity, to be measured within 
the exterior boundaries described in the Governor's formal grant, which virtually, 
though not expressly, called for San Antonio and Acalanes as colindantes. 

The foregoing brief explanation, and the connected map prepared by the 
Surveyor-General in compliance with telegraphic order from your predecessor of 
October 24, 1878, from data on file in his office, which map was certified by the 
Surveyor-General November 23, 1878, or the map subsequently substituted therefor 
by the Surveyor-General, will give a tolerably correct idea of the country occupied by 
said ranchos, and their relative situation both as regards their exterior and their 
finally surveyed boundaries; but as to a part of the exterior boundaries there is some 
question as to their being accurately delineated on said maps, which will be discussed 
hereafter. 

It will be seen that a large tract of land is left nearly surrounded and bounded 
by said ranchos as finally surveyed and patented, in addition to which there were 
numerous other smaller tracts excluded b)' final surveys, not surrounded by nor lying 
between said ranchos, but within the exterior limits of some of them, most of said 
tracts being entirely disconnected with the large tract and with each other, and scat- 
tered about in various parts, mainly on the outskirts of the general tract embraced by 
the exterior boundaries of the five ranchos mentioned in the decree. 

Your predecessor, having decided that the decree confirmed to the Castros all 
the surplus lands of the ranchos aforesaid — that is, all the land within their e.xtcrior 
boundaries excluded by final survey — and that the .said ranchos were coterminous as 



Mexican Grants. 317 



to their exterior boundaries in the central portion in the general tract embraced by 
them all, set aside the Minto survey, and directed a new survey to be made, which 
should include not only the large tract nearly surrounded by the ranchos as finally 
surveyed, but all the other tracts excluded from the final surveys, limiting his award 
only by the quantity of twenty-two square leagues. 

In this, it seems to me, your office did not follow the decree of confirmation, 
assuming that the tract confirmed was surplus of some of the said ranchos resulting 
upon final survey thereof 

The error in the decision proceeds from premises, which, to my mind, are not 
supported by the relevant facts and the law of the case, to wit, first, that the word 
" sobrante," as used in the grant and decree of confirmation, necessarily meant all of 
the sobrante of said ranchos, and could not be limited by the words designating the 
particular location of the sobrante, nor by the words designating it as a piece — one 
piece — of land; and, secondly, that it was a grant by name of the sobrante, and hence 
included all of the sobrante. 

It cannot be maintained upon general principles that power was wanting in 
the Governor to grant, or in the Board and Court to confirm, as sobrante any portion 
of the surplus of grants of quantity, and define its location and boundaries. As a 
matter of fact the records of your office will show that more than one such grant has 
been made of the sobrante of a single grant, and the grants thus made have been 
confirmed and patented accordingly. Now, that the tract confirmed in this case, 
admitting it to be sobrante of some of the ranchos mentioned in the decree, was 
limited, seems clear to me, and that the Surveyor has no authority to locate or survey 
any land in any other locality than that mentioned in the decree, cannot be success- 
fully questioned. In view of the authorities hereinbefore mentioned no one will deny 
that the decree of confirmation must be the guide in making the survey, or that the 
Surveyor must follow it. In the United States vs. Fossatt (2 1 How., 449), the Supreipe 
Court, in speaking of the powers and duties of the Board and Courts under the Act 
of 1821, said: — 

" But, in addition to these questions upon the validity of the title, there may arise 
questions of extent, quantity, location, boundary, and legal operation, that are equally 
essential in determining the validity of a claim." 

This doctrine was re-affirmed in the Fossatt case (2 Wall, 707). In United States 
vs. Sepulveda (i Wall, 107 and 108), the Court said: — 

" It is true, for the determination of the validity of claims presented, some con- 
sideration must have been had of their extent, location, and boundaries. The peti- 
tion of the claimants must necessarily have designated, with more or less precision, 
such extent and location." 

In the light of these decisions no one can consistently say that the Surveyor- 
General, your office, or this Department can disregard the words of the decree that 
point out the locus of the land confirmed, in making or directing a survey thereof 
The decree recites that the land of which confirmation is thereby made " is the sur- 
plus (sobrante) which, on the 23d day of April, A. D. 1841, * * * existed 
lying between the tracts known as Ranchos of San Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, 
Moraga, and Valencia." 



318 History of Alameda County, California. 

Is it possible that any land that does not lie between those ranches can be sur- 
veyed under this decree? By what authority can the Surveyor-General look for land 
under this decree, except in that locality ? 

But the Commissioner suggests that the words " lying between," etc , constitute 
a false description of the land, and that it grew out of the mistaken meaning of 
the words "en las inmediaciones," in the petition for the grant, which he says were 
carelessly taken to be translatable by the word "between;" and he further says that 
the Board did well to refer for greater certaintj- to the original grant. 

The answer to this has already been anticipated. The Board having thus trans- 
lated and interpreted the grant, there is no tribunal that has thepower to change it. 
Certainly it does not lie with the claimants to object to the translation, for the record 
shows it to be their own, notwithstanding it was adopted as the official translation. 
The regulations of the Commissioners, found in journal, vol. i, p. 24, required every 
claimant to accompany his petition " by a copy of the original grant and a transla- 
tion," and the petition of the Castros shows that this regulation was complied with, 
and the records <lo not show that said copy and translation were rejected or objected 
to. Unless the Board was to adopt the translation, if found correct, there was no 
object in requiring it to be filed. 

But the idea that there is repugnance in the language of the grant and that of 
the decree on this point is not well founded. Referring to the official translation of 
the petition and grant, it will be found that the Castros petitioned for ^^ a piece of 
vacant land which is situated on " (not " in " as the Commissioner has it) " the imme- 
diate limits (inmediaciones) of San Antonio," etc., " which land is the overplus 
(sobrante) of the ranchos aforesaid." 

Here we find that this tract must be " on the immediate limits of" the said ranchos. 
Now, from the very meaning of these words, taking the actual situations of the grants 
named, the land must lie between them all in the sense of being surrounded, or partly 
surrounded, and bounded by them. The word " immediate," as here used, means " not 
separated in respect to place by anything intervening." (See any standard dictionary.) 
It was one tract that was granted and the same tract was confirmed; and it was not a 
tract of land, vacant or otherwise, that surrounded all these ranchos and bounded 
their outer limits. The Bays of San Francisco and San Pablo and the Straits of 
Carquinez put an end to such an idea, even if the absurdity of the proposition in 
itself does not. Where else, then, than in the midst of these ranchos can a tract of 
land be found that can lie on the immediate limits of each and all of the ranchos 
named in actual contact with all of them. There is not the slightest repugnancy 
between the description in the grant and that of the decree, so far as the words "lying 
between " are concerned. 

But it is urged the word " between " can refer to but two objects, and hence was 
not the proper expression to use to convey the idea above expressed. Perhaps in a 
literal narrow sense this may be true; but a definition is given it in dictionaries like 
this, "in the immediate space of ;" "having mutual relation to two or more of ;" in 
fact the word is quite commonly used with respect to more than two persons or 
things, as "between us, to go no further, I will tell you something," the pronoun "us" 
embracing, perhaps, twenty individuals. But, " gta lucrret in litem laxret in cortice." 



Mexican Grants. 319 



Such verbal criticisms as are indulged in upon the words "lying between," as used in 
the decree, are of little value in the interpretation of written instruments. The well- 
known general and comprehensive rule for the interpretation of written instruments 
is that where the intention is clear, too great a stress should not be laid on the strict 
and precise signification of words. One who will consider for a moment what other 
word can be found to describe the locality of a tract of land surrounded, or nearly so, 
by a number of ranches, will soon discover that no form of expression in the English 
language is better adapted briefly but clearly to define its location than that it lies 
between them. But if there could be any doubt as to what the Board meant by the 
use of the words "lying between," in the connection in which they were employed, it 
would be at once resolved by reference to the petition and grant, as has already been 
demonstrated. 

Suppose, however, that the petition and grant did not make clear the terms in 
the written decree, and that the Department were required to look beyond them, then 
I should turn to the Board's finding of facts in the opinion preceding the decree. 
The Board there says that the evidence establishes the fact that the petitioners pre- 
sented their expediente for a "sobrante" of land "lying between ranchos named in 
said expediente." If this were not satisfactory, then I should read the petitions of the 
Castros to the Board. In the first one they describe the land as "lying between" the 
said ranchos, and, as if to leave no room for doubt as to what they really meant, in 
their other petition to the Board they describe it as "lying in between" said ranchos. 
No one knew better than the Castros where the land was for which they petitioned. 
Now, with this expression, so oft-repeated, it seems to me that no other locality than 
the intervening space inclosed (or partially inclosed) by all these ranchos, could be 
sought for the location of the piece of land confirmed, even if the original grant did 
not so effectually settle the question. 

But there is no confusion in the decree about this matter. The meaning of the 
Board and Court as to the locality of the land is plain, especially when the papers 
referred to in the decree are read. 

It is hardly necessary to say more on this point. The mere mention of the 
rule, which is applicable to this decree as well as to other written instruments, that 
the whole instrument must be construed together, so that, if possible, every part shall 
stand, that no words are to be rejected as meaningless and none interpolated or added, 
would perhaps have been sufficient to answer all that has been said in favor of the 
rights of the owners of El Sobrante to have other land surveyed than that found to 
lie between the five ranchos in the sense in which the Board clearly employed the 
word "between," that is, within the surroundings of the five ranchos; not between 
any two, or three, or four of them, but between all of them. 

. Whatever the land may be, whether an independent, vacant tract (vacant in the 
sense of never having been included within the exterior limits of any of the ranchos 
named) or vacant surplus land (sobrante, in the sense of having been included in 
some of the exterior boundaries named in the grants, and vacant in the sense of being 
subject to grant), it must be found in the locality designated in the decree as above 
defined. 

I am supported in this view by the Supreme Court of California. In the case 



320 History of Alameda County, California. 

of Tewksbury- I's. Derosier, decided November 1 1, 1881 (The Pacific Coast Law 
Journal, vol. 8, No. 17, p. 6S3), the Court, speaking of this very decree, said : — 

"The confirmation of El Sobrante was of lands 'lying between the tracts known 
as Ranches of San Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, Moraga, and Valencia.' The lands 
in controversy are not between the ranchos above named, or any of them. On the 
contrary, they are on the shore of the Bay of San Francisco, and between it and 
the Rancho San Pablo. They are not even in the vicinity of any of said ranchos, 
unless it be the Ranchos San Pablo and San Antonio." 

The land in question before the Court, and of which the Court was speaking, is 
one of the tracts which your office directed to be included in the new survey. 

After so much has been said, it is hardly necessary to discuss the proposition 
that this is a grant by name. Surplus is undoubtedly a name, because it is a noun, 
but it was not a. proper noun as used by the Castros in their petition. There is noth- 
ing in the case to show that it was ever the name of this rancho at or before the date of 
this grant. Sobrante means in English surplus or overplus. The three words mean 
the same. There is probably no foreign word that can be translated into our English 
with more exactness of definition than the Spanish word "sobrante" by the Enghsh 
word "surplus." If the Board in its decree had put in parentheses the word "over- 
plus," instead of "sobrante," after the word "surplus," the decree would have meant 
exactly what it does now, each word being the exact equivalent of the other. The 
use of the word "sobrante" in parenthesis simply shows that the Board translated it 
by the word "surplus." The Castros asked for vacant, surplus land. 

Whether surplus of vacant public land left in the general tract occupied b\^ the 
five ranchos outside of and defined b)' their exterior boundaries, or of that which 
should remain within the exterior boundaries after the quantities of said grants should 
be surveyed, will be determined next in order. They did not ask for a place known 
by the name of Surplus, or Lo Sobrante, or El Sobrante; but for a piece of vacant, 
surplus land. That is all the name the rancho had. That does not fill the well-known 
definition of a Mexican grant, by name of the place granted, nor the old common 
law case or illustration of " Black Acre." 

The second proposition above set forth presents more difficult questions than the 
one just disposed of 

The expressed, recorded decree describes the land confirmed as the surplus 
"which, on the 23d day of April. 1841, the date of the decree of the concession to 
the present claimants, existed, lying between the tracts known as Ranchos of San 
Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, Moraga, and Valencia." 

The Supreme Court of the United States has, in several instances, described the 
different kinds of grants which could be made under Mexican law and regulations by 
Governors of the Department of California, thus: ist, grants by specific boundaries 
where the donee was entitled to the entire tract described; 2d, grants by quantity', as 
of one or more leagues situated at some designated place, or within a larger tract 
described by out-boundaries, where the donee was entitled out of the general tract 
only to the quantity specified; and, 3d, grants, or places by name, where the donee 
was entitled to the tract named according to the limits, as shown by its .settlement 
and possession, or other competent evidence. (Higueras vs. U. S., 5 Wall., 828; Alviso 
vs. U. S., 8 Id., 339; and Hornsby vs. \J. S., 10 /c/„ 224.) 



Mexican Grants. 321 



The claim of the Castros, havnig been decreed to be valid, should belong to one 
of the kinds of grants thus defined. It is clear upon the face of the decree that it 
was not a grant of quantity nor one of place by name. It therefore necessarily falls 
into the ca!tegoryof grants by boundaries; and as no calls are given for boundaries, 
except the five ranchos named, it must be limited by their boundaries and lie between 
them all. If this be not so, then, although confirmed as valid, the claim is void for 
uncertainty. 

. In United States z's. Fossatt (21 How., 449), the Supreme Court said that 
"in affirming a claim to land under a Spanish or Mexican grant to be valid within 
the law of nations, the stipulations of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and the 
usages of those Governments, we imply something more than that certain papers are 
genuine, lega, land translative of property. We affirm that ownership and possession 
of land of definite boundaries rightfully attach to the grantee." See also Fossatt's 
case (2 Wall, 707), and United States I's. Sepulveda (i Wall., 107 and 108). In 
United States vs. Grimes (2 Black, 613), the Court, speaking of the duty of 
the Land Commissioners under the Act of 1851, said: "It is their duty to esta;blish 
the boundaries as well as the validity of the Mexican grant as between him (the 
grantee) and the Government." The Board and Court, then, had power to fix the 
boundaries as they did. 

Now, the presumption in favor of the validity of the decree, and that the Board 
and Court performed their duties under the law, forces the conclusion that the decree 
in some manner indicates the boundaries of the claim with more or less certainty, 
which in executing it must be ascertained with reasonable exactitude; for not to 
ascertain them would render that void which the Board and Court have affirmed to 
be valid; hence the decree must be construed, if possible, so as not to make void that 
which has thus been affirmed as valid, whether the construction be as to patent or 
latent ambiguity. In doing this, so far as ascertaining the boundaries is concerned, 
that which is certain should be preferred to that which is uncertain. 

Now, as regards these boundaries, the expressed decree seems to be ambiguous, but 
the ambiguity is mainly latent, and, wherein it is so, it may be explained by matters 
dehors the decree or the documents referred to therein. 

While there may be no uncertainty as to the ordinary meaning of the word 
"surplus" or "sobrante," yet, when applied to land, it seems to me that it may embrace 
lands differing in condition or status, although it is strongly maintained that it can- 
not. The ordinary definition of "surplus" is that which remains when use is satisfied; 
excess beyond what is prescribed or wanted — overplus. Now, was the land con- 
firmed surplus of vacant public land which was left of the general tract out of which 
the said five ranchos were to be satisfied, and which was never within the exterior 
boundaries mentioned in the Governor's grants of the said surrounding ranchos, and 
bounded by their exterior boundaries; or was it surplus of those ranchos, or of any of 
them — that which should remain of the larger tracts when the quantity to which 
the donees were severally entitled should be satisfied— bounded by said ranchos after 
they should be measured off and segregated ? 

The decree does not clearly state of what the land confirmed was surplus. But it 
is insisted that what here may appear to be ambigiiiias latens and subject to expla- 



322 History of Alameda County, California. 

nation by extrinsic evidence is explained by subsequent terms in the decree, and no 
other evidence is admissible; that wherein the decree describes the surplus as that 
"which, on the 23d day of April, A. D. 1841, * * * existed, lying between the 
tracts known as Ranchos of San Antonio," etc., the Board and Court necessarily meant 
a tract of vacant public land, in the sense of lying without the e.vterior boundaries 
named by the Governor in the grants of said tracts, and hence surplus of the general 
tract of public land out of which the several ranchos mentioned were taken, and 
bounded by their exterior boundaries; that in describing the land as surplus, whiqh 
existed in 1 841, lying between tracts known by the names mentioned, those tracts 
must have had known boundaries, and that a grant of quantity which might be located 
anywhere within the exterior limits mentioned would not have been referred to as a 
known tract. 

But it will be seen that these subsequent terms necessaril}- lead for explanation 
and certainty to matters outside the decree itself To ascertain what surplus existed 
in 1 84 1, we certainly must look to matters not set forth in the decree. Were the 
ranchos mentioned grants from the Mexican Government ? Were they completed 
grants? Were they grants by names of places, or by specific boundaries, or of quan- 
ity within larger exterior limits? If of quantity, had they been set off and segregated? 
If not, what were their exterior boundaries ? These and divers other necessary ques- 
tions are not answered by the decree, and the decree itself necessarily refers us to 
e.xtrinsic matters. This is latent ambiguity, and the decree is by no means peculiar 
in this respect. 

It is well settled that even the instruments referred to in the decree cannot be 
read to vary the natural import of the language used, if there be no uncertainty therein, 
nor to control the description of boundaries that are certain and free from ambiguity, 
but only to explain an ambiguity (U. S. vs. Halleck, i Wall., 455; decision in San 
Jacinto Nuevo y Potrero, above cited), and the same may be said of all e.xtrinsic evi- 
dence resorted to. 

Now, looking at the petition and grant referred to in the decree we find that the 
Castros petitioned for "a piece of vacant land which is situated on the immediate 
limits (ininediaciones) of San Antonio, San Pablo, Pinole, the farm (rancho) of Valencia, 
and the farm of Moraga, which land is the overplus (sobrante) of the ranchos afore- 
said." Here we find the land described as both " vacant " and "sobrante;" but in 
terms as sobrante of the ranchos mentioned in the petition. What is meant by the 
word "vacant" as used in the petition? Does it mean land that was vacant in the 
sense of not being or having been within the e.Kterior limits of an)- of the ranchos 
mentioned, or vacant in the sense that it was not occupied by any of the grantees of 
the said ranchos, nor claimed as being included in the quantity to which they were 
respectively entitled and hence subject to grant ? It would appear from the further 
description thereof " which land is the overplus (sobrante) of the ranchos aforesaid," 
that the latter was meant. 

The Governor granted to the Castros the land of which they made mention in 
the petition, and by no other description than that which they had employed, holding 
them "under obligation to present themselves anew, accompanied by a map of the 
land, so soon as the boundaries of the neighboring ranchos should be regulated." 



Mexican Grants. * 323 



It would appear from this that the boundaries by which the tract was to be 
defined were not then fixed and certain, and that the lines of the neighboring ranchos 
had not then been regulated. 

As has been explained, San Antonio was a grant by boundaries, which were as 
certain then as now; but San Pablo, Pinole, Acalanes, and Laguna de los Palos Colo- 
rados were grants of quantity, which quantity had not been segregated in 1841. 
Enough appears in the records of the Land Commissioners to show that as San Pablo 
and Acalanes were claimed and occupied in 1841, there was land in the locality 
named by the Castros, which would not be taken to satisfy the quantity to which these 
grants were respectively limited. 

The establishment of the Castros, owners of San Pablo, was on the part of the 
rancho adjoining the bays of San Francisco and San Pablo, and that of Valencia was 
considerably east of the western e.xterior boundary of the large tract. It was well known 
that there was more land lying between these ranchos as thus possessed than would 
be required in satisfying the quantity to which the respective donees were entitled- 
The northern limit of Moraga's Rancho would not interfere with this sobrante. The 
boundaries of San Antonio and the exterior boundaries of Pinole, as defined in the 
grant in 1842, were natural objects; and if surplus was thrown off of neither of them 
there would still be a large tract between them, surplus of San Pablo and Acalanes. 
Now, if all the exterior boundaries of San Pablo, Acalanes, and Moraga's Rancho were 
clear, then there would have been no difficulty in presenting a map of the sobrmite 
asked for, if it was composed of a tract bounded by the exterior boundaries of the five 
ranchos mentioned. But it does not appear that it was customary to regulate exterior 
boundaries of grants of quantity in the sense of establishing them permanently. Con- 
sideration was, of course, to be given them, so far as to locate the quantity granted 
within them; but I think it cannot be questioned that the boundaries to be regulated 
were such as defined the quantity of the land actually granted, and remained as the 
boundaries of the land to which the donee was legally entitled under the grant. 

This seems to be the view taken by the Board and the Court; for in the finding 
of facts the Commissioners say that Alvarado issued a grant to the petitioners 
" requiring them to report a plat of the same as soon as the adjoining ranchos could be 
surveyed and the extent of the sobrante ascertained, which survey has not been had 
of said ranchos so as to enable the petitioners herein to define with certainty the 
boundaries of their said sobrante." If the exterior boundaries of the adjoining 
ranchos were the ones to be regulated, then that could have been done much better in 
1 841, when witnesses were living who would be more likely to know of them than 
those that can be produced at this late day. Moreover, if the Board had supposed 
that such boundaries were to be regulated, then as it was their duty to fix the bounda- 
ries with as much certainty as the case would admit, and having the Governor's grants 
of the said ranchos before them, and living witnesses to point out their boundaries, 
they would have found them and set them forth in the decree. But they found that 
the boundaries to be regulated were to be ascertained by surveys. No survey, to this 
day, has been made of those exterior boundaries of the grants of quantity. When 
will the surveys that were to make these boundaries clear and develop the extent of 
the sobrante be made, if the exterior boundaries of the grants were the ones intended ? 



:324 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

Th^re will have to be further legislation b\^ the Go\-ernment to accomplish this, for 
there is no provision forsur\e\'ing other than the land confirmed by the decrees of 
the Board of Land Commissioners and the Courts, and the five ranchos have been 
surveyed and patented. Undoubtedly the Governor referred to the regulation of 
boundaries that took place under the Mexican land S}'stem upon juridical measure- 
ment, for that was the " regulation" of boundaries required by law and ordinance, 
and which usually was expressly provided for in grants. In all cases in which the 
juridical measurement had not been had under the Mexican Government, this duty of 
measuring and segregating the lands granted was transferred to and devolved upon 
our Government; and it is fully performed by our final surveys and patents. (_)ur 
official surveys take (or rather fill) the place of the juridical measurement required 
under Mexican law. This has been settled beyond question by the decisions of the 
Supreme Court. It would therefore appear that the boundaries to be regulated or the 
surveys to be made, which were to develop the sobrante granted and show its bounda- 
ries and extent, are those carried into the patents of the said ranchos. 

But suppose this view should be incorrect, then, looking into the condition of the 
surrounding ranchos in 1841, no independent, vacant tract, with certain boundaries 
can be found. The San Pablo grant was to be located within the following limits, 
taking the description in the Governor's concessions of 1834 and 1835: "Bounded 
by the Ranchos of San Antonio and El Pinole, and by a portion of the port of San 
Francisco." The southeastern boundary, according to these calls, was clearly not defi- 
nite and certain. It is suggested that the diseno accompanying the petition will make 
the southeastern boundary more certain, but examination thereof throws very little 
light on this matter. It will not indicate from what points on the boundaries of El 
Pinole and San Antonio a line should be drawn to form this boundar}-. The map or 
diseno here referred to is found in Volume 2 of maps, Land Commission Records, page 
421, on which the southeastern portion of the tract, within which the quantit}- was to 
be surveyed, is limited only by the border of the map. 

The southeastern exterior line of San Pablo, drawn on the Boardmaii map attached 
to the objections of Edson Adams, does not agree with that drawn by the Surveyor- 
General upon the connected map hereinbefore referred to. So it seems that, with all 
the light afforded by the Surveyor-General's 'office, and by actual examination in the 
field (see Surveyor-General's certificate on connected map), skilled surveyors cannot 
to-day agree as to the southeastern exterior of San Pablo. 

In the third and fourth conditions, both in the decree of 1834 and that of 1835, 
the donees were to solicit juridical possession of the proper Judge, who should meas- 
ure the tract according to law, for the purpose of having the boundaries of the grant 
marked out, the surplus to remain to the nation for proper uses. 

But this measurement was not made b\- the Mexican Government, and it 
devolved upon our Government to finish the work that was left undone by the former 
Government. Our Government has measured the quantity and given it certain 
boundaries. Were not these certain boundaries the ones that the Governor and the 
Board referred to as requiring regulation in order to define the boundaries and show 
the extent of the sobrante granted and confirmed, rather than boundaries that are 
never to be regulated in the sense of being accurately surveyed and established, that 
are shown to be uncertain and possibly impossible of ascertainment? 



Mexican Grants. 325 



Again, take Valencia's Rancho Acalanes. The Governor's grant describes it as 
"the tract of land known by the name of Acalanes, bounded by the Ranches of San 
Pablo, San Antonio, and El Pinole." 

It is contended that the large tract out of which the quantity granted to Valen- 
cia was to be measured was not bounded by San Pablo, notwithstanding the calls in 
the grant; because in limiting the quantity in the fourth condition, and directing the 
Judge who should give Valencia possession to measure it conformably to ordinance, the 
overplus remaining for the use of the nation, etc., it was said that the tract to be 
measured was "one league in length by three-quarters of a league in width, according 
as is explained on the map," which was with the record of proceedings; and the map 
had written on its margin that the place asked for was " situated between the arroyo 
Galindo and the arroyo Grande," those streams being delineated on the map or diseflo. 
In other words, that the map on which was sketched the country to the northwest as fir 
as the coast should control, instead of the aforesaid calls of the grant, because it showed 
the situation of the three-quarters of a square league that was granted as being 
between the arroyos aforesaid. Upon this showing it is insisted that a vacant tract is 
developed between the line formed by those two arroyos (Galindo being a tributary 
to the arroyo Grande or San Pablo Creek, with junction southeast of the claimsd 
southeastern exterior line of the rancho San Pablo) and the southeastern exterior of 
San Pablo. 

Now, if this were true, there would still be the uncertainty as to San Pablo's 
southeastern boundary; and it is not clear how this boundary could be " regulated " 
so as to define such tract. But the vacant tract disappears, admitting the arroyos 
Grande and Galindo to be the northwestern exterior boundary of Acahnes, for then 
the southeastern exterior line of San Pablo becomes certain, and comes up to said 
arroyos. The grant of Acalanes ought not to be held repugnant in its terms if they 
can be made harmonious. Then if the arroyos Grande and Galindo are the western 
and northwestern boundaries of Acalanes, the call expressed in the grant for San 
Pablo as a boundary should not be repugnant thereto; and as the southeastern 
boundary of Pablo was uncertain, this call brought it to the arroyos aforesaid. But I 
look upon the language of the fourth condition in Valencia's grant as simply a more 
specific designation of the locality in which the quantity was to be measured, and not 
as contradicting the general boundaries within which it was to be located. 

It follows, then, that the mentioned ranchos had coterminous boundaries, and 
that the land confirmed was the surplus of some of them that should be defined by 
their boundaries as established or regulated by final survey. 

This fulfills the legal proposition that the grant, having been confirmed as valid, 
necessarily has definite boundaries; and this was its condition in 1841, under the well- 
known rule that in law that is certain which is capable of being rendered certain. 
Any other conclusion would result, it seems to rne, in inextricable confusion. 

It is contended that the tract confirmed could not have been sobrante of any of 
the grants, because the grantees had the right of possession of the entire tract until 
segregation of quantity, and hence the Castros could not have had possession of other 
than land not within the exterior boundaries of the grants of quantity. Such an 
objection might be made to any grant of sobrante; still sobrante grants have been 



326 History of Alameda County, California. 

confirmed, surveyed, and patented. While it is true, as held by the Supreme Court 
in Van Reynegan vs. Bolton (5 Otto, t,}). that the right to make selection of the 
quantity granted rested exclusively with the Government, and could be e.xercised 
only by its officers, and that until segregation the grantee had the right of possession 
of the entire tract within which the quantity was to be measured, yet the discretion to 
be e.vercised by the officers charged by law w.th the execution of decrees in such cases 
was not arbitrary but reasonable, and was to b; so exercised, in view of the record of 
the case, the situation of the land, the improvements and possession of the donees, 
and all other circumstances proper and necessary to be considered, as to fulfill the 
intent and requirements of the decree, and thus do substantial justice between the 
United States and the confirmees. 

For example, no survey would be deemed a proper one that excluded the 
improvements and actual possession of the donee against his selection of land thus 
improved and possessed, provided it was within the boundaries called for. 

Now, notwithstanding the donees of the grants of quantity in the case might 
have had the right of possession to the limits of the larger tracts, yet they did not 
object to the occupancy and possession of the Castros in this case. Why they per- 
mitted the Castros to occupy the land is not a matter of just concern of this depart- 
ment. The Castros received a concession of a tract of vacant, surplus land, and the 
claim thereunder has been confirmed, and the regulation of boundaries of the neigh- 
boring ranchos has developed such a tract in the place called for in the grant and 
decree. Beyond this it is not profitable or pertinent to inquire. 

A tract or piece of land, no portion of which shall lie east of the western line of 
Acalanes, or south of the northern line of Moraja, or west of the eastern lines of San 
Antonio and San Pablo, or north of the southern line of El Pinole, as those lines have 
been established by the final surveys and patents of said ranchos, will substantially 
fulfill the decree, and do justice according to the record of the case as between the 
United States and the owners of the sobrante grant. 

The next question for consideration is, should the survey of El Sobrante embrace 
any portion of the Rancho La Boca de la Canada del Pinole ? 

As regards the La Boca tract, it is contended by the owners of the sobrante title 
that it was a part of the sobrante which existed April 23, 1841, and which on that 
date was granted to the Castros, and subsequently confirmed to them under the Act 
of 1851; that as it is the duty of the Survej'or-General to follow the decree of confir- 
mation, he has no right to look at the fact that said tract has been patented in making 
survey of the sobrante; that it is the duty of the Land Department, under the Act of 
1864, to include in the survey all the lands included in the decree. 

Against this the owners of the La Boca tract refer to the fact that the survey of 
their claim was ordered into Court under the Act of 1860(12 Stats., 33); that the 
owners of El Sobrante intervened in that matter and were made parties thereto; that 
the decree of the Court approving the final survey of that claim was entered by con- 
sent of all the parties; and that, therefore, the sobrante claimants are estopped from 
demanding that any portion of the La Boca shall be included in their survey, and 
your predecessor so decided. Cases are cited as supporting this proposition. 

As against this position, the sobrante owners, some of them at least, argue in 



Mexican Grants. 327 



effect that under the Act of 1851 the Land Commissioners and Courts had no juris- 
diction to adjudicate upon title as between third parties, but only as between the 
United States and claimants; that the primary object of the said Act was to separate 
lands owned by private individuals from the public domain; that confirmation under 
the Act of 1 85 1 simply affirmed that the land embraced by the decree was private 
land; that the patent of the United States under said Act is but a relinquishment of 
claim, or a quit-claim, to the tract confirmed, and record evidence of the action of our 
Government upon the claim, operating by relation from the time when the claim was 
presented to the Board of Land Commissioners; that such patent is simply conclusive 
as between the United States and the claimants and the privies of the respective 
parties; that the District Court of California, under the Act of i860, had no greater 
jurisdiction, to say the least, than the tribunal created by the Act of 185 1, for ascer- 
taining and settling private claims; that the matter before the Court under the Act of 
i860 was simply upon the question of the correctness of the survey, in other words, 
to determine the question as to whether the survey was an execution of the decree of 
confirmation, the same as that of the Surveyor-General now under the Act of 1864, 
or formerly under the Act of 1851; that parties to proceedings before the Court upon 
approval of a survey under the Act of i860 are only bound by the decrees, and 
estopped as to the subject-matter before and within the jurisdiction of the Court, and 
that all questions of title between third parties, claiming under grants of Mexican 
origin were necessarily referred to the judiciary; and cases in support of these propo- 
sitions are cited. 

The foregoing statement is made in order to develop the positions of the con- 
tending parties in this matter. However, I do not think myself called upon, as I 
understand the case, to decide or express an opinion as to which is the correct one. 
It would undoubtedly be necessary to decide the • question were it shown that the 
land patented as the La Boca de la Canada del Pinole was vacant, sobrante, land 
within the meaning of and embraced by the decree in the sobrante case. To my 
mind not only is this not shown, but it seems to me that the records of your oiifice 
and of the Surveyor-General's office show beyond question that the land patented to 
the La Boca claimants was not vacant, sobrante, or surplus of any of the five ranchos 
mentioned, existing z.^ such April 23, 1841, within the true intent and meaning of the 
decree of confirmation of this case. 

The records prove with reasonable clearness that it was neither vacant nor sobrante 
at that time, and it was well said by one of the contestants in argument, that as the 
Government has patented the La Boca, the survey of the sobrante should not, in any 
view of the case, invade such patented territory except upon clear proof that the land 
so patented is embraced by the decree of confirmation to the Castros. 

The question whether the La Boca was vacant and sobrante or surplus land of 
any of the ranchos mentioned in 1841, and is embraced by the decree of confirmation, 
is one to be determined by the officers or tribunal upon whom the duty of executing 
the decree is imposed by law; as only vacant, surplus land, within the meaning of the 
decree, can be surveyed. 

In the first place, the La Boca was not a grant of the surplus or sobrante of El 
Pinole, or any of the other ranchos mentioned as boundaries of El Sobrante. It was 



328 History of Alameda County, Cai,ii(irma. 

not ^.sobrante grant in any sense, according to its terms; jjut it was a grant of quan- 
tit}' to be survej-cd within designated boundaries. 

The Land Commission record sho,vs that Ignacio Martinez claimed to have 
received a grant of the place called El Pinole as early as 1S25; he so represented to the 
Mexican authorities in 1834, stating that he had lost iiis title-papers, and soliciting a 
renewal of the same. Record evidence was not found to support his allegations, and 
he was required to petition anew, which he accortlingly did November 10, 1S37, stat- 
ing that as he had mislaid or lost the grant issued to him in 1823, anJ as it was impossi- 
ble for him to make it appear that such a grant had been made, lu was muler the 
necessit)' of makinga second petition. In this petition he described the land as "three 
sitios, which are 'Caflada del Pinole,' and that which is called 'La Hambre,' straits of 
Carquincz, running towards the ' Mar de la Norte,' that is called the bay of Sonoma, 
adjoining the mouth of the same Canada del Pinole, as is explained in the adjoining 
plan." For reasons set forth in the petition he asked for an additional league. (Rec- 
ord of Evidence, vol. 15, p. 427.) 

Thus it will be observed there was nothing in the archives of the Mexican Gov- 
ernment in 1837 designating boundaries to the place known as El Pinole; and, as pro- 
ceedings on the petition of Martinez were pendin'g in 1841, when the grant was made 
to the Castros, and were not terminated until June i, 1842, when the first and only 
recorded grant to Ignacio Martinez was issued, it follows that El Pinole had no bound- 
aries recognized by the Mexican Government in 1841, and consequentl)- that the 
boundaries declared in the grant to Martinez, in 1842, are the true boundaries of El 
Pinole, within which the four leagues granted to Martinez were to be surveyed, and 
within which the boundaries of quantity were to be regulated, as provided in the grant 
and decree in the sobrante case. That these boundaries did not include La Boca de 
la Canada del Pinole will appear from what follows. 

While proceedings were pending upon the petition of Ignacio Martinez, Felipe 
Briones, on the 24th day of July, 1839, petitioned for the grant of the place known by 
the name of El Pinole, stating that it was then more than ten years that he had pos- 
sessed said place, comprising three "sitios de ganado mayor." more or less, as desig- 
nated upon the plan accompanying the petition. Briones further allegeil that he !i id 
built a house on the land prayed for, "planted a garden of much consideration, and 
cultivated some lands," by which and "some milking cattle " he had maintained his 
family, composed of eighteen persons. This petition was referred to Ignacio Peralta, 
a Justice of the Peace, who reported thereon July 29, 1839, '^'^'^'^ the Rancho of El 
Pinole had been occupied by Don Ignacio Martinez since 1824, by order of the 
Governor /w tcin., Don Luis Arguello, and that Briones, in his petition, did not make 
mention of the land that he (Briones) had occupied, called "El Corral de Galindo," 
where he kept his cattle, and hence that it would appear as though his petition operated 
injuriously by asking for the Canada del Pinole, and not stating tiiat he held the 
aforesaid "Corral de Galindo." Peralta further reported that Briones went on the 
land under an arrangement with Martinez, entered into in 1831, the parties "agreeing 
that their ends should meet;" that Briones "should assist at rodecs, and place his small 
houses immediate for company." 

The report of Peralta does not make it clear whether Briones intended to procure 





u^cdd^ 




Mexican Grants. 329 



a grant of all the land occupied by Martinez and himself, or only for that occupied by 
himself, giving the land he desired the wrong name. But the tract called "Corral de 
Galindo" embraced a part of the Canada of Pinole, and it is probable that Briones 
intended to ask for the land occupied by himself, known as well by the name of La 
Boca de la Canada del Pinole and San Felipe, as Corral de Galindo, as facts herein- 
after mentioned will show. However this may be, the matter of the several petitions 
was pending when the Governor made the grant to the Castros, and was not finally 
settled until more than a year afterward by the issuance of grants to Martinez and 
the widow of Briones, respectively (Briones having died about the year 1840). 
That the Governor considered Briones entitled to the land occupied by him, and so 
decided before he issued a grant to Martinez; that Martinez so understood the matter, 
and acquiesced in the Governor's decision; and that it was well understood that the 
tract known as La Boca de la Cafiada del Pinole, in the possession of Briones, was not 
included within the exterior boundaries named by the Governor in his grant of El 
Pinole to Martinez, will appear from the following: — 

On the 1st of June, 1842, evidently having in view both of the petitions of 
Martinez and Briones, and of the report of Peralta, the Governor, Alvarado, who made 
the grant to the Castros, issued a grant to Ignacio Martinez. In the concession of 
that date, the tract within which the quantity was to be surveyed was described as 
"commencing at the mouth of the Canada del Pinole, eastwardly along the same 
until it adjoins with the Corral de Galindo, from this place to La Cafiada de la Ham- 
jjre, and from thence to the straits of Carquinez." 

In the formal title issued the same day the four square leagues granted were to 
be surveyed within the following boundaries: "By the name of Pinole its limits being 
from the mouth of the ravine (Canada) of the same name, in an easterly direction by 
the same until it joins with the ' Corral de Galindo;' from tliis place to the Cafiada de 
la Hambre, and along the same to the Straits of Carquinez, the boundaries to termi- 
nate at the mouth of said Cafiada del Pinole into the Bay of San Francisco." 

Evidently this description was not to include the "place" called "Corral de 
Galindo," otherwise La Boca, etc. The ravine (Canada del Pinole) was to be followed 
until it adjoined with the "Corral de Galindo; from this place to the Cafiada de la 
Hambre," etc. 

The same facts appear, and are placed beyond doubt by the language of the 
grant to the widow Briones, made twenty days after the grant to Martinez. 

The grant to Maria Manuela Valencia, widow of Briones, was made upon her peti- 
tion of the 8th of June, 1842, in which she set forth inter alia that she was the "widow 
of the late Felipe Briones, and established in the mouth of the Canada of Pinole (en la 
Boca de la Cafiada- del Pinole);" that for more than eleven years she had "lived in 
peaceable possession of said place, with a considerable amount of stock, consisting of 
four hundred head of cattle, having also an adobe house, and more than one thousand 
grapevines, together with some fruit-trees;" and she prayed the Governor to concede 
to her "the legal ownership of the said place, containing three square leagues, as 
shown by the accompanying disefio." The accompanying disefio distinctly called for 
the land of Ignacio Martinez as a northwestern, northern, and northeastern boundary 
(see Record of Maps, vol. 2, p. 489). Her allegations accorded with those of her 



330 History of Alameda County, California. 

husband in his petition of 1839 as regards possession and the length of time that the 
Briones family had occupied the place, as also with the report of Peralta upon the peti- 
tion of Briones. The widow's petition, having been referred to the proper judge for 
investigation and report, was presented to Ignacio Martinez, adjoining owner, who 
stated concerning the same, June ij, 1842, as follows: "The Senora Manuela 
Valencia, who petitions for the place, as shown by the annexed diseno, is worthy of 
being heard, and what she asks may be granted to her, since it does not prejudice my 
land." (The underscoring in the foregoing quotation is my own.) 

On the 14th of the same month, the Judge to whom the petition was referred, 
Guillermo Castro, reported that, in view of the report of Ignacio Martinez, the tract 
asked for might be granted to the petitioner. 

On the 2 1st of June, 1842, the land was granted to the widow of Briones, the 
Governor stating that, in view of the petition, the foregoing reports, "and all other 
matters necessary to be considered (the other matters necessary to be considered 
undoubtedly included the former petition of Briones and Peralto's report thereon), 
Doiia Maria Manuela Valencia is declared owner of the place named in Boca de la 
Caiiada de Pinole, bounding with the Rancho of Don Ignacio Martinez, with that of 
Don Julio Wil, and with that of Candelario Valencia;" and in the formal grant of the 
same date the land is described by the same boundaries, being limited in the third 
condition to three square leagues, as shown by the disefio annexed, the sobrante 
remaining to the convenient uses of the nation. (E.xhibit 32, Adams, from the 
archives in the Surveyor-General's office.) In bounding the general tract out of which 
the quantity should be surveyed to Mrs. Briones with "the Rancho of Don Ignacio 
Martinez," the boundaries of El Pinole, as declared by the Governor a few days before 
in the grant to Martinez, were unquestionably meant. 

When this claim was before the District Court upon petition for confirmation, the 
testimony of Jose de Jesus, son of Ignacio Martinez, was taken. Being asked what 
he knew in regard to the boundaries of the tract, the witness stated that on the north 
it was bounded by the Rancho of Ignacio Martinez, father of the witness, called El 
Pinole; that the original map {diseno) was made by him in 1841, and that it was 
correct; that it was the original map presented by Dona M. M. Valencia to the 
Governor when she petitioned for the land, and that he made it for that purpose; 
and that when he made it the houses, corral, and garden were on the Rancho as repre- 
sented on the map. The witness further stated that he became acquainted with the 
boundaries of La Boca by going over the land with a son of Mrs. Briones for the 
purpose of making the map; that he had lived on his father's Rancho since April, 
1830, and ridden over the La Boca Rancho "thousands of times," and that he was 
well acquainted with everything connected with it. (Exhibit 58, Blum, from archives 
in Surveyor-General's office.) 

From the foregoing I conclude that the La Boca Rancho was not within the 
boundaries of El Pinole as established by the Governor's grant in 1842, the first 
official definition of the exterior boundaries of that place. And taking the facts 
above stated in connection with the testimony of William Richardson (vol. 5, 245, 
Evidence), C. Briones, and Napoleon B. Smith (vol. 4, pp. 561 and 720, Evidence), 
delivered to the Board in the case of El Pinole, and the location of the tract called 



Mexican Grants. 331 



Corral de Galindb, and the Cuchilla de Chemisal, as laid down on the connected map 
hereinbefore mentioned and on the official map of Mr. Minto's survey, it would appear 
that the northern patented line of La Boca very nearly represents the calls of the 
grant and decree in the Pinole case for Pinole's southern exterior boundary in this 
locality. It follows, therefore, that La Boca was not surplus {sobrante) of El Pinole, 
and as the District Court decreed the claim of Mrs. Briones to be good and valid to 
the land known by the name of " La Boca de la Caiiada del Pinole" to the extent of 
three square leagues "within the boundaries so described in the grant and map on file 
in the records," and as the grant and diseno call for Acalanes and Pinole for bounda- 
ries, and as Acalanes calls for Pinole as one of its boundaries, it necessarily follows, 
from the situation of these several grants, that La Boca was not surplus of any of 
the five grants mentioned in the grant to the Castros of 1841, the pre.sumption of 
law being that La Boca was located within the boundaries called for in the decree of 
confirmation. 

Again, La Boca was not vacant land in 1841, within the meaning of the decree of 
confirmation in the sobrante case. The evidence in the case of the La Boca upon peti- 
tion for confirmation, as well as that of Jose de Jesus Martinez, hereinbefore referred to, 
and that of Peralta in his report, show a continued occupancy and possession from about 
1 83 1 till long after April, 1841, by the Briones family, the widow continuing in occu- 
pancy and possession after the death of her husband, and that the land was improved 
by them as alleged in the petitions therefor of 1839 and 1842. It was the very land 
occupied and in the possession of her husband that Mrs. Briones petitioned for, and 
it makes no difference whether it is called La Boca de la Canada del Pinole, San 
Felipe, or Corral de Galindo. 

In the opinion of the Board in that case, it was stated that the depositions on 
file showed a long residence on the land by the grantee, and established very clearly 
a substantial compliance with the conditions of the grant, and that the only obstacle 
to confirmation was to be found in the proof of boundaries. The decree of the 
Board rejecting the claim was reversed by the District Court, and the claim was 
decreed to be good and valid, and it has been surveyed and patented accordingly. 

It was manifestly against the policy of the Mexican Government to grant lands 
to one party that were improved and in possession of another; and petitions were 
referred to the proper magistrate for the purpose of ascertaining whether they called 
for lands occupied by others. In the very matter of the petition of Martinez it is 
seen that, although he asked for land by the name of a place that might have 
embraced the establishment of Briones, and Briones h. id no grant from the Government, 
yet the possession of Briones was recognized as well as that of Martinez, and the land 
possessed by him was carefully excluded from the grant to Martinez. 

Now, as the Governor recognized and protected the possession of Briones; as 
that possession was continued by his widow, and was of the same land; as proceed- 
ings were pending before the Government for a grant of this land at the time of the 
grant to the Castros; as upon the death of Briones the claim for the grant was con- 
tinued in the name of his widow, she alleging the posse.ssion that had continued since 
1831; and as the grant to the widow was made in view of all the proceedings men- 
tioned, and necessarily in consideration of the uninterrupted possession of the Briones 



332 History of Alameda County, California. 

family since 1831, it follows that the possession was not a trespass. The presumption 
is that the final survey followed the decree of confirmation; that it embraces the 
quantity of land thus possessed as limited in the decree; that it correctly shows the 
boundaries thereof, and that the land was surveyed within the boundaries mentioned 
in the decree; and, as the possession which continued from 1831 was not a trespass, it 
extended to the boundaries of the claim as surveyed and patented; all of which results 
in this conclusion: That in 1841 the land surveyed as the Rancho La Boca de la 
Caiiada del Pinole was not vacant. 

Finally, it seems to me that the Mexican authorities, having jurisdiction in the 
premises, decided, in 1842, that the land known as La Boca de la Caiiada del Pinole 
was not embraced within any former grant. The reference of the petition of Mrs. 
Briones to the auxiliary Judge of Contra Costa required him to report whether 
"the land referred to belonged to any individual, with all other matters that may be 
necessary." His report, as well as that of Martinez, and that of Estrado, the Seiior 
Prefect of the district, and the action of the Governor thereon in making the grant 
to Mrs. Briones, which, he stated, was in consideration of those report.s, and all other 
matters necessary to be considered, amounted to a decision that the land granted was 
not included in any former grant. 

In view of the facts and the legal conclusions relative to this matter, it would 
be just as consistent to hold that the land surveyed under the grant to Martinez was 
vacant sobrante land in 1841, as to hol.d that that which was surveyed under the 
Briones grant was vacant sobrante land at that time; and the survey of El Sobrante 
might as well' include the one tract as the other. The grants of Pinole and La Boc i 
are precisely similar in character, and were virtually the result of the final determina- 
tion of the same proceedings before the Mexican Government pending and undecided 
April 33, 1841. 

I therefore decide that no part of the Rancho La Boca de la Canada del Pinole 
should be embraced in the survey of the Rancho El Sobrante. 

The Minto survey not only embraces the larger portion of the La Boca, but also 
a small part of the Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados (Moraga's claim), as 
patented, and does not include all of the land embraced in the decree as herein con- 
strued. It is therefore set aside. 

The remaining question is with regard to the tract marked " No. 7" on the Board- 
man map, and as public land on the Minto plat of survey of El Sobrante. I do not 
consider that that tract lies between the five ranchos mentioned, within the meaning 
of the decree, and it will accordingly be excluded from the final survey. 

You will therefore direct a new survey to be made of the following boundaries: 
Beginning at post S. P. No. 67, at the terminus of course No. 195 in the jiatented line 
of the San Pablo Rancho; thence in a direct line to post P. R. No. 4, terminus of course 
No. 4, in the patented line of El Pinole Rancho; thence with the patented line of El 
Pinole to a point therein at which the westernmost line of the Rancho La Boca de la 
Canada del Pinole as patented extended northwardly intersects said line of El Pinole; 
thence with the patented line of the Rancho La Boca de la Canada del Pinole to the 
point at which the western patented line of Acalanes intersects the .same; thence 
with the said line of Acalanes to the north patented line of the Rancho Laguna de 



Mexican Grants. 333 



los Palos Colorados; thence with the last-named line and the same extended west to 
the eastern patented line of the Rancho San Antonio; thence northward with the 
patented lines of the Ranchos San Antonio and San Pablo to the place of beginning. 
The decision of your office is modified accordingly, and the papers of the case are 
herewith returned. Very respectfully, 

S. J. KiRKWOOD, Secretary. 

This decision has been confirmed by Secretary Teller, and cannot be further 
opened. 

TABLE OF LAND CLAIMS. 

Domingo and Vicente Peralta, claimants for San Antonio, granted August i6, 
1820, by Don Pablo Vicente de Sala to Luis Peralta; claim filed January 21, 1852, 
confirmed by the Commission February 7, 1854, by the District Court January 26, 
1855, and by the Supreme Court in 19 Howard, 343; containing 18,848.98 acres. 
Patented, February 10, 1877. 

Josd Dolores Pacheco, claimant for Santa Rita, granted April 10, 1839, by Juan 
B. Alvarado to J. D. Pacheco; claim filed, February 21, 1852, rejected by the Com- 
mission, April 25, 1854, confirmed by the District Court August 13, 1855, and decree 
affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in 23 Howard, 495; containing 8,894.01 
acres. Patented March 18, 1865. 

Jose Noriega and Roberto Livermore, claimants for Las Positas, two square 
leagues, granted April lb, 1839, by Juan B. Alvarado to Salvio Pacheco; claim filed 
February 27, 1852, confirmed by the Commission, February 14, 1854, and by the 
District Court February 18, 1859; containing 8,880 acres. Patented May 25, 1872. 

Fulgencio Higuera, claimant for Agua Caliente, two square leagues, granted 
October 13, 1836, by Nicolas Gutierrez, and April 4, 1839, by Juan B. Alvarado, to 
F. Higuera; claim filed February 27, 1852, confirmed by the Commission February 
14, 1854, and appeal dismissed November 24, 1856; containing 9,563.87 acres. 
Patented April 17, 1858. 

Jose de Jesus Vallejo, claimant for Arroyo del Alameda, four square leagues, 
granted August 30, 1842, by Juan B. Alvarado to J. de Jesus Vallejo; claim filed 
March 2, 1852, confirmed by the Commission October 18, 1853, by the District Court 
March 2, 1857, ^^id appeal dismissed July 28, 1857; containing 17,705.38 acres. 
Patented January i, 1858. 

Juan Jose Castro, claimant for El Sobrante, eleven square leagues, granted April 
23, 1841, by Juan B! Alvarado to J. J. Castro; claim filed March 9, 1852, confirmed 
by the Commission July 3, 1855, and appeal dismissed April 6, 1857. 

Andres Pico et al., claimants for Mission San Jose, 30,000 acres, granted May 5, 
1846, by Pio Pico to Andres Pico and Juan B. Alvarado; claim filed March 22, 1852, 
confirmed by the Commission December 18, 1855, ^nd rejected by the District Court 
June 30, 1859. 



334 History of Alameda County, California. 

Jose Maria Amador, claimant for San Ramon four square leagues and eighteen 
hundred varas, granted August 17, 1835, by Jos^ Figueroa to J. M. Amador, claim 
filed March 23, 1852, confirmed by the Commission August i, 1854, t>y the District 
Court January 14, 1856, and appeal dismissed January 10, 1857. Patented March 18, 
1865. 

Antonio Suiiol et ai, claimants for El Valle de San Jose, described by bound- 
aries, granted April 10, 1839, by Juan B. Alvarado to Antonio Maria Pico et ai, claim 
filed May 18, 1852, confirmed by the Commission January 31, 1854, by the District 
Court January 14, 1856, and decision of the United States Supreme Court as to the 
right of appeal in 20 Howard, 261; containing 48,435.92 acres. Patented March 15, 
1865. 

Jos^ Joaquin Estudillo, claimant for San Leandro, one square league, granted 
October 16, 1842, by Juan B. Alvarado to Joaquin Estudillo; claim filed May 31 
1852, confirmed by the Commission January 9, 1855, by the District Court May 7, 
1857, and by the U. S. Supreme Court; containing 6,829.58 acres. Patented July 15, 
1863. 

Tomas Pacheco and Augustin Alviso, claimants for Potrero de los Cerritos, three 
square leagues, granted March 23, 1844, by Manuel Micheltorena to T. Pacheco and 
A. Alviso; claim filed May 31, 1852, confirmed by the Commission February 14, 1854, 
by the District Court October 29, 1855, and by the United States Supreme Court; 
containing 10,610.26 acres. Patented February 21, 1866. 

Antonio Maria Peralta, claimant for part of San Antonio, two square leagues, 
granted August 16, 1820, by Pablo V. de Sola to Luis Peralta; claim filed June 18, 
1852, confirmed by the Commission February 7, 1854, by the District Court December 
4, 1855, and appeal dismissed October 20, 1857. Patented February 3, 1858. 

Ignacio Peralta, claimant for part of San Antonio, two square leagues, granted 
August 16, 1820, by Pablo V. de Sola to Luis Peralta; claim filed June 18, 1852, con- 
firmed by the Commission F"ebruary 7, 1854, b\' the District Court January 13, 1857, 
and appeal dismissed April 20, 1857. Patented F"ebruary 10, 1877. 

Guillermo Castro, claimant for part of San Lorenzo, six hundred varas square, 
granted February 23, 1 841, by Juan B. Alvarado to G. Castro and for San Lorenzo, 
six square leagues, granted October 24, 1843, by Manuel Micheltorena to G. Castro; 
claim filed July 8, 1852, confirmed by the Commission February 14, 1853, by the 
District Court July 6, 1855, and appeal dismissed January 16, 1858. Patented April 
14, 1877. 

Barbara Soto et ai., claimants for San Lorenzo, one and a half square leagues, 
granted October 10, 1842, by Manuel Micheltorena and January 20, 1844, by Juan B. 
Alvarado to Francisco Soto; claim filed January 22, 1853, confirmed by the Commis- 
sion April 24, 185s, by the District Court April 23, 1857, and appeal dismissed April 
29, 1857. Patented February 14, 1865. 



Mexican Grants. 



335 



Archbishop Joseph Sadoc Alemany, claimant for Mission San Jose, in Alameda 
County, founded under Carlos IV., June ii, 1797; claim filed February 19, 1853, con- 
firmed by the Commission December 18, 1855, appeal dismissed in Northern District, 
March 16, 1857, and in Southern District March 15, 1858; containing 28.33 acres. 
Patented March 3, 1858. 

Guillermo Castro, claimant for land granted January 14, 1840, by Juan] B. 
Alvarado to G. Castro; claim filed March 2, 1853, rejected by the Commission, May 
15, 1855, and appeal dismissed for failure of prosecution March 9, 1857. 

Charles B. Strode, claimant for part of San Antonio, 5,000 acres, granted by P. 
V. de Sola and Luis Antonio Arguello to Luis Peralta; claim filed March 2, 1853. 
Discontinued. 

Charles B. Strode, claimant for part of San Antonio, 10,000 acres, grantedjby P. 
V. de Sola and Luis Antonio Arguello to Luis Peralta; claim filed March 2, 1853. 
Discontinued. 

TABLE 

Showing the N'tmber of Land C.^mmissid.ner Claims, Name of Ranch, Name of Confirmee, Number Iof Acres, and 
Date of Patent of the Different Spanish and Mexican Grants in Alameda County, Supplied by^the Surveyor- 
General of California. 



No. 



Name of Ranch. 

San Antonio 

San Antonio 

San Antonio 

San Leandro 

San Lorenzo 

San Lorenzo 

Agua Caliente 

Arroyo de la Alameda. . . 
Caiiadadelos Vaqueros. 

Mission of San Jos6 

Mission of San Jos^ 

El Pescadero 

Las Positas 

Potrero de los Cerritos . . 
San Ramon 

.Santa Rita 

Valle de San Jos6 



Name of Confirmee. 

Ygo. Peralta 

V. and D. Peralta 

A. M. Peralta 

J.J. Estudillo 

Barbara Soto, et al 

Guillermo Castro 

Fulgencio Higuera 

J. de Jesus Vallejo 

R. Livermore and Noriega 

Bishop Alemany 

Andres Pico and Alvarado 
A. M. Pico and H. Nagle. 

R. Livermore, J. Noriega. 
A. Alviso and D. Pacheco. . 
J. M. Amador 

Yountz Administrator 

Sunol & Bernales 

Area of Private Grants. . . . 

Area of Public Land 

Total Area in Acres 



Acres. 



Remarks. 



273 
4 
274 
256 
285 
524 



79 

609 
no 



77 
258 
128 

60 
231 



9.416 


.66 


I8.S48 


.98 


15,206 


.59 


6,829 


.58 


6,685.85 


26,722 


• 52 


9,563.87 


17,705 


•.38 


2,080 


00 


28 


33 


89 


00 


8,880 


00 


10,610 


26 


6,040 


00 


8,894 


01 


48,435 


92 


196,036 


95 


275,963 


05 


472,000 


00 



Patented, February 3, 1858. 

" February lo, 1877. 

" June 25, 1874. 

" July 15, 1863. 

" April 14, 1877. 

" February 14, 1865. 

" April 17, 1858. 

" January I, 1S58. 
Before the U. S. Surveyor-General 

(Part in Contra Costa County.) 
Patented, :\Iarch 3, 1858. 
Rejected, June 30, 1859. 
Patented, March 10, 1865. 

(Part in San Joaquin County.) 
Patented, May 25, 1872. 

" February 21, 1866. 

March 18, 1865. 
(Part in Contra Costa County.) 
Patented, March 18, 1865. 

" March 15, 1865. 



336 History of Alameda County, California. 



THE CRIMINAL HISTORY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY. 



AND the Lord said unto Cain, Where is thy brother? And he said, I know not: 
am I my brother's keeper ? And he said, what has thou done ? The voice of 
thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed 
from the earth, which had opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy 
hand; when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee her strength; 
a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." Thus is graphically given us on 
the page of divine history the record of the first murder that ever the sun shone upon 
or the eye of God looked upon, and the woful curse pronounced upon the author of that 
foulest of all crimes by the Supreme Judge of the universe. And how tenaciously 
has that curse followed the generations of life-takers down from Cain to the present 
day. "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth!" How natural when a 
man has taken that from a fellow-man which no power of his can restore, no amends 
make any adequate reparation, has taken his life and shed his blood, to become a 
fugitive! The first impulse is to flee. A power he knows not of until the horrid 
deed is done impels him on, and ere he is aware he has become a fugitive. And he 
becomes a vagabond too! No matter if the lax operations of the Courts allow him 
to return to society, the deed has been committed, the blood is on his hands just the 
same, and all who know him can see it. He can see it, too, far more plainly than 
others, for it is burned into his consciousness by the flaming tongue of conscience, a 
chasm is riven between him and human society, and wherever he goes, if it is known 
that he has blood upon his hands, the finger of humanity is pointed at him, and he 
hears the voice of outraged and, oftentimes, cheated justice, exclaiming in loudest 
tones: "He is a murderer!" The vengeance of the Author of mankind justly follows 
him up who presumes to take the life of a human being — a being created in the image 
of the Divine Creator. After the waters of the flood had subsided, and the genera- 
tions of men were again starting out to run the course of destiny, God spake to Noah 
and his sons, saying: "And surely your blood of your lives will I require « * * 
at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth 
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God made he man." 
And when the people of his choice were upon the road to enter the rich inheritance 
which had been given to their fathers hundreds of years before, he caused them to 
halt, and amid the thunderings of Sinai he declared to them in language explicit, 
simple, and grand: "Thou shalt not kill." And when the great master, Jesu.s, came, 
he embraced all law, all gospel, and all ethical codes into one grand, glorious sentence 
which stands emblazoned upon the sacred page in letters of living light, and which shall 
shed forth rays of brightest effulgence all down the ages of the great eternity of God, 
when time shall have ceased, and only immortality exists: "Whatsoever ye would 
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 

On the leaves of a leather-bound memorandum-book, found in the heart of an 
Arizona desert, the following self-reproaches and self-accusations were written in pencil. 





n£^A^l£^ — . 



Criminal History of the County. 



3S7 



Near by it the half-decomposed remains of a human being — a murderer — whose curse 
had truly been more than he could bear. How he suffered let his own simple story 
relate, as placed on record by the same hand that had sent a human soul unprepared 
into the presence of its Maker: — 

" Blood on my hands ! A blur of crimson before my eyes ! The skies are brazen 
above me. The sun is sick with gore. The winds from the desert shriek at me — 
shriek and howl; and this one word only do they wail in my ears-^this dreadful word, 
'Murder!' I stop my ears with my hands; I cry aloud to drown their wailing voices; 
I cannot drown it; I cannot keep it out. It pierces me — pierces me through and 
through. 

" What is it? I am bewildered. Why am I flying as one who seeks the ends of 
the earth? Yesterday earth had no horror for me. The winds were only winds — 
not demon voices. Ah, 7ioiv I recollect. God pity me! Pity? I forgot! He can 
only curse me. Annihilate me, O God! Blot me out from the universe. Thai 
would be pity. 

"It all comes back to me now. It is seared in my brain. The long search for 
the mine; the days in the desert, in the mountains; and then, behind that hill that 
overlooks the ' Valley of Death,' the vein of white, shining silver — wealth for a king. 
Then it swept over me — my years of poverty and toil, the cold sneer of the rich as 
they saw my penury — and here was wealth. I would have it all — all. Not even my 
partner should share the treasure. I was mad. He stooped to pick up the precious 
metal, and I struck him — him, the friend of my toils, and one who had never failed 
me — him, who had shared his food with me, who had slept upon the desert, in the 
mountains, under the same blanket; who had nursed me in sickness — I struck him 
to the earth. God, I was mad! Then I was alone with my wealth; with my 
wealth — ah! and the dead. I had not thought of the cold, still face that would lie 
there after the blow; of the sightless eyes staring to heaven. Then the madness left 
me. I threw myself beside him; prayed him to awake; felt for the heart-beat. 
Dead — dead. O my God ! Dead ! the friend of my toils. And I was a murderer — 
a murderer!" 

Here some leaves were missing, and the next entries legibly represent him as a 
veritable vagabond: — 



" Chill with guilt and fear, 

White from curse and scorn, 
Out to the wilderness drear 

He stumbles through brier and thorn. 
With a smitten face to haunt him, 



Beckoning toward the west, 
Touching him here and there 

With a bruise of a ghastly stain. 
Stinging his numb despair 
To the jagged quicks of pain.' 



"Wandering, still wandering. Earth has no rest for my feet; and I am so weary! 
When I step the earth spurns me, and the pitiless skies cry: 'On! On!' Starving! 
Penniless! and there, back there, is wealth untold. Yet I dare not seek it, dare not 
tell of it; for there, too, is that cold, still face with the sightless eyes gazing at the heav- 
ens, and the red blood crying, ever crying to God. I wander on, and I can feel upon 
my brow a brand like Cain. It is a brand of blood — hot, burning blood. I walk 
among men and I feel that they must see it — it is there. I pull my hat over my brow — - 
closely; oh, so closely — down to my eyes, but they must see it. The brand of Cain! 



338 



History of Alameda County, California. 



The brand of Cain! O God, it is upon me! For days I liave wandered in the 
mountains, thirsting, hungering, trembling at the stir of a leaf. Yet death comes not 
to me. The wild beasts avoid me. The savages pass me by, and harm me not. I 
suffer, faint — but do not die." 

How vividly has Thomas Hood been inspired to portray the feelings of a man 
whose hands have been imbued with a fellow-man's blood, and whose heart-throb has 
been stilled by one fell blow. Ay, indeed: — 



I. 

And how the sprites of injured men 
Shriek upward from the sod; 
Ay, how the ghostly hand will point 
To show the burial clod; 

II. 
And tell how muiderers walk the earth 
Beneath the curse of Cain, 
With crimson clouds before their eyes. 
And flames about their brain; 
For blood has left upon their souls 
Its everlasting stain ! 

III. 

One that had never done me wrong — 
A feeble man, and old; 
I led him to a lonely field. 
The moon shone clear and cold: 
Now, here, said I, this man shall die, 
And I will have his gold. 

IV. 
Two sudden blows with a ragged stick, 
And one with a heavy stone. 
One hurried gash with a hasty knife — 
And then the deed was done ! 
There was nothing lying at my foot 
But lifeless flesh and bone ! 



A dozen times I groaned — the dead 
Had never groaned but twice ! 

V. 

But lo! the universal air 
Seemed lit with ghastly flame — 
Ten thousand thousand dreadful eyes 
Were looking down in blame; 
I took the dead man by his hand 

And called upon his name. 

* * « « » 

VI. 

My head was like an ardent coal. 
My heart as solid ice; 
My wretched, wretched soul, I knew, 
Was at the Devil's price; 

VII. 
Then down I cast me on my face. 
And first began to weep. 
For I knew my secret then was one 
That earth refused to keep; 
Or land or sea, though he should be 
Ten thousand fathoms deep. 

VIII. 
.So wills the fierce avenging Sprite, 
Till blood atones for blood ! 



Indeed this love of crime is a fatality that would appear to follow the Indian 
into his partial civilization, the Mexican-Spaniard from his native clime, the Anglo- 
Saxon from his far-off land, and the Mongolian from his Flowery Kingdom. All 
would seem lost to the natural cry which springs alike from instinct and religion, for 
chilling murders are not committed by the violent and passionate alone; we might 
almost say, would that they were, then would the horrid deed be confined to the 
crouching assassin and the hellish act of suicide be the work of the insane. But 
human nature is various and confusing in its many failings; temper will outstrip dis- 
cretion, a blow will be struck, a shot fired, and life will be sacrificed, and though escape 
of present punishment may be effected, happily it is assured that a dread fear of 
detection in the future will haunt the criminal, for it is truly said, " conscience doth 
make cowards of us all." 

1853. — The first serious criminal act that wc have been enabled to trace as 
having been committed in Alameda County took place shortly after its segregation 
from Contra Costa and Santa Clara, and was the shooting of Albert Scott. 



Criminal History of the County. '339 

This man was shot by FrankHn U ray on September 9, 1853. From the evidence 
elicited before the Justice of the Peace it would appear that the parties were residents 
of Clinton Township. Uray being a farmer, and the land which he occupied being 
in dispute. Scott was employed to guard a fence erected on Uray's claim, which the 
latter tore down, when a dispute ensued, resulting in the shooting of the former. The 
Justice of the Peace did not think the case of sufficient gravity to commit Uray for 
trial. On October 20, 1853, a man named Henry Colvin was shot by Frank Hale, 
near San Leandro Creek. From the evidence adduced it seems that the parties had 
been disputing, when Colvin pursued Hale with a club, striking him several times, 
when the latter turned round and shot him. Hale was discharged by the Justice and 
a verdict of " self-defense" recorded. The next case is that of the shooting of Henry 
Blake by Charles Martinez on August 7, 1853. At the preliminary examination had 
before the Justice of the Peace, bail was fixed at five hundred dollars, and from the 
evidence then heard it would appear that Blake and some others went to the house 
of Martinez, when a quarrel ensued and there the shooting took place. 

1854. — Among the criminal papers of the year 1854, evidence was taken before 
the Justice of the Peace on March 14th of shooting at Constable Carpenter by J. B. 
Heap. The crime took place at the " Gate House," in Clinton Township, where the 
constable was called to quell a disturbance, the inmates having a dance, and being all 
more or less drunk and disorderly. It does not appear, however, that Carpenter was 
hurt. On June 15, 1854, Antonio Garcia, Domingo, Marshall, and William McCoy 
were complained of as the murderers of William Wettig. It seems that these men 
had gone to the foot-hills to hunt cattle-thieves, and from the statements made in 
evidence by them, came upon Wettig, with freshly-killed beef upon his horse. They 
made accusation, which resulted in a quarrel, when one of the Spaniards, Domingo, 
killed him, and then made his escape. Garcia, McCoy, and Marshall were appre- 
hended, and the last named held to answer as an accessory before the fact. Some- 
where about this date George Zimmerman, Charles Wilson, and Israel C. Townley 
had a preliminary examination in the matter of an assault with intent to take the 
life of John C. Pelton, at San Leandro, the dispute being in regard to the ownership 
of some hogs. Wilson and Zimmerman were held to answer, bail for the former 
being fixed at seven hundred dollars, and one thousand for the latter. 

1855. — On July 7, 1855, we find thB.t John Doewa.s indicted for the killing of John 
Fanning; while, at the same term, a man called "Mack" (his other name being 
unknown), and H. Hastings were indicted for killing Peter Rochblam, and Amada 
Canute, on or about the 23d or 24th August of the previous year. Among the crim- 
inal papers, we find the case of the People vs. Hosea (possibly meant for Jose) 
Antonio. This individual was indicted by the Grand Jury at a Special Term of the 
Court of Sessions, held August 17, 1855 (the minutes of the Grand Jury accompany 
the papers) for killing Joqquen (sic) by stabbing him in the back. The indictment 
was set aside on motion of defendant's counsel, Benjamin Williams; on the ground 
that the County Judge had no authority of law to call a Special Term of said Court. 
The defendant gave bonds for his appearance to answer any indictment that might 
be found by a regularly constituted Grand Jury. 



340 History of Alameda County, California. 

1856-1857. — There is now either a discontinuity in the records or a reign of 
terror signalized, for there appear to have been no very serious crimes committed in 
the county during the next two years. 

1858. — On May 10, 1858, a man named Cruz was indicted for the murder of one 
Frederico; was tried at the July term of the Court of Sessions and found not guilty. 
We also find that there was a criminal case, entitled the People I's. Francisco 
Routires, recorded in this year, but there are no documents on file to show what the 
circumstances of the affair were. A reward was offered by Governor John B. Weller. 
November 25th of this year, for the arrest of the murderer of Ciriaco Sacre, a Chilcno, 
who was cruelly slain on a little island near Alvarado about eighteen months pre- 
viously. 

1859. — On April 1 1, 1859, there commenced a trial for murder, before the Third 
District Court, at San Leandro, Judge McKee presiding, in which great public interest 
was manifested. The circumstances which led to the case of the people vs. Thomas 
Seale, took place in Santa Clara on January 6, 1859. It would appear that Seale and 
a family named Shore were joint proprietors of a certain portion of the Rincoiiada de 
San Francisquito Rancho in that county. Each had bought out an interest in the 
ranch — Seale holding several shares and the Shores had bought out but one heir, the 
property remaining undivided between them. But Seale had gone on to the premises, 
had improved and inclosed a large bod}- of the land, a thousand acres or more, and 
was in the enjoyment of it — in fact had appropriated to his own use land that was 
common property. On the date mentioned above, Richard E. and Paul C. Shore, 
assisted by a youth named Lewis, were putting up a house on these lands, when 
Thomas Seale and S. J. Crosby came up and an altercation ensued between Seale 
and Richard Shore. In the meantime there appeared on the scene one Alexander 
Robb. Continuing his work, Richard Shore stepped up on a bench, when he was 
pitched off by Seale. Shore then ordered him to keep back, when Seale drew a pistol 
half-way out of his pocket. Near by, Paul C. Shore was standing leaning on the 
handle of an ax. Seeing him, Seale ordered him to put down the ax in very rough 
language, which was not complied with, when Seale made for him with the drawn 
pistol, he received a blow from the ax, and dropped his pistol, for which a grab was 
made by Crosby and Robb, Seale then drew another weapon, and firing, it took effect, 
the victim never afterwards speaking. Seale then went to San Jose and gave himself 
up to the authorities, while Crosby and Robb were apprehended as accessories. At 
the session of the Grand Jury which convened in the month of March, true bills were 
found against Seale and Robb, but that against Crosby was ignored. During the 
session of the District Court at San ]os6, on Monday, March 28, 1859, the ca.se of the 
people vs. Thomas Seale and Alexander Robb, indicted for the murder of Paul C. 
Shore, being set for the following day, an indiscriminate shooting affray took place, 
which resulted in the death of S. J. Crosby, the Coroner's jury finding that the 
deceased came to his death by three or more shots from pistols, b\- the hand of 
Thomas Shore or Richard Shore. But this was not the end of this bloody chapter. 
While the tragedy last mentioned was being performed without the Court House, one 



Criminal History of the County. 341 

of a nature still more painful was being acted within. L. Posey Fergusson, a miner 
from Grass Valley, who visited San Jose to accompany an old friend home to 
Missouri, had entered the court-room and was listening to the proceedings, when firing 
was heard. Remarking, "What does that mean?" he went towards the door and got 
upon a bench, when a ball from the outside, after passing through planking three 
inches and a quarter in thickness, struck him on the breast, when he cried out to a 
friend named Stewart, standing by, "John, I am a dead man !" He stepped back a 
few paces, then sank on a bench, and died in half an hour. The Coroner's jury found 
that the shot had been fired by the hand of Samuel J. Crosby, at certain persons 
standing in front of the Court House. Under these circumstances it was deemed 
advisable to change the scene of trial from Santa Clara to Alameda County. ■ After a 
trial lasting five days the jury failed to agree on a verdict, therefore another jury was 
immediately impaneled, and after three days trial the case was given to the jury, who, 
after occupying two days more, returned a verdict of " Not guilty." 

In 1859, we ascertain from the records that Miguel Marquis was tried for the 
crime of murder when, October 9th, a verdict of guilty was rendered. He was sen- 
tenced to be hanged on the 25th of November, but a new trial being granted, he was 
convicted, at the July term, of murder in the second degree and sent to the State 
Prison for life. 

On December 2, 1859, Ventura Aipen stabbed to death Marcus Castillo, and was 
indicted under the name of "Ventura" at the January term following-. He was tried, 
found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to two years in the State Prison. 

i860. — At the September term of the Court of Sessions Ah Path was indicted 
for stabbing and cutting to death, in Oakland, How Sam on September 9,, i860, the 
cause of quarrel being a sum of money owed Ah Path by How Sam. The slayer was 
tried, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to be hanged January 11, 1861. Mean- 
while a motion for a new trial was made and denied; the case was then appealed to 
the Supreme Court, who affirmed the judgment of the Court below. 

On November 19, i860, Ramon Romero was indicted for the crime of murder, 
was tried and convicted at the November term of the District Court, i860; found 
guilty and sentenced to be executed on January i, 1861; but on a new trial being 
granted he was acquitted, November 22, 1861. He subsequently found his way to 
Sacramento, where he was guilty of killing another man with a knife. 

1861. — In the Court of Sessions of the city and county of San Francisco, at the 
February term, 1861, James H. Hardy was indicted for aiding and a,betting the killing 
of Samuel Newell by Horace Smith, on January i, 1861. Motion for a new trial was 
made and granted and the cause transferred to Alameda County, where it was tried 
and a verdict of " not guilty" rendered. 

At the January term of the Court of Sessions in this year, Edward W. Bonney 
was indicted for stabbing to death Augusto G. Hirsch on January 13, 1861. The 
case came to trial in July following, and on the 27th of that month a verdict of "guilty 
of murder in the first degree as charged in the indictment" was rendered. Motion 
for arrest of judgment and a new trial was. made and overruled by the Court, and on. 



342 History of Alameda County, California. 

August 2d, he was sentenced to be hanged <3n September 7, 1861. An appeal was 
taken to the Supreme Court, the judgment affirmed, and date of execution again fixed 
for April 25, 1862, but a respite of fourteen days was granted by Governor Stanford. 
He was ultimately executed May 9, 1862. Both parties were residents of San Fran- 
cisco and had been friends. The hanging of Bonney was the first legal execution for 
any crime that ever took place in Alameda County. He died protesting his innocence 
although the evidence against him was very conclusive. 

We do not learn of any blood-shedding during the }-ear 1862, but the year fol- 
lowing takes up its gory legend. 

1863. — On November 12, 1863, a quarrel occurred at San Antonio (Brooklyn) 
which resulted in the death of Juan Andrada, a Chilean, by the hand of Jose Pizarro 
(Cosa), a Mexican. It commenced about a small bill; from words it proceeded to 
a hand-to-hand fight. The parties were separated by the spectators, when Pizarro 
went away, but returned in about half an hour armed with a bowie-knife. He found 
Andrada in the kitchen of Cruz Edilla, opposite the hotel then kept by Tom. Hill, 
and demanding his hat from him was answered that he knew nothing about the soin- 
brero. Pizarro then dragged Andrada through the door, when in the tussle that fol- 
lowed both fell to the ground from the outside platform, some three or four steps high. 
As they got up Pizarro stabbed his opponent with the bowie-knife under the left arm 
outside of the chest, running upward and slightly inward, severing the subclavian artery 
and vein of the arm. Andrada did not live three minutes. Pizarro was duly tried at 
the January term, 1864, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and on being 
recommended to the mercy of the Court, February 20, 1864, was sentenced to impris- 
onment in the State Prison for ten years. 

Save the lynching of a Mexican at Alvarado on November 23, 1863, there is no 
further criminal record for this or the following year. 

1865. — A terrible murder occurred at San Antonio (Brooklyn) on the night of 
September 30, 1865. The circumstances are briefly these: A dance was being held 
at Louis Lerreaux's hotel. About half past eleven o'clock, Samuel S. Kennedy, a 
Scotchman, who had been a resident of Brooklyn for some five or six years, some- 
what intoxicated, approached the door-keeper and desired admission, which was 
refused. A Frenchman, named Cora, of San Pablo, was standing outside the door at 
the time, and angry words were passed between himself and Kennedy, but no blows 
were, at that time, exchanged. Cora crossed over the street, returning after a short 
time and recommenced the war of words. Taking off his hat Kennedy shoved it close 
up to Cora's face, when the latter returned the insult by giving the former a blow with 
a sling-shotj, or some other dangerous weapon, on the right temple, causing him to 
totter and fall against the side of the house. Recovering himself Kennedy rushed 
towards Cora, but was so drunk that he fell flat on his face. While in this position, 
Cora struck him on the head several times, breaking the skull so that the brain pro- 
truded, and at the same time kicked him heavily in the face. Cora was perfectly 
sober at the time. From the effects of the wound Kennedy died two days afterwards. 
Cora was indicted at the January term, 1866, tried and found guilty of manslaughter 



m 



Criminal History of the County. 343' 

March 2, 1866, the Judge being recommended to "give the full extent of the law." 
He was sentenced to three years imprisonment in the State Prison. 

On September 24, 1865, Jos^ Ruparda stabbed one Rosindo, who died from the 
effects of the wound on October 9, 1865. The murderer was indicted in the January 
term, 1866, tried, found guilty of murder in the second degree, and, February 24, 1866, 
sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment in the State Prison. 

About this period Murray and Washington townships were infested by bands of 
horse and cattle thieves, stock poisoners, and incendiaries, and so incessant and dar- 
ing were their depredations that a firm determination to put a stop to their maraud- 
ings was come to by the citizens. To this end a meeting was held at Centreville, 
April I, 1865, when they resolved to form themselves into a Vigilance Committee, 
Thomas Scott being chosen President, Dr. J. M. Seifridge, Secretary, and William 
Tyson, Treasurer, in addition to whom an executive committee of twelve members was 
appointed. A salutary effect was the immediate result of this move, causing the 
rogues to be more on their guard. A reward of five hundred dollars for the convic- 
tion of the person or persons who a short time previously poisoned a wheat-field 
belonging to Mr. Ellsworth, was at this time offered by the committee. 

In the month of October of this year the house of Charles Garthwait, near Pleas- 
anton, was robbed during his absence. The burglars, however, received a warm 
reception from Mrs. Garthwait, who wounded one of them named Welch, who was 
subsequently arrested, tried, and convicted of grand larceny in the County Court and 
sentenced by Judge Hamilton to eighteen months imprisonment in the State Prison. 
Mr. Halley says he told a tale of his hardships, which, if true, entitled him to sym- 
pathy, and reminds one of some of the incidents in the play of the Ticket of Leave 
Man. Welch stated that after serving a term some time previously at San Quentin, 
he resolved to lead a correct life, and went honestly to work on a ranch in Santa 
Clara County. Pretty soon, however, some of his acquaintances, formed during the 
term of his confinement, came along and recognizing him threatened to " blow" on 
him if he did not give them money. He stood this as long as he could, but finally fled 
from them to avoid exposure, and went over among the Amador Hills, where he thought 
himself secure from his vile tormentors. He had been there but a little while when 
his confederates in the crime for which he was then suffering made their appearance 
and recognized him. They declared if he did not go with them and assist to commit 
the robbery they would kill him, and he yielded. 

1866. — The following particulars of a horrible murder perpetrated at Corral 
Hollow, are gleaned from the columns of the Alta California of May 19, 1866: 
Edward, or better known as " Sandy," Simpson, who was well to do, and the owner 
of a store on the Stockton Road, near Amador Valley, was foully murdered by two men 
on Friday morning the 12th instant, and it is supposed for money he had about him 
at the time. It seems that on last Thursday evening two men, one a black-whiskered 
man and the other wearing no beard, stopped at Simpson's store and requested some- 
thing to eat and a night's lodging, which was granted them. Next morning, at an 
early hour, the shepherds attached to the ranch went to attend to their daily labors. 
During the day the deceased's brother discovered the body, with a horrible wound on 



344 History of Alameda County, California. 

the right side of the head, caused by a rifle-shot from the rifle of the deceased. The 
alarm was given, but though every effort was made to capture the assassins there is 
no record to show that they were ever apprehended. 

A murder occurred in Murray Township, at Pleasanton, on Friday evening, August 
ID, 1866, the victim and the murderer being both Mexicans, the former named Ricardo, 
the latter Marcus Chavoya. The origin of the difficulty was a lawsuit which took 
place a short time before between the parties, and which occasioned ill-feeling since 
it transpired. The murderer surrendered himself on the day following to Sheriff 
Morse, at San Leandro, and also the pistol with which he committed the deed. On 
giving himself up to the authorities he made the following statement: On the evening 
in question, he said, that Ricardo, who was drunk at the time, came to his house and 
tried to effect an entrance by cutting through the door with a long knife with which 
he threatened to kill Chavoya. The latter armed himself with a revolver, opened the 
door and told Ricardo to go away — that he did not wish to have any quarrel with him. 
Ricardo refused and Chavoya fired at him twice — or, rather, in the air — so as to scare 
him off Ricardo instead of retreating made a rush at Chavoya for the purpose of 
stabbing him, when the latter shot him fatally. He was discharged on the ground of 
justifiable homicide. 

A mulatto barber by the name of Manley, says the San Leandro Gazette of Octo- 
ber 30, 1866, who was in a shop adjoining the Exchange Saloon at the Mission San 
Jose, was discovered lying in the street on Wednesday morning, near his shop, with 
one ear nearly severed from his head, and so terribly bruised and beaten as to be unable 
to speak, and he died during the day. It appears that during the previous evening some 
difficulty occurred between him and a young man named Hyde, at Elbridge's saloon. 
Manley subsequently went to his shop and to bad. About midnight, Hyde and one 
Griffin awoke him and endeavored to induce him to come outside, but failed. They 
then dragged him out and in self-defense Manley used a razor on his assailants, 
wounding Hyde in the abdomen and shoulder. Hyde succeeded in getting him into 
the street and there brutally beat him with a bottle and kicked him until, as stated, 
death resulted from the injuries. Hyde was arrested, and, after examination before 
Justice Bond, committed to await the action of the Grand Jur\'. 

1867. — In the July term of this year, Jose Guliful Choreen was indicted, tried, 
and acquitted of the charge of having shot and killed Amilio Higuera on June 25, 
1864. 

On June 6, 1867, a fracas of a fatal character occurred at the ranch of Robert 
Livermore, in Livermore Valley. A Californian named Moche, who had been drink- 
ing heavily, made an attack with a knife upon a young man called Foscaiini, who 
avoided him several times, but finally turned upon him and discharged his pistol at 
him, emptying three chambers of the weapon, each shot taking effect. Both parties 
were on horseback. The wounded man instanth^ wheeled his horse, rode away 
rapidly and soon disappeared. When about three miles from the place of shooting, 
Moche fell heavily from his horse, head foremost, to the ground, and when approached 
was found to be dead, his neck having been broken by the fall. It was found, how- 
ever, that either of the shots was sufficient to kill him. Foscaiini surrendered himself. 





'X^ 



Criminal History of the County. 345 

and after an examination before Justice Mark of Pleasanton was dismissed. Moche, 
who was partly paralyzed, was, nevertheless, considered a desperate and dangerous 
man. Some ten years previous it was said he attacked a stage single-handed, and on 
the refusal of the driver to pull up, sent a shot from his revolver through it. 

On June 30, 1867, a very tragic affair occurred at Mount Eden; a Dane, named 
Peter Jobson Schmidt, having murdered his sister and then shot and killed himself. 
Contrary to his wish, his sister, whom he had sent for to his native land some time 
previously, had determined to marry a young man in the neighborhood, and it seems 
that this drove him crazy. Schmidt was a farmer, owning one hundred and twelve 
acres, and unmarried, his sister keeping house fbr him. The poor girl made a desper- 
ate struggle for life, and the contest was a severe one. Two shots from his gun had 
entered her body; the first below her right nipple and the second in her heart. Whether 
the affection the man had for his sister, or the weight of his financial troubles, with 
which he was beset, had upset his reason, is not known; but he had formerly proved 
himself a man of good character. Indeed, he had previously made a will, in which 
he devised all his estate to his sister Jane, the girl whose life he took, and whose fate 
he thus horribly ended with his own. 

At the July term, 1867, Charles M. Diel was indicted for the crime of assault 
with intent to murder, committed at Centreville upon the person of William Neal, 
whom he wounded above the hip no less than three times, on June 28, 1867. He was 
tried, found guilty, and sentenced to imprisonment for one year in the State Prison. 

At the January term, 1867, John Hyde was indicted for beating one Manley on 
October 23, 1866, so that he died on the following day; while, at the September term, 
a man named Hill was indicted for beating to death with a club an individual called 
Manuel, on August 8, 1867. Hill was tried, found guilty of manslaughter and, Novem- 
ber I ith, sentenced to seven years imprisonment at San Quentin. 

On October 3, 1867, about two o'clock in the morning, several persons were 
engaged in a game of poker in Greavenor's saloon at Haywards, when a dispute arose, 
and one of the party, a Chileno, named Narrato Ponce, left the room, and shortly 
after returned with a pistol, which he pointed at those present, and, firing, eventu- 
ally shot Lewis Joy in the left side, the ball passing through the lung and body 
and lodging in the right arm. He then walked a few steps into an adjoining room and 
fell dead. As soon as the firing commenced the lights were extinguished, and under 
cover of the darkness the slayer effected his escape, leaving his horse behind him in 
the corral. The redoubtable Sheriff, Harry Morse, was soon placed in full informa- 
tion of the dastardly deed, and kept a sharp lookout for the Chileno, but it was not 
until late in the month of October that he had any reliable information as to 
whither he had fled. This intelligence was at last received: it was that Ponce 
had made his retreat to the mountainous regions of Murray Township at the back of 
Livermore Valley. On November 1st, Officer Conway, of Oakland, who, having 
obtained authority from the Mayor and Marshal of the city, joined Sheriff Morse, 
and both proceeded to Dublin, in the Amador Valley, where, leaving their buggy, 
thence started 'on horseback for the place where the murderer was supposed to be 
concealed. Sheriff Morse was in possession of secret information that during that 
night the Chileno would pass down a by-road and into the telegraph or main traveled 
23 



346 History of Alameda County, California. 

road for the purpose of escaping to the lower country. The Sheriff and Officer Con- 
way accordingly took positions at the gate leading into the by-path, in the shadow 
of a hay-stack, there to await the coming of their man. About half-past nine o'clock 
horse's footsteps were heard coming up on the gallop, when the Sheriff recognized 
the voice of the murderer and a companion. The officers had the gate tied so as to 
prevent his escape. The Chileno opened the gate, tied it, and came towards the offi- 
cers. When he got within ten feet of Sheriff Morse the latter drew a shot-gun and 
ordered him to stop, which he refused to do, but turned his horse round quickly and 
started back, only to be met by Officer Conway, who leveled a six-shooter and com- 
menced firing at him, Sheriff Morse> having discharged a load of buck-shot at the 
murderer, striking him in the back, the Chileno drew his revolver and banged away 
twice at Conway without effect. With the last shot fired by Conway, Ponce fell from 
his horse; but he was not so badly wounded as to prevent his running on foot down 
alongside the fence. Conway had to go back to the hay-stack after his Hcnrv rifle, 
which took him a little time, thus enabling the murderer to hide himself in the dark- 
ness. Sheriff Morse fired three shots; Conway five, his last mi.ssing fire. The officers 
hunted about for their quarry in the darkness until two o'clock in the morning, but 
could find no traces of him. When daylight came they made a further search up 
towards the hills, having employed eight or ten Mexicans to aid them, and discovered 
the Chileno's coat completely riddled with buck-shot and balls. Haifa mile from where 
this garment was found his boots were picked up, which, for some reason or other,. 
Ponce had pulled off and left. The murderer's horse, a small Mexican mare, was 
wounded in the thigh, and was not worth bringing away. 

Nothing further was heard of Narrato Ponce until the 7th of November, when 
Sheriff Morse received a letter from Sheriff Classen, of Contra Costa Count}-, inform- 
ing him that if he repaired to Martinez he would give him information as to the 
whereabouts of him whom they sought. At eight o'clock the energetic Morse was at 
the rendezvous, prompt and prepared. The intelligence received was that Ptincc was 
supposed to be in Cisco, Placer County. For Cisco, Morse started, accompanied by 
Deputy Sheriff Swain, of Contra Costa County. The intention was to take steam- 
boat for Sacramento at Antioch, and to that place they proceeded. Here they 
learned that instead of being at Cisco, Narrato was concealed in Rigg's Canon,, 
near Monte Diablo. To reach the place designated they had to return, by boat, to 
San Francisco, cross from there to San Leandro, where, taking saddle-horses, they 
proceeded to the Black Hills, north of Livermore Valley. Officer Conway, of Oak- 
land, again accompanied the gallant Sheriff from San Leandro, and at eleven o'clock 
at night the party arrived at the canon specified. They at once surrounded the house 
where the murderer was supposed to be concealed, but no further action was taken 
until break of day. When dawn came a thorough search failed to discover the object 
of their solicitude, and scouting parties in the hills brought no tidings save the dis- 
covery of his hiding-place, where he had been in the habit of concealing himself 
before his first skirmish with the Sheriff. 

At this juncture they met an old native, who, upon being examined and threat- 
ened, conveyed the information that Narrato's hiding-place at that particular time 
was near th? bay, at Pinole. A rapid return was made to San Leandro; from there 



Criminal History of the County. 347 

they went to San Francisco, where they took passage for Martinez, the place to which 
they had originally set out. On the following morning they started for Pinole, which 
is eleven miles south of Martinez and seven east of San Pablo. They searched all 
the houses through the valley as they went. Arriving at the house of one Jose 
Rojos they saw a man on the mountain side with a bundle on one arm and a shot- 
gun on the other, whom they thought might be the person they were looking for. Con- 
way and Swain went into the house with instructions to let no one out until Morse 
had ascertained who it was that was on the hill-side. At the moment of the Sheriff 
getting to the hill, he heard Swain cry out, "He's here," and directly thereafter 
was heard the report of a pistol-shot. Morse immediately directed his horse to the 
house on a run, when he discovered Narrato Ponce running away, trying to escape 
from the officers, who were shooting after him as rapidly as possible. A ravine inter- 
vening, Morse had to dismount. He immediately called upon the fugitive to stop 
and lay down a, pistol he carried in his right hand, but the latter paid no attention 
to this command and kept on running, endeavoring to make good his escape. A 
shot from Conway here struck him in the right hand, causing him to change his 
weapon to the other, with which he kept his pursuers covered. Finding that the 
villain was determined not to be taken alive, the Sheriff concluded to finish the afTair, 
he therefore sent four shots from his Henry rifle after him, and all failing, a fifth 
was dispatched, and found its billet, sending him forward on his face, in which posi- 
tion he died, his pistol being firmly clinched in his hand. His body was removed 
and a Coroner's jury summoned, who returned the following verdict: — 

We the jury, summoned by A. F. Dyer, Justice of the Peace, acting Coroner, to inquire into the cause of 
the death of the man now before us, do find that deceased came to his death by a gun-shot wound in the upper 
portion of his abdomen, passing througli the intestine and coming out on the left side. We find that the name of 
the deceased is Narrato Ponce, a native of Cliili, about thirty-five years of age. We are of tire opinion that the 
shot was fired by H. N. Morse, Sheriff of Alameda County, while endeavoring to arrest deceased on a charge of 
murder. 

(Signed) N. L, Lester, Foreman. George Hanks, Joseph Garcia, 

C. MuRTA, ' E. Hobble, E. Marich. 

A reward of five hundred dollars was offered by Governor Low for the arrest 
and conviction of Narrato, a sum hardly sufficient to compensate the officers for the 
expense, trouble, and danger to which they were put in ridding the State of a des- 
perado said to be the superior in criminality of the famous Joaquin Murietta. 

While scouting among the hills in search of Ponce, Sheriff Morse discovered an 
old offender named Antonio Martinez alias Jesus Torres, an ex-convict, who had 
been evading the officers for six months previously. There were several charges 
against him — one at Sonoma and one at Santa Clara. Not long previously he was 
reported as having been shot by an officer who was trying to arrest him in Monterey 
for cattle-stealing; while, it was said, he was one of the gang that committed the 
Pacific Street robbery in San Francisco about three years before. When he was taken 
nto custody he denied his identity to the Sheriff, but when brought into the presence 
of Conway and Swain, whom he knew, he lost courage and acknowledged. He was 
taken to San Leandro, from whence he was sent to Sonoma County, to answer the 
demands of justice. 



348 History of Alameda County, Calikorma. 

Among the profoundest sensations of this )-ear was the murder of Officer Rich- 
ardson in Oakland. On October 22, 1S67, complaint was made in the Police Court 
that John Thomas, as principal, and his wife Margaret, as accessory, had shot and 
killed R. B. Richardson, on that date, on block No. 113, situated at the corner of 
Ninth and Castro Streets, in the city of Oakland. 

The account of this affair is substantially as follows: The man Thomas, an old 
negro, had been living for some time upon a small lot of land near Market-street 
Station, the property of General Wright, who, Thomas claimed, had given him per- 
mission to occupy the land until the}- should meet again. General Wright was 
drowned on the ill-fated Brother Jonat/ian, and upon this quasi title Thomas held 
possession. He was generally accounted a peaceable man, being of a religious turn, 
and occasionally preaching to his colored brethren. Some parties had been trying 
to gain possession of a portion of the lot in question, and a man who was on the 
ground for some purpose was driven off by Thomas with a shot-gun. The party thus 
expelled procured on his oath a warrant for the arrest of Thomas, which was placed 
in the hands of Officer Richardson, who proceeded to serve it. The report of a pistol 
coming from the house of Thomas shortly after drew a crowd to the spot, where the 
officer was found dead, lying on his back, his feet on the door-step and a ghastly 
wound in his throat, caused by a charge of shot that had severed the carotid artery 
producing almost instant death. It is supposed that the negro met him at the door 
shooting him down before he had time to defend himself 

Thomas was arrested and hurried to the jail at San Leandro, as rumors of 
lynching were rife. The shooting WaS done with an old-fashioned double-barreled 
pistol, one barrel of which remained loaded, filled nearly to the muzzle with bullets, 
inferentially showing the nature of the shot that nearly decapitated the unfortunate 
officer. Richard B. Richardson had been a member of the police force of the city of 
Oakland for about three years, is described as a fine specimen of manhood, tall, and 
of commanding presence, and of fearless courage in the discharge of his duties. His 
social qualities were on a par with his physique and personal popularit)-, and had 
made him a prominent candidate for the office of City Marshal. He was but thirty- 
five years of age, had just built a home for himself, where, with his wife and three 
little ones, he was about entering upon the happiness and comfort of accruing indepen- 
dence, when his life was cut short by the red hand of murder. 

Upon the case coming up for trial a change of venue was asked and denied, the 
cause being transferred from the County to the District Court; but, March 23, 1868, 
the death of the defendant was announced in Court, and the case dismissed in con- 
sequence. 

1 858. — On March 4, i858, Henry Crie^er was found murdered in the hills at the 
back of Haywards, for which crime a saloon-keeper of that town was apprehended on 
suspicion, but, on e.xamination, no evidence was forthcoming to connect him with 
the deed, he was therefore discharged. 

On September 20, 1868, Joseph Newell shot with a pistol Morgan Layton, from 
the effects of which he died on the 26th of the same month. The slayer was 
indicted at the January Term, 1S69, tried, found guilt)' of manslaughter, and sen- 
tenced to five years imprisonment' in the State Prison. 



Criminal History of the County. 349 

In this year Alameda County furnishes one of the most remarkable cases of 
mistaken identity on record. Sheriff Morse arrested a man named John Slack, in 
San Luis Obispo County, in the month of May, supposing him to have murdered, 
thirteen years before, a son of Don Antonio Sunol, in the valley which bears his 
name. The story is thus narrated in the San Leandro Gazette, of May 30, 1868: — 

" Most of the old residents about Mission San Jose, and many of our readers, 
will remember the circumstances of the killing of young Suiiol, on account of some 
land difficulty; the attempted arrest by the Sheriff; the resistance of the murderer, 
and his escape and disappearance. This occurred in the spring of 1855. Twelve 
years passed, and no clue to Wilson's whereabouts could be obtained. About a year 
ago, a Spaniard, who had been acquainted with the parties, while passing through the 
'lower country,' saw at San Luis Obispo a man whom he took to be Wilson, and on 
returning informed thfe friends of Sunol of the fact. About two months since the 
matter was put into the hands of Sheriff Morse to be worked up. The Sheriff 
immediately set at work. He at once ascertained the whereabouts of the man, cor- 
responded with the officers of the county, who quietly made inquiries and informed 
Morse of the result. Everything pointed to this man. The necessary warrant was 
taken out, and the Sheriff started for San Luis Obispo, to make the arrest. On 
making the arrest some little show of resistance was made by the father-in-law of 
the prisoner, but he was soon quieted. On examination of his charge the Sheriff 
was more confident than ever that he had his man. The description was perfect — 
the height, complexion, color of the hair and eyes were the same. The prisoner had 
the same stoop of the shoulders, downcast look, and restless eye that characterized 
Wilson, and the absence of a tooth from the corner of his' mouth. He was brought 
to San Leandro and placed in jail, although he protested and insisted that his name 
was Slack, and not Wilson. He stated that in the spring of 1855 he was at work in the 
mines; that subsequently he removed to San Jose, where he was at work on a ranch till 
the spring of i860, when he went to Monterey County with a drove of cattle; and finally 
located in San Luis Obispo, where he resided till the time of his arrest. Upon, the 
examination of Slack before Judge Nye, on Monday, the i8th instant, two witnesses, 
one a brother of the murdered man, swore positively that Slack and Wilson were 
the same person. Other witnesses thought they were the same, but were not positive. 
One of these latter was present when the murder was committed. When the prose- 
cution closed the case seemed strong against the prisoner. The accused had three 
witnesses; one a Mr. Jameson, of Santa Clara County, who swore that he brought 
Slack across the plains from Missouri in the fall of 1854, and knew of his whereabouts 
in the spring of 1855, at the time the deed for which he was arrested was committed. 
A gentleman residing in San Francisco, named Cooksie, swore that he knew the 
accused in Missouri, and had known him from childhood; that his name was Slack 
and that he always bore a good character. A Mr. Eaton, living in San Francisco, 
testified that he knew the prisoner in the spring of 1855; that his name was Slack; 
that they worked together that spring in the mines at Coon Hill, between Mud 
Springs and Diamond Springs, near Placerville, El Dorado County; that he had met 
Slack in Santa Clara in i860. When the defense closed the prosecution asked for a 
postponement until the following Saturday, for the purpose of procuring the atten- 



350 History of Alameda County, California. 

dance of an important witness, whose whereabouts had been ascertained since the 
commencement of the examination. The motion was granted. On the reopening of 
the examination on Saturda)', two other witnesses were e.xamined for the prosecu- 
tion. One testified that this was the man Wilson. A woman who was called as 
a witness said that the prisoner was not Wilson; that Wilson had lost two front teeth; 
that she knew they were front teeth from the fact that on one occasion in conversa- 
tion Wilson told her that he had lost his teeth in a fight with a grizzly bear, but did 
not know whether they were from the upper or lower jaw, or from the front or the 
corner of the mouth. The former witness had sworn that Wilson had lost one or two 
teeth. The prisoner showed that he had had a tooth pulled, about a \-ear before, at 
San Luis Obispo. After the summing up by the respective attorneys, Judge Nye 
decided that the evidence was insufficient, and discharged the prisoner." 

On the night of June 29, 1868, another bloody affray occurred, a circumstance 
which would appear to have been more than ordinarily common in this year. It 
would appear that two Mexicans, named Lazra Higuerra and Rafael Altamareno, 
got into a dispute over a game of cards in Laddsville, Murray Township, and from 
words came to blows, when the former drew a knife and made a deadly assault 
upon the latter, cutting him about the face and almost severing his arm above the 
elbow. At this stage Agatone Ruis interfered, telling Higuerra not to kill Altama- 
reno, but so infuriated was he that he turned upon Ruis, who was compelled to shoot 
him in self-defense, three shots taking effect, one through the breast, another through 
the arm, and the third through the neck, causing him to become so weak that he could 
not be removed by Sheriff Morse. 

Another affair of this nature occurred at Laddsville, about a month later, under 
the following circumstances: On Sunda\-, August 9, 1868, a man named Hyde, a des- 
perate character, came into Ladd's Hotel, in the Livermore Valley, and demanded a 
drink, but being already under the influence of liquor, he was refused the beverage he 
sought by the proprietor. He then stepped behind the counter, and seizing a large 
water-pitcher struck Ladd on the head, cutting an ugly gash upon the temple. This 
blow he followed with another from a lager-beer-jug. Ladd, however, managed to 
grapple with him, but being no match for so powerful an adversary was thrown 
down to the ground and held there. At this juncture the bar-keeper of the establish- 
ment came upon the scene, but failing in his endeavors to separate the combatants, 
proceeded to procure assistance, which he found in the person of two Mexicans, with 
whom he returned. As they entered, the report of two pistols was heard, and on pull- 
ing Hyde off Ladd, they found he held a pistol in one hand, his finger on the trigger, 
and Ladd clutching it by the middle. Hyde was found to be shot in the abdomen, 
and, from the effects of the wound, died on the following day. During an examina- 
tion into the cause of the man's death before Justice Kottinger, Ladd stated that after 
being struck with the pitcher, he remembered nothing until the firing of the pistol 
brought him to his senses, and then he thought that he himself was the victim of the 
shot. A statement was made by another who had that da\' heard Hs'de saj' he would 
"have a man for his supper" that night, and went into Ladd's house with the delib- 
erate intention of killing Ladd, who, when he was down, had turned awa\- the muzzle 
from his own breast towards that of Hyde, when the latter pulling the trigger shot 



Criminal History of the County. 351 

himself, Ladd's hand being considerahjly lacerated by the powder. The death hav- 
ing been the result of a scuffle in self-defense, Ladd of course was discharged. The 
man Hyde is he whom we have shown above killed the mulatto barber named Manley, 
at Mission San Jos6 in October, 1866. 

An attempt was made on the 6th October of this year, by two men named Jack- 
son and Mann, who were in prison, to escape, in doing which they ineffectually tried 
to overpower Under Sheriff Borein, who, however, made a determined resistance, and 
whose cries fortunately brought assistance. Mr. Borein managed to keep firm hold 
of Jackson, but Mann contrived to get clear, but was soon captured. The story goes- 
that among the prominent pursuers was District Attorney Gilchrist, who seized an 
old pistol, the same with which Thomas had shot Officer Richardson in Oakland. 
When Mann beheld the noble attorney armed with an old pistol, which had probably 
not been loaded for many years, he cried out with fear and trembling — " Don't shoot; 
for God's sake, don't shoot!" Thus he was taken, and the normal quiet of the prison 
and the excited community restored. 

On September 20, 1868, two men named Lighton and Newell had a dispute over 
a dog-fight, in Castro Valley, at the rear of Haywards, Eden Township, when the 
latter shot the former through the head with a pistol, causing a wound from the effects 
of which he died on the 26th of the same month. Newell immediately thereafter 
mounting a horse escaped. So soon as this discovery was made the indefatigable 
Harry Morse was on his track, accompanied by Constable Morehouse (now a member 
of the State Board of Equalization). The extent of the search made for the murderer 
may be imagined when we mention that upwards of two hundred miles of country were 
covered. To no avail they ransacked the coal-mines of Contra Costa and Alameda. 
After being absent for a considerable period they returned and now heard of Newell's 
whereabouts in the southern country and were once more in chase. Following him 
through deserts and over sierras, sometimes hearing of him, and again losing all trace 
of him, they at last came across the decomposed remains of his defunct quadruped, 
and subsequently met the man himself flying false colors as a workman on, the Los 
Angeles ^nd Anaheim Railroad. The Sheriff arrived with him at San Leandro on 
the 7th November, where he was lodged in prison, subsequently tried, convicted, and 
sentenced to six years imprisonment in the State Prison. 

1869. — Early in this year another shooting affair occurred at Laddsville, but one 
which showed no criminal intent. A man named John Alty shot a Spaniard who 
was trying to force an entrance one night into a stable where he slept. He told him 
several times to go away, which he declined to do, he then shot him, the ball tak- 
ing effect in one of the arms, and in a few days he died from the effects of the wound. 
Alty, after giving bail to appear, was dismissed by the Grand Jury. 

A notorious desperado and thief, named S. F. Robinson, was arrested by Sheriff 
Morse, on April 5, 1869, in Palmyras Cafion, on the charge of stealing a set of harness 
from the barn of Thomas Livingston, San Lorenzo; while on June 6th, Patrick Glancy 
was arrested on a warrant from the Coroner's Court, dated the same day, for causing 
the death of Robert Lightbody, but what the result of this was, farther than he was 
admitted to bail in one thousand dollars, we have been unable to trace. The same 



352 History of Alameda County, California. 

remark bears on the case of Jesus Parcdas and two others, names unkiiuwn. who were 
indicted January 7, 1870, for enterinij the house of Joshua W'ahab, on the evening of 
October 5, 1869, and severely wounding him with a pistol. 

1870. — In the month of May of this year, Sheriff Morse, accompanied by Con- 
stable Morehouse, captured a Californian named Jesus Tcjada, who had been charged 
with being a participant in a dreadful crime in San Joaquin County, about twenty 
miles from Stockton, on December 9, 1869. He and a number of others, belonging 
to the same band, brutally and in cold blood, murdered a man named Frank Medina, 
an Italian store-keeper, his clerk, two Mexicans, and a negro on the occasion referred 
to, and then escaped. Sheriff Morse was commissioned with the arrest. About the 
latter part of April he received information that led him to believe that Tejada, one 
of the murderers, was encamped with a band of outlaws in the mountains, about one 
hundred miles south of Ellis Station, and with his companion started in pursuit. 
They found the band alluded to, but could not identify their man, and had to return. 
Subsequently, having received further information, they again proceeded to effect the 
arrest and in the night-time made a descent upon the outlaws' hiding-place, when 
within a few hundred yards of the spot where Tejada and four companions were 
sleeping, the officers came upon a sentinel that had been posted to vrarn the sleepers 
of the approach of danger. The sentry, on perceiving the officers, started for the 
tree where the murderer lay in the arms of Morpheus, but the Sheriff and his aids 
overhauled him before he could give the alarm. Creeping up softly, they got within 
a few feet of the party, and getting their rifles in position called upon them to sur- 
render. Tejada in surprise and consternation threw up his hands, evidently aware 
that he was the object sought. He was handcuffed and the officers took him off, 
leaving the others to their reflections. Tejada wa; about twent\'-four years of age, 
and six feet in height. 

Another life was sacrificed on July 27, 1S70, on this occasion at the Hayward.s 
Trotting Park; the victim and principal being two youthful jockeys. It would appear 
that they were skylarking or playing when Charles Roos drew a pistol and shot John 
McCue through the head, for which he was tried at the following session of the County 
Court and acquitted, the grounds taken being that the shooting had no malicious 
intent. Of this case the Grand Jury for the September term, 1870, in tlicir report 
speak in the following words: "The Grand Jury cannot but feel the hardship iinpo.sed 
by their finding against the boy Charles Roos, for murder in the second degree 
While the. evidence by which we were compelled to decide this case, left no alterna- 
tive to our action, we cannot but observe a serious deficiency in our criminal law> 
which threatens not only the punishment of mature felons, but a child of the tender 
age of from twelve to fourteen years, whose education has been neglected and who 
needs instruction and information rather than punishment. The hardening compan- 
ionship of the State Prison can only confirm him in a life-long career of crime. Such 
cases ought to be sent to an Industrial School; and since the abolition of the institu- 
tion formerly located at Marysville, we would suggest that the nc.Kt Legislature be 
called upon to make some other provision for the reformation of juvenile offenders 
throughout the State." 






jr^ 



^s? 



> Jvf 





Criminal History of the- County. 353 

Oh July 17, 1870, John Ignacio was killed by Joaquin Silva, who was indicted 
on the 23d September, but there are no documents on file to show whether he was 
convicted or not. 

The following diabolical deed, illustrative of the blood-thirsty character of the 
Indian, which occurred in Washington Township, is gathered from the columns of 
the Alameda County Gazette, of November 12, 1870: "On the evening of Thursday, 
the loth instant, an Indian woman, supposed to be insane, named Ariistaba, killed 
her daughter, aged ten years, the child of a 'greaser' (who was himself killed about 
three years ago at Gilroy), and a man named Cohuacho, a native of Sonora, Mexico, 
aged about forty years. The killing was done with an ax, in a house near the Alviso 
hills, where the woman had been put by her Indian friends for safe-keeping, and the man, 
Cohuacho, set to watch her. From the surroundings it appears that the woman took 
the man by surprise, in the house, his head being chopped and smashed to a jelly. 
The body of the little girl was found in a swamp near by, with the head mangled in 
the same way as the man's. Dr. Yates, who held the inquest upon the bodies, says 
the sight was an exceedingly horrible one. After the killing the woman wandered 
from the house, and was not found until the following Friday evening; she was then 
discovered at a.n Indian house, at Baylis' Mills. When she presented herself to the 
inmates of this house she appeared to be drunk. Her head was covered with gashes; 
more than a dozen in number, which were evidently self-inflicted, and her clothes 
clotted with blood from head to foot. Constable Trefry, of Centreville, lodged the 
woman in the County Jail yesterday morning, to which she was committed by the 
acting Justice. Since the commission of the crime she has acted as a perfectly sane per- 
son, except when she first appeared at the house at the mills. Before the arrest she 
acknowledged the murder, and gave as her motive a desire to kill herself, as she had 
no way of making her living. Violent deaths run among these people — the last hus- 
band of this woman having been killed, a few weeks ago, in a drunken row, by an 
Indian." At the January term of the County Court, 1871, Anistaba was duly indicted, 
and the cause transferred to the Third District Court. 

On November 11, 1870, Joaquin Augusta was convicted of murder in the second 
degree and sentenced to eleven years in the State Prison, but who his victim was 
the records do not show, the only documents on file being a copy of the judgment and 
a subpoena. 

1871. — On the evening of January 10, 1871, ex-Supervisor Thomas Scott, a store- 
keeper at Sufiol, and several other persons, among them Otto Ludovisci, Mr. Scott's 
clerk, were sitting in the store engaged in conversation. The place is a wild-looking, 
lonesome locality, and as there were many lawless characters prowling about the 
neighborhood, the doors of the store were usually kept locked after dark, and custom- 
ers who visited the establishment for supplies had only to rap to gain admittance. 
Some time during the evening mentioned above, a knock was heard at the front door. 
It was answered by the clerk, who, upon opening it, was confronted by three men, 
among whom \yas a notorious Mexican named Juan Soto, with bandages over the 
lower part of their faces to disguise themselves. They entered, and, paying no atten- 
tion to the other inmates, attacked the clerk and shot him, inflicting a wound from which 



354 History of Alameda County, California. 



he died shortly afterwards. The murderers at once cleared out, and being all well 
mounted escaped pursuit, but before leaving helped themselves to sixty-five dollars in 
cash from the till. On the next day Harry Morse was at their heels. He first pro- 
ceeded to San Jose, visited the New Almaden Mines, scoured the country as far 
south as the Pacheco Pass, and penetrated into Merced County, but with no success. 
However, a colony of Mexicans, all armed and desperate characters, had been dis- 
covered in the Panoche Mountains by Sheriff Harris, of Santa Clara, and from among 
their number had taken an escaped convict from his county. This information he 
imparted to Sheriff Morse, but in the mean time the band had dispersed. Intelli- 
gence, however, was soon received by Morse of the whereabouts of some of the gang, 
and, therefore, without delay, accompanied by Sheriff Harris and Constable Winchell, 
of San ]us6, and a small party of trusty men, he made for the Panoche Mountains. 
The exact position having been obtained from certain guides procured, three houses, 
near to each other, wherein they lay, were pointed out, therefore it became necessary 
to divide the party, to make a search so that all within should be arrested. Accom- 
panied by Winchell, Morse proceeded into one of the houses, unfortunately, however, 
leaving his Henry rifle slung on the horn of his saddle, and there found, seated at a 
table with three others, Juan Soto, the murderer of Ludovisci. He was unprepared 
for so sudden a rencontre, but determined at once to secure his man, therefore, draw- 
ing his revolver, he called upon the Mexican to "throw up his hands," co\'ering him 
with his pistol as he spoke. No response came to this command. Thrice was it 
repeated and thrice was it defiantly ignored. Morse now, keeping his eye steadily 
fi.xed upon the murderer, produced a pair of handcuffs, which, throwing upon the 
table, he directed his companion to place upon Soto's wrists; but at this critical 
moment a large, muscular female sprang from behind upon the Sheriff, seized his 
right arm in a vise-like grip, his left was clutched by a man who was near, while, 
quick as thought, seeing Morse thus encumbered, Soto leapt from where he stood at 
bay to a position behind a companion and drew his pistol. Minutes now became 
momentous, and a struggle for life lay before the officers. With a prodigious effort 
Morse threw off his assailants, and fired his pistol at the bandit's head, but only car- 
ried away his hat. Juan now retaliated. The Sheriff thereupon made a dash for the door, 
succeeded in making a safe exit, but on turning a corner found himself looking down 
the barrel of his opponent's pistol. Both now discharged their weapons at each other, 
the outlaw's shot being in advance, and how he missed is strange, for he was reputed 
a "dead shot." Four times were shots exchanged without a casualty, but now a bullet 
from Morse's revolver struck that of Soto, which it is believed so numbed his arm 
that he at once made for the house. 

While beating this hasty retreat, Winchell appeared on the scene, armed with a 
double-barreled shot-gun, heavily loaded with shot, and commenced a fusilade upon 
the vanishing figure of the outlaw, but without effect. Morse then ran for and 
secured his Henry rifle. In the interval Soto had been indulging in a little habilita- 
tion, in the shape of putting his blue soldier's overcoat on the back of a companion. 
This effected, both ran for a saddled horse, hitched to a tree standing opposite the 
house, and Sheriff Harris was about to fire at the blue-coated runner, when he was 
hailed by Morse, that a ruse had been perpetrated, and thus checked his fire. Fate 



Criminal History of the County. 355 

seemed to be against the bandit on that fatal 12th of May. At the juncture last 
mentioned Soto's horse bro^e away from him, and while in the act of running to 
another, which stood ready at a little distance, a bullet from Morse's "Henry" hit his 
right shoulder. With this he turned around with demoniacal resolve in his eyes. 
Holding a revolver in either hand he boldly advanced to meet his enemy, the Sheriff. 
This was no time for parley : Morse raised his rifle, a cloud of smoke, a report, and 
the desperado lay stretched upon the ground shot through the brain, and once more 
was the gallows cheated of its proper prey. 

The entire party of desperadoes was afterwards captured, at their headquarters, 
close by, and among them was found the notorious cattle-thief Gonzales, who had 
escaped from the Santa Cruz prison only a short time previously. 

Soto, as we have already stated, was a large and powerful man, a complete type 
of the traditional Mexican bandit, with long, black hair, heavy, bushy eyebrows, large 
eyes of an undefined color, with, altogether, a tigerish aspect. He had served two 
terms in the State Prison, and was generally regarded as the most formidable and 
desperate character living on this coast. He was known to all the Mexican inhabit- 
ants in the lower counties, and was held in such dread that few or none of them 
dared to offend him or make known his hiding-places. It appears that, like many 
other celebrated men of his class, he at length fell a victim to the ruling passion of 
mankind, having come from the rendezvous to visit certain seductive sefioritas in that 
secluded valley, where he had the ill-luck to encounter the redoubtable and vengeful 
Harry Morse. The rest of the gang had returned to headquarters, leaving the 
hapless chieftain to the society of his lady-love. It must be said for the dare-devil 
of the mountains that he made one of the most gallant fights on record, and fell in 
a conflict with a foeman worthy of his lion-like courage. The Sheriff, having 
secured his splendid black horse, and his three formidable revolvers, left him to be 
buried by his Mexican friends, who through the fight manifested very little excite- 
ment, and seemed to regard the bloody work as an incident of their wild life. The 
old women made some little outcry, but the girls manifested the utmost composure. 

Too much praise cannot be awarded to Sheriff Morse for this capture. In it he 
distinguished himself by one of the most desperate and daring acts that has ever 
been performed in the history of detective work on the Pacific Coast, and his own 
life was preserved only by the manifestation of astonishing self-possession and 'pres- 
ence of mind. It so happened that circumstances placed him in the focus of danger, 
out of reach of his companions, where he had to rely wholly upon that steadfast 
courage and steadiness of nerve which have given him deserved celebi'ity among the 
foremost detective officers of the country. He had previously been through many 
perilous adventures among the more desperate characters of California, but we sup- 
pose this hand-to-hand and long-continued conflict with the chief of the brigands was 
the rnost exciting and desperate of all. 

In regard to the foregoing it may be mentioned that during the month of March, 
1873, one Bartolo Sepulveda, against whom there had been a warrant out for two 
years, accusing him of being concerned in the murder of Ludovisci, came to San 
Leahdro and delivered himself up to Sheriff Morse, demanding a trial to exonerate 
himself from the charge. He was duly indicted, twice tried, and sentenced by Judge 
McKee to imprisonment for life in the State Prison. 



356 History of Alameda County, California. 

On January i6, 1871, a man named Hiscock, a hunter, was murdered by Ramon 
Amador, near Pleasanton, Murray Township. Amador had beguiled his victim into 
the chaparral in search of deer that the scoundrel had informed him were in that 
neighborhood, when, being previously possessed of a gun belonging to Hiscock, he 
deliberately discharged its contents into the back and head of his victim. After a 
vigilant search he was captured, and admitted the killing, but said it was in self- 
defense. Amador was duly indicted, tried, July 20th, found guilt)-, and sentenced to 
be hanged, which was carried into execution September 9, 1871. 

On February 17, 1871, a man named Zelotus Reed was shot aind killed by F. W. 
Clarke, at a ranch in the foot-hills near Ocean View, about seven miles from Oakland, 
in the township of that name. The following statement of the crime is taken from 
the columns of the Oakland Neivs: For a long time past the case of Gustave Mahe 
vs. John Rej-nolds has been progressing, involving the title of about eighteen settlers 
to a portion of the Peralta Rancho, at Cardoneces Creek, commonly known as the 
Williamson property. Final judgment was at last obtained, and a writ of assistance 
was issued and placed in the hand of Sheriff Morse for service. In many instances 
the settlers acknowledged the title that had been judicially established and took leases 
of the property they had occupied, which were given on nominal terms. One of 
those who refused to recognize the title was the deceased. Reed, and by virtue of the 
writ of assistance the Sheriff ejected him and placed H. K. \V. Clarke, the actual owner, 
in possession. Mr. Clarke, in turn, placed his son, F. W. Clarke, a young man about 
twenty-seven years of age, in charge of the premises. When Reed was ejected, on 
Thursday (February i6th), he said that he was "prepared to shed his blood; that it 
should flow as freely as water," etc., in the presence of Mr. Clarke and his son. They 
were at the time informed that Reed was a dangerous man, as we learn from the 
friends of young Clarke. At the time of the ejectment a large quantity of personal 
property belonging to Reed was on the premises, and he was told to come the next 
day and take it off On Friday he went to the premises occupied by Clarke and 
proceeded to load on his wagon the property belonging to him, and which he had 
permission to remove. He was told to put it all on the wagon and not to return. He 
paid no attention to this, except to reply that he would do as he pleased. About 
half-past two in the afternoon he approached the premises in a wagon, he being 
seated, but a man of the name of Charles Huntsman was standing. When about to 
enter the inclosure Clarke told them to keep off, saying that he had possession and 
would not be disturbed in it. Reed entered a portion of the premises and occupied 
a small building in defiance of Clarke, saying that he was able to take care of himself 
and could shoot as well as anybody else. They told him to shoot if he wanted to, 
and continued their course. Clarke had a four-barreled Sharpc's pistol, and he dis- 
charged the contents of one of the barrels, probably at Huntsman, no harm being 
done. Three other shots were fired, and two of them took effect on Reed, who fell 
back, saying, "I am killed!" Huntsman immediately summoned the nearest physi- 
cian, hastened to Oakland and notified the police, who apprehended Clarke and a 
man named C. F. Waite, who was with him. Reed, who was shot through the heart, 
was a middle-aged, single man, who had made his home with Williamson, working 
for his board, for several }'cars, and is represented to have been usually quiet and 
peaceable. 



Criminal History of the County. :557 

Justice Lentell held a Coroner's inquest on the body of the deceased on the fol- 
lowing Saturday, when the accompanying verdict was returned: — 

We, the undersigned, the jurors summoned to appear before James Lentell, acting Coroner of the county of 
Alameda, on the iSth day of February, 1S71, to inquire into the cause of the death of Zelotus Reed, who was 
killed on Williamson's Ranch, having been duly sworn according to law, and having made such inquisitions, 
after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony adduced, upon our oath, each and all do say that we find the 
deceased was named Zelotus Reed, aged about forty-six or forty-seven years; that he came to his death on the 
17th day of February, 1871, in this county; and we further find that we believe F. W. Clarke to be the person 
by whose act the death of the said Zelotus Reed was occasioned, by shooting him, the said Reed, with pistol- 
shot, killing him; and we further believe that Charles F. Waite was accessory thereto; all of which we duly, 
certify by this inquisition in writing, by us signed this iSth day of February, 1871. 

William Grahaji, A. Rammelsberg, , Walter Blair, 

SiLVANUs White, Charles Carl, G. A. Warren. • 

Joseph Fallon, 

On February 21st, a preliminary examination was had before Judge Jayne of 
the Police Court, Oakland, which continued for no less than five days, thei-e being a 
great amount of legal talent arrayed on the contending sides. The prosecution was 
■conducted by District Attorney Wright, aided by City^ Attorney Havens, Zach Mont- 
gomery, and W. W. Foote; the defense being in the hands of Harvey S. Brown, Blake 
■& Van Voorhies, VV. H. Glascock, and Alexander Campbell. At the conclusion of 
the inquiry, Judge Jayne delivered the following judgment: — 

I have listened attentively to every word of the testimony, and have studied over it by night as well as by day,, 
and can come to a conclusion now. I find from the evidence adduced in the examination, that a crime has been 
committed as charged in the complaint, and that there is sufficient cause to believe the defendant, Frederick 
W. Clarke, guilty thereof. It is ordered that he be committed to the Sheriff of Alameda County. In regard to 
the defendant, Waite, I considered his evidence against himself to be the clearest of all the evidence brought forward, 
except as to the statement by Huntsman that he saw him show a weapon before the shooting. He does not seem 
to attempt to screen his friend. I am constrained to believe that he has narrated the transaction as he believes 
it to be. I believe that he has told the truth. There is no evidence to charge him with being accessory. He is 
-therefore discharged. 

On February 28, 1871, Clarke was brought before Judge Crockett of the Supreme 
•Court upon a writ of habeas corpus, when the prisoner was admitted to bail in the 
sum of thirty thousand dollars, and at the following term of the County Court in 
April, 1871, the case was submitted to a Grand Jury composed of W. G. Hunt, Fore- 
man; Robert Carr, C. P. Hanson, F. Garcia, F. Devoll, C. B. Rutherford, A. Chabot, 
J. A. Folger, E. Gallagher, Fred. Runkle, David Scully, W. A. Bray, H. F. Shepardson, 
W. Benitz, who ignored the bill, whereupon the defendant was discharged and his 
bail exonerated. 

This decision of the Grand Jury produced marked wonder among citizens; their 
conduct was vehemently denounced by the press, and the District Attorney, S. P. 
Wright, was loudly condemned. In refutation he appeared in print answering his 
traducers. He stated that the case for the people had been presented in as clear and 
lucid a manner as it well could be; that they had the testimony untrammeled of a 
large number of witnesses that the defendant produced before the committing magis- 
trate, as to the general reputation of the deceased. He observed: "When I left the 
Grand Jury-room, and as I was closing the door after me, I heard some one of the 
'Grand Jurors say, T move to ignore the bill;' and, hearing such a motion as that, I felt 



358 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

indignant, as the defendant, under the evidence, in my opinion, ought to have been 
indicted." 

The District Attorney forthwith applied to the Court for an order to resubmit 
the case to another Grand Jury, there appearing in favor of the application, Mr. Wright, 
and against it, Harvey S. Brown, H. K. W. Clarke, William Van Voorhies, and George 
M. Blake. Judge Nye, in his decision stated that the points in favor of the motion 
made by the District Attorney were not sustained, but the Judge discovered a point 
not there raised, viz., that the jury erred in listening to the testimonv of the defend- 
ant, Clarke, and remarks in the opinion, after quoting from the Criminal Practice Act: 

The defendant then becomes a competent witness only after indictment found or complaint made or other pro- 
ceedings instituted, and the' issue of fact made by a plea interposed and u])on trial of the issue. Wherefore, the 
Grand Jury erred in hearing the defendant as a witness. 

It is suggested that the latter point was not made by the prosecution and no argument had thereon, and that 
the resubmission be had without argument as to that point, and some showing formerly made by the District 
Attorney. Reserving a decision on this point, I will permit the District Attorney to make such showing further 
as he may see fit, and hear arguments thereon on the first day of the ne.vt term, Court being now about to adjourn. 

At this subsequent term Judge Nye made an order resubmitting the case to the 
Grand Jury, from which the defendant appealed to the Supreme Court, who held that 
the order was not appealable. The case was again submitted by the County Judge, 
when the defendant sued out a writ of review before Judge Dwindle, who held the 
case for about two years without rendering a decision, until the press and the public 
_ became so clamorous about it that he at length dismissed the writ and the case went 
before another Grand Jury, which in turn also ignored the bill. 

Of this cause ccichrc, Mr. Halley, who edited a paper in Oakland about this time, 
says: "There was a great deal of feeling in this case, not only in Alameda County, 
but outside of it. It was presumed that the wealth of the accused and his social posi- 
tion had much to do with his escape; if was charged that he received the favor of the 
legal fraternity; that his father was a lawyer; that members of the judiciary became 
his bondsmen; that the Supreme Court Judges favored him; that all the land-grabbers 
in the country gathered around him; that Horace W. Carpcntier had used his wealth 
and influence unsparingly for his protection; and all because the man who was slain 
had in his capacity, as a settler on some disputed lands in Contra Costa County, 
rendered himself obnoxious to these parties in defending his own and his neighbors' 
rights against their encroachments. 

" Much space is given here to this celebrated case, because it is looked upon as 
one to be ever held up as an example, showing the danger to life and liberty, even 
under our free and popular system of government, when certain influences are allowed 
to be exercised. Indeed, the whole affair is looked upon as marvelous, and such as 
not to be credited only that the evidence of it is .so recent, and all the facts are so 
patent, with what assiduity and ability the mind must have worked and the hand 
directed, that produced such extraordinary results and defeated justice, shielding a 
a culprit and threw the darkest shades of suspicion on the»machincry'of the law!" 

We are sorry to state that later on it will be our painful dut\- to once more refer 
to F. W. Clarke, upon whom suspicion rested as having been in some manner concerned 
in the death of a relative. 



Criminal History of the County. 359 

And yet another homicide occurred in the year 1871. On the 26th of March, 
WilUam Powers, in a drunken quarrel that occurred on the Haas place, about six miles 
east of Haywards, " on the divide," stabbed and killed a Norwegian named Nelson 
Larseh. At the Coroner's inquest held before Justice of the Peace Graham, the jury 
returned the following verdict in accordance with the facts adduced : — 

We the undersigned, convened as jurors to hold an inquest on a dead body, do find as follows, viz. : That 
the body is that of one Larsen; that his &ge was about forty-seven years; nativity, Norway; and that he came to 
his death on the 26th of March, at Haas' Ranch, in Eden Township, from a wound inflicted by a knife in the 
hands of one William Powers. 

At the April term of the County Court, 1871, the murderer was tried, convicted, 
and sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment in the State Prison. 

On June i 5, 1871, a man who went by the name of " Dutch Fra.nk" a/zas Michael 
Frendar , shot and killed Edward Lavin, on the Dublin Road, in Eden Vale, about a 
mile and a half from Haywards: The cause of quarrel between the men, who were 
neighbors, was a trivial one, and may be shortly described as follows : Fi'endar had 
accused Lavin's son of stealing one of his chickens, and caught him roughly, when his 
father w6nt to the rescue. Taking hold of Frendar he stigmatized him as " an old 
thief," following the expression with coarse and abusive language, finally striking him 
on the neck. With an imprecation Frendar raised a gun which he carried, and fired 
at Lavin, who staggering fell, and while falling received another shot from Frendar. 
The culprit gave himself up to the authorities, was subsequently tried, found guilty 
of murder in the second degree on July 21st, and sentenced to fifteen years imprison- 
ment in San Quentin, but in 1872 was pardoned. 

On July 23, 1 87 1, John Dorsey shot and killed Edward Donahue at Mission San 
Jose. He was indicted at the . September term of the County Court, found guilty of 
murder in the second degree, and on November 15th, sentenced to thirteen years 
imprisonment in the State Prison. 

This slaying was followed by another shooting affair which took place near Liv- 
ermore, Murray Township, on Sunday, July 30, 1 871, when a man named Bradley 
desperately wounded another named Knuckles. To elude his creditors the former 
had placed a sum of money in the hands of the latter, which he refused to refund, 
upon which Bradley deliberately shot him in the lower jaw, tearing away the entire 
chin and ripping the flesh down close to the windpipe. 

We have alluded to a shooting affair that occurred in Alameda, in the history of 
that township, in September, 1871, therefore it will be unnecessary to do more than 
refer to it in this place. 

The following record in the celebrated Laura D. Fair case appears on file among 

the criminal papers of 1871: — 

County Court, Friday Morning, January 6, 1871. 
The People of the State ) 

Against f Indicted for Murder. 

Laura D. Fair. ) 

It appearing to the Court that the Grand Jury have found and presented herein a true bill of Indictment for 
Murder against said defendant. It is ordered that the Clerk transmit said Indictment to the Clerk of the District 
Court in and for the county of Alameda. 



360 History of Alameda County, California. 

In the records of the Third District Court, under date Februar\- 23, 1871, we find 
the following: — 

The PEorLE 1 
vs. 
Laura D. Fair. ) 

No proceedings in this case were had and the Court ordered the same passed. 

It will be remembered that the shooting of A. P. Crittenden took place on the 
ferry-boat during its passage across the bay, and upon the question of jurisdiction it 
was decided to have taken place within the limits of the city and county of San 
Francisco, the cause being accordingly transferred thither. 

1872. — On March 6, 1872, William Steele was placed on trial at San Lcandro for 
the murder of Silverio Monjas, on a change of venue, when he was returned not guilt)-. 
The circumstances of the case we will now relate. 

Of this affair the Contra Costa Gazette, of July 8, 1871, has the following: 
"During the past week or more, the people of the central portion of the county have 
been intensely excited by occurrences growing out of the disputed ownership and 
p •'ssession of a certain portion of the Moraga grant, about which there has been much 
litigation and contention for several years. The land in question is claimed on one 
side by Isaac Yoakum, and on the other by members of the Moraga family. Some 
two months or more ago the Sheriff, by writ of the District Court, was directed to 
put Yoakum in possession of the lands then occupied b}' a portion of the Moraga 
family, but he had, as is claimed, no authority in executing the writ, to remove and 
dispossess such of the Moraga children as were not named in the instrument, and he 
refused to do so. Yoakum, or his agent, as is said, refusing at the time to accept pos- 
session unless all the Moragas and their personal effects were removed. Yoakum 
subsequently, however, went into occupancy of the portion of the premises to which 
the writ entitled him; and the Moragas remained in possession as the Sheriff had left 
them, of a portion of the land claimed by Yoakum, and to which, as we understand, 
he would have been entitled under the judgment of the Court, but for an error of 
omission in the complaint in action, upon which the judgment was rendered in his 
favor. From this situation of affairs, both parties claiming and believing they had 
legal and equitable rights which they were justified in asserting and defending, 
much heat and bitterness of feeling has arisen, and several serious collisions have 
occurred to the imminent peril of life on both sides. Some time early in May several 
rifle-shots were fired at one of the Moragas, and the horse he was riding was killed 
by a man in the employ of Yoakum, named William Steele, who was at that time, 
together with one of the Yoakum boys, under one thousand dollar bonds to answer 
before the Grand Jury of the county. 

"Since that time the temper of the hostile parties has not improved, and threat- 
ening demonstrations and preparations have been made on both sides, with no very 
serious results, however, until last Saturday (July 1st) when Silverio Monjas, one of 
the Moraga party, was shot by William Steele, as he affirms, in self-defense. On 
the previous day there had been a collision between the parties and a good deal of 
shooting. In the melee, one of the Moraga girls was struck with a gun and severely 





€>^;^Cuy^C^ 




'^^^^^^t.^, 
~^^- 



Criminal History of the County. " 361 

hurt by Mr. Yoakum, and the horse he was riding was fatally shot. Reports of 
these occurrences spread rapidly about the county, and created a degree of excite- 
ment and manifestations of indignation seldom produced in our usually quiet and 
moderate community; and the excitement and indignation reached a higher pitch on 
Saturday, after the shooting of Monjas, threatening to culminate .in a vengeful out- 
break against the Yoakum party. In the heat of the excitement many intemperate 
and improper charges and threats were made, which a cooler judgment and a fuller 
knowledge of facts would not justify. 

"Sheriff Brown was on the ground shortly after the shooting of Monjas, on Sat- 
urday, and, on the information of Yoakum, found and arrested Steele. Yoakum vol- 
untarily offered to surrender himself to the Sheriff for examination before any com- 
petent magistrate, upon any charge that might be prefen-ed against him, and accom- 
panied the Sheriff to Walnut Creek, where, on finding Justice Slitz was absent, they 
proceeded to Pacheco, and, on reaching that place, found that Justice Ashbrook was 
also from home. Yoakum here declined to accompany the officer farther, though he 
offered to give his word or bond for appearance, whenever, and for whatever purpose 
required. As the Sheriff had no warrant or authority whatever for detaining him, 
he was allowed to go; and the Sheriff has been highly censured therefor, but, so far 
as we can see, without the slightest good reason." 

Monjas, who was shot by Steele, died about three o'clock on Saturday morning, 
and a Jury of Inquest, summoned and sworn on Sunday by Justice Allen, continued 
their inquiries until Monday evening, when the inquest was adjourned to ten o'clock, 
Saturday morning, at Walnut Creek. 

Steele was brought before Justice Ashbrook for examination on Thursday; the 
People in the conduct of the case were represented by District Attorney Mills, and 
the defendant by Judge Blake, of Oakland. The examination was concluded on 
Friday afternoon, and Steele was held to answer for murder without admission to bail. 

The Jury of Inquest found Isaac Yoakum to be accessory to the killing of the 
said Silverio Monjas. 

He was brought before Justice Ashbrook, of Pacheco, on July loth, to answer 
to the charge of assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to commit bodily injury 
upon the person of Gunecinda Moraga, in Moraga Valley, on June 30, 1871. On 
motion of Judge Warmcastle, acting for District Attorney Mills, the charge was mod- 
ified to one of assault and battery. The defendant, contrary to the expressed desire 
of the Court and the prosecution, objected to trial of the charge by jury, and in defer- 
ence to his objection the case was tried without a jury. The trial occupied the 
greater part of the loth and iith. The defendant conducted the case in his own 
behalf, assisted by a young lady, his daughter, who wrote out the testimony as given 
in by the witnesses. The evidence produced clearly sustained the charge, and estab- 
lished that the defendant had proved an aggravated assault upon the Moraga girl, 
striking her twice with his gun and inflicting severe hurts upon her person, while, at 
request of his herder, she and her sister were assisting him to drive the defendant's 
sheep away from the inclosure held by the Moraga family. Yoakum was found guilty 
and fined five hundred dollars, but gave notice of appeal. 

On the charge of being accessory with William Steele in the killing of Silverio 
2% 



362 HisTORV OF Alameda Countv, California. 



Monjas, Isaac Yoakum was brought before Justice Wood, of Da nville, on July 24th, 
being continued till the 27th, and at the conclusion of the examinat ion was held upon 
bail of three thousand dollars to answer to the charge. 

Steele was tried and disposed of as mentioned above; and then held on another 
charge of assault with intent to murder Joaquin Moraga on April 13, 1871, when the 
plaintiff had his horse shot under him. The defendant was liberated on bail, to 
appear at the next session of the Court on this charge. The case was tried in the 
April term of the County Court, and the prisoner found guilty. He was sentenced 
to pay a fine of five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned at the rate of two dollars a 
day until paid. 

On April 25, 1872, Rodendo alias Procopio, one of the most noted and desperate 
cattle-thieves that ever infested Alameda County, was convicted of the larceny of a 
cow. His counsel asking until the 3d of May, for time to show cause why a new 
trial should be granted, but which was denied after lengthy argument on that day. 
Procopio was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in San Quentin' 

Tomaso Rodendo alias Procopio, the above-mentioned bandit, a nephew of the 
celebrated Joaquin Murietta, was suspected of being connected with the murder of John 
Rains, in Los Angeles, in 1859. He escaped from thence and came to Alameda County. 
In 1863 he was arrested for the murder of the Golden family in Alameda, his accom- 
plices being supposed to have been Narcisco Borjorques and Celano Ortego. In 
attempting to arrest Borjorques Sheriff Morse shot him off his horse, but he escaped 
to the bushes. An account of this event will be found in the history of Murray 
Township. Afterward he was killed in the lower country. Some time subsequently 
Tomaso Rodendo was arrested in Alameda County for cattle-stealing. When appre- 
hended he shot the Constable and got away, swimming the stream with his pistol in his 
mouth, persons shooting at him the while. He was subsequentlj' captured and sent 
to the State Prison for seven years, his time expiring in 1870. As soon as he was 
set free he was suspected, and not without reason, of being connected with all the 
daring mail robberies in the lower counties, and had become a terror to the entire 
State. His seizure was effected in a restaurant in Morton Street, San Francisco, and 
when taken had two pistols in his belt, so arranged that he could easily draw them. 
When he observed two officers entering the front door he made a motion to draw a 
pistol, but turning about and seeing himself covered b^' pistols at che other door, he 
submitted to fate. Procopio is described as an ugly-looking desperado, over six feet 
high, and known to most of the Sheriffs in California. 

In the month of March of this year Ah Sam, convicted of assault to murder in 
1867, and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, and William Hoffman, who rccei\-ed 
five years for grand larceny, were pardoned. 

1873. — On August 12, Sebastian Flores killed Francisco Garcia near the house 
of Senor Higuerra, at the Warm Springs, Washington Township. It would appear 
that each had borne the other a grudge for a long time, and meeting at a wake held 
over the body of a young Spanish girl at the place stated abo\-e, a slight difficult}' 
occurred between them during the evening. At about ten o'clock they left the house 
and went a short distance together down a road, where another altercation took place 



Criminal History of the County. 363 

between them, and Garcia received a wound from which he died on the 21st of Sep- 
tember. When found he lay on the ground with his throat cut. After several days' 
trial and an elaborate charge by Judge McKee, the jury brought in a verdict of man- 
slaughter, the prisoner being sentenced on the 21st November, 1873, to five years, 
imprisonment in the State Prison. 

1874. — In this year the famous Harry Morse started on an unsuccessful hunt 
after the noted bandit, Tiburcio Vasquez, "but," says the Neivs, " newspaper correspond- 
ents were too much for the hunters to contend with, for although Morse traveled by 
unfrequented trails, avoiding public highways and human habitations, the enterprising 
' gatherer up of unconsidered trifles ' kept in his wake and wafted by telegraph to the 
whole country the whereabouts of the searchers. Vasquez had thus been kept better 
posted about the movements of his pursuers than the public had been." The robber 
was captured, however, a few days after. May 14, 1874, by Major Mitchell's party, not 
far from Los Angeles. The daring deeds of Tiburcio Vasquez, the wily and active 
bandit, whose scoundrelisms eclipse those of Joaquin Murietta, had won for him a 
national notoriety. He had roamed through the southern counties of the State, and 
apparently held rodeos of the desperadoes of his own ilk, gathering all the outcasts 
together under his command, and planning and plotting and executing raids upon 
travelers, ranches, and towns. He had defied the authorities with the audacity of a 
Vidocq, and baffled every attempt at capture. The story of his repeated triumphs 
over law and order impressed many of his adventurous countrymen with the idea that 
he was a chosen leader in rascality, one of the anointed, and ought to be assisted 
with kindly encouragement in word and deed. The fellow had actually recruited his 
gang on several occasions with young Californians whom he enticed to the broad trail 
leading to distinction, by the narration of hi.s triumphs and the practice of the seduc- 
tive arts in which he seemed to abound. Several members of his gang were boys, 
■ who bore fair reputations for honesty prior to uniting their fortunes with the outlaws. 
Others were young men who never were promoted to the grand larceny grade until 
Vasquez admitted them to. his advanced class of rogues. This outlaw had a notable 
prison record. He entered the State Prison on August 26, 1857, from Los Angeles 
County, having been convicted of grand larceny and sentenced to imprisonment for a 
space of five years. He was then only nineteen years old. He escaped June 25, 1859, 
and the following August was apprehended in Amador County on a charge of grand 
larceny. He was convicted and returned to San Quentin to serve a term of one year. 
The fact of his previous escape does not seem to have been taken into consideration 
by the Amador Court. The term of his imprisonment began January 18, 1867, when 
he was sent from Sonoma County for grand larceny and held for a period of four 
years, after which, and until the tim; of his capture, he had been constantly engaged 
in robbing and murdering people in the southern counties. 

A shocking tragedy occurred at the farm of Patrick Feeney, on the county road 
to Moraga Valley, about one mile and a half beyond East Oakland, on the morning 
of May 27, 1874, the details of which are as follows: Mr. Feeney, who lived with his 
wife and three small children on the farm, had at intervals for about a year previous, 
suffered from an affection of the brain, caused by falling on his head from a load of 



3G4 History of Alameda County, California. 

hay, and several months before it was thought advisable to commit him to the State 
Insane Asylum. His wife, however, desired to keep him at home, and as she appre- 
hended no danger to herself or children, he was not taken before a Commission of 
Lunacy, as was the intention at that time. 

About three o'clock on the morning mentioned above, Feeney arose from his bed, 
complaining that he had been unable to sleep all night, and went out of the house. 
He returned a few minutes afterwards, and as he entered the room in which Mrs. 
Feeney was lying in bed, she observed that he carefully held his hands behind him, 
as though endeavoring to conceal something from her view. His manner alarmed 
her, and she raised herself up in bed, and asked him what he was going to do. He 
simply answered " nothing," and at the same moment a hatchet fell from his hands to 
the floor. Mrs. Feeney, now very much frightened, and springing from the bed, begged 
her husband to quiet himself and to do no harm. Before she had scarcely spoken, he 
grasped the hatchet from the floor and rushed upon the children, who had by this 
time come into the room, and brandished the murderous weapon over their heads and 
aimed several blows at them. The mother sprang to their rescue and warding off the 
blows of the maniac saved their lives, but could not prevent them from receiving several 
cuts upon the head, none of which, however, were of a serious nature. The insane man's 
murderous freak seemed suddenly to leave him, for he turned and rushed from the 
house still retaining the bloody hatchet in his hand. Mrs. Feeney,'alarmed for his 
safety, took her children and proceeded to the house of her nearest neighbor, about 
a quarter of a mile distant, narrated there the horrible occurrence, and besought 
the assistance of the inmates to find her husband. One of the men started immedi- 
ately for East Oakland to summon a physician and police aid, and another proceeded 
to search for Feeney. After seeking some time the insane man was found, lying upon 
his side, with his knees drawn up to his chin, as though to bring his body into as small 
a space as possible, in a hollow known as Sessions' Ravine, about three hundred yards 
from Feeney's house. When discovered, his first words were that he was cold and 
wished some one to cover him up. He then asked for a drink of water, and the man 
went to the house to procure some for him. On his return to the spot Feeney had 
turned upon his back, and it was then discovered that he was shockingly wounded. 
His clothes were saturated with blood, and several streams of the life-current were 
issuing from wounds in his left breast. Constable Nedderman, of East Oakland, and 
Doctor Bamford arrived at this moment, and Feeney was carried into the hou.se. 
Upon examination the doctor found no less than eight wounds in the left breast, which 
had been inflicted with a short knife, such as butchers use in skinning animals, which 
had been ground very sharp and pointed. Some of the stabs had evidently penetrated 
the left lung, as at every inhalation of the breath, air flowed with some force out 
from the wounds. Loss of blood had rendered the unfortunate man extremely weak. 
Feeney was represented as a man of temperate habits and the owner of about forty 
or fifty thousand dollars worth of property. 

On August 4, 1874, Thomas Thornton and Edward Edwards were .sentenced to 
thirteen years' imprisonment in San Quentin for the robbery of W.J. Keating in Oak- 
land, on the night of May 4th. When being taken over the bay, Edwards complained 
of the tightness of the handcuff by which he was chained to the other prisoners, and 



Criminal History of the County. 365 

upon examination the Sheriff found that it had cut into his flesh; he therefore loosened 
it one notch. The fellow returned his gratitude by quietly slipping his hand through 
the handcuff, and as the boat was about to leave, jumped ashore and managed to 
make his escape. 

On the evening of Friday, December ii, 1874, San Leandro was the scene of a 
fearful tragedy, resulting in the death of two persons, man and wife. The circum- 
stances of the event are thus told: Leonard Watkins, formerly a station agent and 
subsequently a Deputy County Clerk at San Leandro, but more recently Deputy 
County Clerk of Santa Clara County, shot his wife on the street in front of the old 
Court House, killing her instantly, and then shot himself through the head. There 
was no accounting for this murder, for the lady was beyond reproach, and its com- 
mission must have been the result of a disordered brain. 

1875. — At the January Term, 1875, Joseph Ratto was indicted for a murderous 
assault upon his wife, Louisa Ratto, on October 2, 1874, and was tried, January 291 
1875, found guilty, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the State Prison. 

On April 16, 1875, a shooting affray with fatal results occurred near the farm of 
a Mr. McGeery, about five miles northeast of Livermore. It seems that two brothers, 
George and Jack McGeery, pre-empted adjoining quarter-sections which were con- 
firmed to them. George McGeery died in the interim and his brother held his 
quarter-section. Antonio Garcia, a Spaniard, who claimed to have had previous 
possession, had since the death of George McGeery attempted to dispossess the 
brother and regain the land. The parties had been quarreling for some time, with 
many threats of violence on either side. On the date mentioned, as Jack McGeery 
was returning with his family, he was assaulted by Garcia and a man named Davis. 
He tried to escape from them, and sent his family on with a neighbor. Garcia and 
Davis continued to pursue, while McGeery retreated. Davis was armed with a re- 
volver, and Garcia is said to have had a knife. McGeery was unarmed. Finding 
they could not overtake him, the pursuers mounted their horses, which were near, and 
stopped McGeery near his place. Here he was knocked under the fence by one of 
the persons. McGeery succeeded in getting partly over the fence, when Garcia and 
Davis got hold of him and dragged him back. McGeery's wife then came to her 
husband's assistance, bringing a loaded revolver, with which the tables were quickly 
turned, McGeery shooting Garcia in the breast, causing death in a few moments. The 
Coroner's jury acquitted him, finding the killing to be justifiable. 

In the April term of this year Louis Hanson was indicted for assault to murder 
Lizzie Hanson, his wife, on or about February 23, 1875; he was duly tried, found 
guilty and. May 5, 1875, sentenced to two years in the State Prison. 

Joseph Newell was indicted for assault with a deadly weapon upon Thomas 
Harly, and July 15, 1875, was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment in San Quentin. 

1876. — During this year Alameda County was the scene of a trial more extraor- 
dinary than which possibly never occurred in any country. Harry D. Wakefield 
was arraigned for having married in several States no fewer than eight wives, all of 
them being alive. His mother, who was a resident of East Oakland, appears to have 



366 History of Alameda County, California. 

been aware of his matrimonial ventures, for when about to commit himself to the 
nuptial knot for the last time, she wrote to him the following few words of caution: 
" Be careful that }'ou don't get deceived again — you know you've been deceived so 
often." 

On the night of Friday, June 2iO, 1876, officer W. D. Thomas was desperately 
wounded by one Louis Strand, a Norwegian, at East Oakland, under the following 
circumstances: While Officer Thomas was strolling along East Eleventh Street, on 
the evening mentioned, he saw his assailant, whom he at once recognized, come along 
with a box upon his shoulders, but upon being seen Strand turned sharply up another 
street. This movement aroused the suspicion of Thomas, who knew that Herman 
Drucker had been moving his large stock of liquors into his new saloon on Thirteenth 
Avenue, near the Brooklyn railroad station, and that Strand had been working there 
the day before as a carpenter, and thought that he might have helped himself to a 
box of liquor. He accordingh' walked after the retreating form until he overtook 
Strand, when he discovered that he had a large box filled with bottles on his shoulder. 
On being accosted Strand replied that the bottles in the box contained wine, with 
which he intended to celebrate the 4th of Jul}-. Thomas then asked him to set the 
box down. During this colloquy the parties had reached the corner of East Twelfth 
Street and Tenth Avenue, where there was a carpenter bench and a pile of lumber. 
There was a hatchet and a drawing-knife lying on top or among the bottles, and as 
Strand set the box upon the bench he picked these up. Officer Thomas noticed the 
movement, but thinking that it was done that he might more readily get at the con- 
tents of the box, paid no attention to it. This accommodating move and the fact 
that the man was a hard-working mechanic disarmed him of suspicion, and he care- 
lessly leaned over the bo.x to inspect its contents. As he was thus stooping over, 
baring the back of his neck. Strand dealt a murdennis blow at him with the hatchet, 
with the evident intention of severing the officer's spine, or of cutting the jugular vein. 
Fortunately Thomas caught a glimpse of the quick movement of his antagonist and 
dodged, throwing up his left arm to ward off the blow. The blade of the hatchet fell 
heavily across the back of the left forearm about five inches back from the wrist, open- 
ing a gash three and a half inches in length and in depth to the bone from one side 
of the arm to the other. The blow deadened the arm and stunned the officer slightly, 
and before he had fairl)' recovered, or could get out his pistol — almost before he had 
time to think at all. Strand aimed another blow at him, which struck the hand of the 
same arm, opening the flesh and muscles to the bone, from the junction-knuckle of 
the middle finger diagonally towanl the base of the thumb lor a distance of an inch 
and a half This wound, however, the officer scarce!}- felt, as that on the arm 
had already benumbed the hand. Thomas kept attempting to get his pistol, but a 
third blow fell heavily against his right jaw, near the point of the chin, and knocked 
him to his knees. Luckily he fell against the pile of lumber, and this doubtless saved 
his life, as the contact threw him forward upon one foot and one knee and left his 
pistol hand and arm free. Before the would-be assassin could advance to follow up 
his advantage, Thomas got his pistol out and fired, almost in his face, shooting him in 
the forehead. This staggered Strand and he fell back a pace or two, but for which 
Thomas would doubtless have killed him on the spot. The ball, however, must have 



Criminal History of the County, 367 

struck him on the right side of the forehead, glanced over the skull and come out 
near the crown of the head, as indicated by two holes and blood in Strand's hat, 
which was left on the ground. Rallying, the assassin was about rushing upon the 
officer again, when Thomas fired a second shot, but it is doubtful if this took effect, 
but it served the purpose of saving his life, for now Strand fairl)' "bolted," with the 
officer in hot pursuit. He was duly arrested, tried at the July Term, 1876, and on 
August 2d sentenced to one year's imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. 

It may be mentioned that on the night when the tragedy just alluded to was 
being acted in Brooklyn, Oakland was the scene of no less than three daring burg- 
laries, the perpetrators of which succeeded in effecting their escape. 

During the month of March, 1876, Peter'Chisholm and T. B. Mortee were employed 
as clerks in the office of Higgins& Conkling, stock-brokers, at 322 Montgomery Street, 
San Francisco. Forsome reason Mortee was discharged from his position and he accused ' 
Chisholm with being instrumental in his removal. On June 5th, together with a friend, 
H. La Grange, he went to Badger's Park, where the picnic of the California Theater Boat 
Club was being Jield. There he fell in with Mortee, and angry words immediately 
passed between them, which resulted in Chisholm's proposing that they go outside 
and settle their affair by fighting. Mortee objected to this manly way of terminating 
the difficulty, however, and instead picked up a piece of two by three scantling, with 
which he struck his opponent just over the ear, crushing the skull and making a 
horrible wound, from which he died. The slayer claimed to have acted in self- 
defense, and was held to answer before the next Grand Jury. He was duly tried, but 
on the jury failing to agree, was discharged March 15, 1877. 

During a quarrel about a woman at Alameda on July 13, 1876, Amedee Joseph 
Deligne was shot by Alfred Janin; while, on the 7th August, Carlos Quinthero was 
sentenced to imprisonment for life in the State Prison for the murder of "Indian Jim," 
near Niles, on the nth of March. On August 4, 1876, the trial of Felix Polzinsky 
commenced in the Third District Court for the murder of a man named Joseph 
Kreuchefski, both being Russians. The crime was committed in the central part of the 
county in April, 1876, on the ranch of Mr. Sinkwitz, near Haywards. The deceased 
had recently rented the ranch. Soon after taking possession of the farm he suddenly 
disappeared. The defendant was subsequently found with some of the effects of the 
dead man, and some time in June the dead body was found, buried in a shallow grave 
on the ranch, with a bullet wound in the throat. Polzinsky admitted the killing, but 
claimed that the gun was accidentally discharged in a scuffle, the two men having 
quarreled about the measurement of some wood. He was indicted on July 13, 1876, 
the cause being transferred to the Third District Court, and sentenced to life imprison- 
ment, August 7, 1876. 

1877. — The pistol was early at work in this year On the evening of January 
19, 1877, Lewis Shearer, of San Francisco, was shot and wounded by Henry W. Kind, 
the affair being the result of a personal matter which need not be here reverted to. 

Of an other affair that occurred in the same month the Tribune, of January 23, 
1 877, says : " Last spring there appeared in Oakland a Frenchman, Leon Castangau by 
name, claiming to have recently lived in Chicago, before that in New Orleans. Being 



368 History of Alameda County, California. 

of a jovial and convivial nature, and exceedingly liberal with his means, he soon 
acquired a large number of friends. He was also an expert at billiards, and became 
acquainted with the sporting portion of the community, by playing several public 
match games of billiards in this cit\'. In the middle of July he took charge of the 
Grand Central Hotel billiard-room, and it was while in that situation that he got into 
the difficult)' which has kept him a prisoner in the count)- jail for over three months. 
Castangau and one Henry Zweifel, a bar-keeper at the Grand Central, were in the 
habit of enjoying a convivial glass together, occasionally, and while liquor tended to 
make the excitable Frenchman still more vehement in his actions, the phlegmatic 
Zweifel would become stupidly prone to fits of alternate courtesy and discourtesy. 
On the afternoon that Cooper & Bailey's Circus gave its first e.xhibition in this city, 
Zweifel and Castangau attended that institution in company. Arriving back at the 
hotel after the performance, a dispute arose between the two and a fight occurred, 
during which tlie Frenchman suffered the loss of a portion of his left thumb, either 
by one of the two pistol shots fired at him b)- Zweifel, or by tlie lattcr's biting the 
member off and the bar-keeper was stabbed in the loin. Castangau was arrested 
and held by the Police Judge to appear before the Grand Jury, who found a true bill 
against him of assault with intent to commit murder." He was dul)' tried, and adjudged 
not guilty. 

On March 8, 1877, the trial of Jose Rodrigues for the killing of Joseph ]\IcDonald, 
at San Leandro, some three months previously, was commenced before Judge McKee 
of the Third District Court, when he was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced 
to three years' imprisonment in the State Prison. 

At the July term, 1877, Edward Clancey was tried for the murder of Manuel 
Sih'a, the circumstances of the case being as follows: An intimac)' had been formed 
between Clancey and Silva's wife, who was an Irishwoman. Clance)' stated that 
Mrs. Silva had agreed to raise the window of her chamber on the night of tlie 4th of 
June last, in case Silva was not at home. Clancey was to give a signal bv' throwing 
pebbles against the side of the house. He gave the signal agreed upon, and did not 
await a response, but ran round to an outhouse near the Methodist Church, Hayvvards. 
He had a pistol in his pants' pocket. Silva followed and attacked him with a heavy 
club, and after receiving two blows, Clance)- fired his pistol upon Silva and fled. He 
did not deii)' the killing, but claimed that it was in self-defense. He was found guilty 
of murder in the second degree. 

Among the items of criminal histor\- mentioned b)- us as occurring during the 
year 1869, was the arrest of Patrick Glancy for causing the death of Robert Light- 
body. Glancy or Clancey was convicted of this murder in the July term 1877, and 
sentenced to fifteen )'cars' imprisonment in the State Prison. 

1878. — At the April term, 1878, Chung Wong, a Chinaman, was indicted for 
murder. The case was transferred to the Third District Court, but on .September 12, 
1878, he was declared insane and committed to the Napa As\-lum. 

1879. — During the )-ear 1879, the only very serious case that wc find in the 
records, was the conviction and imprisonment of Clark De Forrest, June 30th, for ten 




. Cj,<;) 







Criminal History of the County. 369 

years in the State Penitentiary, for an assault to commit murder; other than this 
there were the usual quota of burglaries, and cases of larceny, but none of sufficient 
gravity that they should be remembered, save by the victims. 

iSSo. — The reader may remember the case of Frederick W. Clarke, who shot 
Zelotus Reed in 1871. In the meantime he had been charged with embezzling 
money due the estate of his father, H. K. W. Clarke, and on January 24, 1880, was 
once more arrested, on the complaint of A. B. Lawson, for the original crime. The 
case was eventually taken to the Supreme Court, under a writ of habeas corpus and 
that tribunal under date March 23, 1880, rendered its decision. The Court held that 
the fact that Clarke had already been before two Grand Juries, was no bar to the case 
being again examined into. Judge McKinstry delivered the opinion, in the course of 
which he said: — 

Inasmuch as there is no limitation of time applicable to prosecution for murder, and as a defendant in whose 
order a dismissal of the action has been made, has never been pat in jsop:iriy, within the meaning of the Con- 
stitution, a new action on behalf of the people may in such case be initiated at any subsequent day, either by pre- 
sentment of a Grand Jury or by a complaint filed with any magistrate. 

As we have seen, if the Superior Court retains the power to resubmit a charge once or oftener dismissed by 
a Grand Jury, for any length of time after the prosecution has been dismissed, the power may be employed at the 
option of the Judge or of any number of successive judges, without complaint or evidence or any cause shown. 
The practicable difficulties inseparable from such construction of the statute seemed to have occurred to counsel, 
who suggested at the argument that the power should be e,\ercised by the Superior Court only after the defendant 
had been rearrested under warrant issued out of that Court and his case re-examined. To authorize such a pro- 
ceeding we would have to supplement the section of the Code with other sections providing for the issue of such 
warrants, the admission to bail in certain cases, etc. In the first place the language of section 942 is plain, 
and does not contemplate any new warrant and examination in such case; in the second place, we are not empow. 
ered to legislate or provide machinery which the law-makers have not provided, but which they have rejected ; 
and, in the third place, no benefit would accrue to a party charged with crime, since the result of the proposed 
changes in the law would only be to confer on the Judge of the Superior Court in another form the same power 
which he now possesses in common with all other magistrates, to wit: the power to issue a warrant and to 
examine and to hold to answer. 

We have only to add that the main question involved in the present application was expressly decided in ex 
parte Cahill, 52 Cal., 463. In that case the facts were like those of the present, except that there the County 
Court had made an order resubmitting to the next Grand Jury, after it had dismissed the action, or discharged 
the defendant from custody. But the Court did not there hold that the power to resubmit continued after the 
prosecution had been dismissed, and there could have been no pretense that the order of resubmission in and of 
itself constituted a warrant or process which justified the Sheriff in restraining the party of his liberty. The 
Court in terms declared that the Sheriff was justified in holding his prisonei: by the warrant of the Justice of the 
Peace. "The Court say: No bar to another prosecution having occurred, and the prisoner being at large without 
.bail in consequence of the order of the County Court discharging him from custody, it was competent for any commit- 
ting magistrate of the proper county to examine the charge made against him, and if, upon such examination, he 
appeared to be guilty, to hold him to answer." 

Judge McKee dissented from this opinion, and on the 29th May, in Department 
No. 2 of the Superior Court of Alameda County, Judge Greene, after listening to 
argument by General Irvine, and remarks by District Attorney Gibson, reviewed the 
case of F W. Clarke, charged with murder, dismissed the prosecution, and discharged 
the defendant, thus setting him once more free. 

^ On the night of Monday, February 2, 1880, a ferocious assault was made on two 
Chinamen named Chu Fun and Chu Long, at a Chinese gambling-house on Webster 
Street, midway between Eighth and Ninth, by which the two Celestials named were 



370 History of Alameda County, Calh-ornia. 

terribly cut about the head and face. The affray occurred about eight o'clock over a 
game of tan, and the assaulting heathens were from Spofford Alley, San Francisco. 
As soon as the affair was known, officers Ross, Field, and Coughlan hastened to the 
scene of the probably fatal occurrence, and found the interior of the rooms bespattered 
with blood on all sides. Stains of blood were also found at the door-sill and on the 
boards leading to the side-walk. The mutilated Chinamen were carried out of the 
house soon after they had received their injuries and placed under the care of Doctor 
Li-Pu-Tai, a Chinese physician of San Francisco. They were subsequently taken to 
the San Francisco Hospital. Chu Fun was gashed fearfully across the middfe of the 
face and through his nose, and from above the right temple through the cheek into 
the mouth. Chu Long was cut on the head, face, back, shoulder, and arm. On the 
6th February Officer Ross captured Loh Ah Wing, one of the fiv-e murderous assail- 
ants, on Eighth Street, Oakland, and took him to the City Prison, and on the follow- 
ing day he was arraigned in the Police Court on a charge of assault with a deadly 
weapon. The case was, however, continued, as one of the wounded men was thought 
likely to die. 

On Saturday, February 7, 1880, a very painful accident occurred on Second 

Street, when an unfortunate woman was shot while walking along the thoroughfare. 

At the inquest eight of the jurors agreed upon the following verdict, and the 

ninth juror would not add his signature without the additional words which are given 

below : — 

We, the undersigned jurors, after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony adduced, do find the 
deceased was named Ellen Stetson, a native of Wales, aged thirty-seven years. That she came to her death on 
the 7th day of February, A. D. l88o, by a pistolshot wound in the neck, causing immediate death, while she 
was crossing Second Street, near her residence. And the jury find that the shot was fired by one Jacob Lenz, 
from the grocery store of William Lenz, while in an altercation with Patrick McFadden. 

(Signed) GEORGE W. Smith, J. L K.-\ne, J. W. Tuck, 

John Scott, F. T. H.\ll, Wm. Williams, 

Wm. J. Atkinson, F. Cirniff. 

The above verdict I agree to, with the addition that I believe the shot was fired in self-defense. 

RoHERT Reed. 

Perhaps no more exciting time was ever witnessed in Oakland than when the 
intelligence became public that Alfred Lefevre, a dentist, having his office at the 
corner of Eighth Street and Broadwa\-, had been shot and killed b\' Edward F. 
Schroeder, a clerk in the London and San Francisco Bank, San Francisco, on 
Monday, July 26, 1880. The circumstances of the case need not be here repeated; 
the details will be found most elaborately portrayed in the periodicals of that time; 
the page of history is not the place to pamper to a morbid taste for meretricious 
literature. Suffice it to say that the most eminent legal talent was ap'ayed on either 
side; the speeches for the prosecution and defense teemed with erudition, notably tho.se 
of Messrs. Hall McAllister, Foote, and Gibson, while the charge of Police Judge Yule 
will take rank side by side with the best efforts of older lawyers. It will not be 
readily forgotten with what thrilling interest Mr. McAllister held his audience as he 
defined the fine points of mania, transitory insanity, monomania, and malice, which 
were successful in clearing Schroeder from this most horrible crime. 

On May i", 1880, Low-Kee, a Chinaman, was indicted for the crime of murder, 
and on July 12th was sentenced to ten years in the State Prison. 



Criminal History of the County. 371 

i88i.^On November 9, 1881, A. J. Ross, charged with an attempt to kill special 
officer Martin, was discharged from custody, and Martin, who was then arraigned, was 
convicted, but in consideration of the fact that he had suffered severely from knife 
'wounds inflicted during the fight, the Court did not think it necessary to impose a 
fine. 

On August 7, 1 88 1, a man named John Taylor was grievously assaulted by one 
Poblec, near Livermore, from the effects of which he died. He was duly tried before 
the Superior Court. 

Since this time the red hand of murder has happily been stayed, although several 
lives have been taken by accident, but as there did not appear to be any criminality 
connected with these it has not been thought advisable to mention them in this place. 
Suicides have been too common, and so will they continue, it is to be feared, so long 
as the public countenance this means of "shuffling off the mortal coil " and consider it 
as a right that every individual has. Surely, the life given us to maintain is no more 
ours to destroy than is that of our neighbor. To take both by violent means is 
equally heinous, and suicides will continue to be the part of the callous as long as the 
public look upon it as no particular sin. Thefts are too common to notice, and while 
we pen these lines a young man who had hitherto held a high position in the esteem 
of his fellows, is under order for trial for embezzlement of the public funds intrusted 
to his care. As the trial has not yet taken place, no good purpose would be served 
by making further mention of the circumstance. That crime is on the decrease is 
due to the efficiency of the officials of Alameda County. 




372 History of Alameda County, California. 



ALAMEDA TOWNSHIP. 



("A EOGRAPHY. — Alameda Township is bounded on the north by San Antonio 
-J- Creek and Oakland Township; on the east by Brooklyn Township; on the south 
^ by the Bay of San Francisco; and on the west by the Bay of San Francisco. 

TOPOGR.A.PHY. — The township of Alameda bears, in outline, some resemblance to 
the elbow of the human frame; is about one mile in width and three and a half in 
length, and has an area appro.ximating twenty-two thousand acres. It has, however, 
no very marked topographical features, and may be described as a level, sandy plain 
covered with umbrageous oaks, which still give to the place an air of sylvan retirement. 
Its southern boundary is a well-defined water-front, somewhat abrupt, merging north- 
ward into marsh or overflowed lands, all of which are susceptible of reclamation. 

Stre.AMS. — There are no streams in the Encinal or Alameda, but being a 
peninsula, as its name implies, it is necessarily washed on three sides by water, those 
of the San Antonio Creek and San Leandro Bay being all-important, for here are we 
to have the capacious Oakland Harbor, with its adjuncts of shipping and commerce, 
in which Alameda will naturally share as well as its greater sister of Oakland. 

Clim.ATE. — Compared with San Francisco and Oakland the climate of Alameda 
is remarkably mild. The westerly sea winds of summer which sweep over the former 
and round the bay, are less than a mile high. They are gradually arrested by the 
Coast Range of mountains, and partly by the easterly current of air which overlaps 
the lower stratum. This easterly current is always dry in summer, coming, as it does 
over the arid soil of the San Joaquin Valle\', where it encounters a solar temperature 
of nearly one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. First, then, we see that the resistance 
which is offered to the westerly current either modifies its force, or entirely overcomes 
it before it reaches the Encinal; and, as a secondary consequence, the fog-bank is not 
only held at bay, but it is absorbed by the hot, dr\-, easterly current which is contin- 
ually pushing seaward. Together these causes conspire to lessen the amount of 
summer winds, and to make fogs the exception to the general rule. Thus, while the 
citizens of San Francisco are immersed in dense fogs and subjected to high winds, 
Alameda, but twenty minutes of time distant, is enjoying the clear, calm sunshine of 
a delightful climate, which is neither so cold as to be uncomfortable, nor so hot as to 
be oppressive. 

Though the same remarks will appl_\-, to some extent, to the climate of Oakland, 
yet, owing to the fact that the northern boundar\- of that city being covered by the 
waters of the bay, and the cit>' itself being nearly opposite the Golden Gate and thus 
more exposed to the direct force of the trade-winds, there is probably as much differ- 
ence between the climate of Oakland and Alameda as there is between San Francisco 
and Oakland. 



Alameda Township. 373 



Soil. — Nothing can be said in this regard but that nature has been more than 
usually benign to this favored spot. The soil though sandy is extremely productive, 
being especially adapted to the growing of small fruits and vegetables, while Bay 
Farm Island bears a reputation for its fertility which is unsurpassed. 

Products. — Alameda Township is not a farming district in the proper sense of 
the term. Its products are almost entirely confined to the raising of fruits, tubers, and 
vegetables, which, owing to the peculiarity of its climate, and to its warm, sandy soil, 
are usually the first in the San Francisco market. Flowers, too, grow with marked 
luxuriance as the many well-kept gardens can testify, while its nurseries are industries 
which fully sustain the above remarks. 

Early in the year 1870, a correspondent of the Scientific Press while dilating on 
the delights of Alameda's temperature and its adaptability for the production of semi- 
tropical fruits, says: "At Mrs, Doctor Haile's residence I was shown the noted lemon 
tree, the seed of which the late Doctor Haile brought from Panama in his vest pocket 
and planted fifteen years ago, where it is now growing. The tree stands eighteen feet 
high, is very symmetrically formed, vigorous and thrifty, branching low, and spreading 
sixteen feet across. The lady informed me that at least two hundred and fifty lemons 
had been gathered from the tree that season, and I estimate the number on the tree 
now at three hundred and fifty. The tree has produced fruit several seasons. I saw 
lemons in all stages of growth from the blossom to the ripened fruit. The full-grown 
fruit is of medium size and very beautiful. The quality is excellent. The skin is 
rather thicker than the imported lemon, while the pulp, though acid, is exceedingly 
pleasant." It will thus be seen that the lemon and the orange will withstand here the 
frosts of winter, while who shall say of what the spring and summer months are 
capable ? The yield of such delicacies as asparagus and tomatoes is enormous and 
most profitable— ^five hundred dollars per acre of the first named has been cleared on 
Bay Farm Island — while all land for such purposes commands high rents. Of the 
numerous orchards what shall we say: As early as the month of February the eye is 
gladdened with the almond tree in full bloom; then come the white, snow-like blos- 
soms of the cherry, to be followed in quick succession by those of the plum, the apple, 
and the quince, which brings this gorgeous floral fete half-way into the month of 
April. Then comes with unerring certainty the growth and ripening of the fruits, 
accompanied by the springing of flowers. He who visits Alameda in the spring-time 
will be ravished by the beauties which surround him; his autumnal visit though not 
so kaleidoscopic still bears the sense of fruitful plenty and quiescent comfort, twin 
benefits that make man feel at rest with himself and the whole world. 

Timber. — Nearly the whole peninsula of Alameda is -covered with live-oaks, 
whose beautiful forms and ample boughs lend an air of pastoral retreat to the 
place. As the town has been laid out and the necessary thoroughfares graded, many 
of these have been removed, but enough remain to leave to the imagination the fiUing- 
in of the picture as it was when the first settler made his appearance in the quest of 
game among the thick undergrowth and gnarled trunks of these ancient groves. 
With the advance of time many other trees have been planted to embellish the homes 



374 History of Alameda County, California. 

of citizens, but none of these — variable species though they be — are so noble as the 
primeval oak, which, happily, are under the fostering care of the "city fathers." No 
oak may be laid low without permission of the Board of Town Trustees. 

Mexican Grants. — This township has no especial Mexican Grant in itself, but 
was a portion of the Rancho de San Antonio, granted to Don Luis Maria Peralta, 
and by him given, with other property, to his son Antonio Maria Peralta. It was 
originally called "Bolsa de Encinal," and sometimes "Encinal de San Antonio," the 
first-named meaning the low-lying or level lands of the peninsula, and the last the 
peninsula of San Antonio, taking its style from the creek of that name. 

Early Settlement. — Prior to that memorable year, 1848, when gold was discov- 
ered by James W. Marshall in the tail-race of Sutter's Mill at Coloma, the Encinal of 
Alameda was, to all intents and purposes, a terra incognita to the Anglo-Saxon. It 
is true they may have looked upon it from the distant shores of Marin County, while 
their ships lay in the cove of Saucelito taking in supplies of water, or perchance have 
gazed upon its wooded area from the sand-dunes of Verba Buena, and thought of it 
as a place where game should be found in more or less plenty; but that it was ever 
visited by them is a matter of which there is no kind of record. That it v\as a land 
beautiful beyond comparison, we know from what we to-day see of its pristine groves 
whence it takes its name. With the advent of the immigrant its productiveness was 
soon put to the test, and at a very early date it became the resort of the hunter, the 
trapper, and the charcoal-burner, who on landing found the ground occupied by 
coyotes, quail, hares, rabbits, and possibly deer in companionship with stray herds of 
cattle that had found their way to this shady retreat through a brush-fence con- 
structed by Antonio Maria Peralta, the course of which is described as being from where 
the Fruit Vale Station of the Central Pacific Railroad now stands, along the line of 
the avenue leading to Park Street in the town of Alameda. 

It has been elsewhere stated that on August 23, 1820, the Spanish Government, on 
account of services rendered to his country, granted to Don Luis Maria Peralta an 
estate comprising no less than five leagues of land of the fairest territory on the 
Pacific Coast. In this was included the Encinal de San Antonio, now known as 
Alameda Township, which he transferred to his son Antonio Maria, who held it intact 
until the year 1850, when he leased a portion of it to two Frenchmen named Depachier 
and LeMaitre, who acquired the tract for the purpose of supplying the San Francisco 
market with fire-wood, the cutting of which they claimed under the provisions of 
their lease, but which, we are informed, actually forbade them doing so. These two 
gentlemen were the actual pioneer settlers of Alameda Township; the next were 
W. W. Chipman and Gideon Aughinbaugh, the latter of whom still resides on the 
peninsula. 

1850. — In a lengthy interview with Mr. Aughinbaugh he informed us that he 
arrived in San Francisco in the year 1849, and after keeping a grocerj- store at the 
corner of Mission and First Streets, where now stand the gas-works, he came o\'er in 
September, 1850, with Chipman and subleased from Depachier and Lc Maitre the 
eastern end of the Encinal, comprising one hundred and sixty acres fronting on San 



Alameda Township. 375 



Leandro Bay, where they pitched their tent ; the site may be described as lying south- 
east of Versailles Avenue. They were soon followed, indeed before the end of the 
year, by a Belgian named Parfait, who put up a cabin on the south side of what is 
now Monroe Street, between Mound and Court Streets, and three brothers named 
Salmon, who located on the "Sandy Point," which, on account of the depth of water, 
was the then landing-place for the Encinal. These last were hunters. In the mean- 
time Chipman and Aughinbaugh sent to the Eastern States for fruit-trees of various 
kinds, chiefly peach, apple, and cherry, and in May, 185 i, planted them on the land 
now occupied by the High-street Station and adjacent tracks of the South Pacific 
Coast Railroad, and the contiguous lands on the northeast. Some of these trees are 
still standing. The next phase of proceedings on the Encinal was its purchase. 
Whether Colonel Henry S. Fitch intended or proposed to buy it, we have nothing to 
do; our duty is to record who were the actual purchasers. 

185 1. — During the month of October, 1851, negotiations were commenced and 
consummated between Gideon Aughinbaugh and Antonio Maria Peralta, at the resi- 
dence of the latter in Fruit Vale, whereby the entire Encinal passed into the hands of 
William W. Chipman and Gideon Aughinbaugh for the sum of fourteen thousand 
dollars, and immediately thereafter, in the following month, they commenced the 
erection of the first frame dwelling-house in the township — one of those which had 
been brought in pieces from the Atlantic Coast to California. It may still be seen 
standing a little southeast from High-street Station. As Mr. Aughinbaugh naively 
remarks, " money was scarce," therefore it was necessary that that essential commodity 
should be raised. The partners therefore determined to dispose of some of their real 
estate; consequently, tracts representing one-fourteenth interest were sold to Messrs. 
Hays and Caperton, J. J. Foley, J. J. McMurtry, H. S. Fitch, and Wm. Sharon 
(this last in 1852), and a one-third interest to B. F. Hibbard and C. Minturn, besides 
about one hundred and fifty acres to C. C. Bowman. The consideration (three thou- 
sand dollars) for the Fitch-Sharon one-fourteenth interest was a fifty-vara lot at 
North Beach, San Francisco, and the balance secured by mortgage on the interest 
sold. The same tract was conveyed in 1854 to Charles L. Fitch, and in 1857 he 
obtained possession and held it by force of arms until the "Squatter's League" then 
existing, declined to assist the squatter claimant to regain possession. 

1852. — In September, 1852, Chipman and Aughinbaugh partitioned off forty-three 
lots, each four acres in extent, in the eastern portion of the Encinal, fronting on what 
is now High Street, offered them for sale, and under the persuasions of the "silver- 
tongued" Colonel Fitch, brought an average price of eighty dollars /^r lot. Thus had 
the town of Alameda its start. Among the purchasers were the Rev. William Taylor 
and his brother HSrvey Taylor, names which are still familiar in the Alamedan 
groves. About this time the Rev. A. H. Myers settled on the land already said to 
have been sold to C. C. Bowman, where he started the first nursery in the peninsula, 
while to him is also due the credit of being the first to administer to the devotional 
wants of the then small community. Louis Ettebleau also came in this year and 
erected the first hotel in the Encinal. As soon as the four-acre lots were disposed of 



376 History of Alameda County, California. 

the construction of a levee across the slough between them and the point was under- 
taken b}- Chipman and Aughinbaugh, while in that year we have learned that John 
D. Brower lived about half a mile north of where now is the Willow-street Station of 
the Central Pacific Railroad. Franklin Pancoast dwelt about a quarter of a mile east 
of Park-street Station ; Henr)' and Russell M. Rogers had their abode near where 
Chestnut .Street and Central Avenue now are; Mason and W'ickwarc, now of San 
Francisco, were called squatters in those days, not "capitalists," and claimed and 
occupied nearly all the tillable land lying between wha tis now the Fitch Tract and 
Webster Street, on the creek side of the peninsula, that is north of Mastick Station; 
Dr. B. F. Hibbard had a large two-story frame-house built from drift-lumber picked 
up on the beach, and situated on the tract of land purchased bj- himself and C. Min- 
turn, which may be to-da}- described as being situated between Clinton A\'cnue and 
the Bay-shore, and Union and Lafayette Streets. 

1853. — In the year 1853, there arrived on the peninsula Thomas A. Smith. N. 
W. Palmer, H. S. Barlow, A. S. Barber, and several others whose names are not now 
remembered, but it is pleasing to be able to state that nearly all these gentlemen still 
survive the "whips and scorns of time," with every prospect of man\- useful j-ears 
before them. 

1854. — In 1854 Chipman and Aughinbaugh desired to still further increase the 
size of their town, and at the same time replenish their somewhat exhausted excheq- 
uer, for they had established the Ronita on the ferry route between San Francisco 
and Alameda, but she was found unsuited and was to be displaced. To these ends 
they laid out a number of blocks of two hundred and thirty-three feet square, con- 
taining lots thirty-three by one hundred feet, which realized fifteen thousand dollars 
at auction. With this product, the Ranger was purchased at Sacramento, replaced 
the Bonita, and a series of attractions known as "watermelon e.KCursions" inaugurated. 
Chief among these was the offering of a lot free of e.xpense to any one who, on 
acceptance, would build a house thereon. This tender was made by public advertise- 
ment, and produced no fewer than three hundred applicants, who were promised their 
title-deeds upon completion of a building, but only twenty complied with these pro- 
visions, and the balance were forfeited and sold by auction. Among those who fulfilled 
this engagement were C. C. Mason, who at once started the first livery-stable in the 
town, and a man named Keys who opened a boarding-house. Each of these received 
two lots. .Still further in the hope of benefiting their propert)-, a charter was granted in 
1854, b)' the Legislature, to these gentlemen to build a bridge and road from Alameda 
to San Leandro via Bay Farm Island. Accordingly they built a bridge across the 
neck or mouth of the bay at a cost of about eight thousand dollars — which bridge 
was subsequently removed by these parties and used for constructing a wharf at the 
west end of the Encinal. The;,- also proceeded to throw up a road twenty feet wide on 
the top, from the bridge, across the marsh to the Island, a distance of over a mile, on 
the roadway of which was placed a surface of o)^ster shells one foot deep. This sec- 
tion of the road cost five thousand dollars. Another section of the road was thrown 
up from the Island to the main-land toward San Leandro, which was not finished, but 
cost si.x thousand dollars, but from all this outlay they never had any return. 



Alameda Township. ^ 377 



Although the entire population of the Encinal did not muster more than one 
hundred souls in April, 1854, it was found necessary to undertake the glories of incor- 
poration, which boon was granted by the Legislature under the title of the Town of 
Alameda. By Section Two of that Act the boundaries were fixed as follows: "On 
the northwest by the northwest line of the land of James J. Foley, Jr., purchased of 
W. W. Chipman and Gideon Aughinbaugh, running north 34%° east from an oak- 
tree eight inches In diameter, on the shore of the Bay of San Francisco, eighty-nine 
and eighty-three hundredths chains to the line of the land of Antonio Maria Peralta; 
thence south 61° east along the line dividing the land of said A. M. Peralta from the 
land deeded to said Chipman and Aughinbaugh by said Peralta, October 22, 1851, 
until said division line strikes the Estero de San Leandro, at the head thereof near 
Romby's brick-yard; thence following down the center of said estero to its mouth, in 
the Bay of San Leandro; thence following the center of the channel thereof, and the 
deepest water along the southern border of the Encinal San Antonio, about two 
hundred yards from the line of ordinary high tide thereof, until the said line in the 
water of said Bay of San Leandro, running a southwesterly course, following the 
general outline of said southerly border of said Encinal, strikes the center of the 
channel opposite to the present steamer-landing in said town of Alameda; thence fol- 
lowing the center of said channel northwesterly, until the said center line strikes the 
•first boundary line projected; thence with said boundary projected north 34^° east, 
to the beginning." No election of officer.^ being held under the Act, however, it 
became void. 

In 1854 Dr. Hibbard laid out his tract into the town of Encinal, and in the year 
following built out therefrom his wharf which was» afterwards so well known by his 
name, while not long thereafter, the town of Woodstock was planned and platted, 
both of which are now grafted on to the parent stem of Alameda, although deeds 
still speak of land being " near the town of Encinal." In this year, too, the first store 
on the peninsula was opened by Zeno Kelly, now of Oakland, and stood at what is 
to-day the corner of High Street and Central Avenue, while about this time A. B. Web- 
ster, father of the present County Treasurer, started the first lumber-yard. 

In a town which has grown so quickly as has Alameda, it is impossible to men- 
tion the names of residents as they arrived and settled. This is a difficult enough 
task in farming districts where inhabitants are scattered over a large tract of country,, 
but whose arrival may still be recollected from the fact of a neighbor having cast his 
lot in a certain section. With locators in towns, however, this is different. For a 
long time citizens are but "birds of passage" at best, and their coming or going 
causes no remark, consequently there is no beacon whereby the memory may be guided. 
Among the early settlers of Alameda we have the names of Doctors W. P. Gibbons 
and Henry Haile, the distinguished la\vyer A. A. Cohen, who was the moving spirit 
in the establishment of the Alameda and Haywards Railroad and the San Francisco 
and Alameda Ferry, the late eminent and lamented Henry H. Haight, Governor of 
California from 1867 to 1871, E. B. Mastick, Hon, Henry Robinson, Hon. Nathan 
Porter, General M. G. Cobb, R. H. Magill, and many others. 

1855 to 1869. — As early as the year 1855 the attention of the public was 
25 



378 History of Alameda County, Cai.ikorma. 

attracted to the necessity of providing means of education for the few children that 
were then there. To this end a school-house was established in a cabin sixteen by- 
twenty feet, standing on a lot forty by one hundred feet, part of the site of the pres- 
ent school-house in Old Alameda. In 1864 the school district, which then comprised 
the whole peninsula, was divided, and the main structure of the present Alameda 
School-house was built by contract for the sum of two thousand si.x hundred and 
twenty-six dollars, which sum was raised by a special tax. The furniture was pur- 
chased with the proceeds of a festival, given by the ladies of the town, some of whom 
are still residents of it, among them being Mrs. Hastings, Mrs. J. N. Webster, Mrs. A. 
S. Barber, Mrs. Millington, Mrs. Palmer, Mrs. \V. B. Clement, and others. The old 
school-house was sold at auction to the late H. S. Barlow, and by him moved to Park 
Street, where it constituted the original Loyal Oak Hotel. What remains of it now 
stands in the rear of that building, and is occupied as a dwelling. 

Until the establishment of the San Francisco and Alameda Ferry regular route, 
which sprang into life mainly through the* exertions of A. A. Cohen, the mode of 
access to the metropolis was by means of ferries of various kinds — first the whale- 
boat and followed by steam communication from the several landings at Old Alameda 
Point, West P"nd, and Hibbard's wharf, or by a weary, plodding journey to the slimy 
banks of the San Antonio Creek, across it to Oakland, and thence to the Bay City. 

1869. — On Thursday, September 16, 1869, the first number of the fiiniiia/ oi 
Alameda was issued. The town had by this time grown to such proportions that a 
newspaper was felt to be needed, and F. K. Krauth, who still owns the sheet, seeing 
that necessity, sent forth his excellent paper to the world. In his salutatory- article, 
the editor enters upon the "whys and wherefores" of the ii//(7«(7/, and says: "Our 
hopes of success are based on material considerations. About fi\'e \-ears ago 
this place was aroused from a state of hibernation by the whistle of a locomotive. 
The Alameda Railroad Company had finished and stocked a road extending from the 
bay to Haywards, a distance of fifteen mile.s. Since that time it has carried an 
immense amount of freight, and o\-er two million five hundred thousand passengers; 
and through the uniform prudence and good judgment which have directed its oper- 
ations, not an accident has ever occurred to one of these. Six years ago the whole 
town of Alameda might have been bought for three hundred thousand dollars. Now 
the same property could not be purchased for four millions. And yet another era has 
dawned upon us, in the completion of the Western Pacific Railroad, and the termina- 
tion of one of its branches, which will convey- its freight from Alameda wharf to the 
foot of Second Street. It will thus be seen that the elements of material prosi^erity 
are in activity within the limits of this little town." But scarce two months had 
passed when the boast of freedom from accident on the line of the railroads was 
dashed into nothingness. On November 14, 1869, there occurred one of those dis- 
tressing casualties into the details of which we need not enter, the cause being made 
sufficiently apparent in the following verdict of a jury of inquest held in Alameda 
three days after the event: "We, the jury- impaneled on an inquisition held at the 
town of Alameda before Judge Clement, Justice of the Peace and acting Coroner for 
the County of Alameda, State of California, to inquire into the cause of the death of 



Alameda Township. 379 



Alexander White Baldwin, A. Boulet, Edward Anderson, George Thompson, Charles 
Martin, Frank B. Milliken, J. D. McDowell, David Wand, Max Sherman, Thomas F. 
Sandoz, James Curly, Brunson H. Fox, and Henry L. Peterson, do find, from the evi- 
dence before us, that the said persons, and each and all Of them, came to their death 
from the effects of a collision which took place between the westward-bound train of 
the Alameda Railroad and the eastward-bound train of the Western Pacific Railroad, 
near Damon's Station, in the sai^ county of Alameda, on Sunday, November 14, 
1869, at or about the hour of 9 A. M. of said day, and that the said collision was the 
result of and was caused by the ignorance and incompetency of the switchman, Bern- 
ard Kane, employed at Simpson's Station, in giving a signal to the officers of the 
Western Pacific train indicating that it was 'all right, go ahead,' and in saying to the 
locomotive engineer of said Western Pacific Railroad 'all right' The jury further 
find from the evidence of said Bernard Kane, that he cannot read, and that the officer 
of the railroad company whose duty it was to instruct the said Kane in his duties was 
deceived by said Kane as to his inability to read. Dated at Alameda November 17, 
1869. (Signed) H. D. Bacon, Foreman; F. K. Shattuck, F. M. Campbell, C. F. Woods, 
Robinson Gibbons, Charles Wood." A warrant was at once issued for Kane's appre- 
hension, who was acquitted on the 29th of the same month. In the month of Novem- 
ber, 1869, we find that the survey of the Main and Winchester tract was being pro- 
ceeded with, while many other improvements besides were being carried on. 

1870. — On March 19, 1870, the periodical mentioned above made its first appear- 
ance under the changed name of Tlie Encinai, pure and simple, and a month after 
published the following sketch of the rise and progress of Alameda. The writer 
informs us that, " The town was originally laid out by Chipman and Aughinbaugh, with 
its principal street (High) forming its extreme eastern limit, and where all the busi- 
ness of the town centered; but on the advent of the railroad, it was deserted, and the 
business transferred to the neighborhood of the ' Station,' where it has since remained, 
and is constantly on the increase. Alameda Station, which is near the center of the 
peninsula, is about ten miles east of San Francisco across the bay. Its westerly 
point is reached by ferry-boats from the foot of Davis Street, and the road travel is 
made over the Western Pacific (or Alameda, as familiarly known) Railroad. Between 
the point of landing and Alameda there are three stations about a mile apart, viz.: 
Woodstock, Mastick, and Encinal. All the freight-trains from the East pass over the 
road, which runs through the town. The trains are at present 'switched off' at Simp- 
sons' from the Central Pacific Road. An extensive wharf, with weather-proof sheds 
for receiving and protecting merchandise in transitu has been erected at 'the point,' 
or landing, from whence freight is conveyed by boats to the foot of Second Street, 
San Francisco, without transhipment. The town contains thirteen hundred inhabit- 
ants. There are two public schools in Alameda, one at Encinal Station and the other 
in the upper town, or Old Alameda. There is also a private academy with about 
twenty-five pupils. Within the next twelve manths, we have good grounds for believ- 
ing, we shall also have a first-class academy for young ladies, within a mile or two of our 
Station. At the head of High Street, in the old town, a new wharf has recently been 
erected by Moulton Brothers & Co., for the purpose of running a daily line of schoon- 



380 History of Alameda County, California. 

ers in the carrying trade between Alameda and San Francisco. There are about four 
hundred families in the township, most of whom occupy their own premises. There 
are two churches — Presbyterian and Methodist — and two lodges — -Masons and Odd- 
Fellows. From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that Alameda had made prodig- 
ious strides towards prosperity up till 1870; its subsequent career speaks for it.sclf 
On the i6th April of this year George L. Lewis once more started his stage line from 
Alameda to Oakland via San Antonio and Brooklyn, while about this time the dis- 
cussion of the construction of what is now the Webster Street Bridge occupied con- 
siderable attention. 

187L — On January 15, 1 871, the Episcopal Parish of Christ's Church was formed, 
and the following vestrymen elected: Thomas A. Smith, W. N. Weeks, Ur. Eustace 
Trenor, R. H. Magill, Charles H. Dickey, the Rev. Sidney Wilbur being pastor. On 
the 31st of the same month the Private Insane Asylum of Doctors Trenor and 
Tucker, located on Park Street, was destroyed by fire. The history of this building 
is interesting. In 1863 it and the Alameda Park Hotel were erected by a company 
of capitalists with a view of establishing a first-class hotel for summer guests, 
together with a club-house, with the adjuncts of elegant billiard-rooms, bowling-alleys, 
etc. The building destroyed by fire was intended for the club-house and was fur- 
nished in very superior style. The bowling-alleys were laid, etc., but the hotel proper 
was, for causes unknown, never built. The premises thus furnished and ready for 
occupancy were leased to Frank- Johnson, who opened them to the public under the 
most flattering auspices. People came over in crowds to Alameda, and the hotel, 
large as it was, proved insufficient to accommodate them. After a while, Johnson, 
finding that he was making nothing, notwithstanding "the rush," disposed of his 
interest to McDonald, who formerly kept an eating-house at the corner of Clay and 
Leidesdorff Streets, San Francisco, who, in a ver\' short time, discovered that he 
" couldn't keep a hotel;" and he in turn was succeeded by Mr. Reed, formerly of the 
Weber House, Stockton. Reed's path was not strewed with roses; for the business 
had fallen off — the prestige of the place had gone — and he very soon went with it. 
It then stood unoccupied for some time, and, until purchased by Doctors Trenor and 
Tucker, to be used as a Private Insane Asylum with the first-named gentleman as 
resident physician. This purchase was made in the latter part cf 1866, from which 
time, up to the^middle of December, 1870, it was used as a refuge for insane persons 
whose friends could afford to place them beyond the prying eye of the general public. 
On June 20, iS7i,the hall belonging to the Independent Order of Good Templars 
was dedicated, while, on the 8th August, the Alameda Academy of Professor J. T. 
Doyen was destroyed by fire and its entire contents consumed. The following " shooting 
scrape," the circumstances attending which we glean from the Encinal, took place on 
August 29, 1 87 1: " Our usually quiet and peaceable community was terribly startled 
on Tuesday evening, on learning that a triple shooting .scrape had taken place within 
our borders, A meeting of the " Independent" party had been held in Good Tem- 
plar's Hall, and had just terminated at a trifle after 10 o'clock; a number of people 
who had attended the political gathering were engaged in conversation in the bar- 
room of the ' Loyal Oak,' when a young man ran in to inquire the whereabouts of 



Alameda Township. 381 



Dr. Trenor, at the same time stating that a man had been murdered by a burglar. A 
stampede was at once made in the direction indicated by the informant. Constable Val- 
entine immediately closed up his saloon, and in company with three others, also started 
for the scene. In going through Pacific Avenue, and when within about fifty yards 
of the spot where the affray took place, this party observed a strange-looking man 
step out from under a tree into the middle of the road. Going up to him, one of the 
men asked him who he was and whence he came; to which he made answer that he 
had just walked in from San Leandro. He at first denied all knowledge of any 
shooting, but finally acknowledged that he had just shot a man, and said that he had 
been compelled to do so in self-defense. He was thereupon taken in charge and con- 
veyed into the presence of the one whom he had shot, who, instantly recognizing him, 
exclaimed, 'Patton! O you devil, Patton ! You did it!' Patton was immediately 
taken away and kept in custody until a conveyance could be procured in which he 
could be taken to the jail at Oakland." The cause of the quarrel was a girl! 

1872. — Let us now turn our attention to the second incorporation of the Town of 
Alameda. During 1870 some of the citizens took measures to have this "consumma- 
tion devoutly to be wished " brought to a focus, therefore on January 27th of that year 
a meeting was held at the Yosemite House to hear the report of a committee that 
had been appointed to draft a bill for the incorporation of the town. It was agreed 
that such was desirable, but it was evident that many of the large property-holders were 
averse to making the town anything other than a place of country residence. The 
bill agreed upon at this time slumbered in the Legislature, and never became law; 
but, on March 7, 1872, "An Act to incorporate the Town of Alameda" received the 
Governor's approval, the first section of which ordered as follows: "The people of the 
Township of Alameda, in the County of Alameda, are hereby constituted a municipal 
corporation by the name of the Town of Alameda, and the boundaries of said town 
shall^be the same as now form the said township of Alameda." The Government of 
the newly incorporated town was vested in five Trustees; one Assessor, who was ex- 
officio Superintendent of Streets; one Treasurer, who was also Clerk of the Board of 
Trustees; while the township Justices of the Peace and Constables were, by the Act, 
authorized to perform their duties in the town. An election was ordered to be held 
on the first Monday in May of each year, and the Trustees were ordered to assemble 
ten days after the first election for the transaction of business. This Act was amended 
in 1876, and in 1878 a new charter was adopted. These Acts restricted the amount 
of taxes that could be levied for town purposes and restrained the officials of the town 
from creating any indebtedness, or expending in any year a larger sum than was 
derived from taxes in that year. By this wholesome restriction Alameda is entirely 
free from debt at the present time (1883), save forty thousand dollars which the 
Legislature authorized by special Acts, for the purpose of purchasing lots and build- 
ing school-houses. As a result the credit of the town stands high, while as a showing 
for the bonds issued to build school-houses, Alameda has five splendid institutions 
of learning with a capacity to accommodate thirteen hundred pupils, while the school 
department gives employment to twenty-six teachers. But to return to the original 
Act of 1872. On the 30th March the Board of Supervisors ordered that the town 



382 History of Alameda County, CaliI'Xjrnia. 

election be held May 6, 1872, at which date the first corporate officers of the town of 
Alameda were elected, viz.: H. H. Haight, E. B. Mastick, Fritz Boehiner, Jabish 
Clement, Henry Robinson, Board of Trustees; Dr. W. P. Gibbons, William Holtz (for 
three years), Cyrus Wilson, Nathan Porter (for two years), Fred. Hess, F. K. Krauth 
(one year), School Directors; Thomas A. Smith, Treasurer; E. Minor Smith, Assessor. 
The Board of Trustees met for organizatio.i May 13, 1872, when H. H Haight was 
elected President, and every Tuesday evening declared to be the time when the Board 
should convene, and stated that Smith's Hall, at the corner of Park Street and Pacific 
Avenue should be the place of meeting, and in that building and b\' the above-named 
gentlemen, was the ofificial machinery of the town j^et in motion. 

Among the first duties undertaken by the Board of Trustees was the fixing of 
salaries to be given xti, employes. On May 21, 1872, it was ordered that the emolu- 
ments of the Town Treasurer should be five hundred dollars per annum, and one per 
cent, of all moneys collected by him on account of taxes, licenses, and street assess- 
ments, so long as the sum did not exceed one thousand dollars a year. The salary of 
the Assessor was fixed at six hundred dollars per year; that of the Clerk at twenty 
dollars per month, and that of the Street Superintendent at thirty dollars per month, 
but these rates were changed, however, on November 12th, so far as regarded the 
Treasurer and the Clerk, the former of whom was to receive seventy-five and the 
latter forty AoWdS-i per inoisc in, but, on October 14, 1873, the Clerk was only allowed 
thirty-five dollars a month and was called upon to perform the duties of Clerk to the 
Board of Education besides his other functions. May 21, 1872, W. H. Porter was 
appointed Town Clerk, and on the same date a petition was received from James 
Riddell and H. F. Shephardson, praying for the macadamizing of Euclid Street, which 
was referred to Mr. Mastick, and on June 4th, the work ordered to be performed. On 
the 28th of this month E. Minor Smith was appointed Superintendent of Streets; 
there being also passed on the same date an ordinance levying a poll-tax of twcv 
dollars on each male inhabitant over twenty-one and under si.xty years of age, and 
ordered to take effect immediately. By the Treasurer's report the state of the town 
finances on July ist showed a balance in hand of six hundred and twelve dollars and 
sixty-six cents. 

As early as July 2, 1872, the subject of water for town purposes occupied ofificial 
attention. On that date Mr. Robinson presented a resolution which was adopted, 
"That the Committee on Ordinance and Judiciary be authorized and requested to 
purchase a lot on Central Avenue, near Park Street, or, on Park Street, near Central 
Avenue, at a price not to exceed eight hundred dollars, and of dimensions not less than 
fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, and, that immediately after such purchase the Com- 
mittee be authorized to contract for the boring of an artesian well upon said lot to a depth 
not exceeding one hundred and eighty-five feet, and to erect a bo.x-tank of ten thousand 
gallons capacity, and to provide the necessary machinery for raising the water." Diffi- 
culties, however, were experienced in gaining water at this point, therefore on July 23d 
the same Committee were authorized to lease a suitable lot on Central Avenue, between 
Euclid Street and West End Avenue, where a well was to be sunk, or a reservoir for 
salt water built, and the proper machinery erected so that water might be procured 
for the purposes of street sprinkling. In the year 1876, however, B. R. Norton, in 



Alameda Township. 383 



boring a well at his plac2 at the corner of Grand Street and Railroad Avenue, found 
such an abundant supply of water that he at once conceived the idea of laying pipes 
throughout the town, and supplying the inhabitants from this source. He at once 
placed himself in communication with the Board of Trustees, and on June 6th entered 
into a contract to supply the town with water for a period of five years, for one 
hundred dollars per month, the quantity to be so supplied being, "all the water that 
two sprinkling-carts holding six hundred gallons each, and each drawn by two horses 
and working ten hours a day, can distribute during the dry season." A company was 
formed, of which he was the principal stockholder and manager, which, August 22, 
1876, obtained a franchise from the town, and laid pipes on portions of the chief 
thoroughfares. But the town had made such rapid growth that this company was 
unable, with its resources, to lay pipes to propsrly supply the inhabitants, though the 
quality of the water was first-class, and until the year 1880 the company had sufficient 
for all who had connection with its mains. In the latter part of 1879, Captain R. R. 
Thompson commenced to bore wells on the old Farwell place, on High Street, to 
ascertain if a sufficient supp'y could be obtained to justify him in undertaking to con- 
struct a water-supply for the town. He obtained from four wells an abundance, and 
on April 6, 1880, obtained a franchise to lay down and maintain for fifty years pipes 
to supply the town with water. Since then work has been vigorously pushed on this 
great and costly enterprise, until at the present time a net-work of iron pipes extends 
throughout the length and breadth of Alameda, and pumping works have been erected 
capable of raising over a million gallons of water every twenty-four hours. The town 
has now the best supply of water of any place on the coast. 

On July 30, 1872, all ordinances passed by the Board of Trustees were ordered 
to be printed in the Alameda Encinal which thus became the official organ of the 
town, and, August 13th, Mr. Robinson was elevated to the position of President of the 
Board on the retirement of Governor Haight, who was succeeded in the office of 
Trustee by Charles Wood. On September 24th a map of the streets drawn by Alfred 
Bannister was adopted, and October 7th, a tax of seventy-four cents on each one 
hundred dollars of taxable property was ordered to be levied. December 17th a 
communication was received by the Board of Trustees from J. W. McKee, agent for 
Hays and Caperton, and A. S. Barber, asking that the dedication of the following 
streets be accepted, and that they be recorded on the officia,l map of the town, viz.: 
Continuation of Lincoln Avenue through the Hays and Caperton property to Ver- 
seilles Avenue: Continuation of Santi Clara Avenue through the Hays and Caper- 
ton tract to Verseilles Avenue: Continuation of Broadway through the Hays and 
Caperton tract from Central Avenue to Buena Vist:i Avenue. 

1873. — Early in the year 1873, it had become necessary to devise means whereby 
the expenditure required for the improving and watering of streets and constructing 
sidewalks should be defrayed. To this end, on February 28th, it was ordered that the 
sum of ten thousand dollars should be borrowed from the Union Savings Bank of 
Oakland, and set apart especially for these purposes, and no other, under the head of 
" Street Fund." On May 6th we find that W. W. Chipman deeded to the town a 
strip of land sixty feet wide and four hundred and twelve feet four inches long to 



384 History of Alameda County, California. 

complete the line of Santa Clara Avenue, while on the 20th of the same month a com- 
munication was received from Mar)- R. Fitch dedicating to the town, "all streets laid 
out and shown on the map of the ' Fitch and Sharon' tract, as per Stratton's survey, 
together with the extension of all streets running north and south to Atlantic Avenue," 
an offering which was duly accepted. 

The municipal officers elected this year were, E. B. Mastick, Henry Robinson, 
Jabish Clement, Eppes EUery, Alonzo Green, Board of Trustees; M. W. Peck vice 
Krauth, and F. Boehmer vice Hess, School Directors; Thomas A. Smith, Treasurer; 
E. Minor Smith, Assessor and Superintendent of Streets; W. H. Porter, Clerk. 

On August 5, 1873, there being then in contemplation the extension of High 
Street, and the building a bridge to Bay Farm Island, Mr. Green, of the Board of 
Trustees, to whom was referred the affair, reported: "In the matter of bridging the 
slough in order to make a permanent landing at all times of tides, for the town of 
Alameda, I find the most practicable point to cross the slough is on Peach Street, 
where it will require a bridge one hundred and fifty feet long; the distance to build a 
road will be six hundred feet. I think parties interested will build the road and a 
wharf without expense 'to the town of Alameda as soon as a bridge is built." The 
report was received and the matter of building referred to a committee to prepare 
plans and specifications, who, August 12th, reported that it would be advisable to 
have the bridge built at the end of High Street, and submitted plans. Proposals to 
construct were thereupon called for, and on August 26th, six bids were received varying 
from that of A. Nelson for six hundred and twenty-five dollars to that of A. M. Bur- 
rell, three hundred and forty-four dollars. Meanwhile, however, dela\' occurred, and 
on February 3, 1874, all bids were ordered rejected and a special committee appointed 
to report — some being anxious that the bridge should be from Peach rather than from 
High Street; the first, however, baing chosen at a meeting held on the lOth. This 
brought forth further opposition. A petition numerously signed by citizens was pre- 
sented to the Trustees urging the building of the bridge at the foot of High Street, 
while Bray and others offered to defray the expense of construction, in part, should 
it be placed there. This apparently had no influence, however, for the bid of Charles 
H. Foster was accepted to build the bridge at Peach Street. 

November 4, 1873, O. W. Briggs was appointed to succeed Mr. Porter in the 
office of Town Clerk, and. thus we wind up the official duties of the year. 

Of the matters of general interest which occurred in the year 1873, we find that 
the Episcopal church was dedicated by Bishop Kip on the 2ist September, and on 
the 2Sth of the following month. Justice of the Peace, Milton Combs, was called upon 
to cross the dark river. Of this public official the Encinal of November ist, says: 
" For more than a year past this community has known of the invalid condition and 
has taken note of the gradual passing away of Justice Combs, and _\-et all felt startled 
when the news spread through the town on Tuesday evening that he was dead. The 
awful fact could scarcely be realized. Occasionally, during the ]>ast {&\\ months, he 
would appear on Park Street for an hour or so, when the weather was warm and 
pleasant, and at times he and his friends indulged the hope that he would soon be out 
among his fellow-men to fight the battle of life. It was a mistaken idea. Death had 
marked him long ago, and, like a skillful angler, was only toying with him until he 



V 







'^a^ (2y/Da/i/-^7^^^ 



Alameda Township. 385 



had worn him out, and he could be brought into his fold an easy prey. He died from 
sheer enervation; there was not enough strength in his system to sustain him even 
after he had been freed from disease. Worn out; and death came to him as a great 
benefactor. During his long sickness he never lacked sympathizing friends who 
cheered him with their presence even to the last moments of his life and then forsook 
him not. Milton Combs at the time of his death had resided in Alameda a trifle over 
four years. He came here with his family — a wife and two children — from Brooklyn^ 
Nevada County, where, for some years, he had served as a public officer and engaged 
in mercantile pursuits. He had amassed considerable wealth, in company with a rela- 
tive. Justice McGowan, but, unfortunately, could not retain it. The town, like most 
mining towns, fell into decay, and gradually, day by day, their hard-earned hoard 
decreased, until at length they, with others, were compelled to close up business. Both 
were honest men. They paid out their last dollar and trusted in Providence for the 
next. Mr. Combs tried to live in San Francisco, but the bleak winds and close con- 
finement to business drove him from that side of the bay to this. Here he engaged 
in the saddlery business without capital and not in robust health. Gradually, disease 
told upon him and he could not give that attention to his affairs that was necessary to 
make them successful. After a while he was solicited to accept the position of Justice 
of the Peace for Alameda Township. He consented, and has held the office for two 
years. Latterly he has tried cases while lying upon his bed of sickness. The people 
found in him an excellent officer and were determined to keep him as long as his life 
lasted. He was just in the prime of life, only forty-two years of age." 

The " Fell Reaper" gathered into his fold on this year another gentleman, who, 
perhaps more than any other, is identified with the history of Alameda Township. 
W. W. Chipman, who died November i6, 1873, was a remarkably active man; always 
immersed in land matters, as well for himself as his clients. He literally died in 
harness. Years ago, when the Encinal de San Antonio was a wilderness, Chipman 
and Aughinbaugh — then both men of means and indomitable energy — bought the 
greater portion of the town and started gigantic improvements — roads, wharves, dykes, 
and bridges — which, had they been completed, would have made Alameda famous 
years before. Too sanguine of ultimate and speedy success, and consequent fortune, 
these pioneers worked up all their own means and then commenced to borrow on 
their landed interests. This was in the days when money commanded four and five 
per cent, a month. Ere they could realize their fondly cherished wishes, disaster came 
in the shape of foreclosures and they soon found themselves reduced from landed 
millionaires to possessors of a few paltry acres. The late Charles Minturn became 
the purchaser of his large tracts about this time, which he held almost intact until the 
day of his death. Now they are passing, or have passed, into other people's posses- 
sion, b}' foreclosures of mortgages made by him in the early days of their purchase, 
and upon which he had been paying heavy rates of interest for many long years — 
always hoping, even against hope, for a rise in value which would clear them of their 
incumbrances. Had he lived a year longer in sound health, his hope might have been 
brought into full fruition. Both these men — Minturn and Chipman — had wonderful 
confidence in the brilliant future of Alameda, where both hoped to retire upon a foot- 
ing independent of the world and its vicissitudes. Alas for human foresight and 



386 History of Alameda County, California. 

human calculation — the riches of both men are to-day embraced in a few feet of land 
in the charnel-house of the Quiet City! 

1874. — On January 6, 1874, certain amendments to the Town Charter were 
directed by the Board of Trustees to be sent to the Alameda delegation of the Legis- 
lature with the request that they be passed, while on the 31st these amendments were 
discussed in mass-meeting assembled. 

In the year 1871, a highway was opened from the peninsula to the main-land by 
way of Webster Street. On March 17, 1874,3 resolution was introduced and ado])ted 
requesting the Board of Supervisors to take such action as would be necessary to 
secure the enactment of a law giving said Board full control of the bridge and road- 
way, the President of the Board of Trustees being requested to secure the co-operation 
of the Council of the city of Oakland to that end. To this the latter body would 
appear to have objected, for we find the Alameda Trustees passed, May 1 i, 1875, the 
following: — 

Resolved^ That the copy of a resohition purporting to have been passed by the Common Council of the city 
of Oakland, and certified by H. Hillebrand, City Clerk, May 10, 1875, be returned by the Clerk of this Board to 
the said Common Council, and that this Board regards the threat embodied in, and the style of, the resolution as 
uncalled for and unbecoming the city of Oakland. 

Accordingly the original resolution was duly returned to the civic dignitaries of 
Oakland, the intention of which was the repair of the bridge and the willingness of 
Alameda to defray one-half of the expense. The bridge was subsequently repaired 
as intended in the first instance. Again, in 1877, the Webster-street Bridge was 
declared in an unsafe condition by the Oakland Common Council, and the co-opera- 
tion of the Board of Trustees oi the town of Alameda requested. On August 28th 
the latter body appointed a committee to inspect, who reported that an outlay of one 
thousand five hundred dollars would be necessary, upon which the following motion 
was carried : — 

Resolved, That the Clerk be and he is hereby instructed to inform the City Council of the city of Oakland 
that this Board appreciates the necessity of repairing the Webster-street Bridge, but that there is no money in 
the town treasury which can be applied to thai purpose; and that the Charter of the town prohibits this Board 
from contracting any debt against the town except there be money in the treasury to pay the same. 

It may be mentioned that up to the year 1871 the only wagon outlet from Ala- 
meda was by way of Park Street to Brooklyn (East Oakland), or by High Street to 
the county road. During that year an Act was passed by the Legislature authorizing 
the issuing of bonds to obtain money to construct a bridge over San Antonio Creek, 
and a roidway across the marsh to connect with Webster Street. This road opened 
up a route that has done much for the town. There is now an enormous travel over 
it, and it is the shortest and most direct thoroughfare from Alameda to Oakland. 

On April 10, 1874, the President of the Board of Trustees having called Mr. Ellery 
to the chair, announced the death of Jabish Clement, Esq., late one of the Board, and 
paid an appreciative and impressive tribute to his memory, finishing his address by 
offering the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted, and speak for 
the high character of the man: — 

Resolved, That we have received intelligence of the sudden and premature death of Jabish Clement, a worthy 
member of this Board, with feelings of profound regret for ourselves and of heartfelt sorrow for the stricken family 
of the deceased. 



Alameda Township. 387 



Resolved, That the deceased, in all the relations of life, sustained a reputation, blameless and irreproachable, 
and that in his death this Board has lost one of its most able, industrious, and influential members; the town, one 
of its most useful and public-spirited citizens; the Bar an honorable, worthy, and most promising member; and his 
family a considerate and devoted husband and father. 

Resolved, That we extend to the family of the deceased our warmest sympathy in this dark hour of their 
bereavement, and counsel them to take consolation in the reflection that a blameless life must have secured a bliss- 
ful future. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of this Board and that the Clerk transmit a copy 
of them to the family of the deceased. 

In regard to the officials of the town themselves, we find that Mr. Mastick resigned 
his seat at the Board of Trustees on February 24, 1874, ^i^d was succeeded by- 
Nathaniel Page, while at the election of May 5th the following result was attained: 
Henry Robinson, E. B. Mastick, Alonzo Green, Eppes Ellery, William H. Wenck, 
Board of Trustees; H. H. Haight, Cyrus Wilson, School Directors; Thomas A. Smith, 
Treasurer; E. Minor Smith, Assessor and Superintendent of Streets; and, June nth, 
John Ellsworth to be Clerk vice Briggs, who, in turn, was succeeded by Lyttleton Price 
in that office on September 29th. 

On October 5th the tax levy was fixed for the year 1874- 1875 as under: 

General Fund .' 25 cents on the $100 

Street Sprinkling Fund 05 " " 

School Bond Interest Fund 05 " " 

School Fund 25 " " 

Total 60 cents on the $100. 

In 1874 the Board of Trustees built a great many sidewalks in the town. To 
some it appeared to be an unnecessary outlay, but the wisdom of the act became 
apparent, as the town settled up rapidly, and the sidewalks that in some cases had 
been constructed in front of vacant property very soon were trod by newly acquired 
inhabitants. Of the streets, Central and Pacific Avenues were the only thoroughfares 
for many years that were improved. They, however, were pleasant drives, and the 
bulk of the travel passed over them; but in 1874 streets were to be found in every 
quarter bearing names to suit the tastes of the original owners of the property, but 
which the Trustees periodically changed to those considered more appropriate; thus, 
on May 5th of this year, we find them ordering the fishy cognomens of Dolphin, Pike, 
Salmon, with front streets to be altered to Minturn, Union, Lafayette, and Schiller 
Streets. 

1875. — It was resolved on March 9, 1875, by the Town Trustees: 

"That habitual intemperance on the part of any employe of this Board shall be deemed sufficient cause for 
dismissal. Drinking of into-xicating liquors, 'treating' or being 'treated' at any bar or saloon by any policeman, 
regular or special, while on duty, shall be deemed sufficient cause for removal from office." 

And April 6th, an ordinance ordering all public houses to be closed between mid- 
night and 5 A. M. was passed. 

The officers elected for the year 1875-76 were: Henry Robinson, E. B. Mastick, 
William H. Wenck, Eppes Ellery, Alonzo Green, Board of Trustees; J. W. Clark, C. 
G. Mead, School Directors; Thomas A. Smith, Treasurer; E. Minor 'Smith, Assessor 
and Superintendent of Streets; Lyttleton Price, Clerk. 



388 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

On September 7, 1875, a franchise was granted to Littledale and Goldthwaite to 
erect a wharf at the foot of Peach Street, for a term of fifteen jx-ars, the Board of 
Trustees reserving the right to regulate tolls and charges; while, on the 4th October, 
the name of Euclid Street was changed to Webster Street, that which it now bears. 

The taxes fixed to be levied for the year 1875-76 were announced October 4th, 
and are as follows: — 

General Fund 14 cents on the $100 

Street Sprinkling Fund lo " '' 

School Bond Interest Fund o5 " " 

School Fund 25 " " 

Total 55 cents on the $100. 

It may be interesting to note that on the 20th March of this _\-ear the first car of 
the Alameda, Oakland, and Piedmont Railroad was received in the tov/n and placed 
on the track; and, that in the month of June the Alameda Harmonic Society was 
inaugurated, and the following named officers elected, who were empowered to make 
arrangements for the selection and purchase of suitable grounds on which to erect a 
Music Hall, viz., Adolph Mayrisch, President; Dr. Eichler, Vice-President; C. Volberg, 
Secretary; Fritz Boehmer, Treasurer; Mr. Kustel, Jr., Librarian; Messrs. W. H. Wenck, 
Conrad Liese, and William Holtz, Building Committee. 

We close the chronicles of the }'ear 1875 with the statement that the magnificent 
High School building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies on the 30th Octo- 
ber. 

1876. — On May 22, 1876, James L. Bissell and his associates received the author- 
ization of the Board of Trustees to lay gas-pipes throughout the town of Alameda; 
while in the matter of streets, an ordinance regulating the manner of laying sidewalks, 
and of what they should be composed, was passed. August 1st, it was unanimously 
resolved, 

"That all streets in Alameda running easterly and westerly shall be a uniform width of not less than seventy- 
five feet, and those streets intersecting shall be a uniform width of not less than si,\ty feet. That every street 
opened hereafter shall be made to accord with the above-mentioned proportions, and that the streets already 
opened be altered, where necessary, to suit said measurements, as rapidly as considerations of equity and justice 
will allow." 

All of which was proceeded with without delay. On Deceinber 26th, E. H. Miller 
presented to the Board a deed dedicating to the town of Alameda, for public use as 
streets, highways, and avenues, all those parcels of land in said town designated as 
thoroughfares on a map of Oak Park, Encinal of Alameda, Alameda County, Califor- 
nia, 1876, as recorded in the County Recorder's office in Book Number One of maps. 
Up to the year 1876, it would appear that the town had been without any regu- 
lar fire organization. On September 26th, however, the enroUtnent of a Fire Com- 
pany was reported to the Board of Trustees, and its willingness to take charge of any 
apparatus which the town might intrust to it. The tender was duly accepted, and on 
January 6, 1877,. the purchase of a lot on Webster Street whereon to build an engine- 
house was authorized, while, on April i ith, hydrants were reported ready for use (the 
first in the town) at the corners of Bay Street and Central Avenue, Baj- Street and 



Alameda Township. 389 



Pacific Avenue, Grand Street and Central Avenue, and Grand Street and Pacific 
Avenue. On December 9, 1879, the purcliase of a bell, one thousand pounds weight, 
was ordered, but it was not until October 19, 1880, that the Fire Department of Ala- 
meda was created. At this time the town was divided into two Fire Districts: the 
portion lying east of the center line of Grand Street being constituted District Number 
One, and that part of the town lying west of said line, District Number Two. On 
November i6th, Citizen Hook and Ladder Company, No. i; Thompson Hose Com- 
pany, No. I ; and West End Engine Company, No. 2, were admitted into the Depart- 
ment; and, on December 7th, arrangements were entered into with Captain R. R. 
Thompson to furnish all the water for fire purposes and for flushing sewers, and to 
give the use of his pressure-engine for all fire purposes for two dollars and fifty cents 
per month for each fire-hydrant, commencing from December i, 1880, while he was 
in addition to establish a telephone line from Encinal Station to Webster Street. June 
21, 1 88 1, Whidden Hose Company, No. 2 (late West End Engine Company, No. i); 
Central Hose Company, No. 3, and Pacific Hose Company, No. 4, were admitted into 
the Department. 

Among the general events occurring in the year 1876 we may note the establish- 
ment of the post-ofifice at West End under the management of J. W. Clark, the 
official name being Encinal ; and the establishment on April 1st of the Alameda Loan 
and Building Association with a capital stock of one million dollars divided into five 
thousand shares of two hundred dollars each, the directors being, F. Boehmer, P. W. 
Barton, J. H. Hardman, D. L. Munson, H. A. W. Nahl, A. Newberg, Denis Straub, A. 
Schroeder and A. Volberg ; and the incorporation in the month of December of the 
Alameda Water Company, for a term of fifty years, capital stock one hundred thou- 
sand dollars divided into ten thousand shares of ten dollars each, the Directors being 
B. R. Norton, O. J. Preston, C. D. Wheat, F. Boehmer, and Theodore Bradley. 

1877. — In the year 1877 the sewering of the town was commenced, the first men- 
tion of such in the records being on February 6th, when certain property-owners 
petitioned for a vitrified iron-stone pipe-sewer in Park Street, on which, March 6th, a 
general sewer ordinance was passed. There is now a splendid system of sewerage 
throughout the town, the chief drains being in Oak, Walnut, Chestnut, Union, Grand 
and Webster Streets, together with others in Alameda, Central, Santa Clara, Railroad 
and Pacific Avenues. On February 20th a franchise was granted to Theodore Meetz, 
Louis Fassking, Thad. S. Fitch, and their associates to lay and maintain an iron 
railroad, the line to commence on Park Street, at the southerly line of Railroad Avenue; 
running thence southwesterly along Park Street to Central Avenue; thence I'unning into 
and along Central Avenue and Harrison Street southeasterly to High Street ; thence 
running into and along High Street, southeasterly to the town line. 

In the year 1877 the matter of building a Town Hall was first mooted, and on 
the 20th of that month Messrs. Barton and Mastick were appointed a committee to 
report a plan for the erection of such, who, April 17th, reported favorably on the plan 
submitted by Mr. Foster, when, the Clerk was directed to advertise for plans and speci- 
fications for erecting the building as well as an engine-house, the cost not to exceed 
two thousand eight hundred dollars. June 12th Mr. Foster entered into a contract, 



390 History of Alameda County, Calikornma. 

under bond amounting to two thousand dollars, to complete the erection, but, at a 
reduced price of twenty-six hundred and forty-nine dollars, after which the construc- 
tion was proceeded with and the building eventually occupied. 

The next event in chronological order in the year 1877, is the commencement of 
the narrow-gauge railroad. On April 24th the right was granted to the" South Coast 
Pacific Railroad " to construct, maintain, and operate, and to transport passengers and 
freight thereon, upon and through any of the avenues and streets running about east 
and west, and situated south of the northerly line of Encinal Avenue, sup]JOsing such 
line extended from the present termini of said Encinal Avenue, both east and west, 
to the boundary lines of the town of Alameda; provided, that said railroad shall not 
cross Central Avenue at any point. The term for which the francliisc was conceded is 
twent}'-five years; while the privilege to use horse, steam, or any other power was granted. 
This ordinance was passed by the following vote, viz.: Ayes — Messrs. Robinson, 
Mastick, Wenck, Barton, and Simpson. Noes — None. On the 4th of May it was 
unanimously adopted that wherever in the ordinance the name "South Coast Pacific 
Railroad" occurs the words "Bay and Coast Railroad Company, a corporation 
duly incorporated under the laws of the State of California" should be substi- 
tuted, while it was on the same date made obligatory on the compan_\' to com- 
mence work upon the line within six months and to expend upon that part of it 
within the town limits a sum not less than twenty thousand dollars, and that 
the whole should be completed within one year, under pain of forfeiture of the 
franchise. The original ordinance, however, was amended in its first section on 
July 17th, and made to read, "The right is hereby granted to the Bay and Coast 
Railroad Company, a companj' duly incorporated under the laws of the State of 
California, and its successors and assigns to use for the purpose of constructing, 
maintaining and operating a railroad in the streets, alle}-s, highways, parks, ]3laces, lands, 
and waters south of the following line, to wit: Commencing at a line where the north- 
erly line of Encinal Avenue projected easterly w^ould intersect the easterly boundary 
of the town of Alameda; running thence westerly in a straight line to the westerly 
end of the said northerly line of Encinal Avenue and Saint George Street; thence 
along the northerly line of Central Avenue to West End Avenue, and west of the 
following line, to wit: a straight line projected along the easterly line of West P^nd 
Avenue, northerly and southerl)' to the boundary lines of said town of Alameda; 
provided, that said railroad shall not cross the northerly line of Central A\enue." 
These boons granted, it was found necessary to make further concessions in order 
that Alameda should be put in direct communication with San Francisco, therefore 
under date November 17, 1877, the Board of Trustees passed the following pre- 
ambles and resolutions: — 

" Whereas, Means of direct and speedy communication between the town of Alameda and the city of San 
Francisco are of the utmost importance to the promotion of the interests and development of property in this 
town; and, 

"Where.aS, The facilities at present afforded by the Central Pacific Railroad are circllitou^ anil insufficient; 
and, 

"Whereas, The liay and Coast Railroad Company propose to insure such means of ready and direct com- 



Alameda Township. 391 



municadon, and to that end has already expended large sums of money without subsidy or contribution from State, 
county, or town; therefore be it 

"Resolved, That it is the sense of this Board that said Bay and Coast Railroad Company is a great public 
necessity for the town and its inhabitants, and that it is the interest and the duty of this board to co-operate in 
promoting its completion as speedily as possible, thereby insuring speedy and cheap transportation and greatly 
increasing the taxable property of the town." 

Thus the Trustees having taken' the company under their sheltering aegis, made 
further grants and gave increased privileges for wharves, slips, etc., and by their pro- 
tection did much towards bringing the narrow-gauge line to its completion, a fran- 
chise being granted to them, April 6, 1880, with the privilege of crossing Webster- 
street Bridge, upon consideration that they "continue to transport passengers between 
Alameda and San Francisco by a direct route without crossing San Antonio Creek 
into Oakland," and that they should make at least twelve trips a day each way, pro- 
vided also that they should construct a high and close partition throughout the whole 
length of the bridge, so as to separate their track from that of the carriage roadway. 

From the foregoing remarks gathered from the records of the Board of Trustees it 
will be seen that a franchise was granted to what is now known as the South Pacific 
Coast Railroad Company, in 1877. The scheme, however, met with strenuous oppo- 
sition from a number of citizens, but the events which have accrued by the concession 
are almost incalculable. The whole southern and middle portions of the Enx;inal 
received a boom, and a great many fine residences were erected mainly because the 
new road offered direct and rapid transit to the city. 

At the election held May i, 1877, the following town officers were chosen: Henry 
Robinson, J. M. Gray, Alonzo Green, Conrad Liese, Charles Volberg, Board of Trus- 
tees; Cyrus Wilson, J. D. Sweet, School Directors; N. W. Palmer, Treasurer; E. 
Minor Smith, Assessor and Superintendent of Streets; and on May 15th John Ells- 
worth was elected Clerk, and Town Attorney as well. 

During the month of September, 1877, the American District Telegraph Company 
of Alameda filed articles of incorporation with the County Clerk, which stated their 
place of business to be the town of Alameda, and the existence of the association fifty 
years. Capital stock, fifty thousand dollars, divided into two thousand shares of 
twenty-five dollars each, and the directors P. W. Barton, Alfred Bannister, Charles H. 
Ham, James M. Gray, and A. Newberg; the right to erect and maintain telegraph lines 
within the corporate limits of the town was given to them on October i6th, being 
granted to them by the Board of Trustees for fifteen years. 

The following changes in the names of streets was ordered by ordinance, Novem- 
ber 27, 1877: Webster Street in Old Alameda to Fillmore Street; Park Street in Old 
Alameda to Post Street; Washington Avenue to Harrison Avenue; Central Street to 
Austin Street; Eagle Street to Eagle Avenue; Oak Street at the West End of town 
to Hazel Street; Pine Street at Woodstock to Cypress Street; Willow Street at 
Woodstock to Maple Street; Bay Street at Woodstock to Bryant Street; Lincoln 
Avenue in the Fitch Tract to Clinton Avenue; Bay Avenue to Dayton Avenue; St. 
Mary's Street to Stanton Street; St. Paul Street to Morton Street; St. John Street to 
Benton Street; St. George Street to Sherman Street; Ma'nzanita Street to Bush 
.Street. 



392 History of Alameda County, Calikokma. 

On October ist the rate of taxation for the year 1877-78 was fixed as under: 

General Fund 1 8 cunts on the $100 

School Bond Interest Fund 07 " " 

Street Sprinkling Fund 10 " " 

School Fund 25 " " 

Total 60 cents on the §100. 

In the Encinal oi January 6, 1877, we find that the old "pavilion," famous in the 
"flush" days when Charles Minturn ran a steamer to Old Alameda Point, and crowds 
of people came across the Bay to enjoy the rural beauties of the peninsula's sylvan 
glades, was burned to the ground on Monday morning; while, on the 14th of the same 
month, the new Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated by Rev. Dr. Jewell. On 
February loth the rails of the Alameda, Oakland, and Piedmont Railroad were laid 
as far as Park Street, while there were then ready three new cars to put upon the 
road. The last item of interest in the year 1877 is the initial trip of the South Pacific 
Coast Railroad, in the shape of an excursion which took place on December 2d. 

1878. — The year 1878 had hardly been ushered into e.Kistence than the residents 
of Alameda were called upon to mourn the untimely demise of one of its most zealous 
and prominent citizens. 

In a biographical sketch of the deceased gentleman, published in 1871, we find 
the Honorable Nathan Porter described as essentially a self-made man. Born in 
Massachusetts, he studied law in Providence, Rhode Island, where he was first admitted 
to the Bar, and immediately acquired a good practice. His genius for oratory — which 
had before in the lecture-room and on the stump developed itself — and sound judg- 
ment and a well-known application to business gave evidence of a brilliant future in 
his profession. Those who have witnessed his efforts at the Bar in California will not 
be surprised to learn that his remarkable command of language, united with his other 
acquirements, gave him early the most flattering success. Indeed it is by no means 
certain, masterly as his latest efforts at the Bar had been, that they were superior to 
some of those of his earliest. The following circumstance of one of his earliest 
triumphs is thus related: Soon after his admission to the Bar, Mr. Porter was called 
upon to defend a young girl of fourteen, upon an indictment for murder. The case 
attracted great attention at the time, and the evidence of her guilt appeared to be too 
conclusive to allow of any hope for her acquittal. The defendant had, for a year or 
more, been a "spiritual medium," and it was at a time when this subject first* attracted 
public attention. During this period the wonderful developments or manifestations 
at her "sittings" were the subject of general comment and speculation. At one par- 
ticular seance she predicted that two infant children belonging to her own family 
would die at a stated period. The public watched with fearful interest the result of 
her fatal prediction, and when the time arrived were horrified that it was in part 
fulfilled. Both of the children were suddenly taken ill, and one of them died. An 
investigation disclosed the fact that the\- had been poisoned with arsenic and upon 
this disclosure a confession, made, as Mr. Porter thought, by undue and unlawful 
urging and promises on the part of officials and others, was extorted from the girl of 
having administered the poison. She was indicted for murder, the penalty was death. 





6^7^z^€^ 



Alameda Township. 393 



The defense in this remarkable case furnished Mr. Porter with his first opportunity to 
make a good effort and well did he iniprove it. The trial attracted unusual public 
interest; the youth of the prisoner; the mystery of her spiritual manifestations; the ' 
confession of her guilt and all the surrounding circumstances, gave it unusual interest, 
while her conviction, in view of the facts, was regarded as certain. The young lawyer 
had taken upon himself a responsibility which many an older head in the profession 
would have hesitated to assume, but he felt satisfied that the confession was an 
extorted one (which the law does not permit), and if true, that her young mind had 
been warped by the constant excitement to which it had been so long subjected, and 
that she was not accountable to the law for the act. With a full realization of the 
importance of his trust, and determined that a human life should not be improperly 
sacrificed, he gave his whole energies to the task, and nobly did he acquit himself. 
Although weary and exhausted by the labors of the trial, which lasted for many days, 
his closing address to the jury was pronounced as one of the most brilliant in the 
history of the Rhode Island Bar. During its delivery, the Court, composed of four 
elderly Judges, and the whole jury, were moved to tears, and among all the spectators, 
who filled the crowded court-room, there was scarcely a dry eye. The result of this 
masterly effort, to the surprise of all who were not present, was a prompt acquittal. 
The case immediately took rank among the causes cilibre of the State, and gave Mr. 
Porter fame and practice and a professional standing among the first advocates at 
the Bar. 

Prior to embracing the law as his profession Mr. Porter had been engaged in 
mercantile pursuits, and his studies were prosecuted, as has been the case with so many 
men of mark in our country, while depending upon his labors for support. At this 
time we find him prominent as an orator in the lecture-room and on the stump; and 
that his abilities were recognized by the people who elected him for six consecutive 
years to serve in the Legislature — half of which time he was in the Senate, where he 
held the important position of Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, when it is con- 
sidered that in the New England States at that time, the office always sought the 
man, not the man the office — the measure of the estimation in which he was held will 
be appreciated; and this application was still further shown by his subsequent nom- 
ination as the candidate of his party for the office of Attorney General. He was also 
at that time strongly urged to accept the nomination for Congress, but refused. 

Mr. Porter came to California in 1854, and up to the time of his death was prom- 
inently identified with its progress and interests. He immediately took rank among 
the leading attorneys of San Francisco, and as a lawyer won for himself a State 
reputation. Studious in his habits, prompt in his business, entirely devoted to the 
interests of his clients, with a logical mind, ready language to give expression to his 
thoughts, a speech marked by taste and literary culture, he occupied a'deservedly 
high position in his profession. In private life he was a man of exemplary habits, 
generous in his contributions to good works, and liberal in his views, according to 
every one his full rights, civil, political, and religious. 

When the " People's Party" was in power in San Francisco, Mr. Porter was 
sought, and, after much urging by the committee of that party, consented to accept 
the nomination for District Attorney of the city and county. The result was his 
26 



394 History of Alameda County, Califoknia. 

triumphant election in i860, and in ever}' election thereafter until 1867, when he was 
no longer a candidate, and in that year the part)' was defeated. During all this time, 
when many were seeking the nomination, Mr. Porter ne\er a.skcd a renomination. On 
one occasion he was informed that the committee desired to hear from him as to his 
willingness to accept the office for another term, when he replied in these words: "If 
you deem \t for the best interests of the people to renominate me, I shall deem your 
action an honor." He was renominated and re-elected b)' a handsome majoritj'. His 
reph' in this instance was characteristic of his whole political career. He believed 
not in personal claims to office, but rather that the public has claims upon the citizen 
for their services when required. 

Mr. Porter took up his residence in Alameda in the year 1856, and was fully 
identified with the interests of the county as well as of the district and State. He 
was never, so to speak, a politician, yet in all great elections his services in the cau.se 
of good government, by his speeches and his influence, were felt throughout the State, 
and whi:e entertaining decided convictions and a warm attachment for the Republi- 
can Party and its principles, had never been found taking an acti\e part in caucus or 
convention, or been identified with any scheming class or clique. Xo candidate could 
be more available. Without enemies, and possessing unbounded popularit\-, with tal- 
ents and experience, all things appeared to combine to point attention toward Mr. 
Porter. 

From the first existence of California until the time of Mr. Porter's nomination, 
there had been no Congressman selected from the agricultural counties of what then 
formed the Second Congressional District. The mining counties had sent every 
member to Congress. In the mean time the agricultural counties had been growing 
in wealth and importance and increasing in population, therefore it was in them that 
the largest material interests should naturally center; thus it was that Mr. Porter was 
selected by his party to receive the nomination. While the greater portion of his 
fortune consisted in property near his home, where he was, in a measure, devoted to the 
farming interests, he also owned property in the mining districts, and made no little 
effort in its development. He was well known in some of the mining counties, where 
his voice had often been heard for the principles of the Republican Party, as in the 
valleys. 

Speaking of his labors in the mining counties, an anecdote is told of him, which 
occurred in Calaveras. On one occasion, while sojourning in the vicinity of Moke- 
lumne Hill, he met two of the old st\le California politicians who were to hold a polit- 
ical meeting at the " Hill," and he accepted an invitation to be present. The night 
was warm and the audience large. The orators were unusually energetic in their 
exertions; the perspiration rolled down their faces, and it did not astonish the assem- 
blage that the speakers every few minutes should swallow a tumblerful of what 
appeared to hGp?<re sparkling water, until a large pitcher, full at the commencement, 
was nearly empty. During the evening Mr. Porter, who was well known at the 
" Hill," was recognized by the people present. At the conclusion of the efforts of 
the regular speakers, there was a general call for " Porter! Porter! Porter! " Mr. Por- 
ter mounted the rostrum, and in a few minutes was warmly engaged in delivering one 
of those telling, magnetic speeches, so characteristic of the man, and it was not long 



Alameda Township. 895 



before he, too, seemed thirsty, and sought the handle of the pitcher. Now, it was 
generally known that Mr. Porter never drank " liquor" of any kind, and had no more 
doubt that the transparent beverage, so freely partaken of by the gentleman who had 
preceded him, was what the color indicated — pure water — than had most of the 
audience; so he nervously turned out a tumblerful, and while the audience were 
engaged in a round of applause, Mr. Porter hastily took one deep swallow of the 
liquid, and his mouth was again full before he was aware that it was the strongest 
Holland gin. The sensation to him was strangling, the second mouthful he could 
not swallow, and to eject it in the face of his listeners he was too polite. For a 
moment he stood in the most comical indecision; his face grew purple, and the strang- 
ling sensation filled his eyes with tears. By this time the audience saw the joke, and 
the applause of an instant before was terminated in uproarious laughter and merri- 
ment. Judge Brockway, who then resided at Mokelumne Hill, was among the audi- 
ence, and while he lived used to create great mirth by relating the anecdote. He 
always called it " Porter's Fiery Ordeal." 

Mr. Porter was fearless for the right and could not be swayed from the path of 
duty to do a wrong; could not be used as a schemer or a trickster; was proof against 
bribery or corruption, by corporation, clique, or powerful influences; but was honestly 
devoted to the best interests of the State, and aimed to be in the truest and fullest 
sense her representative. With such noble attributes as those above enumerated, is it 
any wonder that the Trustees of the. town in which he had so long resided, should 
have paid to his memory the following eloquent tribute: — 

" Resolved, That this Board views with profound regret the dispensation of Providence which has so sud- 
denly removed from this life our highly esteemed townsman, neighbor, friend, and representative, Senator Nathan 
Porter. 

'* Resolved, That the whole State suffers by this loss, the County of Alameda more than the State, and the 
town of Alameda much more than either. The State and county suffer the loss of an honest and able legislator, 
who was peculiarly qualified by experience and ability to forward their interests in the councils of the State. It 
falls to the lot of few men in this world to be able to serve their fellow-men so thoroughly and successfully as our 
friend has done since early manhood. But this town has singular reasons for profound sorrow at this sad stroke 
of Providence, not only for the loss of a useful and upright citizen, a kind and generous neighbor and friend, but 
also in the fact that as a representative, he had at heart the best interests of the whole people of this town, and 
his great influence was already thus early in the session of the Legislature being exerted in their behalf. 

^^ Resolved, That our warmest sympathy is extended to the afflicted family of the deceased, whose great sorrow^ 
finds some of its members prostrated by long-continued illness. We mourn with them in their sad bereavement. 

"Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to send a copy of these resolutions to the family of the deceased, 
and spread them on the minutes, '' 

On January 22, 1878, we find that a committee reported adversely in the matter 
of paying five hundred dollars to Thompson & West for a bird's-eye view of Ala- 
meda, to appear in their atlas of the county; while, on March 26th, a franchise was 
granted by the Board of Trustees to Thomas A. Smith, J. C. Tucker, G. W. Tyler, 
A. J. Tompkins, and W. B. Clement to lay and maintain a street railroad for a term 
of twenty-five years. The line intended to be so laid was from the southern or south- 
westerly extremity of Park Street, and running thence along its center to its northern 
or northeastern extremity, the fares not to exceed five cents and the rate of speed 
not more than eight miles an hour. 



396 History of Alameda County, California. 

The officers elected on May 6th, to serve for the year 1878-79, were: B. F. Baker, 
Henry Mohns, W. B. Clement, J. B. Vosburg, G. N. Williams, Board of Trustees; A. 
B. Anderson, Edward I'arrish, G. C. Hall, A. Mayrisch, C. H. Ham, John Barton, 
School Directors; E. Minor Smith, Assessor; I. N. Chapman, Surveyor and Civil 
Engineer; John Ellsworth, Attorney; James Cook, Chief of Police; G. R. Bissell, 
Superintendent of Schools. On the iith May John Ellsworth was chosen Clerk, and 
on August 20th, T. S. Moses was appointed a Trustee in the room of B. F. Baker, 
resigned. 

From the report of the Treasurer, made May 14th, wc find the state of the Town 
Finances to be as follows: 

Dr. To School Fund $8,686 00 

General Fund 8,423 56 

$17,109 56 

Cr. By Certificates of gold deposit in Bank $12,180 00 

silver " " 3.522 33 

" Silver coin in safe 1,407 23 

$17,109 56 

June 25th portions of Park Street, Pacific Avenue, Central Avenue, and Santa 
Clara Avenue were ordered to be lighted with gas for one year; while, on the loth 
September, we find the following minute: "Mr. Williams introduced the following 
resolution, which was seconded by Mr. Mohns: — 

Resolved, That the proposal of A. Borel, made through Messrs. Gilbert & Hunter, to sell to the town of Ala- 
meda, for the sum^of five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars, cash, lots seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and 
twelve, in the west half of block D, in the town of Alameda, county of Alameda, State of California, xs said lots 
and blocks are delineated and designated en the map entitled 'Map of Lands adjacent to the town of Encinal, 
Alameda County, California, surveyed by James T. Stratlon, May I, 1867,' filed for record in the office of the 
County Recorder of said Alameda County, May 28, 1S67, be and the same is hereby accepted, and that said lots. 
be purchased for said sum." 

It was passed on the 17th September. 

On the 28th February, a free reading-room and library was opened, with G. H. 
Stipp as librarian, in the Park Opera House, where it continued until handed over to 
the town authorities, the manner of accomplishing which was thus: On August 6, 
1878, Doctors Gibbons and McLean addressed the Board of Trustees, stating that 
they, together with Mrs. A. P. Andrews, had been appointed by the directors of the 
Alameda Free Reading Room and Library Association a committee to wait upon the 
Board and inform it that the association desired to turn over its property to the town 
for the purpose of founding a Free Public Reading Room and Library, and requested 
the co-operation of the Board to that end, who appointed a committee of conference 
t^o prepare an ordinance for effecting such, which was, under the Act of the Legisla- 
ture, passed March 18, 1878, entitled "An Act to establish and maintain free public 
libraries and reading-rooms," accepted, the Board electing to take possession on, or 
about January i, 1879, and voting that the institution should be maintained by a tax 
of one mill on the dollar upon the assessed value of taxable property in the town. 
This was duly effected; on January 7, 1879, W. P. Gibbon.s, Mrs. Elizabeth Green, 
Thomas A. Smith, J. C. Tucker, and George Mastick were appointed trustees, and on 
February 28th the Alameda Free Library was opened tor the circulation of books. 



Alameda Township. 397 



The taxes determined to be levied for the year 1878-79, were fixed as follows 
on October 7th: — 

General Fund 30 cents on the $ 100 

School Fund 27 " 

Street Sprinkling Fund 10 '" 

Bay Fairm Island Road Fund 10 " 

Free Public Library Fund 05 " 

School 'Bond Interest Fund (Act of 1S74) 05 " 

School Bond Interest Fund (Act of 1S78) .■. .03 " 



90 cents on the $100 

In the month of February, 1878, we find that the Park Opera House was opened. 
This building is described by the Encinal as the property of the Alameda Hall Asso- 
ciation, the land upon which it is built, on the southeast corner of Buena Vista 
Avenue and Park Street, having been put into the fund by Thomas A. Smith at its 
market value for stock in the association, and is therefore part of its assets. The first 
trustees were: Cyrus Wilson, Dr. J. C. Tucker, George W. Tyler, Thomas A. Smith, 
and W. B. Clement. On the 7th September the Bank of Alameda opened its doors 
to business, with Levi Jenks as President, and J. E. Baker, £ashier. This institution 
changed its name to the First National Bank of Alameda in October, 1879; and on 
September 14th the new hall of Encinal Lodge, No. 164, I. O. O. F., was formally 
dedicated. 

1879. — On February 11, 1879, a resolution was adopted by the Board of Trus- 
tees granting to the Alameda, Oakland, and Piedmont Railroad Company permission 
to construct an extension of their road across Santa Clara Avenue and along Web- 
ster Street to the northerly line of Central Avenue in a similar manner as the said 
road is constructed and then in use between Railroad Avenue and Santa Clara 
Avenue. 

At the election held May 5, 1879, the following town officers were elected to 
serve for the year 1879-80: D. T. Sullivan, J. M. Gray, William Whidden, W. B. 
Clement, Joseph Lancaster, Board of Trustees; G. C. Hall, Adolph Mayrisch, School 
Directors; E. Minor Smith, Assessor; N. W. Palmer, Treasurer; L N. Chapman, Sur- 
veyor and Civil Engineer; John Ellsworth, Attorney; James Cook, Chief of Police; 
O. S. Ingham, Superintendent of Schools. John Ellsworth was appointed Clerk on 
the 13th May; and on 30th December C. A. Edson was chosen a Trustee vice Clem- 
ent, resigned. 

The taxes fixed for the year 1879-80 were: — 

General Fund 30 cents on the $100 

School Fund .26 

Street Sprinkling Fund 10 

Bay Farm Island Road Fund 02 

Free Public Library Fund 04 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1874 04^ 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1878 03 



79^ cents on the $100 

On March 22, 1879, a new Baptist church was dedicated, the cost of the build- 



398 History of Alameda County, California. 

ing being three thousand seven hundred and four dollars. On March 30th the Kohl- 
moos Hotel was opened, while on the 5th December the Royal Soap Factory, located 
near the shore line, between the narrow-gauge landing and Alameda Wharf, com- 
menced active operations. The company was incorporated in May, 1878, with a capi- 
tal stock of two million dollars, much of it being held by prominent capitalists of 
San Francisco, and a considerable amount by residents of Alameda. The building 
is three stories high, one hundred feet front and one hundred and sevcnt\-two feet 
deep. This enterprise was opened under the management of A. \V. Griswold, of 
Alameda, but it is for the present unoperated. 

Under the caption "A Quadrupedal Romance." the liiiciiia/, of October 18, 
1879, has the following, with which we purpose closing our chronicles of that year: 
"For several years past a noble-looking, coal-black stallion has been the sole tenant 
of the block of well-wooded land, bounded by Railroad and Pacific Avenues, Grand 
and Minturn Street.s, directly facing Fasking's Park. Citizens and strangers, on stop- 
ping at Encinal Station, have wondered, month in and month out, why an animal of 
such evident excellence should be perpetually shut up within the fence that surrounds 
this property. We feel that this common curiosity should be gratified. A recital of 
the whole story would fill several columns of our paper. Briefly, the tale may be told 
and the moral elucidated: An elderly gentleman — Mr. Brocken — was the owner of 
the horse for several years and prized him very highl\-. Once upon a time, being out at 
night, in a comparatively new country to him, he lost his way, and, but for the intel- 
ligence of his noble steed, would have perished. The horse intuitively appreciating 
the situation, finding himself free to follow his own instincts, boldly pushed forward 
in search of civilization. In his path lay a deep gorge, over which had been thrown 
a miserable apology for a foot-bridge. Across this bridge the intelligent animal lit- 
erally felt his way, step by step, each advance reducing the chances of a retrograde 
mdvement, and, finally, with the sweat dripping from his flanks, with a might)' neigh 
he planted his feet squarely upon the solid earth and saved h'is master's life — for, just 
in front of them, through the deep darkness of the wood, a beacon-light was seen, 
and soon after horse and rider were carefully domiciled for the night. This noble act 
by one of 'man's unselfish friends' was never forgotten b}' Mr. Brocken. A few years 
ago the old gentleman died, and in his will was found an item providing that his 
black stallion should have a life-lease of the block of land described above; that he 
should do no more work, and that he should be carefully fed and groomed as long as 
he lived." 

1880. — Up until the election of May 3, 1880, no item of importance is to be found 
in the records. On that occasion the following Town Officers were elected: II. B. 
Herbert, Joseph Lancaster, William Whidden, J. M. Gra_\', C. A. Edson, Board of 
Trustees; Henry Michael, John Barton, J. W. Mastick, Isaac A\er, School Direc- 
tors; E. Minor Smith, Assessor; N. W. Palmer, Treasurer; I. N. Chapman, Surveyor 
and Civil Engineer; John Ellsworth, Attorney; James Cook, Chief of Police; O. S- 
Ingham, Superintendent of Schools. On December 4th, F. K. Krauth, Jr., was 
elected Chief Engineer of the Fire Department; W. T. Valentine, Assistant Engineer 
of District Number One; C. Sturm, Assistant Engineer of District Number Two; and 



Alameda Township. 399 



on December 7th, Dr. W. P. Gibbons was chosen to be Health Officer, and Doctors 
W. L. Twichell, J. T. McLean, and Alexander Jones, the Board of Health. The 
trustees of the Free Library for the year 1880-81 were, Mrs. A. B. Andrews, W. P. 
Gibbons, D. T. Sullivan, George K. Mastick, T. A. Smith. 

Upon the retirement from office of the Board of Trustees last serving, the follow- 
ing resolution was unanimously adopted : — 

Whereas, The retirement of our esteemed citizen, Daniel T. Sullivan,, from the ofiice of President of this 
Board, presents a suitable opportunity for expressing the esteem in which we hold him as a faithful and courteous 
public servant. Therefore be it 

Resolved, That the thanks of the members of this Board are due to Daniel T. Sullivan for the able and 
impartial manner in which he has uniformly performed his public duties, and that we sincerely regret his retirement 
as a member of this Board. 

On May 25, 1880, minors visiting saloons was declared to be a misdemeanor, 
while the same ordinance made it a punishable offence for those under age to loiter 
about railroad-depots, or jumping on and off cars when in motion. June 8th, the 
numbering of houses was ordered, twenty-five feet frontage being allowed for each 
building. 

On July 27, 1880, a Board of Health was created to be composed of a health 
officer, who, together with the President of the Board of Trustees and one other person 
appointed by the Board, all except the President aforesaid to be licensed practising 
.physicians; Dr. W. P. Gibbons and Dr. J. T. McLean being, August 30th, appointed 
Health Officer and member of the Board respectively. November i6th, the ordinance 
was amended to appoint " three other persons," instead of one. 

The taxes fixed on October 4th for the year 1880-81, were as follows: — 

General Fund. 30 cents on the $100 

School Fund 17 " 

Street Sprinkling Fund 10 " 

Free Library and Reading-Room F'und 05 " 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1874 03 j4 " 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1878 02 j4 " 

Total 68 cents on thj $ioo. 

In the year 1880 two lodges under the auspices of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen were instituted, namely. Ashler Lodge, No. 165, and West End Lodge, No. 
17s, on March 24th and June 21st respectively. On May 4th the Long Branch Hotel 
was destroyed by fire, entailing the death of Miss Spaulding and a monetary loss of 
thirty thousand dollars to the proprietors, Messrs. Pearson & Co., and three thousand 
dollars to the keeper of the restaurant; while on July 3d, the corner-stone of the 
"Water-Tank Building," was laid with masonic honors and much ceremony. 

1881. — On May 2, 1881, the following corporate officers were elected: W. G. 
Marcy, Joseph Lancaster, J. M. Gray, William Whidden, C. A. Edson, Board of Trust- 
ees; Henry Michaels, J. E. Baker, James Hunter, School Directors; E. Minor Smith, 
Assessor; N. W. Palmer, Treasurer; L N.. Chapman, Surveyor and Civil Engineer; 
John Ellsworth, Attorney and Clerk; James 'Cpok, Chief of Police; O. S. Ingham, 
Superintendent of Schools; Mrs. A. B. Andrews, George H. Mastick, W. P. Gibbons, 
T. A. Smith, D. T. Sullivan, Trustees Free Library. 

The apportionment for railroads of the county for th: year, relating to the Town 



400 History of Alameda County, California. 

of Alameda, by the Judiciary Committee of the Board of Supervisors, was: Number 
of miles, 6.08; rate per mile of road-bed, riyht of way, rollinij stock, and franchise, 
$2,500,000; total value in district, $152,000, which was attempted to be reduced, but 
to no avail. 

On Jul}- 19th the Clerk was directed to transmit to the Hoard of Supervisors the 
following preamble and resolutions: 

" Whereas, The Alameda, Oakland, and Piedmont Railroad Company, on the l6thdayof December, 1872, 
obtained a franchise by grant from the city of Oakland, by virtue of which the company was authorized to and did 
lay down rails upon the bridge across San Antonio Creek, and into and upon Webster Street, and maintained a 
railroad over the same, and said road extended from Park Street in Alameda to Broadway, Oakland, and has been 
operated for nearly nine years last past ; 

" That by reason of the substitution of a new bridge for the old one the rails were taken up with the expecta- 
tion that they would be relaid, and said road operated and maintained ; and 

" Whereas, The Supervisors of this county now object to said rails being relaid, and to the railroad being 
maintained over said bridge; Therefore 

" Resolved, That said Board of Supervisors be and hereby are respectfully and urgently requested not to 
object, but to consent to the said rails being relaid, and to the road being maintained over said bridge for the 
following reasons among others: 

" First — The said railroad is a great public convenience and necessity, and the tliscontinuance of it in whole 
or in part would seriously inconvenience many of the citizens of Alameda and of Oakland. 

" Second — The said railroad is one of the three prominent means of communication between the inhabitants 
of the city of Oakland and Alameda, and ought to be maintained and fostered. 

" Third — The railroad company, in good faith, has invested in this railroad over tliirty thousand dollars, and 
if not allowed to maintain the road across the bridge it would be greatly damaged to the extent of almost confis- 
cation. 

" Fourth — That the refusal of the Board to allow said road to be operated deprives the inhabitants of Oak- 
land and Alameda of the cheapest means of communication, as fare on this road is five cents, while on each of the 
steam roads the fare is ten cents. 

" Fifth — This road is the only direct route from Oakland to the Alameda Baths." 

This demonstration, however, would not appear to have stricken the County 
Supervisors with terror, for they maintained their position, which still further brought 
the wrath of the Board of Trustees upon their devoted heads,, as the following pream- 
ble and resolution, passed May 30, 1882, will testify: 

" Whereas, In surrendering our Webster Street Bridge into the hands of the County Supervisors an abiding 
faith in their sense of justice made us secure in the belief that none of the uses and conveniences of that structure 
would be lost to the town of Alameda; and 

" Whereas, In the subsequent action of this Board of Alameda Town Trustees, in granting a certain 
franchise to the South Pacific Coast Railroad Company, it was confidently believed that no rights or advantages 
would be lost to the town; Therefore be it 

" Resolved, That a denial of the County Supervisors to the Alameda Horse Railroad of the privilege to cross 
the Webster Street Bridge is in violation of the spirit of these contracts and against the wishes and interests of 
the people of Alameda, and that these facts be fairly presented to the County Board of Supervisors, under the 
authority of this Board, with a respectful request that such action may be taken as will restore the service of the 
road." 

Upon receipt of the news of the death of President Garfield the following resolu- 
tions were passed by the Board of Trustees, under date September 20, 1881 : 

" Whereas, It hath pleased Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, in His Infinite Wisdom and Divine 
Providence, to call home our late Chief Magistrate, James A. Garfield ; Therefore be it 

" Resolved, That we feel most deeply and sincerely the loss the people of the United Slates have sustained 
in liis death; and that the bereaved widow, the fatherless children, and stricken mother have our heart-felt 
sympathy. 



Alameda Township. 401 



" Resolved, That in token of respect to his memory we request our fellow-citizens to drape their residences 
and places of business in mourning, and that all public business be suspended on the day appointed for his 
funeral." 

On October 3d the taxes to be levied for the year 1881-82 were fixed as under: 

General Fund 30 cents on the $ 100. 

School Fund 10 " " 

Street Sprinkling Fund o^M^ " " 

Free Librar)' Fund 05 " " 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1874 03^ " " 

School Bond Interest Fund of 1S78 02%' " " 

60 cents on the $100 

1882. — On January 14, 1882, there were elected: F. K. Krauth, Jr., Chief Engi- 
neer Fire Department; W. T. Valentine, Assistant Engineer, District Number One; 
and C. Sturm, Assistant Engineer, District Number Two. The regular corporation 
officers for the year 1882-83 were: William Simpson, J. M. Gray, C. A. Edson, 
William Whidden, Louis Meyer, Board of Trustees; H. V. Herbert, Adolph Mayrisch, 
School Directors; E. Minor Smith, Assessor; N. W. Palmer, Treasurer; I. N. Chap- 
man, Surveyor and Civil Engineer ; John Ellsworth, Attorney and Clerk ; James 
Cook, Chief of Police ; O. S. Ingham, Superintendent of Schools ; Mrs. A. B. 
Andrews, W. P. Gibbons, George H. Mastick, D. T. Sullivan, T. A. Smith, Trustees 
Free Library. 

Looking back over the history of the town of Alameda we see that it has made 
wonderful progress. From a cattle -ranch, over which there was a continual squatter 
war, it has come to be a town of over six thousand inhabitants, who are of the very 
best to be found anywhere. It has been sought as a place of residence for many 
reasons. It has a warm, genial climate, different from that of either Oakland or San 
Francisco. It has better communication with San Francisco than any other town 
about the bay, and yet, owing to its peculiar situation, does not catch so many peddlers, 
beggars, tramps, and other social abominations as towns which are on main-traveled 
railroads or thoroughfares. It has good schools, thrifty church societies, sewered 
streets, plenty of pure water, gas, and good police protection, and, above all, taxes are 
low, and the law protects the tax-payer from being plundered by the^ tax-eater. 
Under these circumstances the growth of Alameda has been of the most stable and 
satisfactory character. It has not gone ahead too fast at any- time. Its progress has 
been at all times healthy and permanent, and owing to natural causes. Alameda is 
not a town of accident. Its settlement and prosperity are mainly due to the causes we 
have named, and its future is bright and promising for the same reasons. 

Schools. — Having thus far carried our readers through a general history of the 
town-township of Alameda we will now consider the special subject of her schools, of 
which she is most properly proud. To the older residents of the town a running 
history of her public schools cannot fail to be interesting, while to the later-comers it 
will furnish a chain of evidence of the growth of her educational system from its germ 
to the proud position of the peer of any and the superior of most of the School 
Departments outside of the large cities of the State. 



402 History of Alameda County, California. 

Alameda School District. — The public .school system in Alameda dates back 
to July 12, 1855, at which time C. C. Breyfogle, the first County Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, appointed James Millington, E. M. Taft, and James T. Stratton, 
Commissioners of Alameda School District. The Board organized July i6th and 
made arrangements for the purchase of a building and lot from A. Schermcrhorn, for 
the munificent sum of one hundred and fifty dollars. ' On the 27th of the same month 
Mrs. A. S. Page was engaged to teach the school at a monthly salary of seventy-five 
dollars and board. This engagement continued until October 31st, when the pay 
was fixed at one hundred dollars, without board. July 21, 1859, \V. W. Brier, County 
Superintendent, appointed as Trustees Messrs. C. L. Fitch, Jas. Millington, and Dr. 
Henry Gibbons, who, the majority favoring the appointment of a male teacher, 
engaged W. W. Holder, who occupied the position until January 9, i860, when he 
was removed and M. A. Lynde substituted. Funds being low, it was found necessary, 
in order to pay the teacher's salary, to establish rates of tuition, as follows: Children 
under ten years of age, one dollar per month; under fourteen years, one dollar and 
fifty cents; over fourteen, two dollars. Mr. Lynde taught for one term, when he was 
removed, and Henry Gibbons, Jr., temporarily placed in charge. At this time Trustee 
Fitch gave notice of a petition to divide the district. June 22d, A. M; Crane, Nahum 
Poland, and Dr. H. Gibbons, were elected Trustees, and they continued Mr. Lynde as 
teacher. They also gave notice of an election to decide whether the ta.K-payers of 
the district were willing to be taxed two thousand dollars for the purpose of building 
a new school house. Thirty-three votes were cast at this election, of which thirteen 
were in favor of the tax and twenty against it. Not satisfied with the result, a second 
election was held, August 4, i860, to levy a tax of eighteen hundred dollars. The 
result was twenty-eight votes — si.xteen for, and twelve against the levy. The assess- 
ment-roll of the town at that time footed up one hundred thousand dollars, making 
the rate of taxation one dollar and eighty cents on each one hundred dollars. Sep- 
tember 15th, A. M. Crane resigned, and S. A. Hastings was appointed Trustee in his 
stead. Rev. A. H. Myers offered to sell to the Trustees two lots in block ninety-two 
for sixty dollars, which offer was accepted and the property (now occupied by the 
Alameda school) purchased. June 10, 1861, A. S. Barber, Jas. Millington, and H. S. 
Barlow were duly elected Trustees, and qualified as such. This Board appeared to 
have differed from their predecessors, as they appointed as teacher. Miss Eliza Webb. 
Non-resident pupils were then charged two dollars per month. Under Miss Webb's 
care, the school was run until October 14th, when she retired, and Orlando T. Hopkins 
was placed in the position, which he filled up to November 10th, when a Mr. Dexter 
received the appointment. The School Marshal, ?:. W. Palmer, reported October 29th 
eighty-two children in the district. April 4, 1863, Jas. Millington, N. W. Palmer, and 
S. S. Saul were elected Trustees, and on the nth of May they placed Miss S. S. 
Benedict in charge of the class. At the time fi.xed by law for the election of the next 
Board of Trustees no election was held and the County Superintendent appointed 
James Millington, N. W. Palmer, and M. S. Crane, who, January 13, 1864, deposed 
Miss Benedict and appointed Miss. E. St. John, who taught until December 12th, 
when she was removed and the Trustees elected Rev. J. A. Burlingame; they also 
formed a primary class, which was given in charge of Henry Burlingame. These 



Alameda Township. 403 



gentlemen were brothers of the late Hon. Anson Burlingame, well remembered 
as the author of the famous Chinese Treaty. On the 30th of the same month 
an election was held and a tax of two dollars and fifty cents on each one 
hundred dollars levied for school purposes, there being no opposition to the tax on 
this occasion. April 30th, the Board advertised in the Alameda County Gazette, 
published at San Leandro, for proposals to erect the new school-building. No satis- 
factory plans or bids being received, they adopted plans and specifications drawn by 
James Millington, and the contract for the building was awarded to Dr. H. Haile, for 
the sum of two thousand six hundred and twenty-six dollars. The old school-build- 
ing was sold to H. S. Barlow for fifty dollars, and was moved away, and is a portion 
of the cottage now standing on Railroad Avenue, about two hundred feet east of Park 
Street, and formed originally the nucleus of the present Loyal Oak Hotel. The 
building was duly completed, and, in September 1864, was dedicated to school pur- 
poses with W. W. Holder as teacher. The ladies of the district joined in getting up 
a grand festival to raise funds to furnish the school-house, the receipts being, as 
returned by Mrs. J. N. Webster, Treasurer, three hundred and four dollars and fifty- 
five cents. Captain J. D. Farvvell presented to the school a magnificent American 
flag, which floated over the building at the time of its dedication. Mr. Holder's tenure 
of office was but short, for, in February 1865, he gave wayto W. M. McFadden, who 
held on till July 13, 1867, when Mr. Holder again came to the front, and all charges 
for tuition were abolished, the district being now able to pay the necessary expenses 
out of the public funds at their disposal. 

Titles to property in those days were intricate, and in October, 1866, a payment 
of three hundred dollars is recorded to Prince Fisher to quiet title to a portion of the 
school property. May 23, 1867, F. Pancoast was elected to serve as Trustee three 
years; C. H. Haile two years, and James Millington one year. At this date the 
Census Marshal, James Millington, reported one hundred and ten children between 
the ages of five and fifteen years. December 28th, Mr. Holder again stepped out, and 
Mr. McFadden was reinstated. July 8, 1868, Asaph Cleveland was elected Trustee 
to succeed James Millington, term expired. A District School Library was inaugu- 
rated, and the teacher appointed librarian. July i8th, Mr. McFadden was again 
appointed Principal, and Miss Mary B. Robinson, Assistant, for the term ending 
December 20th. Mr. McFadden, School Marshal, reported one hundred and twenty- 
seven children between the ages of five and fifteen years. The new term of school 
commenced the first Monday in January, 1869, with a Mr. Adams vice McFadden, 
removed, as Principal, and Miss Mary E. Bannister, as assistant. December 12, 
1869, an election was held to decide the question of levying a tax of nine hundred 
dollars to liquidate the District School debt and paint the school-house. Sixteen 
votes were cast in the affirmative and none in opposition. The assessment-roll at this 
time footed up three hundred and forty-one thousand four hundred and seventy-five 
dollars, making the rate thirty-seven cents on the one hundred dollars. Again it 
occurred that no election was held for Trustees, and the County Superintendent 
appointed Messrs. C. H. Haile, Asaph Cleveland, and S. A. Wood to serve for one 
year from July 1st. The new Board elected Miss Robinson as Principal, and Miss 
Bannister, assistant. July 2, 1870, Henry Robinson, F. Boehmer, and James Mil- 



4()t History of Alameda County, California. 

lington were appointed Trustees. School commenced August i, i.S/O, with W. II. 
Mason as Principal, and Miss Robinson as Assistant. Mr. Mason failing to obtain a 
certificate from the County Board of Examination, was dismissed, and W. H. Granger 
substituted as Principal, October i, 1870. School opened for a new term January 3, 

1871, with same teachers, and closed March ist. April 29th, Henry Robinson, Cyrus 
Wilson, and F. K. Krauth were elected for three, two, and one year respectively. Mr. 
C. Howe was appointed as Principal, and Miss Belle Glennon, assistant; term com- 
menced May 15th. F. K. Krauth was appointed Census Marshal. September 23d, 
Mr. Howe resigned his position as Principal. J. \V. Bones was awarded contract to 
build an additional class-room at a cost of nine hundred and seventy-five dollars. 
October 8th, W. VV. Stone was elected Principal. November iSth, a special election 
was held to decide as to levying a tax of sixteen hundred dollars. Result — sixty-four 
votes for, and twelve against the tax. December i8th, Miss Matilda Lynch appointed 
to teach intermediate class just organized.. With this action the Board closed its 
term, in accordance with the Act to incorporate the .Town of Alameda. 

Encinal School Dlstrict.— Was segregated from Alameda District in i860, and 
comprised that portion of Alameda Township lying west of Willow Street. Dr. Henry 
Gibbons, at that time County Superintendent of Schools, appointed C. L. Fitch, Louis 
Fassking, and J. D. Brower as Trustees, and they organized a school in an old 
"squatter's" cabin, twelve by twenty feet, on the Power's Tract (Railroad Avenue, 
near St. Mar_\' Street) with Miss A. E. Powers as teacher, and nineteen scholars in 
attendance. Under Miss Power's management the school was carried on until 1865, 
when William Crowhurst was placed in charge. In 1865 the lot upon which the 
Encinal School House now stands, one hundred and fifty by three hundred feet, at the 
corner of Bay Street and Santa Clara Avenue, was by deed of gift conveyed by Mrs. 
Mary A. Fitch to the town for school purposes, and the main portion of the present 
building erected at a cost of about two thousand dollars. During the school year of 
1866-67, Misses Su.san W. Porter, Clara B. Porter, and S. Barker taught the clas.s, and 
in 1867-68 Miss Flora Smith had charge. In 1869 an addition was made to the build- 
ing at a cost of some sixteen hundred dollars, and at this time the total valuation of 
school property in the district was six thousand dollars. The school was then graded 
and Miss Clara B. Porter appointed Principal, with Miss S. A. Penwell as assistant. 
During the year 1870-71 no report was filed with the County Superintendent, but 
in 1871-72 we find A. J. Farley, Principal, and Miss Emma Frick, a.ssistant. In May, 

1872, the control of this district was vested in the Board of Education as provided 
for in the Charter of the town. The records of this district were lost in the fire that 
destroyed Mr. Fassking's house in 1874, and the foregoing general information is 
gleaned from annual reports of the Trustees to the County Superintendent. 

Under the Incorporation. — By authority of the Act of Incorporation of 
the Town of Alameda, the Board of School Directors elected under its provisions, met 
and organized May 20, 1872. The names of the Directors and terms of office were 
as follows: Dr. William P. Gibbons and William Holtz, elected to serve three years, 
Nathan Porter and Cyrus Wilson, two years, and Fred. Hess and F. K. Krauth one 



Alameda Township. .405 



year. Dr. Gibbons was elected President, and F. K. Krauth President /ro tein. June 
19th, W. H. Porter, Census Marshal, reported the number of children between the 
ages of five and fifteen years as 347^176 boys and 171 girls. June 26th, W. W. 
Stone, reappointed Principal of Alameda School, with Misses Tillie Lynch and Belle 
Glennon as assistants. Miss Fannie E. Bennett appointed Principal of Encinal 
School, and Miss Emma Frick assistant. The Board estimated that six thousand five 
hundred dollars would be required for school purposes for the ensuing year. Febru- 
ary 6, 1S73, Board reported amount required to be raised for school purposes for 
ensuing school year as eight thousand five hundred and fifty dollars. February 15th, 
W. W. Stone, Principal of Alameda School, resigned, and Mr. E. Rosseau was 
appointed to fill the vacancy. May 21st, M. W. Peck and F. Boehmer elected to 
serve as Directors for three years, took their seats, Messrs. Hess and Krauth retiring. 
Dr. W. P. Gibbons re-elected President, and Cyrus Wilson elected President /?-o tern. 
Director Nathan Porter resigned, and Geo. O. Smith, Jr., elected to fill vacancy. June 
6th, Mr. J. Browne elected Principal of Alameda School. Miss Tillie L. Lynch first 
assistant and Mrs. H. R. Clinton second assistant. June nth, Mrs. Fannie E. Ben- 
nett and Emma Frick retained as Principal and assistant of Encinal School. Report 
of W. H. Porter, Census Marshal, shows 405 children between the ages of five and 
fifteen years. July 30th, Mrs. H. R. Clinton, second assistant teacher of Alameda 
School, resigned. Miss Belle Glennon elected Principal of the primary department 
of Alameda School, with Miss Dita Hopkins as assistant. September 27th, Miss 
Glennon resigned, and J. Browne, Principal of Alameda School, leaves town and the 
school without notice to the Board. Miss Carrie Havens appointed substitute teacher 
in the Principal's .department, and Mrs. Regina Maney in the primary department of 
said school, during the pleasure of the Board. January 14, 1874, Miss Dita Hopkins, 
of the Alameda School, was reported ill, and Miss Sarah D. Barry appointed as sub- 
stitute. April 13th, teachers of Encinal School dismissed. May 6th, H. H. Haight 
and Cyrus Wilson took their places as members of the Board, Mr. Haight in place of 
Mr. Smith, terra expired, and Mr. Wilson re-elected. Dr. Gibbons and Mr. Wilson 
re-elected President and President /re? tern. June 3d, Miss Carrie Havens appointed 
Principal of Alameda School, and Miss Dora Barrett placed in charge of intermedi- 
ate department, and Miss Frances Barrett of primary department. Miss Emma 
Frick elected teacher of primary and intermediate department of Encinal School. 
June 17th, a room was engaged in Boehmer's building, corner Park Street and Santa 
Clara Avenue, for High School purposes, and Mr. C. T. Johns elected Principal. Mr. 
E. L. Knowlton elected Principal of Encinal School. July 3d, Miss Emma Frick 
resigned her position in the Encinal School. F. K. Krauth, Census Marshal, reported 
502 children between five and fifteen years of age. July 15th, Miss Cordelia Kirk- 
land elected to fill vacancy occasioned 'by resignation of Miss Frick. August 26th, 
plans and specifications for a High School building advertised for. September 2d, 
Miss M. E. Wheeler was appointed to fill vacancy in Encinal School, and Mrs. Martha 
Rayle in Alameda School. October 23d, High School lot on Santa Clara Avenue, 
purchased at a cost of two thousand five hundred dollars. October 28th, lot pur- 
chased on Second Avenue, for Primary School purposes, one thousand two hundred 
dollars. January 20, 1875, Miss Annie Murphy appointed assistant teacher in 



406 History of Alameda County, California. 

Encinal School, t'/^ Miss Wheeler resigned. Februar\- 17, 1875, contract to erect 
High and Primary (West End) School buildings awarded to C. H. Foster. May 17, 
1875, L. G. Mead and J. W. Clark presented certificates of election as members of 
the Board, vice Messrs. Gibbons and Holtz. H. H. Haight was elected Presitlent, and 
Cyrus Wilson re-elected President /rr? tciii. June 2d, West End Primary School build- 
ing finished and accepted. June 2d, the follow ing named teachers were elected to posi- 
tions in the department: C. T. Johns, Principal of High School; \i. L. Knowlton, 
Principal Encinal School; Miss Cordelia Kirkland, Principal of West End School; 
Miss E. Powell, assistant in Encinal School. July 7th, C. L. Metzgar appointed 
Principal of Alameda School, with Mrs. Martha Rayle as first assistant, and Miss 
Frances C. Barrett second assistant; also. Miss Carrie Havens as assistant teacher of 
High School. October 13th, a new Primary School (the Park Street School) was 
organized, and Miss Sarah D. Barry elected teacher of the same. March 29, 1876^ 
Mr. Theodore Bradley was elected Superintendent of Public Schools, at a salary of 
forty dollars per month. May loth, Messrs. Adolph Mayrisch and B. F. Baker pre- 
sented certificates of election and assumed the offices, Messrs. Boehmer and Peck- 
retiring. Governor Haight and C\tus Wilson were re-elected as President and President 
pro tern of the Board. Miss Kirkland resigned the position of teacher of West End Pri- 
mary School, and Miss Frances C. Barrett was appointed in her stead. Mr. Theodore 
Bradley was elected as "visiting teacher" at a salar\- of sixty dollars a month. Miss 
Mary E. Wheeler was elected second assistant teacher in the Alameda School, and Miss 
E. Powell as assistant in Encinal School. June 21st, position of High School Principal 
declared vacant, and Mr. A. F. Craven elected to fill the vacancy. Miss Wheeler pro- 
moted to the position of first assistant of Alameda School, and Miss Lizzie Cheney 
appointed as second assistant. December 30th, John Ellsworth, Census Marshal, 
reports 783 children between the ages of five and fifteen years. January 13, 1877, 
Mrs. M. F. L'Hote was elected to succeed Mrs. Powell as assistant in Encinal School, 
and Miss Lulu Kervan placed in charge of West End Primary School. May 31st, J. 
D. Sweet presented his credentials, and took the place of H. H. Haight, term 
expired. Cyrus Wilson was elected President of the Board, and J. W. Clark Presi- 
dent /yv teiii. Robert Kirk, Census Marshal, reported 980 children entitled to school 
privileges. July 21st, Theodore Sohlke was elected teacher of German in the High 
School. Miss Taney appointed teacher in the German Department of the High 
School. December 29th, Miss Sarah D. Barry resigned the position of teacher of 
the Park Street Primary School, and Miss Minnie (}. Millington was appointed to fill 
the vacancy. 

Methodlst Episcopal Church of Alameda. — This church was organized by 
Rev. James McGowan in his own hou.se, the small congregation worshiping in a tent. 
In 1854 the Rev. William Taylor bought a lot situated at the corner of Mound and 
Jackson Streets of to-day, donated it to the society, and on it was erected a house of 
worship which was duly dedicated on the 24th May of that year. The first pastor by 
appointment of the Conference was the Rev. David Deal, who was succeeded by his 
brother, William Grave Deal, who gave place to Professor Edward Bannister, who 
served both as principal of the school and pastor of the church. As the _\-ears went 



Alameda Township. 407 



on the church was kept open, but it was getting pecuniarily involved, but in 1857 one 
of its members, Captain J. N. Webster, liquidated the debt to the amount of three 
thousand one hundred dollars, but this not putting it on a firm financial basis, its 
entire extinguishment was undertaken and carried out by Mr. and Mrs. John Gunn. 
With the coming of the railroad to the town a center of interest was created in the 
direction of Park Street; it was therefore thought expedient to remove the church 
to a more central location, which was duly effected during the pastorate of Rev. William 
Hulbert. As population increased the accommodation in the building became too 
confined for the size of the co;igregation; therefore under the regime of the Rev. Mr. 
Tower the erection of the present commodious church edifice was commenced, he 
having received subscriptions sufficient to cover costs. Financial pressure and many 
removals shrank the available donations to a small figure, in consequence of which a 
debt of two thousand dollars was left to encumber and paralyze the society. Rev. 
H. B. Heacock, who succeeded Mr.- Tower, followed up the subscriptions with his 
accustomed energy, but they could not be collected. Under the pastorate of Rev. T. 
S. Dunn, the church had considerable prosperity but the debt remained unreduced. 
During the last Conference year it was liquidated in a quiet way by the generous 
contributions of friends within and without, and the society now needs only a parson- 
age to make it one of the most desirable charges, in all respects, in the State. Among 
the early members and staunch friends of the church we find the names of James 
McGowan and wife, John Gunn and wife, A. S. Barber and wife, Father and Mother 
Moses, Captain J. N. Webster — who served the church as chorister for twenty-one 
consecutive years, Mrs. David Deal, and Mrs. Bannister. A number of Presbyterians, 
among whom were the venerable Thomas Hopkins, Judge Hastings and wife, and 
others, having no services of their own, were for a number of years among thg most 
liberal . supporters of the church. The lot on which the edifice stands is situated at 
the corner of Park Street and Central Avenue, and was acquired mainly through the 
energy and address of Mrs. William Taylor and Mrs. John Gunn. For three years 
past the society has rented a parsonage contiguous to the church propert)-. 

The following has been the order in which the different pastors have served : 
James McGowan, local preacher, who organized the church; David Deal; William 
Grove Deal; Professor (afterwards doctor) Edward Bannister; A. Higby; William 
Gaffney; W. S. Urmy; Charles Northrup; John Daniel (deceased); Charles .Rich; 

William Hulbert; Tower; H. B. Heacock; T. S. Dunn; and M. C. Briggs, the 

present incumbent. 

First Presbyterian Church of Alameda. — This church was organized with 
twelve members on November 5, 1865, the society being incorporated, however, on 
the 2Sth September of the previous year, but services were held in the old Alameda 
school house as early as June 1864. The first regularly installed pastor was the Rev. 
Frank L. Nash, who, having previously supplied the church for a year, was inducted, 
April, 1867, and so continued until June 3, 1868. During his pastorate the church 
building was completed at a cost of eight thousand dollars, and dedicated March 8, 
1868. The Revs. Graham, Webb, and Ijams supplied the pulpit for various periods 
lasting about three years, and in October, 1874, Rev. Rodney L. Tabor, the present 



408 History of Ala.meda County, Calikoknia. 

incumbent, came from the Eastern States to serve the church. The society has made 
extensive improvements in its church building, and built a commodious parsonage, 
while upon the property there is not a dollar of debt. The church membership actual 
and on the ground numbers ninety-one; there being an average attendance of one 
hundred and seventy at morning service and sixty in the evening. Connected with 
the church there is a flourishing Sabbath-school of one hundred and fift\- members; 
three societies and a Ladies Aid Society, all in an excellent growing condition'. 

Garden City Lodge, No. 1745, K. of H. — This lodge was organized August 
29, 1879, with the following charter members: W. H. Loomis, R. Wheeler, Thomas 
Collie, A. J. Bancroft, Texas Angel, H. A. Thompson, Jo. Lancaster, A. Anderson, I. 

B. Merritt, C. F. Carlson, L. Ford, H. A. Nahl, H. Koever, D. B. Taylor, A. Innis, 
James Cook. The first officers were: W. H. Loomis, Past Dictator; R. Wheeler, 
Dictator; Thomas Collie, Vice-Dictator; A. J. Bancroft, Assistant Dictator; Texas 
Angel, Reporter; H. A. Thompson, Finance Reporter; Jo. Lancaster, Treasurer; D. 
F. Coey, Chaplain; I. B. Merritt, Guide; A. Anderson, Guardian; C. F. Carlson, Sen- 
tinel; W. H. Loomis, Medical Examiner. The membership now is fifty-two, while the 
officers for the current term are: Jo. Lancaster, Past Dictator; Lsaac Moore, Dictator; 
L. Wellendorf Vice-Dictator; D. B. Taylor, Assistant Dictator; Henry Mohns, Finance 
Reporter; Hermann Ernst, Reporter; E. B. Renshaw, Treasurer; John Yablonsky, 
Guide; William Simpson, Chaplain; O. F. Westphal, Guardian; Ole Jensen, Sentinel 
The lodge meets on the last Thursday of each month in Odd Fellows' Hall, Alameda 
and is in a flourishing condition. 

"West End Lodge, No. 175, A. O. U. W. — This lodge was organized June 21, 

1880, the following being the charter members: David Altvater, Charles Bochse, W. 
P. Byler, H. C. Ballheimer, J. C. Bruhns, A. T. Baker, J. B. Finley, L. S. Godfrey, P. 
F. Gochnauer, Ad. Hecker, Nels. Holm, Jacob Lenz, Louis Probst, Will. Ramm, Geo. 
O. Smith, Jr., John Ouast, John Schomborg, Theo. Steinmetz, L. J. F. Schutenhaus. 
E. L. Knowlton, H. Traube, C. C. Volberg. The charter officers were: Sam. Orr, P. 
M. W.; Will. Holtz, M. W.; John Conrad, Foreman; Hermann Bremer, Jr., O.; H. Mc- 
Goun, Reed.; Henry Gripp, Rec; W. H. Moller, Guide; Geo. Relfe, I. W.; Fred. Bcnn, 
O. W. The lodge is in a flourishing condition, and is composed of forty-five members, 
the officers for the current year being, M. H. Hackctt, P. M. W.; H. McGoun, M. W.; 
P. Z. Nauman, Foreman; Jacob Lenz, O.; H. C. Ballhcrmcr, Reed.; Will. Holtz, Fin.; 

C. C. Volberg, Rec; A. R. Denke, Guide; W. P. Byler, I. W.; John Schomborg, O. W. 
Meets every Monday evening at Holtz' Hall, West End, Alameda. 

Alameda Council, No. 192, A. L. of H. — This lodge was organized March 24, 

1 88 1, the following being the charter members : — E. T. Barnes, A. Victors, E. J. Dodge, 
H. Kosminsky, I. Manheim, J. E. Baker, A. Cheminant, C. J. Moj-es, C. F. Lewis, G. 
P. Reynolds, J. Wightman, J. Yablonsky, Annie Yablonsky, R. Gibbons, J. B. Vos- 
burgh, G. C. Vandal, H. Michaels, Alfred Bannister, Henry Deas, L. Beck, D. A. Cords, 

■ Mrs. S. A. Downes, F. C. Jordan, S. R. Chappel, W. Simson. The first officers to 
serve were, J. E. Baker, Commander; E. J. Dodge, Vice-Commander; H. Kosminsky, 





^^^ 



Alameda Township. 409 



Orator; E. T. Barnes, Past Commander; D. A. Cords, Secretary; A. Victors, Collector; 
I. Manheim, Treasurer; J. B. Vosburgh, Chaplain; C. J. Moyes, Guide; J. Yablonsky, 
Warden; A. Cheminant, Sentry; J. Whitman, G. C. Vandal, R. Gibbons, Trustees. 
There are at present thirty-one members on the roll, and the under-mentioned officers : 
H. Kosminsky, Commander; Mrs. A. Cheminant, Vice-Commander; A. S. Cheminant, 
Orator; R.' Gibbons, Secretary; I. Manheim, Treasurer; A. Victors, Collector; E. T. 
Barnes, Chaplain; C. F. Reynolds, Guide; H. Deas, Warden; Mrs. Yablonsky, Sentry; 
D. A. Cords, J. E. Ager, Mrs. Vosburgh, Trustees. Meets on the second and fourth 
Thursdays of each month in Odd Fellows' Hall, northwest corner of Park Street and 
Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda. 

Whidden Hose Company, No. 2, Alameda Fire Department. — This com- 
pany was organized June 16, 1 88 1, with the following charter members: G.W.Wheeler, 
f. Holtz, J. Conrad, C. Boehse, J. Ball, F. Benn, H. Bemer, O. A. Bemer, A. Denke, 
J. Edwards, L. Encinas, P. L. Gochnauer, T. Guillett, A. Hecker, W. Holtz, H. Kustel, 
G. Kreith, W. H. Moller, M. W. Mathiesen, L. Probst, O. Rogers, C. Sturm, H. Schoe- 
nau, W'. Schulte, W. G. Stahl, its first officers being, G. W. Wheeler, Foreman; W. G 
Stahl, First Assistant; F. Holtz, Second Assistant; J. Conrad, Secretary; C. Boehse, 
Treasurer; W. Holtz, H. Kustel, W. H. Moller, Trustees. There are on the roll 
twenty-five active and twelve honorary members, with the following office-bearers : 
G. W. Wheeler, Foreman; O. Rogers, First Assistant; L. Schoenau, Second Assistant- 
J. Conrad, Secretary; C. Boehse, Treasurer. The company meets on the first Thurs- 
day of each month, at their quarters on Webster Street, between Pacific and Railroad 
Avenues, Alameda. 

Alameda Oil Works. — This enterprise was established in the year 1868, by 
Samuel Orr, and b}' him continued ever since. He at first started in the manufacture 
of castor, cocoanut, and linseed oil, but for the last seven years has confined himself 
to the production of the cocoanut-oil, of which he produces about three hundred tons- 
per annum. The premises are situated in that part of the town of Alameda known, 
as Woodstock, not far from Alameda Point. The establishment is supplied with a 
twenty horse-power engine and the necessary hydraulic presses. 

Pacific Coast Oil Company. — This company w>as established in 1880, and 
erected their large refinery at Woodstock, near Alameda Point, where petroleum oils 
are refined, the crude oil being imported frrim other counties of the coast, as good an 
article being manufactured as is to be found in the Eastern States. The officers are, 
C. N. Felton, President; D. G. Scofield, Auditor; L. D. Fisk, Secretary. Office at 402 
Montgomery Street, San Francisco. 

Alameda Planing Mill. — This establishment, situated on Encinal Avenue 
between Oak and Walnut Streets, was started April i, 18S2, and occupies one hun- 
dred by two hundred and forty feet of ground. It is provided with molding-rack, 
engine and boiler house, a fifty horse-power engine, steam-pump, etc., and gives employ- 
ment to fifteen workmen. The business done averages about twenty-five thousand 
dollars per annum. John A. Boin is the proprietor. 
27 



410 History of Alameda County, California. 

Encinal Lumber Yard. — Renton, Holmes & Co., proprietors, N. B. Renshaw, 
manager, is situated at the corner of Oak Street and Encinal Avenue, and occupies 
an area embraced in three hundred feet frontage and one hundred and fift\' feet depth, 
with capacity of storing three million feet of lumber, most of which is imported from 
Puget Sound, and Mendocino and Humboldt Counties. The enterprise was started 
in 1878, by the present proprietors, on their present location. 

ScHUTZEN Park. — These excursion grounds, situated in Alameda, were opened 
to the public early in the year 1868, and are the property of the Schutzen Loan and 
Building Society. They comprise between seven and eight acres of land, and con- 
tain all the necessary apparatus to make it a place of resort and picnic grounds. 
There are a dancing-pavilion, swings, shooting-ranges, etc., all being leased by Capt. 
George Cantus, a gentleman well known all over the State of California. 

Newport Swimming Bath.s. — The.se, the pioneer baths of Alameda, were 
started in the year 1877, by Mr. Salara, but in February, 1878, he sold out to J. 
P. Wonderlich, who at once commenced elaborate improvements, which have been 
continued up to the present time, no less than twenty-eight thousand dollars having 
been spent upon them. The grounds are two hundred by six hundred feet. There 
are two hundred dressing-rooms, twelve hundred bathing-suits, a conservatory with 
glass sides, with a seating capacity for three hundred persons, and other and many 
luxuries for this health-giving e.xercise. 

Terrace Baths. — This establishment is owned by R. Haley and C. A. Edson, 
and was commenced in 1878, since when it has been considerably added to. The 
dam or tank is three hundred by three hundred and fifty feet in_^^dimensions; there are 
two hundred and forty dressing-rooms, and several rooms for hot salt-water baths, 
while there are on hand no fewer than four thousand bathing-suits. No less than 
twelve hundred private suits are kept here for the accommodation of regular customers, 
while the entire premises are lighted by twenty-two gas-lamps, each having an 
eighty-candle power. The manager is R. Haley. 

Long Branch Swimming Baths. — This is the largest of the famous Alameda 
swimming-baths, with com/brtable rooms and elegantly appointed grounds. 



Brooklyn Township. 411 



BROOKLYN TOWNSHIP. 



("A EOGRAPHY. — Brooklyn Township is bounded on the north by Oakland Town- 
--- ship and Contra Costa County, on the east and south by Eden Township, 'on the 
■^ west by Alameda Township. 

Topography. — The area of this township is computed to be in the vicinity of 
twenty-four thousand three hundred and forty-four acres, and extends from Indian 
Gulch to San Leandro Creek, a distance of about seven miles, and from the bay of 
San Leandro to the summits of the Contra Costa Range, some eight miles in width. 
It possesses considerable commercial advantages from the fact that the future Oakland 
Harbor and the head of the estuary of San Antonio form a part of its western border, 
the bay of San Leandro also penetrating into the marsh-lands on that side, while the 
beautiful Lake Merritt divides it from the township of Oakland. In the first years of 
American occupation the belt of giant redwoods known by the name of San Antonio 
after the creek up which came the "hewers of wood," was in its pristine vigor; to-day 
we only see the trunks of these monarchs of the forest, with sapling shoots springing 
therefrom, giving promise, were they left to attain maturity, of future value. The 
only piece of native forest-land is to be found on its eastern border. From the 
waters of the San Antonio back to the hills we have rolling lands of extreme beauty 
and fertility, which rise in graceful regularity until culminating in the Contra Costa 
Range, where high up are seen the outlines of deep ravines and well-secluded canons. 

Valleys. — There are no valleys of any magnitude in Brooklyn Township, but 
several small ones are to be found nestling between the higher foot-hills. Among 
these Fruit Vale takes the chief place on account of its beauty, salubrity, and fertility. 

Streams. — Chief among the streams which belong to the township of Brooklyn 
is the San Antonio Creek. As early as the utility of the redwood trees was demon- 
strated the head of the stream became an embarcadero, and here, as early as 185 1, did 
the late James B. Larue establish a trading-post. Of other streams, which all come 
babbling down from their mountain fastnesses, are the Indian Gulch Creek, "which 
separates Brooklyn from Oakland Township, and falls into Lake Merritt ; Sausal, 
and San Leandro Creek, the dividing line between the townships of Eden and 
Brooklyn. 

Climate. — Like that of Alameda Township, Brooklyn is free from fogs ; indeed, 
while Oakland is enveloped in its dull, gray mantle, and the Bay of San Francisco is 
all but impassable from its opaque mist, the uplands of the township under considera- 
tion revel in the glorious delights of an unconcealed sun, thus there is a purity of air 
which makes this section a joyous sanitarium. In certain portions frosts are not 
known, while its general evenness of temperature makes it the garden above all others 



412 History of Alameda County, California. 

of Alameda County. Hii,'h winds are the exception, and those which come, usually 
from the northeast, stay not lon<,r enough to do aught of damage. 

Soil. — The soil of Brooklyn Township is principally compo.sed of adobe and 
clay, and differs considerably from that of Oakland or Alameda, inasmuch as the 
former is a sandy loam. It is said that one can cultivate a larger area in one day in 
Alameda than he can on the adobe land of Brooklyn; but this is by no manner of 
means a disadvantage. The light, sandy soil soon dries for an inch or two below the 
surface, therefore sufficient moisture is not retained at such a depth to promote germi- 
nation of the .seed, consequently it is necessary to commence garden operations as 
early as the month of January, planting, as the season advances, deeper into the soil. 
The soil of Brooklyn Township, however, although requiring much greater muscular 
exercise and severe working to bring it into perfection for planting, and to keep it in 
that state, is always sure of producing a bountiful yield, although there are certain 
portions that do not produce remunerative crops. But this is the exception. The 
tendency of the soil known as adobe is to crack, but this may be prevented by continu- 
ous working, while it possesses a well-known virtue above the sandy loam in so far 
as it does not readily part with its moisture. 

Products. — Although not exclusively an agricultural section, the products of 
Brooklyn Township may be stated generally as grain, hay, fruits, and vegetables- 
There are few spots in California po.ssessed of more varied advantages. Here the 
cereals fructify to perfection, but while in certain portions grapes, currants, and black- 
berries will not develop into rich maturity, the Bartlett pear, the Washington, and the 
Y:llow Egg plum here find their richest perfection. It possesses orchards than which 
there are none finer in the whole length and breadth of the land, those of F. Rhoda, 
R S. Farrelly, L. Stone, W. Vandyke being especially noticeable, while the stretch of 
land lying along its western border displays a care in cultivation that speaks well for 
the thrift of its possessors. 

Timber. — In what may be termed the pre-American days there was one belt of 
redwoods which was known by the name of San Antonio, and where the production 
of lumber was carried on to a great extent. To-day the site of the forest is to be 
recognized only by the gnarled stumps of trees, with shoots springing therefrom. 
These were the only forest-trees in the county, save the usual clusters of oaks that give a 
park-like appearance to the scenery. With the settlement of the district trees exotic 
to it were planted, and at present we have large groves of the eucalyptus, besides 
different species of ornamental trees, in the vicinity of the several mansions which 
have been erected in every part of the township. 

Mexican Grant.S. — Brooklyn Township is comprised entire!}- in the territory 
known as the Rancho San Antonio, granted to Don Luis Maria Pcralta for meritorious 
services, or^ August 23, 1820, the lands lying within its boundaries being those given 
to his two sons, Antonio Maria and Ygnacio Peralta; and on the San Lcandro Creek, 
in what is Brooklyn Township, did the two brothers erect their adobe house, the first 
residence built within its borders. 



Brooklyn Township. 413 



Early Settlement. — -It is beyond a question of doubt that the first settlement 
made within the boundaries of Brooklyn Township was by the two brothers Ygnacio 
and Antonio Maria Peralta, who resided in an adobe house on the banks of the San 
Leandro Creek, but when this residence was constructed is lost in obscurity, although 
it may be right to-conjecture that it was about the years 1821 to 1825. The lands of 
this powerful family extended from the above-named stream on the south to San 
Pablo on the north, and at the foot of the hills the two sons dwelt until the year 1842, 
when the magnificent' estate was parceled out between them, Antonio Maria taking 
up his residence in Fruit Vale, and Ygnacio continuing in the old homestead. Here 
they remained in Arcadian simplicity to be disturbed eventually by the advent of the 
foreigner. 

With the arrival of these energetic pioneers, who commenced traveling over the 
couatry searching for lands which to purchase or on which to locate, the San Antonio 
Redwoods were discovered, and as early as the summer of the year 1847 they were 
well known, and a trade with Yerba Buena (San Francisco) had sprung up. We have 
been informed by the Hon. Elam Brown, of Contra Costa County, that he was there 
then, whipsawing lumber. In short, here many of the earlier citizens gained their first 
Californian experience. Then came the discovery of gold in January, 1848, and with 
it the rush of people to the Pacific Coast. For the first year all went to the mines, 
but as they wearied, sickened, or lost heart, they tried fortune in the lower country, 
and many came to the redwoods of San Antonio to find employment in the manu- 
facture of lumber and shingles. It was not long ere steam was introduced. 

In or about the year 1849 a Frenchman, whose name is not now remembered, 
commenced the erectio n of a mill in the redwoods, which had never been completed, 
but passing into the hands of the late Harry Meiggs in 1 851, was by him sold to 
Volney D. Moody, the present President of the First National Bank of Oakland. In 
1852, D. A. Plummer, now residing in Brooklyn, entered the employment of Mr. 
Moody, and in the following year purchased the concern. In 1852 two more mills 
were erected by William and Thomas Prince, and a man named Brown. Subse- 
quently Tupper and Hamilton put up another, as did also a man named Spicer, which 
last stood at the head of tjie canon, its neighbor being Prince's mill, and lower down 
the Tupper and Hamilton place; Mr. Moody's stood about a mile on this (the Brookyn) 
side of the summit. In course of time, from its convenience to the rapidly increasing 
city of San Francisco, the timber was in a very few years completely sawed out, and 
the hundreds of laborers who there found work were compelled to depart to seek 
"fresh fields and pastures new." 

In the month of August, 1849, there arrived in California three brothers, Robert 
F., William, and Edward C. Patten, who, after passing the intervening time in San 
Francisco, in the month of February, 1850, crossed the Bay to visit the giant redwoods 
of San Antonio, of which they had heard a good deal. Procuring a whale-boat they 
made for the Contra Costa, and landing near the Brooklyn end of the railroad bridge, 
which is a continuation of Seventh Street, Oakland, found the country a vast undu- 
lating field of luxuriant grass, some ten inches in height. They at once bethought 
themselves of farming, although at that time it was generally believed that the pro- 
lific soil was naught but a barren waste. 



414 History of Alameda County, California. 

At the period of which we write we are informed that the native Californians 
were bound by a most solemn pledge not to sell, nor even give information in regard 
to lands. They said: "If we can't fight these heathens out, we can starve them; for 
we can keep them from a permanent settlement here." Undeterred by this fact, how- 
ever, the Pattens sought the advice of a Frenchman, who had pitched his tent not 
far from the San Antonio Creek, and, through him, entered into negotiations with 
Antonio Maria Peralta, at his house in Fruit Vale, which culminated in their leasing 
one hundred and sixty acres, and, taking possession, became the first permanent Ameri- 
can settlers in Brooklyn Township. 

In a visit to the first named of the three brothers, the venerable octogenarian 
informed us that, when they arrived, there was a shanty standing on the site of the 
blacksmith establishment of Northey & Wagar, but by whom it was built is not known; 
this much has been ascertained, however, it was, early in 1850, in charge of a man 
named Hoober, a Pennsylvanian printer, but when the Pattens came it had been 
abandoned. The brothers also found, when they crossed the bay, a man named 
Moses Chase, in ill-health, living in a tent about where the foot of Broadway, Oak- 
land, now is, and attended by a friend. Chase had determined to return to the Eastern 
States, and had come to the Contra Costa to pass his time in hunting and recuper- 
ating during the mild Californian winter, ere going back to his home in the spring, but 
this journey he did not at that time accomplish, for the brothers taking a liking to 
him induced him to join them, which he did, and was afterwards invested with the 
like proprietary rights as themselves. In 1851 the Pattens leased an additional three 
hundred acres for a term of eight years. In 1850 they had commenced farming, but 
on the extension of their territory they laid nearly the whole of their possessions 
under a crop consisting chiefly of barle\' and wheat, and to them is the honor of turn- 
ing the first furrow, with the first American plough, between Oakland and the 
Mission San Jose, while, as an instance of the luxuriance of the vegetation, during 
the first year of their residence fifty tons of hay were cut on the site of Clinton, which 
netted seventy dollars per ton, the market price being eighty dollars, but ten dollars 
of which were deducted for freight to San Francisco. 

We have already mentioned the embarcadero of San Antonio, whence was 
exported the lumber from the redwoods. Early in the year 1851 the superior advan- 
tages of this location became known to the late Hon. James B. Larue, therefore mov- 
ing from San Francisco to the opposite shore he acquired some property from Antonio 
Maria Peralta, and there determined to found the nucleus of a town — mayhap of a 
mighty city. Ere proceeding, however, with his means of attaining this desired end, 
let us inform the reader of what manner of man this gentleman was. 

James Buskirk Larue was a native of Bergen County, New Jersey, where he was 
born February 6, 1800. Having received a good practical education in his native 
State he afterwards engaged in the manufacture of paper, but feeling that greater 
scope was necessary for his energy he followed the advice subsequently given by 
Horace Greeley to young men and "went west." In 1836 he settled in Michigan, 
and entered largely into the business of lumber-making, but owing to a disastrous 
crisis in the trade, he was compelled to succumb to misfortune, yet, honest man that 
he was, he gave up his all for the satisfaction of his creditors. That his manly worth 



Brooklyn Township. 415 



and business capacity were appreciated in that State, we find from the fact that he 
was at one time put forward as a candidate for the high office of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor, but suffered a party defeat. In the year 1849, in company with a number of 
others, he came to CaUfornia, and, after passing a short time at the mines, returned to 
San Francisco, and finally, in 185 1, took up his residence in Brooklyn Township, 
where he continued to reside until the day of .his death, on January 7, 1872. 

His first establishment, which was a tent covered with hides, stood in the neigh- 
borhood of what is now the junction of Twelfth Street and Fifteenth Avenue, and 
here he opened a store having as its chief object the supplying the lumbermen in the 
redwoods with goods. He immediately, however, commenced the construction, near by, 
of the house now occupied by Louis Winegard, whither he transferred his goods from 
the tent, and took up his residence with his wife and his son Luke, being joined, early 
in 1852, by Antonio Fonte. This gentleman, who is now engaged in business at No. 
800-802 East Central Avenue (Brooklyn), East Oakland, informs us that when he 
first came to the township in November, 185 1, besides the tent of Mr. Larue, a Mex- 
ican named Manuel Paracio had a corral standing in the center of the ground now 
bounded by Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets and Fourteenth and Sixteenth Avenues, 
while a man named Parker h .d a "rum-mill" where the store of Andrew Hempel now 
stands on East Twelfth Street, between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Avenues. This place, 
we are given to understand, had been built some time previously by a man named Dean. 
To the rear of the planing mill, now conducted by the Mendocino Lumber Company, 
stood a slaughter-house, occupied by Fisher & Son, while in the vicinity of what is 
now Twentieth Street stood a large farm-house, in which dwelt one Manuel Baragan, 
a Chileno, who farmed the whole of the Bray and Kennedy tract as far as the pres- 
ent boundary line of Alameda Township. The land to the west of Fourteenth Ave- 
nue was then what we have already mentioned as being farmed by the Patten Broth- 
ers and their associate, Moses Chase. Among those who settled in the redwoods in 
the year 1851 was William C. Blackwood, and who is now a resident of Eden 
Township. 

In the year 1852 the Pattens erected the first residence in what afterwards became 
the village of Clinton, their dwelling previously being nothing more than a tent, which 
was often placed in jeopardy by the herds of wild cattle which then roamed at will 
over the district. In this year the first ferry from the embarcadero of San Antonio 
to San Francisco was started, the craft used being a "plunger," which received 
from her owner — a Frenchman — the name of the Pirouette, on account of the facility 
with which she could be brought up into the "wind's eye." At this time there was a 
great deal of traffic with the lumbermen, whose numbers could be counted by hun- 
dreds. In the year 1852 Duncan Cameron settled near the embarcadero, and on arrival 
found a butcher named Fuller, besides Allen, Chase, Larue, the Pattens, Michel and 
Lemqine, residing in the place, while there were some Portuguese earning a living 
by raising poultry, boating, and fishing. He then established the first livery-stable in 
the town, with only three horses. In this year Joseph and Isaac Freeman erected 
the Mansion House, which stood on the northeast corner of Fifteenth Avenue and 
East Twelfth Street, and conducted it as an hotel; and about the same time George 
Gaskins built on what is now the corner of East Fourteenth Street and Sixteenth Avenue. 



416 History of Alameda County, California. 



In this year, also, a man named Hopper built a blacksmith's shop on the bank of 
the creek — now the foot of Sixteenth Avenue — but shortly after was succeeded by 
one Redman. Subsequently it was purchased by V. S. Northey, who now owns it. 
In 1853 Mr. Cameron built a larger livery-stable, while about this time the first school 
was established, and built by subscription. 

In the year 1854 C. B. Strode, of the law firm of Jones, Tompkins, 6v Strode, of 
San Francisco, acquired six thousand acres of land from Antonio Maria Pcralta, sub- 
ject to the lease held by the Patten Brothers, to whom he made the proposition, that 
they should deed to him one-half of three pre-emption claims that had in the mean 
time been taken up by them, in consideration of their lease being canceled and the 
whole four hundred and eighty acres platted for the purpose of building a town. The 
survey was at once completed and duly recorded as the town of Clinton. The lots 
found immediate purchasers, the first property deeded being that now occupied by 
Badger's Park, the owner being Captain J. Nagle. In this year a large hotel was 
built by the property-owners of the town of Clinton, and placed in charge of Captain 
Wagstaffe, while in that year Hon. Thomas Eager came to the township, embarked 
in the lumber business in the redwoods of San Antonio, and erected his residence in 
the town of Clinton. Among the other accessions to the strength of the township in 
this year were J. A. Rose, now a resident of Murray Township, Andrew Hempel, and 
the deceased John Mathew. 

In 1854 there was a considerable native population resident in the township who 
indulged in the favorite pastime of bull-fights, while the town grew apace, and 
increased in regard to the number of its inhabitants. 

As early as 1852 a steam-ferry was established between Brooklyn and San 
Francisco, the pioneer steamers we are informed being the Kangaroo, Hector, and Red 
Jacket; these were followed by the Cotitra Costa (which was afterwards blown up and 
several lives lost) and the Clinton of the Minturn line. In the year 1857 the late James 
B. Larue, believing that the rates of fare then charged were excessive and detrimental 
to the interests of the residents of Alameda County, became associated with several 
others and established an opposition ferry line between Brooklyn, Oakland, and San 
Francisco, under the style of the " Oakland and San Antonio Steam Navigation 
Company," its originator becoming President. Having purchased the steamer Confi- 
dence, from her was built the San Antonio, which made her initial trip in April 1858. 
A general reduction in the rates of fare and freight ensued, one-half in the case of the 
former, and two or three hundred per cent, in the latter. In the fall of the same year 
the Oakland was launched and placed on the line, and during the summer of 1859 a 
lively opposition was kept up by the rival boats. The enterprise did not pay as well 
as its promoters anticipated and a great majority of them were anxious to sell out. 
The California Steam Navigation Company purchased a large amount of the stock, 
and tried very hard to get the supremacy, thus Mr. Larue was forced to buy a suffi- 
cient amount to control the entire business or allow the whole scheme to fail; arid, in 
doing so, he became largely involved. In 1862 the Oakland and San Francisco 
Railroad and Ferry Line was established, and the steamers were sold to them. But, 
be that as it may, frequent and rapid communication with San Francisco and low 
fi;;s and freights were established, which naturally increased the value of property. 



Brooklyn Township. 417 



On January 20, 1859, W. A. Bray established himself on the Oak Tree Farm and 
commenced agriculture. Here he built a fine mansion, planted shade-trees, cultivated 
fine orchards, and made handsome lawns. In the spring of i860, E. H. Derby took 
up his residence near his friend, commenced making improvements, and these formed 
the center around which has sprung a country of beautiful residences. To these 
gentlemen are we indebted for the delightful piece of locust-lined avenue in front of 
their dwellings. Soon after them came Henderson Lewelling and Governor Weller, 
whose places are now occupied by Hugh Dimond and Frederick Rhoda. 

Generally speaking the farmers and horticulturists have been successful. The 
orchards of Messrs. Rhoda, C. T. Hopkins, J. V. Webster, and Schumaker are 
among the finest in the State, while that of R. S. Farrelly, near San Leandro, for its 
size, is not surpassed by any. 

East Oakland, or Brooklyn. — This portion of the City of Oakland as con- 
stituted at the present time is made up of the three villages of Clinton, San Antonio, 
and Lynn. The first of these was that portion of the town on which the Patten 
Brothers, located in 1850; the second where we have said was the embarcadero, while 
the last was situated on the heights, and sprang into notoriety from its being the site 
of a large boot and shoe factory established there in 1867. It is our purpose to treat 
these three hamlets as the nucleus of the town of Brooklyn ere it was swallowed up 
by its big neighbor, Oakland. 

The first house built in the town was that of the Pattens, and it was placed in 
regard to its survey on block number eight. The next settler we have already 
shown was the late James B. Larue. But it is unnecessary to repeat, for this infor- 
mation has been given to the reader elsewhere. In 1854, when the town of Clinton 
was laid out and Captain Nagle purchased the property now known as Badger's 
Park, he then built the second house in Clinton where it still stands in the center of 
the beautiful demesne. In the same year David S. Lacy erected a store at the corner 
of what is now East Twelfth Street and Twelfth Avenue, there being associated with 
him in the concern one B. M. Atchinson. On the northeast side of Twelfth Street, 
between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues, a large hotel, three stories in height with 
seventy rooms, and costing thirty thousand dollars then, was erected by the owners of 
the town of Clinton, and placed in the charge of Captain Wagstaffe. Some six or 
seven weeks after it had been completed and occupied it was destroyed by fire. But 
why attempt to particularize. The town had taken a good start, for land was much 
sought after on account of its salubrity and beauty of location. The number of citi- 
zens had vastly increased, business enterprises had been effectually commenced, there- 
fore consolidation was deemed necessary. To this end, in the year 1856, a petition 
was presented to the Board of Supervisors of the County of Alameda praying that 
such an union should take place; the prayer was granted and the villages of Clinton 
and San Antonio became Brooklyn, the name being taken from that of the vessel in 
which the proposer of the resolution, Hon. Thomas Eager, had come to California 
in 1849. 

By the Act of the Legislature passed April 4, 1870, the villages of "Clinton, 
Lynn, Brooklyn, and vicinity" were constituted a body politic and corporate by the 



418 History of Alameda County, California. 

name of the Town of Brooklyn, the boundaries being as follows: " Commencing at 
the bridge at the intersection of Encinal and Park Avenues, as laid down upon the 
published map of Oakland and vicinity (of William F. Boardman, City and County 
Surveyor), and thence following in a northerly and easterly direction along the bound- 
ary line of the city of Oakland and following said boundary line to a point opposite 
the center of Prospect Street; thence northeasterly, across Lake Shore Avenue to the 
center of the highway leading to Lake Park; thence along the center of said highway 
to an intersection with Indian Gulch; thence easterly along the center of said 
Indian Gulch, to the southerly and westerly line of the lands of John Hem- 
pel (excluding said lands); thence along the westerly line of said lands for- 
merly the property of Duncan Cameron, to an intersection with Sausal Creek (at 
the northeast corner of Porter's plot); thence southerly along said creek to the north- 
erly lands belonging to George Stevens; thence westerly, along said line to the north- 
west corner of said lands, at the westerly line of Lynn, as shown on said map; thence 
southerly, along said line to the northeast corner of the northern addition; thence 
southerly, along the easterly line of said northern addition, to the northwest corner of 
the Cameron plot; thence easterly along the northerly line of said Cameron plot to 
the northwest corner of Ghirardelli's plot; thence southerly along the westerly line of 
said plot in a direct line prolonged to the southerly line of the old County Road; 
thence westerly along the southerly line of said road to the northeast corner of the 
land of Sevin Vincent; thence southerly along the dividing line between the lands of 
said Vincent and W. A. Bray prolonged in a direct line to a point in the south line of 
Adam's Avenue; thence westerly to the northwest corner of the lands of Joshua Tevis; 
thence southerly along the westerly line of the lands of said Tevis to the southwest 
corner thereof; thence easterly along the land of Mrs. Requa; thence southerly in a 
direct line to the place of beginning." Section two of the Act vested the government 
of the town in a Board of five trustees, an assessor, and a clerk to be ex officio treas- 
urer, an election being ordered for the first Monday in the month of May of each 
year. On May 4, 1870, that election was accordingly had, and resulted as follows: 
H. A. Mayhew, Hiram Tubbs, Adam Cannon, Charles Newton, Henry Tum Suden, 
Board of Trustees; A. W. Swett, F. Buel, C. C. Knowles, School Directors; J. F. 
Steen, Clerk and Treasurer; C. E. Webster, Assessor. Mr. Mayhew was elected Pres- 
ident of the Board of Trustees on May 7th. On May i ith a proposition of Asa How- 
ard to erect a building on Block number forty, Washington Street, in which the meet- 
ings of the Trustees should be held, and offering it at a rental of ten dollars per 
month was accepted, and the officials subsequently transacted their affairs in that 
edifice. On the 14th May, O. Whipple was appointed Town Marshal; and on Sep- 
tember 2d, the name of Jackson Street in the ancient village of San Antonio was 
directed to be thenceforward called Humbert Street. On the 30th of the same month 
the right to lay pipes in the streets was granted to the Contra Costa Water Company; 
while the same meeting gave directions that hydrants should be placed on Washing- 
ton Street, at the intersections of Chase, Jones, Clay, Polk, and Larue Streets; a fran- 
chise being granted to the Oakland Gas Company to lay their pipes on the 14th 
October. 

The second election of town officers was held May 5, 1871, when the following 



Brooklyn Township. 419 



result was attained: H. A. Mayhew, Hiram Tubbs, Adam Cannon, H. Turn Suden, 
Isham Case, Board of Trustees; A. W. Swett, F. Buel, T. F. Steere, School Trustees; 
J. F. Steen, Clerk and Treasurer; A. B. Webster, Assessor; L. J. Rector, Justice of the 
Peace. To these, on May I2th, were added the names of T. J. Arnold, Engineer; 
and W. Van Dyke, Attorney. In our search through the records of the late town of 
Brooklyn, we find the Trustees receiving the following amusing letter of recommen- 
dation from a prominent citizen: "In the matter of Poundkeeper, referred to the com- 
mittee of which I am Chairman, beg leave to recommend (if any change is made) 
Mr. Patrick Morrisey, a gentleman well qualified to fill the position, and will act with- 
out any expense to the town. He is a good, loyal citizen, and has been fighting and 
bleeding for his country for a number of years last past. A man of property, a 
father of a large family, and always votes at all our elections, and votes right." 

On the seventh day of January, 1872, that much respected pioneer of Brooklyn, 
James B. Larue, was "gathered to his fathers." It is said of him that very few men 
were possessed of a better judgment of " men and things." In matters of law his 
opinion was superior to that of many professional lawyers. One instance may be 
cited to show what faith he had in his own judgment and how persistently he followed 
it up. At the time when the ferry line was established between this and the San 
Francisco side of the Bay, the Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company, whose 
agent was Charles Minturn, was supposed to have the exclusive right to run and 
maintain a ferry between Oakland and San Francisco, under a contract with Horace 
W. Carpentier and others, and suit was commenced against the opposition company. 
Many lawyers said it would be useless to resist, for Minturn undoubtedly had an exclu- 
sive right. The suit was finally decided in the United States Supreme Court in favor 
of the opposition company. One of the most brilliant lawyers of the San Francisco 
Bar once said: " If I could beat J. B. Larue in a lawsuit it would be a big, feather in 
my cap." He was warm-hearted and genial in his nature, and beloved by his family 
and all who knew him intimately. He gave freely to all public institutions of the 
town. He presented the lots on which the Presbyterian Church is built; also those for 
the Episcopal; the lot for the engine house was also his gift, while he was the largest 
contributor towards the purchase of a fire engine. He had been a member of the 
State Legislature of Michigan, and subsequently had the like honor conferred upon 
him in California. He was possessed of that scarce spirit known as fortitude, in a 
remarkable degree, which, linked with his wonderful business acumen, nearly always 
enabled him to extricate himself from pressing difficulty. On the death of her hus- 
band, his widow, who had shared with him the many dangers and vicissitudes he had 
to encounter in East and West, returned to the home of her parents in Bergen on a 
visit, and coming back once more to her family and her dearly-loved Western" home, 
there, in 1875, departed to that better land from whose "bourne no traveler returns." 
Upon Mr. Larue's death, the Board of Trustees, January 10, 1872, passed the follow- 
ing resolutions: — 

"Whereas, It hath pleased the Supreme Ruler of events to remove from our midst one of our most 
estimable and honored citizens, it is therefore 

Resolved, That we deeply realize the loss of one of the Pioneers of the town and one who has greatly assisted 
in building it up, and by his tenacity of purpose carried him and us through many tribulations and finally secured 
to us permanent benefits which we can never repay. 



420 History ok Alameda County, California. 

Resolved, That we deeply sympalhize with th.- family of the ileceased, and tru^t that our Great Father will 
be a protector to the widow, and a father to the chililren who survive." 

At the May election of the year 1872, H. A. Mayhew, Isham Case, C. C. 
Knowles, A. W. Swett, George W. French, were chosen to fill the positions of Town 
Trustees, while the remaining officers were the same, save that of Clerk and Treas- 
urer, to which A. J. Webster was elected. 

During the progress of the war consequent on the removal of the county seat, 
and pending its decision, Brooklyn was honored with the presence of the Court House 
and other county buildings. In October the Trustees made a bid for its permanent 
location by offering either Washington or Independence Square for the purpose, but 
the coveted prize slipped through their fingers and went to Oakland. 

In the month of October, 1872, a petition, signed by some of the principal citi- 
zens and property-holders of Brooklyn, was presented to the Board of Supervisors of 
Alameda County, praying that an election might be held, under provisions of the Act 
entitled " An Act to enable the inhabitants of territory adjacent to any city in this 
State to annex the same thereto," for the purpose of determining whether the inhab- 
itants of Brooklyn would decide to have certain territory of that town annexed to the 
city of Oakland. The election was ordered as petitioned for, and, being held, resulted 
in showing a large majority in favor of annexation. The scheme was fully ratified; 
and the last minute in the Record Book of the Town of Brooklyn states that Messrs. 
Case, Swett, and French were unanimoush- appointed a committee to confer with the 
City Council of Oakland in reference to annexation. A vote of thanks was passed 
to the officials of the quondam town, and the Board adjourned sine die. 

Brooklyn now became a portion of the city of Oakland, its history since that 
time will therefore be carried on in the chronicles of that place. 

Besides being a locality of pleasant residence. East Oakland is a place of consid- 
erable business activity, as the following histories of its principal commercial enter- 
prises will fully exemplify. 

As at present constituted, East Oakland, or Bro klyn, constitutes the Seventh 
Ward of the city of Oakland, passesses several good hotels, among them the famous 
Tubbs' Hotel whose palatial facade and well laid out grounds, would enhance the 
biauty of any city, while nestling in the hills is the famaui Mills' Seminary, an insti- 
tution which has a world-wide reputation. 

First Baptist Church of Brooklyn. — On April 16, i860, work was begun on 
the building of this organization, and the dedicatory services were held on the first day 
of the following September. During the month following, the organization of the 
church was effected by Rev. J. D. Saxton, with the following members: Rev. J. D. Saxton, 
J. B. Stickney, Mrs. Saxton, James Lansing, Charlotte Lansing, Martin Shuey, Mar- 
garet Shuey, S. D. Shuey, Catharine Shuey, A. K. Warner, Sarah Warner, and Wealthy 
Taylor. Rev. J. D. Snxton was the first pastor, and J. B. Stickney was the first clerk. 
The first trustees were, Hiram Tubbs, J. A. Taylor, S. D. Shuey, W. W. Manning, 
and J. B. Stickney. The following named pastors have supplied the pulpit of this 
church: Revs. J. B. Saxton, John Francis, W. A. Parrey, T. G. McLean, and S. B. 
Morse. During the last four years the building has been remadeled inside and out 



Brooklyn Township. 421 



and one hundred seatings added. The present membership is one hundred and thirty- 
two, and has more than doubled during the past five years, which speaks very highly 
of the efficient service of the pastor during that time. The Sunday-school connected 
with this church has an average attendance of two hundred and forty, and the Sun- 
day-school library contains six hundred and fifty volumes. The building is located 
on the corner of Fourteenth Street and Tenth Avenue. The society is free from debt, 
and the property is valued at eight thousand dollars. 

Church of the Advent.— The Church of the Advent, Protestant Episcopal, 
of East Oakland, was organized May 25, i860, by Rev. Benjamin Ackerly, at that 
time rector of St. John's Church, Oakland. Owing to the fact that the records of 
the parish were destroyed by fire shortly after the organization of the church, it is 
irnpossible to give a list of the first members. The first church officers of which any 
record appears were those who served in 1864, as follows: Asa Walker, Senior War- 
den; E. G. Mathews, Junior Warden; William Patten, Clerk; Isham Case, Treasurer; 
and J. B. Larue, L. Wilson, and George Jones, Vestrymen. The building was erected 
in i860, and consecrated February 20th of the following year. The cost of the edifice, 
including furnishing and carpets, was two thousand four hundred dollars, all of which 
was met when due. The church was located on the corner of Fourteenth Street and 
Seventeenth Avenue, and was built on ground donated by James B. Larue. In June, 
1882, it was moved to its present site at the corner of Sixteenth Street and Twelfth 
Avenue, the ground it occupies comprising four lots, which were the gift of Mrs. M. 
Langley. In November, 1880, a room was erected adjacent to the church in which a 
parish school is conducted, and which is also used as a Sunday-school room. On the 
first Sunday of July, 1865, Rev. D. Ellis Wills was called to take charge of the church, 
and on the 25th of February of the year following he was elected rector. In 1869 
Rev. Daniel Kendig was chosen his successor, and he was succeeded by Rev. Sidney 
Wilbur in 1871, and he by Rev. Hamilton Lee, in 1878, who is the present rector. 
The present officers are, C. J. Hawley, Senior Warden; C. M. Nichols, Junior Warden; 
E. G. Mathews, Clerk;. C. Ramsden, Treasurer; and Dr. M. W. Fish, L. R. Mead, A. 
E. Magill, and F. Hawxhurst, Vestrymen. The communicants at present number 
seventy, and the attendance at Sunday-school is one hundred and thirty. 

East Oakland Methodist Episcopal Church. — This church was organized 
in 1874, but the records fail to state who were the organizing members. The first 
pastor was Rev. William Hulbert, Rev. B. E. Edgell followed him in 1876, and Rev. 
William Gaffney, Rev. C. J. Lovejoy, and Rev. George Newton supplied the pulpit 
during 1877. In 1878 Rev. William S. Turner was the pastor, and in 1879 he was 
succeeded by Rev. William Angwin, who was followed by Rev. Jonathan L. Mann, 
in 1880, who is the present pastor. The present membership of the church is given 
at sixty. A Sunday-school is conducted in connection with the church, which has an 
average attendance of one hundred scholars. The building is located on Seventh 
Avenue near Fourteenth Street. It is small, having a seating capacity of only two 
hundred sittings. It was erected in 1874. 

East Oakland Young Men's Christian Association. — This organization 



422 History of Alameda County, California. 

was formed January i6, 1881, with a membership numbering twenty-four under the 
auspices of the Oakland Association and as a branch thereof, and it still remains so 
related to the Oakland Association, although it is sustained by the people of East 
Oakland. The present average attendance is fifty-four. The meetings arc held on 
Sunday afternoons, -and are conducted as gospel meetings. 

Mills' Seminary. — The history of this institution takes us back to the year 
1852, when the Benicia Female Seminary was established, and from which upwards 
of twelve hundred young ladies went forth into the world to bring sunshine into many 
a household, and to instill into their children the knowledge, gained from this fountain 
of learning. The school at Benicia had been for several years under the control of 
Rev. C. T. Mills and his wife, and under their popular regime had much increased in 
usefulness, but he desired to move to a more e.xtended field and central location for 
the scene of his labors. He had become the owner of the lands now known as Semi- 
nary Park, and here he elected to establish his institution of learning for young ladies. 
A plan of operation was soon decided upon, and through the untiring assistance of J. 
O. Eldredge, of San Francisco, were prosecuted with the most flattering success. 
Over twenty-five thousand dollars were raised by private subscription. Dr. Mills 
entering into an agreement to maintain the school for at least five years, and to event- 
ually deed the land on which the building should stand, with fifteen acres besides, in 
trust forever to be used for a school for young ladies. Building operations were com- 
menced in the summer of 1870, and in the month of August, 1871, the school was 
opened for the reception of pupils, while there is not anywhere west of the Rocky 
Mountains such an institution, and it is doubtful whether the famous Vassar College 
excels it. 

The building is located in a beautiful little valley at the foot of the Contra Costa 
Range, at the confluence of two mountain streams, and is distant about five miles f. om 
the city of Oakland, the vale being psrfectly protected from the winds, and yet retain- 
ing, unobstructed, the general view of the country. The designs were drawn by S. C. 
Bugbee & Son, the architects under whose supervision the huge fabric was raised. 
The contract price was si.vty thousand dollars, the work being done by J. W. Wilbur. 
The brick-work was done by Remillard Brothers, of Oakland, while the lumber came 
from Larue's lumber-yard at Brooklyn, three hundred thousand feet having been 
required. 

As one drives up the winding avenue leading to the premises, the immense pile 
suddenly looms up in its full proportions, and the visitor is astonished at such a display 
of architectural grandeur in so quiet and remote a locality. It has a frontage of two 
hundred and eighteen feet. The central portion is four stories high, surmounted by 
a mansard roof and observatory, while the eastern and western divisions are three 
stories high, also with a mansard roof. It surpasses in beauty and extent any build- 
ing for educational purposes in California. There are three front entrances; that on 
the west being to the apartments occupied by the principal, the central one for the 
public, and that on the east being for the pupils. Upon entering the middle, the first 
room to the left is a reception-room, beautifully frescoed, and on the right there is a 
parlor for the use of young ladies. Falsing on though a broad hall we come to a 



Brooklyn Township. 423 



corridor running the entire length of the building from east to west. On either side 
of it are recitation and music rooms and parlors, which are for the most part frescoed, 
and provided with grates and marble mantels. At the extreme westerly portion of 
the structure are the private apartments of Doctor and Mrs. Mills. At the other 
extremity, there are three large school-rooms, connected by means of sliding doors, 
and adjoining these are numerous small recitation-rooms, all with stationary black- 
boards. At the east end of the building a wing is extended to the north, and there 
will be a similar one built upon the other end when the necessities of the institution 
may require it. Directly in the rear of the main building is the dining-room and 
kitchen, the former of which is frescoed and has an excellent wainscoting, it being 
equal in its arrangements to any hotel dining-room in the State. The kitchen would 
hardly be recognized as such by our great-grandmothers, could they revisit this sub- 
lunary sphere. The immense range and baking apparatus are of the latest and most 
improved patterns. The second story is divided into sleeping-appartments for the 
pupils and teachers. In every room there is a large closet, a marble basin, gas-fittings, 
etc., and there is not an apartment in the whole building, it may be stated, into 
which the sun does not shine at some time of the day. There are inside blinds to the 
windows. The teachers' apartments occupy commanding positions and while the 
young ladies may not consider themselves under strict surveillance they have a very 
poor opportunity to get into mischief, should they be so inclined. As in the lower 
story, a corridor runs the entire length of the building. There are several bath-rooms, 
with hot and cold water, on this and on the third story. The third story is similar in 
all respects to the second, while from the observatory, elevated seventy-five feet above 
the ground, the view is surpassingly grand. The hills of San Bruno, with the waters 
of the bay of San Francisco at their feet, the southern portion of that city, including 
Hunter's Point, the valleys of Alameda, Santa Clara, and Fruit Vale, and the pretty 
village of San Leandro combine to form a picture which our poor pen is unable to 
describe. 

As we have said, there are gas-fittings in every room in the building, while water 
is obtained from the neighboring streams in never-failing abundance. The ventilation 
of the house is perfect, the corridors turning a current of fresh air into all the apart- 
ments through the transoms over the doors. Many of the rooms are warmed by 
means of grates, but a large hot-air furnace has been provided in the basement, having 
registers in the halls, which keep the whole building sufficiently warm. 

The institution is in no way sectarian, though Christian. The course of study is 
broad and liberal, while every precaution is used to avoid imparting that shallow and 
superficial smattering of the languages, music, etc., so common in female educational 
institutions. It is and ever has been the aim of Doctor Mills and his friends, to impart a 
thorough education to the young women of California, and also instruct them in those 
varied duties they will be called upon to perform in future life. 

The grounds comprise sixty-five acres, rich in oaks, willows, alder, sycamore, laurel, 
and bay trees, orchard and garden, and a creek winding through the' domain adds to 
the natural attractions of this delightful spot. Everything betokens the highest taste 
and skill, and we have seen no school edifice in California or elsewhere equaling it in 
beauty of surroundings, or surpassing it in convenience of design. 



424 History of Alameda County, California. 

In May, 1872, the foundation-stone of the new church was laid, and is a very neat 
building, gothic in structure. It occupies a site opposite to that blown down in Octo- 
ber, 1870, and cost about fifteen thou.sand dollars, the edifice ()ccup)ing an area of 
forty-five by seventy-seven feet, and surmounted by a spire one hundred feet in height. 
The first clerg\man was Rev. Mr. Lacy. 

Brooklyn Lodoe, No. 225, F. and A. M. — Was organized J uly 9, 1872, with John 
H. Sumner, John W. Phillipps, Jonathan V. Webster, Bczalcel M. Atkinson, Nicholas 
P. Perrine, Charles F. Barnhisel, Frank Schuneman, Herman Pfcimger, Henry Ham- 
pel, George W. Babcock, John R. Watson, George M. Walker, Jcjhn H. N. Tum Suden, 
Duncan Cameron, James Larue,. Charles R. Stetson, Ludwell J. Rector, as charter 
members. The first officers were: J. H. Sumner, W. M.; J. W. Phillips, S. W. ; J. V. 
Webster, J. W.; G. M. Walker, Treasurer; J. Larue, Secretary; B. M. Atkinson, S. D. ; 

C. F. Barnhisel, J. D. ; H. Hampel, Tyler; G. W. Babcock, Marshal. The present 
number of members on the roll is forty-five; the Past Masters are: J. H. Sumner, J, 
V. Webster, J. W. Phillipps, B. M. Atkinson, G. M.Walker, and J. A. Web.ster; while 
the officers for the current term are: C. H. Ramsden, W. M.; L. R. Mead, S. W.; A. 

E. Magill, I. W.; James Cabbledick, Treasurer; H.S. Mulford, Secretary; E. G. Mathews, 
S. D.; J. J. Newsom, J. D.; A. W. Swett, Marshal; J. V. Webster, Geo. Ridley, Stew- 
ards; W. D. Thomas, Tyler. Meets on the first Tuesday of each month. 

Orion Lodge, No. 189, I. O. O. F. — Was organized June 14, 1871, with the 
following charter members: Joseph Becht, W. I. Noyes, O. Whipple, James McGrath, 

D. McFarland, J. J. Pensam, J. H. West, William Skitch, V. S. Northey, T. W. Le 
Ballister, J. K. Smallman, H. Hampel, F. Deike, T. D. Weymouth, S. N. Sawyer, 
the original officers being: Joseph Becht, J. P. G.; W. H. Hamilton, N. G.; W. D. 
Thomas, V. G.; W. T. Noyes, Sec; O. Whipple, Per. Sec; James McGrath, Treas.; 
S. N. Sawyer, Warden; V. S. Northe)-, Conductor; J. J. Pensam, I. G.; T. J. Le Ballis- 
ter, O. G.; T. D. Weymouth, R. S. N. G.; John West, L. S. N. G.; D. McFarland, R. 
S. V. G.; H. Hampel, L. S. V. G.; J. K. Smallman, R. S. S.; Wm. Skitch, L. S. S.; 
O.- Hemstreet, Chaplain. The Lodge has at present eight\-four members on its roll. 
Its list of Past Grands is: E. Bangle, George Chase, W. H. Hamilton, A. Howard, W. 
A. Donilson, J. M. Holiday, H. A. Kingsbury, Z. Ludwig, R. W. Martin, V. S. Nor- 
they, W. T. Noyes, J. J. Pensam, M. W. Fish, J. K. Smallman, H. A. G. Smith. W. D. 
Thomas, James Taylor, O. Whipple, J. K. Watson, E. W. Bradlc}-; and its present 
officers arc: J. E. Holmes, J. P. G.; C. H. Townsend, N. G.; C. M. Johnson, V. G.; 
W. Sandholt, Sec; J. Williams, Per. Sec; V. S. Northey, Treas.; W. C. White, Warden; 
M. W. Fi.sh, Conductor; J. Ough, I. G.; George Bryant, O. G.; E. W. Bradley, R. S. 
N. G.; J. J. Pensam, L. S. N. G.; B. F. Henley, R. S. V. G.; F. Hampel, L. S. V. G.; T. 

F. Spear, R. S. S.; A. Gray, L. S. S.; W. H. Hamilton, Chaplain. Meets every Satur- 
day evening in Odd Fellows Hall, at the southeast corner of Eleventh Avenue an J 
East Twelfth Street. The hall was built in 1876, and is a two-story frame builJiiig 
having three stores on the ground floor, with lodge-room, ante-room, and library on 
the second, the whole representing, with (urniture, a value of some eight thousand dol- 
lars. The library contains about nine hundred volumes. 



Brooklyn Township. 425 



Evening Star Lodge, No. 263, I. O. O. F. — The Lodge was instituted July 20, 
1877, with the following charter members: T. W. Le Ballister, P. G.; F. Schimmel- 
pfening, J. L. Golden, John Nelson, John K. Woodward, O. J. Bailey, L. B. Larue; the 
first officers being: J. Nelson, N. G.; J. K. Woodward, V. G.; T. W. Le Ballister, Sec; 
F. Schimmelpfening, Treas. The present number of members is fifty-one, while the 
officers for the current term are: F. X. Olanie, J. P. G.; R. H. Larsen, N. G.; D. J. 
Sullivan, V. G.; T. W. Le Ballister, Sec; F. Schimmelpfening, Treas. Meets on 
Wednesday evening at Schimmelpfening's Hall, East Twelfth Street, East Oakland. 

Brooklyn Rebekah Degree Lodge. — The Brooklyn Rebekah Degree Lodge 
No. 12, I. O. O. F., was organized July 8, 1872, with the following charter members: 
J. C. Holland, Mrs. S. M. Holland, O. Whipple, Jeanette Whipple, Thos. F. Steere, 
Mrs. Julia E. Steere, W. D. Thomas, Mrs. Annie Thomas, Ives Scoville, J. E. Bacon, 
Eliza Bacon, George Chase, Dana Chase, James Cobbledick, Isabella Cobbledick, 
Joseph Hook, Calista W. Hook, V. S. Northey, Mary L. Northey, F. M. Farwell, Jen- 
nie E. Farwell, Louisa Schimmelpfening, James McGrath, Mrs. E. M. Rosette, J. F. Fair- 
field, J. J. Pensam, J. H. West, T. W Le Ballister. The first officers were: J. C. Hol- 
land, N. G.; Julia E. Steere, V. G.; May L. Northey, Secretary; E. Bacon, Permanent 
Secretary; Annie Thomas, Treasurer; Thomas F. Steere, Warden; Mrs. S. M. Holland, 
Conductress; T. W. Le Ballister, Inside Guardian; C. W. Hook, R. S. to N. G.; E. M. 
Rosette, L. S. to N. G.; Isabella Cobbledick, R. S. to V. G.; Louisa Schimmelpfen- 
ing, L. S. to V. G.; Dana Chase, Chaplain. The Past Grands of the Lodge are: J. C. 
Holland, J. J. Pensam, O. Whipple, W. D. Thomas, Geo. Chase, J. W. Watson, Dana 
Chase, Louisa Holmes, May L. Northey, Annie Liere, Nellie S. Loud, M. J. Hamilton, 
Lydia J. Pinkham, Jeanette Whipple, Katie Icke. The present officers are: Katie 
Icke, J. P. G.; Sarah T. Yale, N. G.; Calista W. Hook, V. G.; Jeanette Whipple, Sec- 
retary; Annie Thomas, Permanent Secretary; Annie Liere, Treasurer; C. H. Town- 
send, Warden; Nellie S. Loud, Conductress; Louisa M. Watson, I. G.; May L. 
Northey, R. S. to N. G.; Dana Chase, L. S. to N. G.; S. M. Holland, R. S. to V. G.; 
R. E. White, L. S. to V. G.; Mrs. J. B. Williams, Chaplain. The present membership 
is ninety-three. This Lodge is in a very prosperous condition. It meets every Mon- 
day evening at Odd Fellow's Hall, corner of Twelfth Street and Eleventh Avenue, 
East Oakland. 

Brooklyn Lodge No. 32, K. of P. — Was instituted August 21, 1875, with the 
following charter members: George Lewis, Jr., Adam FoUrath, Shadrack Osborne, E. 
M. Lawrence, Richard Cowell, Joseph Anderson, F. X. Olanie, W. Hendershot, George 
Rischmuller, H. Liese, James Moffitt, John Cowell, W. H. H. Hamilton, Joseph 
Hawthorne, F. Lheureux, F. Schimmelpfening, Charles Scheley, Robert Stephenson, 
F. J. Hughes, Richard Rischmuller, E. H. Geldner, and J. C. Roff The first officers 
were: George Lewis, Jr., P. C; Adam FoUrath, C. C; S. Osborne, V. C; Robert 
Stephenson, P.; W. H. H. Hamilton, K. of R. & S.; J. C. Roff, M. of R; F. Schim- 
melpfening, M. of E., Richard Cowell, M. at A.; E. M. Lawrence, I. G.; F. Lhereux^ 
O. G. The Past Chancellors are as follows: George Lewis, Jr., Adam FoUrath, S. 
Osborne, Joseph Anderson, Joseph Hawthorne, W. H. H. Hamilton, E. L. Hutton, 
28 



426 History of Alameda County, California. 

H. H.Colby, J. L. Roundey, W. W. Mill, Charles J. H. Luth, N. P. West, !•. X. 
Olanie, E. H. Warren. The present officers are: E. H.Warren, P. C; W. A. FoUrath, 
C. C; F. A. Brown, V. C; A. Follrath, P.; Charles J. Luth, K. of R. S.; T. Jack.son, 
M. of F.; H. H. Colby, M. of E.; F. A. Bemis, M. at A.; A. J. Glaze, I. G.; A. M. 
Irwin, O. G. The present membership is ninety-five, and is continually increasing. 

Brooklyn Lodge, No. 3, A. O. U. W. — Was organized September 29, 1876, 
with the following charter members: M. W. F"ish, Geo. Chase, V. S. Xorthey, George 
Lewis, Jr., B. Browning, Joseph L. Golden, E. J. Deemer, J. C. Roff, O. Whijiple, H. 
G. Oliver, George J. Hood, Oswald Lubbuck, David Hughes, M. N. Tharsing, Philip 
Schley, F. Schimmelpfening, Jr., Edward Bangle, Thomas J. Hughes, Thomas W. 
Le Ballister, J. H. Talken, Adam Follrath, Arthur Chilton, Charles Schley. The first 
officers were: M. W. Fish, P. M. W.; O. Whipple, M. W.; Thomas J. Hughe.s, Fore- 
man; B. Browning, Overseer; George Chase, Recorder; H. G. Oliver, F""inancicr; 
Edward Bangle, Receiver; Adam Follrath, Guide; M. N Tharsing, Inside Watchman; 
Arthur Chilton, Outside Watchman; O. Whipple, H. G. Oliver, and George Chase, 
Trustees. The following named gentlemen have filled the position of M. W. : M. W. 
Fish, O. Whipple, H. G. Oliver, Edward Bangle, W. H. Hamilton, J. E. Blethen, James 
Miller, L. J. Rector, H. C. Hinman, J. W. Watson, V. S. Northey, C. H. Townsend, 
and H. L. Farrier. The present officers are: C. H. Townsend, P. M. W.; H. L. Farrier, 
M. W.; John Abraham, Foreman; George Briant, Overseer; George Chase, Recorder; 
L. J. Rector, Financier; James K. Smallman, Receiver; E. W. Bradley, Guide; B. F. 
Rector, Inside Watchman; O. C. Kirk, Outside Watchman; O. Whipple, E. Bangle, 
and George Chase, Trustees. The present membership is ninety-two; meetings are 
held in Odd Fellows Hall, East Oakland. 

The Pioneer Pottery. — This may well be called the pioneer potter)-, for it is 
not only the first enterprise of the kind ever begun in Alameda County, but it was 
put in operation by the man who established the first pottery in California. In 1856 
Daniel Brannan came to what was then known as San Antonio, now East Oak- 
land, and being a potter by trade, and finding that suitable clay could be obtained 
conveniently he at once decided to begin operations, and from that small beginning 
has been developed the present extensive business, which is located at the corner of 
Twelfth Street and Seventeenth Avenue, East Oakland. Mr. Brannan owns about 
one hundred acres here, which gives him ample room for extending his business 
almost without limit. He began operations on a very small scale at first, having only 
one kiln, and that was of very limited capacity, but since then he had occasion, 
owing to the demand made upon him for his productions, to enlarge the scope of 
his operations until at last he had three kilns, the largest of which was twelve feet on 
the inside, by eight feet high, the three having a capacity equal to any works in the 
State. He is at this writing (January, 1883) tearing down his old kilns and construct- 
ing new and larger ones. He has experimented sufficientl}- with clay that has been 
procured in different parts of this State to satisfy himself that a superior article of 
Rockingham and yellow-ware can be produced from it, and doubtless that branch of 
the business, which is new in California, will shortly be entered into quite extensively by 



Brooklyn Township. 427 



him. He is also experimenting with a new clay that has recently been discovered in this 
State, from which he is confident that a superior article of China-ware can be made. 
Should this prove a success it will mark an epoch in the history of pottery in Cali- 
fornia. In the past Mr. Brannan has confined his attention chiefly to the manufac- 
ture of sewer and drain tile, flower-pots, and terra cotta. 

California Pottery and Terra Cotta Works. — This industry was begun 
by James Miller in 1875, in a small room only twelve by twelve feet, where he fol- 
lowed modeling and molding. From that small beginning the business has been 
increased to its present mammoth proportions. There are now three kilns, the largest 
of which is twenty-eight feet long, fifteen feet wide, and fifteen feet high. The com- 
bined capacity of the three kilns is about eight thousand dollars worth of goods. 
The buildings consist of a work -shop, one hundred by fifty feet, two stories; a drying- 
house, fifty by fifty feet, two stories; a work-shop, twenty-five by one hundred feet, 
one story; a grinding-room, thirty by sixty feet, one story; a jigger-shop, thirty by 
one hundred feet, two stories; and a flower-pot shop, thirty by one hundred feet. 
The premises include one and three-fourth acres of ground. There are three mills, 
with a capacity of fifty tons of clay per day. The following articles are manufac- 
tured at the works: Sewer-pipe, sewer-pipe fittings, ornaments and trimmings for 
buildings, chimney-tops, garden-vases, fountains, antique urns, flower-pots, etc. The 
works are under the personal supervision of Mr. Miller, who is not only a master 
workman at his trade but an artist of the highest order as well, many of his designs 
being almost incomparable. The material used at the works comes from Michigan 
Bar. About fifty men are employed. The owners of the works are Messrs. Miller & 
Windsor. 

East Oakland Pottery. — This industry was practically put in operation in 
1872 by Henry Bundock, who is the present proprietor. A small affair had 
been started by a man whose name is now forgotten about six months prior to the 
time mentioned above, but it was insignificant, and to Mr. Bundock belongs the credit 
of developing the business to its present proportions. The kiln used is eleven by 
seventeen feet in size. Drain-tile, sewer-pipe, stone-ware, flower-pots, and terra cotta 
are manufactured here with eminent success by Mr. Bundock. The white clay used 
at this establishment is shipped from Michigan Bar, while the red clay is secured in 
the vicinity of Brooklyn. The place of business and works are located at the corner 
of Twelfth Street and Nineteenth Avenue. 

Oak Grove Tannery. — This industry is located at the corner of Central and 
Eighteenth Avenues, East Oakland, and was begun by P. S. Wilcox & Co., about 
twenty years ago. When it was first put on foot it had a capacity of about one hun- 
dred hides a week, which has been increased gradually by the present owner, until 
six hundred hides per month are turned out ready for the market. The proprietor of 
the business now is J. S. Derby, who purchased it in 1871. There are seventy-five 
vats in use at present. An engine is used for pumping purposes, and for grinding the 
bark, about six hundred cords of which is used each year. The bark supply comes 



428 History of Alameda County, California. 

from Mendocino County. The manufactured product of this tannery consists wholly 

of harness, sole, and saddle-skirt leather, the bulk of which is shipped directly to the 
East and sold at wholesale. 

Brooklyn Tannery. — This industry, which is located on Twelfth Street, East 
Oakland, was begun by G. F. Crist in 1871, and he has continued it ever since, though 
other gentlemen are now associated with him, and the firm name is Crist & Co. 
Operations were begun upon the same scale as that on which they are now conducted, 
no change in either buildings or capacity having since been made. There are fifty 
vats in use, and about two hundred and fifty hides per week are turned out ready for 
the market. The leather manufactured at this tannery is used for harness and boot- 
soles only, and a ready market is found for the entire product on this coast. There 
are two buildings, one of which is forty by one hundred and forty feet, and the other 
is forty by one hundred feet; there is also a bark-shed which is sixty by eight}' feet in 
size. Eight hundred cords of bark are consumed annually at this tannery in the proc- 
ess of leather manufacture. About twenty men are employed. 

The East Oakland Planing Mills. — This industry, which is the only one 
of the kind in East Oakland, was started by Messrs. Power & Ough in the spring of 
1876. Since then it has passed through several hands. The building was destroyed 
by fire in 1879, and rebuilt by the present owners in 1880. The machinery at present 
consists of two planers, three molding machines, one variety molder or shapcr, one 
set of sash, door, and blind machinery, four rip and three crosscut saws, baTid and 
scroll saws, and one buzz planer. The power which drives this machinery is produced 
in two boilers, and applied through an engine twelve by twenty-four inches. The 
building occupied by the mills is forty by eighty feet in size, and two stories high, 
with additional room for boilers and engine, and is located on the corner of Twelfth 
Street and Fourteenth Avenue, East Oakland. A general milling and manufacturing 
business is conducted at the establishment. Mr. John Trotter is the present superin- 
tendent. 

Brooklyn Manufacturing Company. — This enterprise is conducted b\- 
Messrs. Northey & Wagar, and is located on Twelfth Street, East Oakland, where 
they are engaged in the manufacture of carriages, wagons, and agricultural implements. 

East Oakland Brewery. — This business was begun by Mr. Mangel in Oakland 
some years ago, but he finally decided to move to P3ast Oakland, and cho.se for the 
site of his future operations the lot on the corner of Twelfth .Street and Eighth 
Avenue. In July, 1881, R. Ringgenberg purchased the property and conducted the 
business till January, i 882, when S. Neukom became associated with him. The build- 
ing is thirty by one hundred feet and two stories high. The capacity of the brewery 
is given as two thousand barrels of beer per year. 

Brooklyn Brewery. — This business is carried on by Messrs. Welscher & Hraun, 
in a two-story brick building forty by seventy feet in size, located on the corner of 
Fourteenth Street and Eighteenth Avenue, East Oakland. This enterprise was first 



Brooklyn Township. 429 



put on foot by A. Miller in 1872, and the present proprietors came into possession 
in 1876. The capacity of the brewery is given at thirty-five hundred barrels of beer 
per year. 

Badger's Park. — -About half a mile beyond Broadway Station, on the line of the 
local ferry road, is Clinton Station, the last stopping-place of the local trains from 
San Francisco before reaching Brooklyn Station. Bordering on the San Antonio 
Creek, with its grounds sloping down to the water's edge and with an almost perpet- 
ual green landscape in view, it presents one of the most inviting places of rest to the 
sojourner from the city that perhaps can be found on this side of the bay. A few 
yards, not more than thirty or forty feet, beyond the platform of the station, com- 
mences the grounds of Capt. Thomas VV. Badger, the hero of the well-known and 
nation-regretted steamer Central America disaster, which occurred on this coast in the 
year 1857. After retiring from a life on the ocean deep. Captain Badger purchased 
ten acres of land at San Antonio, and settled down to enjoy the remainder of a thus 
far well-spent active life on the rolling wave, and applied himself to beautifying his 
home. This was some twenty-two years ago, and during all that long period of time 
the Captain has been continually at work in the improvement of his beautiful place 
until now we doubt if a spot can be found in all California that can approach it in 
point of location and rustic beauty. A sloping grade from the northern boundary to 
the edge of the creek was long since made, and over the entire space are to be found 
trees and plants of almost every variety native to the soil and of the various trop- 
ical species. Drives and paths wind through grassy lawns shaded by umbrageous 
oaks and trees of an endless variety, and through the center runs a brook of the clear- 
est water emptying into the bend of the estuary, which forms a portion of the south- 
ern boundary of the property. But the gallant Captain, who has weathered so many 
storms in the wild waste of waters, and risked his life a thousand times for others, 
became tired of enjoying his paradise alone and resolred to share . its beauties and 
the pleasures they gave, with others. He therefore determined to open it as a park 
and pleasure resort. 

On February I, 1872, ground was broken for a public park — for a place where 
the thousands of mind and body-weary denizens of San Francisco and Alameda 
Counties-^— school children and pleasure-seekers generally — might go and enjoy at will 
the free and pure air of the country mixed with the breezes that come, zephyr-like, 
up the winding creek from the bay and ocean beyond, and at the same time indulge 
in games and sports common to all places of resort of a similar kind. A large force 
of mechanics and gardeners was set at work; and these labors have never ceased, 
indeed are being still continued, and the result of them speaks for itself 

In the southeast corner of the park is a mammoth pavilion, covering a space of 
ground two hundred and twenty-five feet in length and ninety-five feet wide. The 
building faces the prevailing winds and breaks their force so effectually that none is 
felt inside of the inclosure. It is extensive enough for any purpose and is high enough 
to take in the magnificent views that may be had from its gallery windows, some forty 
in number. The width of the pavilion is ninety-five feet, and, besides, the galleries 
have a clear space of one hundred and three by eighty feet, for skating and dancing 



430 History of Alameda County, California. 

purposes. On the park side this structure is fringed by clusters of oaks and orna- 
mental trees of various kinds. The floor is double; on the north side seven large 
doors, eight feet wide, open on the grounds. In the south end of the main building 
are galleries, which with the side seats will accommodate two thousand five hundred 
persons. These seats do not seem to take up much of the great space of the interior. 
Opposite the galleries, which are built in the strongest manner, is the music-stand for 
the band, and facing it are the dressing-rooms, etc. Contiguous to the whole is a 
capacious bar-room. The grounds are fitted up with all manner of contrivances for 
purposes of amusement, and a capital race-track where fleet-footed runners are wont 
to test their powers, while every attraction of sylvan beauty is here to be found. 
Badger's Park was opened in April, 1872, and has since remained a most favorite place 
of resort. 

Melro.se. — This station is situated about two miles from Brooklyn (East Oak- 
land), and in close proximity to it is Clark's Landing, while two miles farther south is 
Damon's Landing. Melrose, however, is noted for once having been possessed of a 
fine rope-walk, the property of the Pacific Cordage Company, whose buildings are 
now in disuse; and it is the site of the Castle Dome Smelting Works, and the Pacific 
Reduction Works. Here, too, was established the works of the Pacific Drain Pipe 
Manufactory, an enterprise that has moved to a more congenial locality. 

Castle Dome Smelting Works and Refinery. — These works, located at 
Melrose, were commenced in the year 1870 by Judge Shearer, on a parcel of land 
purchased from Colonel Simpson, but before the buildings were completed they had 
passed into the hands of Whittier, Fuller & Co., who finished them. Two years there- 
after they were disposed of to George Hopkins, who, in three \-ears, sold out to the 
Anglo-California Bank. They then passed into the hands of Doctor Zieler, who con- 
ducted them for about two years, and, in 1 879, they were acquired by the Castle Dome 
Smelting and Refining Company, with W. P. Miller, President, by whom the enter- 
prise is now carried on. Here all ores ma\- be smelted and refined; those chiefly being 
used at present are, lead, silver, etc. 

Pacific Reduction Works. — This enterprise, for the reduction of gold and 
silver ores, is located at Melrose, and is owned and operated by H. C. Clark. The 
works were built in 1876 by Mainham, Cushtrel & Bandmann, and conducted by them 
until 1 88 1, when they were purchased by the present proprietor. 

Fitchburg. — This like Martin Chuzzlewit's Eden, is simply a town of the future, 
at present it has only a prospect. Near to it is what was known as the Pacific Race- 
track, while it is favorably situated as regards Damon's Landing. 

Cotton and Jute Manufacturers. — In the year 1865 Col. William H. Rector, 
with three of his sons, erected a cotton-mill on the estuary connecting Lake Mcrritt 
with the San Antonio Creek in Brooklyn Township, with a producing capacity of 
forty thousand yards of goods per month. They soon enlarged their works by adding 
a set of woolen machinery, but, after about two years' operations, the gentlemen con- 



Brooklyn Township. 431 



ceived the idea of manufacturing grain-bags from jute, there being at the time a very 
large and permanent demand for such goods on the coast, as all the grain of the 
country, instead of being stored in granaries as in other parts of the world, was stacked 
in sacks at the thresher in the field where it was cut. In this enterprise the Messrs. 
Rector were entirely successful. After two years of untiring industry and perseverance 
a factory was set in motion with a producing" capacity of fifteen million bags per 
annum, a sufficient advance that warranted the doubling its capacity, and which was 
duly effected three years afterward. 

This establishment has been in operation some thirteen years, and in that period 
has produced about four hundred millions of bags, found employment for many men, 
and use for many hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a benefit to the country at 
large it shows that at the time of beginning operations bags were selling in the market 
at from fifteen to eighteen cents; that they were able to hold the market subject to their 
will and gradually reduce the price to nine and eleven cents. The manufacture of 
jute bags has now become one of the permanent institutions of the country, and not- 
withstanding the Messrs. Rector have retired from the business to more quiet pur- 
suits in life, they have left their foot-prints in the progress of the country and a name 
which will long be remembered by those who have been benefited by their enterprise 
and genius. 

In this regard, we may mention that, as we go to press, the Evening Tribune of 
May 9, 1883, has the following: "The jute-mill at East Oakland, which has been 
closed during the past six months, is to be re-opened and placed in active operation 
within the next thirty days, under the management of Superintendent Robinson, late 
of the San Quentin jute-works. Mr. Robinson states that the mill and machinery, 
which originally cost two hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars, were bought by 
the company which he represents, for one hundred and five thousand dollars, and it is 
their intention to operate on a capital stock of one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
dollars, seventy-five thousand dollars of which has been subscribed in San Francisco, 
principally by prominent dealers in grain-bags, and capitalists. As the works are to 
bs located in this city, an opportunity will be given Oakland capital to invest to the 
amount remaining unsubscribed; and Mr. Robinson yesterday interviewed Mayor 
Martin, E. C. Sessions, Dr. Merritt, and other prominent citizens interested in manu- 
facturing enterprises, in regard to the matter. The mill, Mr. Robinson says, will 
employ four hundred hands, all of which are to be white men, Chinese labor in every 
form to be discarded entirely. Two hundred of these employes, including a large 
number of skilled workmen, are on their way from the Eastern States, and the 
remaining two hundred are to be hired in this city. Mr. Robinson is himself thor- 
oughly experienced in this kind of manufacture, and gave the San Quentin works 
their first impetus. He is enthusiastic in his plans, and predicts eminent success for 
the enterprise." 



432 History of Alameda County, California. 



EDEN TOWNSHIP. 



GEOGRAPHY. — Eden Township is bounded on the north by Brooklyn Township 
and Contra Costa Count)-; on the east b_\' Contra Costa County and Murray 
Township; on the south b)- Washington Township; and on tlic west by San 
Francisco Bay. 

TOPOGR.VPIIY. — The western portion of the township, namely, the plain stretching 
from San Leandro Creek on the north to Alameda Creek on the south, is a beautiful 
tract of level country some four miles wide, whose area is covered with orchards and 
fields, the fore-shores being marsh-lands; while its back or eastern portion comprises 
the Contra Costa Range, with the lesser undulating foot-hills. Eden Town.ship has 
an area of about sixty thousand acres. 

Vallev.S. — The principal valley in the township is the Castro, which lies a little 
north of its center, and its opening to the plain being at Ha\wards. Besides this 
there are the Cull, Crow, Eden, and Polomares Canons, all beautiful little glens sur- 
rounded by mountains offering rich pasturage to the stock-raiser. 

Stre.\MS. — Eden Township is watered bj- the San Leandro and San Lorenzo 
Creeks, the former of which, rising in the San Antonio redwoods, Brooklyn Township, 
supplies the great reservoir of the Contra Costa Water Company — Lake Chabot — -situ- 
ated about two miles from San Leandro, and flowing thence is distributed through that 
town, as well as the whole city of Oakland, about twelve miles distant, and finally 
flows into the San Leandro Bay. The San Lorenzo Creek has its source in the 
Contra Costa Range near the county line, and, after flowing through Cull Canon, 
joins its waters with those of the small streams from Crow, Eden, and Polomares 
Canons, and thence lazily finds its tortuous way through the plain, finally emptying 
itself into the bay at Roberts' Landing. These two streams being never entirely dry, 
even in the severest years, a constant supply of water is ever to be had. In addition 
there are the small estuaries known as Mulford's Canal, at Wick's Landing; the 
Estudillo Canal, a little farther south; the San Lorenzo Canal at Roberts' Landing; 
Barron's Lmding; and Eden Landing, which is entered from the bay by the mouth 
of the Alameda Creek, and reached by a serpentine creek or slough to the landing 
proper. 

Climate. — The climate of Eden Township bears a strong resemblance to that 
of other portions of the county lying at the base of the Coast Range, with perhaps the 
exception that the keen winds that sweep through the Golden Gate are not so harshly 
felt here as at Oakland and the northern end of the county. That its climate is much 
sought after is amply exemplified in the fact that Haywards is yearly becoming more 
distinguished as a sanitarium, while the vastness of the fruit yield proves the geniality 
of its temperature. 




rV'yXX-^3''\_^ 



Eden Township. 433 



Soil. — The soil of this section of the valley is not to be surpassed anywhere in 
the known world, while by the annual overflow of its creeks and sloughs, with the 
yearly deposition of sediment washed down from the mountains or brought in by the 
spring-tides from the bay, it is periodically being enriched. It is impossible to pick 
out one place more than another where Nature has been particularly beneficent, but 
if that place does exist, it is in the vicjnity of San Lorenzo, and on the magnificent 
farm of the late William Meek, whose acre after acre of fruit-trees are a marvel to 
behold. 

Product,S. — The agricultural and horticultural resources of Eden Township, 
which first gave it its name, are almost fabulous, while its general industries may' be 
briefly stated to be fruit-culture, farming, stock-raising, manufactures, salt-making, and 
coal-mining. Chief of all these, however, is fruit-raising, and the orchards of Messrs. 
Meek, Lewelling, Leonard Stone, Lysander Stone, Blackwood, Marlin, Jessup, Baker, 
etc., have reputations far beyond the borders of California. It is only by personal 
observation that the magnitude of this industry may be appreciated, while the 
immense area devoted to fruit trees gives one the idea of a vast forest rather than the 
simple orchards of private gentlemen. 

Every portion of the township appears to be adapted to the cultivation of fruits, 
vegetables, and grain, while the higher ranges are eminently suitable for the rearing of 
stock, yet this branch has been by no means made a specialty in the township. 

Although not so extensively manufactured in Eden as in Washington Township, 

still the manufacture of salt is in no\yise of minor importance. The principal 

locality where it is made is Mount Eden, where there are the establishments of 

' Richard Barron and John Johnson, while in the vicinity of San Lorenzo is the place 

of D. Pestdorf 

Mexican Grants. — Eden Township embraces within its boundaries the lands 
of five Mexican Grants, viz., the Sobrante, which has been for so many years in dis- 
pute, it being situated in the northeast of the township; the Estudillo, or San Leandro, 
granted October i6, 1842, and patented July 15, 1863; the Castro, or San Lorenzo, 
on the east, granted February 23, 1841, and patented February 14, 1865; the Soto, or 
San Lorenzito, on the west, granted October 10, 1842, and patented April 14, 1877; 
and the Vallejo, or Alameda, on the south, granted August 30, 1842, and patented 
January i, 1858. 

Early Settlement. — It is on record that the first settlement in Eden Town- 
ship was made in the year 1836, by Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo, and in that section 
of the county did he reside until his death. He was a Californian by birth, and on 
January 8, 1837, petitioned the Constitutional Governor of the Department of Cahfornia 
for a grant of a tract of land in the said department known as the arroyo de San 
Leandro, but this document having either been lost or mislaid, a second petition was 
forwarded to that official on June 28, 1842, in which Seiior Estudillo states that "in 
order to procure his subsistence and enable himself to support his large family, con- 
sisting of a wife and ten children, after having served in the army seventeen years, four 
months, and seven days, on the eighth day of January, eighteen hundred and thirty- 



434 History of Alameda County, California. 

seven, he petitioned for the tract of land known by the name of arro)-o de San Lcandro, 
containing four square leagues from east to west, and having obtained from V'our 
Excellency, who extends a generous and protecting patronage towards the inhabitants 
of this land, permission to settle himself and continue his labors; meanwhile the proper 
legal proceedings thereupon should be concluded, which he has accordingly done;" 
etc. In view of the petition Don J. J. Estudillo was declared by Governor J. H. 
Alvarado to be the owner in property of the part of the tract of land known by the 
name of "San Leandro," bounded "on the north by the arroyo of San Leandro; on 
the east by the places where the waters from the springs on the lands which the 
Indians who are now established there occupy, waste themselves; thence on the south 
side, in a direct line to the arroyo of San Lorenzo, without embracing the lands which 
the said Indians cultivate; and on the west by the bay." It will thus be seen from 
the foregoing that the Estudillo family had lived on the land which was afterwards 
granted to them for a considerable number of years. In the year 1837 he built a 
house about two miles from the town of San Leandro, on the creek of that name, 
towards the lower part of the land. He afterwards moved farther up the creek, where 
the town of San Leandro now stands, about three quarters of a mile from the site of 
his original location. 

On January 14, 1840, the Governor of the Department of California made the 
following order; " Don Guillermo Castro can establish himself upon the place called 
San Leandro, on the parts towards the hills, without passing beyond the line from 
north to south, formed by the springs on said place, not being permitted to make his 
fields in whatever part of all the land of ' San Leandro; ' this concession being under- 
stood provisionally until the governor may settle the boundaries which belong to 
Sefior Jose Estudillo, who is actually established on the said site, and without prej- 
udice to the Indians living thereon." Thus we see the second settlement in ICden 
Township. He built his residence where now is the town of Haywards. 

The next Hispano-Mexican family to locate was that of the Sotos, who built 
their adobe residence on a part of what is now the Meek estate, where che house 
stood for many years, but was eventually razed to the ground, its position being at 
present occupied by a Portuguese tenant, about half a mile southeast from Haywards. 

Prior to the settlement of these families the district was occupied by the cattle of 
the mission of San Jose, and, from the year 1829, had in certain portions been in the 
possession of Christianized Indians of that establishment. In 1841 or 1842 there was 
an Indian named Sylvester, on the San Leandro Rancho, who had residing with him, 
besides his own family, his brother Annisetti. They occupied an adobe house built 
by Don J. J. Vallejo, who was administrator of the Indians, and where they had some 
three or four acres under cultivation, chiefly watermelons and corn, the ground for 
which they turned up with sticks; besides these there were some others on the other 
ranchos, while a Californian named Bruno Valencia, dwelt under permission of Estu- 
dillo and Castro on the bank of the San Lorenzo, not far from the bay. It may be 
stated that at this period there was a so-called road through this territory to San 
Jose, which had three crossings over the San Lorenzo: the Paso Viego, the Paso del 
Ramedero, and the Paso del Puente, and at the first of these during the summer 
months the Indians were wont to camp in a grove of willows and sycamores. 



Eden Township; 435 



Let us now see what became of these pioneers. Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo 
died June 7, 1852. During his Hfe he had filled many high offices in the gift of the 
Mexican Government. In his last will and testament, which bears date April 4, 
1850, he declared that he was married in the year 1824 to Donna Juana Maria Del 
Carmon Martinez at the Presidio of San Francisco, by whom he had six sons and 
five daughters. Of these nine were alive at the time of his death. A large portion 
of the Estudillo lands have passed into the hands of foreigners, but the family still 
retain a fair share of the patrimony. Upon the establishment of the county seat at 
San Leandro, they made many concessions towards retaining it there, while their res- 
idence was at one time occupied as the Court House. Many years ago Guillermo 
Castro, having lost his possessions, went to South America, and there died. His son, 
Luis Castro, has since gained prominence as County Surveyor of Alameda. And of 
the Soto family we may also say that the land which knew them once knows them no 
more. 

Prior to the epoch of the discovery of gold at the mill of Captain Sutter, these 
were the only residents in Eden Township, and we can learn of but one foreigner 
that, anterior to this time, had attempted to locate himself permanently within its 
confines. In the year 1845 the late James Alexander Forbes, who died in East Oak- 
land a few years ago, was authorized by Bezar Simons, at the time Captain of the 
American ship Magnolia, to purchase a tract of land for him on the Bay of San 
Francisco, and just before his departure from the port both the Captain and Mr. 
Forbes crossed the bay in a ship's boat to San Leandro to see if the purchase of the 
rancho could be effected from Estudillo, who, however, was averse to sell. He 
declined the offer of ten thousand dollars made by Simons, stating that he would not 
take double the sum, as he wanted it for his family, and thus the master of the Mag- 
nolia was obliged to give up these fair acres, the acquiring of which would to-day 
have made him or his heirs among the wealthiest landed proprietors in the country. 

Subsequent to this, we have been informed, John B. Ward, who had married 
Melina Concepcion, eldest daughter of Don J. J. Estudillo, took up his abode in the 
township, but in what year we cannot state. 

We have heretofore made mention of the immense quantities of wild-fowl that 
then made the sloughs and marshes their home. These brought almost fabulous 
prices in the first and palmiest days of San Francisco in the markets there, and many 
of those men who had occupied their time during the summer months in the mines, 
turned their attention in winter to killing game for the city commission merchants, 
and positively made more money in this way than they did at gold-digging. It was 
in the search for game that the first settlers came to Eden Township. 

1849. — In the month of December, 1849, there crossed the bay in a whale-boat, 
with baggage and guns, Thomas W. Mulford and Moses Wicks, both still residents of 
the township; the late A. R. Biggs, of San Francisco; E. Minor Smith, the present 
and for many years past Assessor of Alameda Township; and W. C. Smith, who, 
landing on the shore in the vicinity of the Estudillo mansion, there pitched their tent 
and commenced a war upon the feathered denizens of the marshes. At this date 
Mr. Mulford thinks there was no permanent foreign settler, and no houses save those 



436 History of Alameda Couxty, California. 

of the Spaniards mentioned above, an Indian hut where the graveyard at San 
Lorenzo now is, and an Indian ranchcria on the site at present occupied by the 
County Hospital. 

This party dwelt in a tent pitched on the shore, and in the spring of 1850 erected 
a " ten by twelve" cabin which was used as a cook-house, subsequently adding a chim- 
ney thereto of brick taken from a pile which had been thrown into the bay — the 
refuse of those used in the construction of the new Estudillo house. The cabin 
stood on the margin of the bay in close proximity to Mr. Mulford's residence, but its 
site has long since been ^\■ashed away by the rolling surf of tiie bay. In the spring 
of 1 85 1 the dwelling-tent gave place to a cabin, and there it remained on the original 
location until 1876, when it was bodily removed to its present position among Mr. 
Mulford's farm-buildings, it being used as a blacksmith-shop on his premises. 

That winter, and also in quest of game, another party located at the mouth 
of the San Leandro Creek, consisting of Bob Smith, Steve Smith, a Mr. Solomon, and 
some others, but we do not learn that the}' ever did more than hunt in the locality. 

1850. — In the spring of 1850 we hear of a field of wheat, about ten acres in 
extent, put in by Seiior Estudillo and some Sonorians, which gladdened the eyes of 
the few Americans then roaming about the district. This green oasis amid the 
apparently sterile region is described to us as having been at the lower end of Lewel- 
ling's place near the Hay ward's road, where the Sonorians aforesaid also had a dwell- 
ing. But this was by no means the first cultivation of the cereals in Eden Township, 
for the Spaniards, we have already remarked, sowed wheat, planted corn, and raised 
watermelons on their first taking possession of their grants, but onl)- in sufificient 
quantities to provide for their own households. In the will of Don J. J. Estudillo- 
which we have already quoted as having been signed in this year, he says: " I declare 
that I leave at different places on the rancho three fields sown in barle\', in company 
with Don Guillermo Davis — one with Me.xicans, and another with Sonorians (pos- 
sibly the field of which Mr. Mulford speaks) — of which contracts exist, written agree- 
ments signed," etc. In addition to this branch of agriculture the industry of stock- 
raising was still prosecuted with energy, there being on the Estudillo Rancho alone, 
in 1850, three thousand head of cattle, more than that number of sheep, and fifty 
horses of all classes. 

In the month of October, 1850, Captain William Roberts came to the township 
and established himself at Roberts' Landing, then known as Thompson's, whence he 
commenced freighting with small craft to different points along the bay. His .suit 
was soon after followed by Captain Chisholm. 

1851. — In the fall of 1851 William Hayward came to the township and first 
located on what he had been told was land belonging to the Government in Polo- 
mares Cafion, but which he was quickly informed was the property of Guillermo 
Castro, who, however, suggested his removing farther down the valley. This he did_ 
and early in the following year, 1852, located on the land now occupied b}- A Street, 
Haywards, immediately in front of his hotel, and there erected the first building in the 
flourishing town that bears his name. 



Eden Township. 437 



1852. — During this year the squatters took possession of the entire plain, and what 
is now San Lorenzo was known as Squatterville. They found their chief attractions 
apparently on the Estudillo Rancho, for it was to that portion of the township that their 
attentions were principally turned. The rancho was believed to be Government land, 
and it was not until after years of litigation that the squatters were disabused of this 
belief Among those who had taken" possession of part under such an idea was one 
Franklin Ray. He had erected a dwelling-house in the vicinity of San Leandro, on 
the land now occupied by R. S. Farrelly, and on being warned off, refused, when, on 
March 21, 1852, the owners of the rancho tore down the building, to recover the value 
of which, namely, three hundred dollars, he brought suit. This was only one of 
many cases of the same nature. 

With this great influx of people came many of those whose names are now 
among the most honored in the county. There were Robert S. Farrelly, William C. 
Blackwood, Messrs. Crane, Kennedy, McMurtry, Campbell, Harlan, and Johnson. 
They were fojlowed in 1852 by Fritz Boehmer, Charles Duerr, William Field, George 
Meyer, Alexander Patterson, Joel Russell, and John Johnson, who all settled in the 
vicinity of Mount Eden, which up to that time had been entirely unoccupied. As 
having located in the township in 1852, there are the names of Peter Olsen, John W. 
Jamison, Alexander Allen, and Liberty Perham, all good men and true, indeed, it 
may be said that with this year Eden Township had its commencement; it then fell 
into the channels of trade in which it runs to-day. 

It is thought that in this year Guillermo Castro made the first step in the down- 
ward path leading towards loss of lands and eventual poverty. We learn that he 
took with him a sum of ready money amounting to about thirty-five thousand dol- 
lars to the southern counties, wherewith to purchase new stock, intending to drive 
them northward to his rancho, but, alas for frail humanity, he succumbed to the voice 
of the tempter and frittered his money away in card-playing, the plague-spot upon 
every native escutcheon. The consequence was that he made not the intended pur- 
chases, but returned without the "new blood," the infusion of which into his old stock 
that was so much needed, and eventually, in 1856, he was compelled to mortgage his 
estate. Piece by piece the lands were brought to the hammer, and finally, in 1 864, they 
passed entirely into the hands of the late Faxon D. Atherton, of Menlo Park, San 
Mateo County, who gave Castro thirty thousand dollars for them, with which amount 
he went into a self-inflicted exile in South America. 

1853. — ^The year 1853 is memorable as that in which the county of Alameda 
was created, and the establishment of its capital in Washington, the contiguous town- 
ship to that now under consideration. Among the gentlemen who made their homes 
in Eden in this year are Henry Smyth, George S. Meyer, Tim. Hauschildt, David S. 
Smalley, Joseph De Mont, J. F. Elliott. 

In a conversation held with the two last-named gentlemen, they informed us that 
when they came in the summer of that year they found the land now occupied by R. 
S. Farrelly in the possession of Franklin Ray, while there were in the vicinity John 
Huff and William Mahoney; E. D. Mann resided on the property now owned by John 
B. Ward and the estate of John Mathews, Thomas W. Mulford, Moses Wicks, Will- 



438 History of Alameda County, California. 

iam Smith, and E. Minor Smith were near the bay, and Emerson T. Crane on the San 
Lorenzo Creek. 

1854. — The chief event in 1854 was the .surveying of a town site at what has 
since become Haywards, under the directions of Guillermo Castro, a sign that the 
residents were beginning to look for nearer means of purchasing supplies than Oak- 
land, San Jose, or San Francisco. In this year the number of citizens was aug- 
mented by the arrival of Supervisor J. B. Marlin, Joseph H. Taylor, Frederick Schweer, 
Jacob Schilling, and of course many others whose names we have been unable to 
gather. 

From this year onward to the present time the growth and prosperity of Eden 
Township has been wonderful. In the next decade the population increased many 
fold. The names of those arriving which we have been able to gather arc as follows: 
in 1855 — Richard Barron, Joseph Graham, Josiah G. Bickell; in 1856 — William Knox, 
Otis Hill, Frederick Wrede, John VVille, Conrad Liese, Ferdinand Schultz; in 1857 — 
W. T. Lemon; in 1858— Maas Lueders, W. H. Miller; in 1859— Watkin W. Wynn; in 
i860 — N. D. Dutcher, John W. Clark; in 1861 — Frederick Brustgrun, A. P. Rose; in 
1862 — Duncan Sinclair, O. W. Owen, A. W. Schafer; in 1865 — E. B. Renshaw, and, 
naturally, hundreds besides. 

He who journeyed from old San Antonio thirty years ago would have found 
between that spot and the Mission San Josi only about four houses, residences of the 
then lords of the land, while the valley itself was in a state of nature, without a furrow in 
the soil, but thousands of cattle roaming over it and "upon a thousand hills!" Behold 
the scene now ! Upon the beautiful hills flanking it on the east, and all over the 
valley itself, are magnificent, wide-spread fields, in a high state of cultivation; elegant 
mansions and handsome cottages; meadows, orchards, and vineyards; schools and col- 
leges, and numerous churches, whose spires pointing heavenward seem on fire in the 
blaze of the declining sun. Towns and villages, beautiful San Leandro, San Lorenzo, 
Haywards, and Mount Eden, all enveloped in a wealth of splendor. Indeed the 
progress of this State of ours has been a marvel, and in no portion of it has its 
advance been more rapid than in Eden Township. 

Hayward.S. — This beautiful town is situated in the undula ting foot-hills of the 
Contra Costa Range at the mouth of Castro Valley, and having a considerable alti- 
tude commands a view of unsurpassed loveliness over a large extent of territorj*. 
Its splendid climate has been the cause of its rapid growth and prosperity, and each 
year brings to it a larger influx of visitors than the last in search of health and relax- 
ation. A residence at Haywards during the summer months is especially enjoyable 
its environs being beautiful, and its air health-giving. It is but fourteen miles distant 
from Oakland, with which it is connected by rail, and is therefore within easy access 
of San Francisco. 

Haywards is located on the San Lorenzo Rancho, whose proprietor, Guillermo 
Castro, had his residence within the town limits, and who. in 1854, had a town site 
surveyed and platted there. It takes its name, however, from its first American set- 
tler, William Hayward. 

That most courteous and favorite pioneer informed us that after leaving the Polo- 



Eden Township. 439 



mares Canon he came to the present site of Haywards and pitched his tent in the 
early part of the year 1852, on a position over which now passes A Street, and mid- 
way between his present hotel and the house opposite, which he has amalgamated with 
it. The location was about forty rods northwest from the residence of Castro, which, 
it maybe mentioned, was destroyed by the great earthquake of October 21, 1868. 
He there engaged in farming, having purchased some kine from the late James B. 
Larue, who had a milk-ranch near Mission Dolores, San Francisco, and, opening a 
small store, with improvised hotel accommodation in connection' therewith, was the 
actual pioneer of the town. During this time he still dwelt in his tent. In the 
fall of 1852 he erected about thirty feet of his present long house, and as travel 
increased, for the stage from Oakland to San Jose changed horses here, the popu- 
larity of his hostelry went upwards, and in 1854 he was compelled to make an addi- 
tion by putting a front to the building, while it may truly be said that additions have 
been made continually ever since. 

Late in 1852, or early in the following year, two houses were erected by Joseph 
Worrell and some Sonorians, near where Wolfs store now stands, and a little later, 
close to these, on B Street, a blacksmith shop was opened by Mr. Finch, who is still 
a resident of the town. 

About the year 1855, a school house was erected on the land now occupied by J. 
C. Strobridge, where it remained until 1864, when it was moved into the town; and 
prior to the year i86i, when the Congregational church was built, divine worship for 
all denominations was held in Hayward's Hall. 

Since that time the town has increased most rapidly, while its well-kept streets, 
beautiful buildings, and general thrifty appearance are a credit to its inhabitants. 

1876. — On March 11, 1876, the town of Haywards was incorporated under the 
laws of the State, with the following boundaries: "Beginning at the westerly corner 
of J. W. Bolce's land, and immediately on the northeasterly line of the County Road 
from Haywards' to San Leandro; thence along Bolce's northwesterly line to a point 
on the left or southerly bank of San Lorenzo Creek; thence following up the mean- 
derings of the left or southerly bank of said creek to the line dividing the land of M. 
Creery and J. W. Webster; thence southeasterly along said dividing line to the north- 
erly line of the County Road; thence across the County Road to the northwesterly 
corner of Correia's land; thence easterly along said Correia's land to the northeasterly 
corner thereof; thence southerly along said Correia's land to the northeasterly corner 
of Thompson's land; thence southeasterly along said Thompson's land to the north- 
erly line of Cemetery Avenue; thence westerly along the northerly line of said avenue 
to a point where the easterly line of N. Rasmusen prolonged intersects the same; 
thence southerly along the southeasterly line of said Rasmusen's land to the easterly 
corner thereof; thence westerly along the southeasterly line of Rasmusen, Collins, and 
Pimentel, to the northeasterly corner of Pell's land; thence southerly along Pell's land 
to the southeasterly corner of the same; thence southwesterly to the southeasterly 
corner of land of Stroble and Neudeck ; thence westerly along Stroble and Neudeck's 
line to a point where it is intersected by the westerly line prolonged of Saint Joseph 
Cemetery, thence southerly along the northerly line of said cemetery to the northerly 



440 History of Alameda County, CalikoRxNia. 

or right bank of Sanjon Creek; thence following down the northerh- or right bank of 
said Sanjon Creek to the easterly line of the County Road from Haywards to Mount 
Eden; thence easterly along the easterly line of said road to a point opposite the 
northeasterly corner of J. M. Alexander's land; thence northwesterly, crossing said 
road, to the last-mentioned corner; thence southerly along the westerly line of said 
road to the southwesterly line of the Central Pacific Railroad's right of way; thence 
along the southwesterly line of said right of way to a point where the same is inter- 
sected by the northwesterly line of Haywards Avenue; thence northeasterly along the 
northwesterly boundary of Laurel School District; thence northerly along said bound- 
ary to the place of beginning." The government of the town, which was incorporated 
as Hayivard* was vested in a Board of five Trustees, an Assessor, Clerk, Marshal, 
Treasurer, and Justice of the Peace; and on May 8th the first Board of Trustees met, 
when the oath was administered to John Manzer, J. D. Austin, Joseph Pimentel, T. 
A. Cunningham, and L. Linekin, as Trustees; John Wootten, Assessor; W. VV. Allen, 
Clerk; George H. Horn, Marshal; George Brown, Treasurer; Samuel Wootten, Justice 
of the Peace. Mr. Manzer having been chosen President and Joseph Pimentel Clerk 
pro teiii., the proper committees were appointed, and an ordinance passed fixing the 
amount of the official bonds of the town officers, regulating licenses, and appointing 
place of meeting, the time being fixed on the I2th May as the first Tuesday in each 
month. On this last date the Trustees passed a resolution that a survey of that part 
of Haywards as is included in the map of Castro, recorded in the Clerk's office in 
1856, should be made, the map of this survey being adopted on January 6, 1877. 

At the meeting of the Board, held at the Planter's House on June 9th, it was 
directed that plans for a jail should be procured, and the purchase of a place whereon 
to build it was reported consummated on July 14th; while, July 28th, it was ordered 
that Mr. Mastick be employed to pro.secute the suit brought by the Board of Trustees 
for a title to the plaza. On the 17th November, Castro Street, between Pierce and 
Webster Streets, was ordered to be graded, and on December 22d the like work was 
directed to be proceeded with on Calhoun Street, between Castro and Main Streets. 

1877. — On May 7th of this year the annual election of town officers was held 
with the following result: John Manzer, T. A. Cunningham, J. D. Austin, L. Linekin, 
Joseph Pimentel, Board of Trustees; Alexander Allen, Assessor; W. W. Allen, Clerk; 
George H. Horn, Marshal; George Brown, Treasurer; William Whidden, Justice of 
the Peace; while, at this date, Luis Castro was acting as Engineer and Surveyor, and, 
on July 2 1st, the municipality adopted a town seal. 

On August 3d, Asa Collins being Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, Hook 
and Ladder Company, No. 2, tendered their impedimenta to the town, provided that 
it would become responsible for the debts of that corps, amounting to about thirty- 
five dollars, which was duly accepted. On the 7th September, Castro Street, between 
Webster Street and the Mount Eden Road, was ordered to be graded ; on October 
1st the municipal tax for the year 1877-78 was fixed at fifty cents on each one hun- 
dred dollars' worth of property, and on the 5th ot the same month Joel Russell was 
appointed to be Town Attorney. 

* The Post-office is officially called Haywood. 




^a^j-L^ 




Eden Township. 441 



187S. — On the 8th of February the following thoroughfares were ordered to be 
graded: B Street, between Main and First Streets; First Street, between B and C 
Streets; and C Street, between First and Main Streets. The right to lay water-pipes 
through the town was granted to Joseph Pimentel on March ist, for a period of twenty 
years; while. May 6th, the following officials were elected: H. F. Larrabee, William 
Brown, H. Strong, L. Linekin, John Hunt, Board of Trustees; George H. Horn, Mar- 
shal; Julius Volkerts, Clerk; Charles Puff, Assessor; B. Haas, Treasurer; William 
Whidden, Justice of the Peace. June 7th, Pierce Street, between Castro Street 
and the line of William Meek's land, was ordered to be graded and macadamized; on 
the 7th October the municipal tax was fixed at thirty-five cents on each one hundred 
dollars' worth of taxable property; and on November 15th, William Hayward was 
elected Justice of the Peace for the town. 

1879. — At the meeting of the Board of Trustees, held January 3d, provision was 
made regulating the building of dwelling-houses, stores, etc., having stove-pipes pass- 
ing through the roof, within certain limits; on February 19th it was decided to grant 
quarterly licenses to auctioneers; and, on the 28th of the same month, it was ordered 
that a tax of one dollar upon every male, and two dollars upon every female dog in 
the town should be levied, while all dogs found at -large without "tags" were directed 
to be impounded under date March 7th. 

On April 4th a Board of Health was created and the following appointments to 
it made: Doctor Smith, F. Hinckley, Mr. Thorndike, Ch. Hermann, and John Paine. 
On the same date William Brown, D. Salmon, and. Ch. Winter were appointed Fire 
Commissioners; and on May 5th the following corporation officers were elected: L. 
Linekin, William Brovvn, H. F. Larrabee, John Walpert, T. A. Cunningham, Board of 
Trustees; George H. Horn, Marshal; F. M. Dallam, Clerk; G. Brown, Treasurer; — 
Woodman, Assessor; William Hayward, Justice of the Peace. 

On May 19th it was directed that the meetings of the Board of Trustees should 
thenceforward be held on the first Saturday of each month in the American House ; 
and on the 24th, D. S. Smalley and George C. Baxter were appointed Fire Commis- 
sioners. On June 7th, J. D. Austin was chosen Justice of the Peace; on the 9th, Joel 
Russell was appointed to the duties of Town Attorney; and on the 21st the purchase 
of a fire-engine was ordered. August 8th, according to the financial statement of the 
Town Treasurer, the balance in the treasury was one thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-two dollars and ninety-seven cents. Under date September 13th we find the 
appointment of R. H. Goodwin to the office of Town Surveyor, vice Hinckley, 
resigned; on the 6th of October the municipal tax was fi.xed at twenty-five cents on. 
each one hundred dollars' worth of taxable property; while, December 20th, certain 
citizens petitioned that an ordinance should be passed in regard to boys under eighteen 
years of age being on the streets and in saloons after night, a curfew enactment being 
made accordingly. 

1880. — On January 5th a new fire organization was established, the town being, 
on June 2d, divided into four fire districts. On the i6th, Hayward Fire Company, 
No. I, gave its apparatus and building to the corporation; while, July 7th, the follow- 
29 



442 History of Alameda County, California. 

ing Fire Commissioners were appointed: First District, D. Salmon; Second District, 
P. Keating; Third District, George C. Baxter; Fourth District, Charles H. Barnes. 

The municipality elected on May 3, 1880, consisted of L. Linekin, L. H. Brown, 
John Walpert, William Brown, D. Luce, Board of Trustees; Charles Puff, Assessor; 
F. M. Dallam, Clerk; George Brown, Treasurer; George H. Horn, IMarshal; J. D. 
Austin, Justice of the Peace; the day of their meeting being changed, on May loth- 
to Wednesday evening. 

1 88 1. — At the election of town officers, held on May 4, 1881, the following 
officials were chosen: L. Linekin, William Brown, D. Luce, John Walpert, William 
Hayward, Board of Trustees; A. R. Hale, Assessor; F. M. Dallam, Clerk; A. H. 
Trueworthy, Marshal; L. H. Brown, Treasurer. 

Upon receipt of the intelligence of the death of President Garfield, the Board of 
Trustees, in meeting assembled, passed the following condolatory resolutions: 

Whereas, The Nation is bowed down in grief and anguish at the death of our greatly honored, respected, 
and beloved President, James A. Garfield, who was cut oflf in the very prime of a grand and noble life, and upon 
the threshold of an administration that was bright with the promise of peace, happiness, and prosperity to the 
whole people, irrespective of section, party, or race; a misfortune brought about by the venomous attack of a 
cowardly assassin, who, in striking the representative of the people, has smitten the very heart of the Kepublic. 
And 

Whereas, It has been ordained through a proclamation, issued by Governor Perkins, that the I'eople of the 
State of California shall show their respect for the departed President by assembling at their respective places of 
worship on Monday, September 26, 1881, the day designated for the funeral ceremonies, then and there to join m 
appropriate services. Therefore be it 

Resolved, That we, the Board of Trustees of the town of Haywards, recognizing the irreparaljle loss sustained 
by the death of our Chief Executive, take this means of e.Npressing our heart-felt sympathy and grief in this their 
hour of darkness and affliction, to the aged and gray-haired mother, the heroically-devoted wift, the orphaned 
children, and to our fellow-men. 

Resolved, That we suggest to the citizens of Haywards the propriety of closing all places of business on 
Monday, September 26, iSSi, and observing it as a day of humiliation and prayer. 

Resolved, That as a token of respect to the memory of the deceased the Tow n Hall be ap]iropriately draped 
in mourning for thirty days. 

On October 3d the municipal ta.x for the }-ear 1881-82 was fi.xed at thirty cents on 
each one hundred dollars' worth of taxable property, and November 2d certain citizens 
petitioned that the Sunday Law should be enforced. 

1882. — On the 3d of May the following gentlemen were chosen the municipal 
officers for the year: J. T. Dille, L. Linekin, Asa Collins, George A. Goodell, Chris. 
Meyer, Board of Trustees; A. R. Hall, Assessor; F. M. Dallam, Clerk; A. H. True- 
worthy, Marshal; L. H. Brown, Treasurer; J. D. Austin, Justice of the Peace. The 
ta.x for the year 1882-83 was regulated on the iith October, and fixed at forty 
cents on each one hundred dollars' worth of taxable property; while, December 6th, 
George A. Oakes was appointed Town Clerk, in the place of F. M. Dallam, resigned. 

1883. — On February 7th of this year a franchise was granted to bring water 
through the town of Haywards, from Tuolumne River, by the Tuolumne W'ater 
Company, this being the last item in the records when they were most courteously 
placed at our disposal. 



Eden Township. 443 



The population of Haywards is about twelve hundred, and although it is not a 
manufacturing center, its busy streets and handsome stores speak well for the people 
and the town. It has three churches — a Congregational, a Methodist, and a Catholic, 
histories of which we have been unable to obtain; while its school is in a most flour- 
ishing condition, and the building an ornament to the place. The hotel accommoda- 
tion is first-class, and its two newspapers — only one of which is printed in the town — 
have a considerable circulation in the surrounding district. 

Alameda Encampment, No. 28, I. O. O. F. — This Encampment was originally 
instituted in Alvarado, April 4, 1868, and organized by H. C. Crowell, of San Fran- 
cisco, with the following charter officers: E. H. Dyer, C. P.; E. Dyer, H. P.; D. C. 
Owen, Scribe; M. W. Levy, S. W.; D. S. Smalley, Fin.; J. Sulz, J. W. On Novem- 
ber 28, 1868, they removed to Haywards, where it has since remained. The present 
membership is thirty-seven, while the officers for the current term are: Henry Mein- 
enger, C. P.; George W. Frick, H. P.; G. A. Goodell, S.; C. Sanderson, S. W.; L. 
Linekin, T.; P. J. Christensen, J. W. The lodge, which is in a flourishing condition, 
meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, in Odd Fellows' Hall. 

Sycamore Lodge, No. 129, I. O. O. F. — This Lodge was organized on October 
30, 1866, by District Grand J. N. Randolph, with the following charter members: 
A. L. Fuller, William Knox, William Meek, Willijm Roberts, William C Blackwood; 
and with these gentlemen as charter officers: A. L. Fuller, N. G.; William C. Black- 
wood, V. G.; William Meek, Treasurer; William Roberts, Rec. Sec; William 
Knox, Per. Sec; A. L. Rockwood, Warden; J. W. Josselyn, Con.; David S. 
Smalley, I. G.; G. E. Smith, R. S. N. G.; Joseph Graham, L. S. N. G.; J. M. 
Costigan, R. S. V. G.; George Brown, L. S. V. G. The Lodge at once became 
popular, and, at its second session, no fewer than nineteen names were added to the 
roll. The present membership is ninety-six, and the following are the officers for the 
current term: Daniel Chisholm, P. N. G.; Thomas Hellar, N. G.; H. H. Hamer, V. 
G.; B. F. Thomas, Rec. Sec; C. Christensen, Per. Sec; G. A. Goodell, Treas. 
The financial condition of the Lodge is most excellent; and it meets every Monday 
night in Odd Fellows' Hall, a large two-story building, erected on Calhoun Street in 
1868, at a cost of seven thousand five hundred dollars. It was dedicated with proper 
ceremony, April 30, 1869, the evening being wound up with a grand ball. 

Haywards Lodge, No. 18, A. O. U. W. — This Lodge was organized January 
19, 1878, with the following charter members: J. D. Austin, F. F. Allen, W. W. 
Allen, J. G. Cooper, Asa Collins, F. M. Dallam, F. C. Jessup, Rev. S. Kinsey, M. C. 
Hamer, Charles Prowse, E. O. Webb, George A. Whidden, D. W. Spoerer, the accom- 
panying being the charter officers: Asa Collins, P. M. W.; George A. Whidden, M. 
W.; E. O. Webb, F.; F. C. Jessup, O.; F. F. Allen, G.; F. M. Dallam, Rec; J. G. 
Cooper, Fin.; James D. Austin, Rear.; M. C. Hamer, I. W.; D. W. Spoerer, O. W. 
There are at present sixty-seven members on the roll, while the following gentlemen 
are the officers for the current term: S. L. Cunningham, P. M. W.; A. M. Bullock, 
M. W.; William Dale, F.; G. P. Carpenter, O.; J. Brown, Rec; J. C. Baxter, Fin.; 



444 History of Alameda County, California. 

G. A. Goodell, Recr.; A. Bradford, G.; Charles Barnes, I. \V.; C. Herman, O. W. 
Lodge meets every Tuesday evening at Lucas Hall, and is in a flourishing condition. 

Hercules Council, No. 139, O. C. F. — This Council of Chosen Friends was 
organized February 17, 1883, with the following charter members: H. M. Fedcrson, 
A. H. Trueworthy, Chris. Peterson, Axel Seebur\', Charles H. Pratt, J. J. Sandholdt, 
J. E. Wooten, H. H. Sorensen, John Lane, George Reavey, Frank Clark, W. E. Miller, 
E. Nicholson, P. Keating, H. Frost, C. Hoosen, Mrs. K. Sorensen, Mrs. K. Sandholdt, 
Mrs. M. Peterson, S. Donaldson. The original officers, who are those at present in 
in office, are: J. E. Wooten, C. C; P. Keating, V. C; C. H. Pratt, P.; Axel Seebury, 
P. C. C; H. Trueworthy, Mar.; J. J. Sandholdt, W.; F". Clark, G.; J. Lane, S.; H. H. 
Sorensen, Treas.; W. E. Miller, Sec. Meets e\ery Tuesda\' night in Odd Fellows' 
Hall, the Society being in a flourishing condition. 

The Haywards Weekly "Journal." — This newspaper was founded in 1877, 
by Charles Coolidge, who, after publishing it about a year, disposed of it to Frank M. 
Dallam, who conducted it until November 25, 1882. During the management of this 
last-named gentleman the Journal steadil}- increased in circulation and influence, 
while as an advertising medium it has no superior among the interior weekly news- 
papers of Alameda County. In November, 1882, the plant was purchased b\- George 
A. Oakes, who has grown up in Haywards, and is the present editor, publisher, and 
proprietor. 

Ne\V York Brewery. — This enterprise was started in the month of Septem- 
ber, 1866, by John Booken and Henry Hulm, under the style of Booken & Hulm, 
an association that continued about t\\o years, when the interest of the last-named 
gentleman was purchased by Jacob Denimark, who seceded in 187L The original 
premises stood on the site of the present brewery, and occupied a space of thirt}' by 
sixty feet. It had a brewing capacity of about ten barrels onh'. On October 17, 
1872, it was destroyed by fire, and the handsome edifice now in use, erected immedi- 
ately thereafter. It is composed of wood and brick, has a frontage of forty feet on A 
Street and ninet\--six feet on Third Street, and consists of brewing-house, malt-kiln, 
etc., being complete in all its details. In 1875 Chris. Hermann became a partner in 
the concern, but in 1881 he severed his connection with it, since when it has been con- 
ducted entirely by Mr. Booken. The yearly manufacture is from fifteen hundred 
to two thousand barrels, for which ready sale is found in the surrounding counties. 

Lyons Brewery — This establishment was built b\- Charles L)-ons, and in 1874 
passed into the hands of the present proprietor, L, Palmtag. This is all the informa- 
tion that could be obtained from the owner of this establishment, who is evidently 
one of those individuals that sees in ever\' person armed with a note-book the 
dreaded ta.x-collector.- 

Eden L.VNDINi; — This landing was originally established in the }x-ar 1850, bj- 
an association of farmers, who called themselves the Mount Eden Company. In 



Eden Township. 445 



1855 Captain Richard Barron came to the place and erected warehouses, carrying on 
a considerable business. In i860 he put on the steamer Poco Tempo, to ply between 
this spot and San Francisco. She was succeeded by the Mozint Eden, who gave place 
to the Ellen; after her came the Emma, but finding the carrying capacity of these 
too limited, he built the present Mount Eden (steam-boat), of seventy-six tons, and a 
capacity of one hundred and sixty-five tons dead weight, which plies to San Fran- 
cisco, in connection with the Barron Warehouse only. Near Eden Landing are the 
Barron Salt Works, where, in the year 1882-83, upwards of a thousand tons of salt 
were manufactured. 

Mount Eden. — This is a small village on the road from San Lorenzo and 
Alvarado, and receives its name from an elevation in the plain on which it is situated, 
but there is nothing that could by the highest imagination receive the name of a 
mount. The first settler in the vicinity was John Johnson, the present proprietor of 
Mount Eden Grove, whither he came in 1852. About a year later the first houses in 
the village were built, and a store was opened by Mr. Shiman of San Leandro, a house 
of entertainment being also started by a man named Peterson. 

Near Mount Eden is Eden Landing, and the salt-works of Captain Barron. In 
1853 John Johnson commenced the manufacture of salt in a small way on the marsh 
fronting on his property, and in 1854 shipped his first load — twenty-five tons — to San 
Francisco, it being carried in the small coasters that then called at the different land- 
ings around the bay for the general produce of the country. His salt interest has 
since grown until now he has two schooners, the Augusta Johnson and Energetic, in 
the trade, while his annual shipments amount to between fifteen hundred and two 
thousand tons. 

Mount Eden Grove. — This is a well-arranged picnic-ground the property of 
John Johnson, where he has accommodation for visitors; a well-arranged bar, a good 
dancing-floor, and all necessary comforts. It is a favorite resort for sportsmen in the 
hunting season, the marshes being the home of wild-fowl in abundance. 

San Leandro. — This beautiful little town, the former county seat of Alameda 
County, is distant from Oakland about nine miles from which there is a splendid road, 
besides direct communication by railway. It is situated in the valley on the bank of 
the creek from which it receives its name and is possessed of so rare a fertility that 
every kind of produce matures most rapidly. This being the case it is embowered 
with trees whose wide-spreading branches make it one of the most sylvan retreats in 
the county. Neat houses, ample grounds, and well-kept gardens testify to the thrifti- 
ness of the inhabitants, while its wide and clean streets are a credit to its authorities. 
Such thoroughfares as Ward Avenue, a mile long, leading to the foot-hills are a credit 
to any place and is such an ornament as would enhance the beauty of a more ancient 
city. 

At the commencement of this chapter it has been shown that the first settlement 
in San Leandro was made by Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo, who although he only 
obtained his grant in 1842 had resided on the land for several years previous to that 
date. This family, several of whose descendants still reside in the town and neigh- 



446 History of Alameda County, California. 

borhood, dwelt there until the time of the American occupation. Their hou.se in 
1850 was about the only one on the present town site, indeed, in 1855 there were but 
three buildings within what are now the incorporated limits of the town of San 
Leandro, namely, that of the Estudillo family, the same that was burnt in that year; 
the present Estudillo Hotel, which was erected in the spring of that year; and a 
saloon and stage station, kept by Charles Ray, which was built, it is thought, in 1851, 
on the site of the Central Manufacturing Company's premises. 

The ne.xt house to go up was in the winter of 1855-56 by Jim Taj-lor for Mr. 
Hirschfeldter who started a store therein, but which he sold at the end of two years 
to E. D. Block. This building still stands at the corner of Watkins and Ward 
Avenues. In 1856 the building now occupied by J. F. Elliott was erected by Dan 
McMillan, now of San Francisco, while in the same year a school house was built 
near the site of the Catholic Church. 

With San Leandro as the county seat we have dealt in the chapter on the Legis- 
lative history, to which we refer the reader. It was established originally where now 
stands Martin's restaurant, after which it was moved to the site at present occupied by 
the convent, the block being donated by the Estudillo family for the especial purpose- 
In the early days San Leandro was one of the stage stations between Oakland 
and San Jos^, the line being owned by Charles McLaughlin, and the stage being for 
some time driven by the famous Charley Parkhurst, who, it may be remembered, was 
proved to be a woman, the secret being revealed by death. 

It may be said that with being deprived of the advantages of being the seat of 
justice of Alameda County, it remained at the size which it then was, and although it 
may not have lost its natural attractions in point of extent or population it has not 
much increased. Let us therefore pass to the year wherein it took upon itself the 
dignities of the " Town of San Leandro." 

1872. — In the month of February, 1872, a meeting of the citizens of San Leandro 
was held for the purpose of taking into consideration the matter of incorporation, 
when, the subject meeting with general approbation, a committee consisting of I. A. 
Amerman, A. T. Covell, Socrates Huff, Stephen G. Nye, and J. H. Putnam were 
appointed to draft an act of incorporation. The act was duly approved March 21, 
1872, when the limits of the town of San Leandro were defined to be as follows: — 

Commencing on the southerly bank of the San Leandro Creek where the easterly 
line of lands of Michael Donovan intersects the same; thence souther!}- along the 
said line to the center of the county road leading to Halversen Landing; thence south 
twenty-eight degrees east across lands of Wm. Able to the lands of John B. Ward and 
his children; thence northeasterly and southeasterly, following the boundary lines of 
said Ward's lands, to the eastern corner thereof; thence southeasterly along the 
dividing line between the lands of Patrick Murnane and Maria Dolores Cushing to 
the southerly corner of said Murnane's land; thence northeaster!)' along the line of 
said Cushing tract to the westerly line of the Watkins-street County Road; thence 
along said line of said road to where the dividing line projected between the lands of 
James Durnan and Silas McClure intersects the same; thence following the dividing 
line between said McClure and Durnan and between said McClure and R. A. Mc- 



Eden Township. 447 



Graw's lands projected to the southwesterly line of lands of John Carroll; thence fol- 
lowing said line projected to the southeasterly line of what is known as Maud Avenue; 
thence following the southeasterly line of Maud Avenue to the northeasterly line of 
Santa Clara Street; thence along said line to the southeasterly line of Juana Avenue; 
thence along said line of Juana Avenue to Grand Avenue; thence following Grand 
Avenue to Ward or Estudillo Avenue; thence at right angles to said last-named 
avenue to the southerly bank of the San Leandro Creek; thence following down said 
bank of said creek to the place of beginning. 

On May 13, 1872, the first meeting of the town officers elect was held, when there 
were present, Joseph Collingridge, I. A. Amerman, A. T. Covell, Socrates Huff, Board 
of Trustees; P. R. Borein, Clerk; the other officers of the incorporation being J. H. 
Putnam, Marshal; George Smith, Justice of the Peace; C. F. Juilliard, Treasurer. 
They set the municipal ball rolling by fixing the rate of licenses and establishing a 
uniform official grade for all streets and side-walks. On May 20th A. H. Judson 
was appointed Town Attorney and William Hazlehurst, a Trustee, while Luis Castro 
was called to the position of Town Engineer. Mr. Hazlehurst resigning, however, on 
June loth W. T. Thrasher was chosen to fill his position, and on July 24th C. E. 
Palmer was called upon to undertake the duties of Town Treasurer vice Juilliard, 
resigned. 

1873. — The municipal officers elected on the 5th of May to serve for the year 
1873-4 were: Joseph Collingridge, A. T. Covell, M. C. La Grange, Alexander Bald- 
win, George H. Payne, Board of Trustees; L. C. Morehouse, Assessor; J. M. Estu- 
dillo, Clerk; J. H. Putnam, Marshal; H. C. Grigsby, Treasurer; George Smith, 
Justice of the Peace. These gentlemen would appear to have successfully manipu- 
lated the reins of government during this year, while the only item of moment beyond 
the regular routine was the granting of a franchise on October 6th to the San 
Francisco and Oakland Water Company to lay pipes through the town. 

1874. — On the 5th of January Mr. Covell introduced a resolution asking Congress 
to appropriate funds for the prosecution on the work of making a ships' channel along 
the bay of San Francisco and the southerly line of the city of Oakland, and connect- 
ing with the San Leandro Bay in the event of a favorable report being made on the 
same, which was unanimously adopted. On February i6th Frederick Bryant was 
appointed Town Marshal in the place of J. H. Putnam, who had resigned; and on 
May 4th the annual election for Town officers was held with the following result: 
Joseph De Mont, M. C. La Grange, Jacob Price, A. T. Covell, Board of Trustees; J. M. 
Estudillo, Clerk; Dennis Gannon, Marshal; Frederick Meyers, Treasurer; L. C. 
"Morehouse, Assessor; Joseph Collingridge, Justice of the Peace. 

1875. — At the election held on the 3d of May for the municipal officers no less 
than four out of nine candidates for a position on the Board of Trustees received the 
same number of votes, the result, however, being as follows: A. T. Covell, Alexander 
Baldwin, J. A. Estudillo, George Smith, Socrates Huff, Board of Trustees; J. A. 
Murphy, Clerk; Le Roy Morehouse, Marshal; Frederick Meyers, Treasurer; L. C. 
Morehouse, Assessor; Joseph Collingridge, Justice of the Peace. On the 4th of 



448 History of Alameda County, California. 

October the municipal tax was fixed at five cents on each one hundred dollars' worth 
of taxable property; while, on the same date, Joseph Dc Mont was elected to the 
Board in the place of A. T. Covell, who, upon resigning, received highly commenda- 
tory resolutions. 

1876. — On April 24th of this year we find that authority was extended to 
W. W. Reid to purchase two blunderbusses for the use of the Fire Department. On 
the 1st of May the following gentlemen were elected to the official offices of the 
town: Joseph De Mont, J. A. Estudillo, M. C. La Grange, S. Huff, W. W. Reid, Board 
of Trustees; S. S. Saul, Assessor; J. A. Murphy, Clerk; H. G. Grigsby, Treasurer; 
Joseph Collingridge, Justice of the Peace. On May 8th fire-hydrants were established 
in the town, and on the 15th J. H. Shirley was appointed Town Marshal. July lOth 
Union Hose Company was admitted into the Fire Department. In the month of 
September we find the Board contemplating the erection of a Town Hall and jail; 
while, on the 2d of October, the yearly tax was fi.ved at thirty cents on each one hun- 
dred dollars' worth of ta.xable property. 

1877. — Upon the death of Mr. Amerman, the Board of Trustees, under date 
February 14th, in meeting assembled, passed the following laudators^ and condolatory 
resolutions: — 

" Whereas, It has pleased •Almighty God in his divine wisdom to remove from our midst our beloved friend 
Hon. I. A. Amerman, whose enterprise, public spirit, and sociability have endeared him to the citizens of San 
Leandro, and for whom they entertain the highest respect and feel that they have just cause to mourn his less. 
He was chiefly instrumental in framing the Incorporate Act for the town of San Leandro, also ably discharged 
the arduous duties of the first President of the Board of Trustees. His familiar voice we had the pleasure of 
listening to in the dedication of the Hall a few weeks ago. 

" Rcsolv:d, That as a token of our respect and esteem, we adjourn our present meeting to February 17, 1S77. 

On May 7th the annual election took place, when there were elected: Joseph De 
Mont, Socrates Huff, J. A. Estudillo, M. C. La Grange, W. W. Reid, Board of Trus- 
tees; John Cleland, Assessor; J. A. Murphy, Clerk; J. H. Shirley, Marshal; W. D. 
Smith, Treasurer; Joseph Collingridge, Justice of the Peace. 

1878. — On April 29th, George Fleming was appointed Town Clerk in the place 
of J. A. Murphy, deceased; while. May 6th, R. Mclntyre, O. H. Christie, F. Meyers, 
H. C. Powell, and L H. Stone were elected the Board of Trustees; and John Cleland, 
Assessor; N. C. Lawrence, Clerk; W. D. Smith, Treasurer; J. H. Shirley, Marshal; M. 
L. Rawson, Justice of the Peace. 

1879. — The officers for this year, elected May Sth, were: O. H. Christie, Samuel 
Dasher, L. C. Morehouse, George Smith, J. S. Knowles, Sr., Board of Trustees; Fred- 
erick Eber, Assessor; M. L. Rawson, Clerk; J. H. Shirley, Marshal; W. D. Smith, 
Treasurer; J. W. Hodgkin, Justice of the Peace. 

1880. — In this year the municipality was elected on May 3d as follows: R. Par- 
ker, T. P. Carey, J. S. Knowles, H. F. Crane, L. C. Morehouse, Board of Trustees; H. 
F. Eber, Assessor; A. Robinson, Clerk; W. J. Stratton, Marshal; W. D. Smith, Treas- 
urer; J. W. Hodgkin, Justice of the Peace. 





d'Tl^fJV 



Eden Township. 449 



1 88 1. — On the 2d of May the annual election for the town officials was held, and 
the following result attained: T. P. Gary, J. S. Knowles, J. E. Quinn, A. F. Crane 
Board of Trustees; D. K. Pratt, Marshal; H. F. Eber, Assessor; A. Robinson, Clerk; 
W. D. Smith, Treasurer. Owing to a tie vote with Mr. Huff at the annual election, 
on May 21st, R. Parker was chosen for a seat at the Board of Trustees. On July 
25th M. L. Rawson was appointed Clerk vice Robinson; and, on November 21st, the 
following resolution was spread upon the minutes of the Trustees: — 

" Whereas, Since the last meeting of this Board, one of its members, J. S. Knowles, has been, by the 
hand of death, removed from the community and from the Board; and 

" Whereas, We, in common with all the inhabitants of this town, deeply regret our loss, as well as the 
loss to our community of a man of such worthy character and a citizen of so much usefulness; therefore be it 

" Resolved, That out of respect to his memory this Board do now adjourn until to-morrow evening at half- 
past seven o'clock, and that this resolution be spread upon the minutes of this Board." 

Owing to the demise of Mr. Knowles, on the 5th December, O. H. Christie 
was called to a seat at the Board of Trustees in his stead. 

1882. — At the annual election held on the first of May, the following gentlemen 
were chosen the corporate officers for the year 1882-83: O. H. Christie, E. Kirkman, 
F. S. Dickinson, T. P. Cary, Henry Motz, Board of Trustees; H. F. Eber, Assessor; 
F. M. Pratt, Clerk, D. K. Pratt, Marshal; W. D. Smith, Treasurer. 

We can think of no place in California that has profited more by being incor- 
porated than has San Leandro. The municipality have displayed good judgment in 
their actions, and by a wonderful unanimity in their meetings the result is seen in the 
perfection of streets, and the highest degree of sanitary purification. 

Presbyterian Church. — The first services of this denomination were held by 
Rev. J. M. Alexander on August 25, 1864, and on February 11, 1866, the church was 
organized with eighteen members, preparatory services being held by Revs. S. Wells^ 
L. Hamilton, and J. M. Alexander. On April 28, 1869, the church edifice was dedi- 
cated and Rev. J. M. Alexander occupied the pulpit till the 23d of May, when, resign- 
ing, he was succeeded by Rev. A. H. Sloat on September 12, 1869. After preaching 
only a few times, that gentleman left in consequence of ill-health, then the duties 
were undertaken by Rev. A. F. White, who commenced his labors on the last Sunday 
in October, 1869. He resigned December 14, 1873, and was succeeded in turn by the 
following clergymen: Rev. W. Alexander, January i, 1874; Rev. Tracy Oviatt 
November i, 1874;. Rev. Hiram Hill, January 6, 1878, who, leaving on August 6, 1882, 
was succeeded by Rev. Theo. Beaizley, who commenced August 13, 1882. The pres- 
ent number of members is sixty-three, while there are one hundred and fifty attend- 
ants at the Sabbath-school. 

Roman Catholic Church. — This church was commenced in the month of 
January, 1864, and is one of the most architecturally beautiful erections in the county. 
It is gothic in style, thirty-two by fifty feet in dimensions, and is surmounted with a 
spire ninety-six feet in height. It was dedicated in August, 1864. 

Eden Lodge, F. and A. M. — This lodge was organized February 14, 



450 History of Alameda County, California. 

1857, by Bro. J. F. Damon, with the following charter members: Joseph De Mont, P. 

E. Edmondson, J. L. Noble Hamilton, William G. Hamilton, Lewis Lengfeldt, Will- 
iam C. Pease, John W. Carrick, Joseph H. Taylor, Charles B. Tool, J. L. Shiman, the 
original ofificers being: P. E. Edmondson, W. M.; Lewis Lengfeldt, S. W.; Joseph De 
Mont, J. W.; Charles B. Tool, Treasurer; William C. Pease, Secretary; Joseph H. Tay- 
lor, S. D. ; John W. Carrick, J. D.; John L. Shiman, Tyler. There are at present 
fifty-three members on the roll, and the officers for the current term are: John F. 
Burdick, W. M.; Frank W. Boardman, S. W.; Alonzo A. Ferreira, J. W.; J. F. E. 
Hopper, Treasurer; Charles H. Haile, Secretary; William S. Du Bois, S. D.; Manuel J. 
Cardoza, J. D.; William W. Reid, Tyler. The hall which was built in 1857, and the 
lot on which it stands, is owned by the Lodge, while she is the mother of five lodges 
in the county, a sufficient number having gone forth from her sheltering ?egis to open 
that number of like institutions in different portions of Alameda. Eden Lodge is in 
a very flourishing condition 

Sax Leandro Lodge, No. 231, I. O. O. F. — Was organized June 8, 1875, with 
the following charter members: H. A. Hale, P. G.; F. W. Greeley, Ezra Smith, J. Lar- 
son, F. D. Moran, J. T. Krudleberger, J. F. E. Hopper, A. Lucio, G. S. E. Smith, G. 
H. Payne, W. J. Stratton. The first officers were: H. A. Hale, N. G.; G. H. Pa)-ne, 
V. G.; J. T. Krudleberger, Secretary. The present membership is fifty-seven, and the 
officers now serving are: Frank Boardman, Jr., P. G. ; George Larson, N. G.; Manuel 
Avellar, V. G.; A. Lucio, Rec. Sec; F. D. Moran, Treas.; David Ury, Per. Sec. It 
meets in their own hall, which was built in 1880 and dedicated in 1881, every Tuesday 
evening; and is in a flourishing condition. 

San Leandro Lodge, No. 12, A. O. U. W. — Was organized December 11, 
1877, with the following charter members: William H. Hodgkins, Robert Parker, P. 
N. Coughill, Jacob H. Shirley, Joseph Wallace, Eugene W. Smith, David Ury, Henry 

F. Eber, Alex. Robinson, Joseph Martin, H. C. Powell, Nelson McCune, Joseph A. 
Miller, Samuel Dasher, David J. Shields, James McDonald, Ezra Smith, O. H. Chris- 
tie, H. A. Hale, Louis J. Martin, Manuel J. Cardoza, Alonzo A. Ferreira. The first 
officers were: J. A. Miller, P. M. W.; O. H. Christie, M. W.; A. Robinson, G. F.; N. 
C. Powell, O.; H. F. Eber, Recr. ; D. Ury, Fin.; R. Parker, Rec; James McDonald, 
G.; E. W. Smith, L W. ; Joseph Wallace, O. W. The present number of members in 
good standing is forty-seven, and the officers for the current term are: N. G. Sturte- 
vant, P. M. W.; R. Morgan, M. W,; J. H. Shirley, G. F.; F. C. Barradas, O ; S.John- 
son, Recr.; D. Ury, Fin. ; J. Gorman, Rec; H. F. Eber, G. ; J. Raveks, L W.; H. Barr- 
mann, O. W. 

San Leandro Lodge, No. 180, I. O. G. T. — Was instituted by Mrs. Emily 
Pitt Stevens, January 5, 1880, with one hundred charter members, and the following 
officers were installed for the first term: H. R. Huie, W. C. T.; Miss Eliza Haas, W. V- 
T.; Rev. J. J. Cleveland, W. C; R. M. Saul, W. S.; Mrs. Flora Richardson, W. A. S.; 
Mrs. H. R. Huie, W. F. S.; Mrs. J. W. Hodgkin, W. T.; G. R. Duval, W. M.; Miss 
Lizzie Mercer, W. D. M.; Geo. H. Richardson, W. 1. G.; William Shcehan, W. O. G.; 
Mrs. N. McCune, W. R. H. S.; Miss Nellie Duval, W. L. H. S.; Rev. Hiram Hill, P. 



Eden Township. 451 



W. C. T.; N. McCune, L. D. G. W. C. T. There are at present fifty-three members 
on the roll, while the officers serving for the current term are: W. W. Reid, W. C. T.; 
Miss M. Gary, W. V. T.; George Smith, W. C; H. Pelton,W. S.; Miss M. Geary, W. 
A. S.; R. H. French, W. F. S.; Miss D. Halverson, W. T.; H. Morin, W. M.; Miss 
Anna Halverson, W. D. M.; Thomas Sturtevant; W. I. G.; David Ury, W. O. G.; 
Mrs. W. H. Gray, W. R. H. S.; Mrs. C. E. Case, W. L. H. S.; J. W. Driver, P. W. C. 
T.; George Smith, L. D. G. W. C. T. The charter members who yet remain in good 
standing are: J. W. Driver, Mrs. W. H. Gray, Mrs. J. A. Gallet, Miss Dena Halver- 
son, Miss Anna Halverson, Miss Lizzie Mercer, H. Morin, H. K. Owens, Mrs. H. K. 
Owens, W. R. Price, Lester Price, W. W. Reid, George Smith, Mrs. George Smith, 
David Ury. The lodge is in a prosperous condition, but it was deprived of about 
half of its members when the agricultural works of Baker & Hamilton were removed 
from San Leandro to Benicia. 

Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle of San LEANDRO.-^Was 
organized in January, 1883, with Mrs. T. Beaizley, President, and Miss Jennie Huff, 
Secretary. The number of members is limited to fifteen, who meet every Tuesday 
evening, much interest being manifested in the various studies. 

San Leandro "Reporter." — This newpaper was started May 15, 1878, and is 
now in the fourth year of its existence. It is a twenty-eight column paper, published 
every Friday morning. The editor and proprietor is R. A. Marshall. Eight news- 
papers have been established in San Leandro before the advent of the Reporter, all of 
which have died a natural death, but by dint of energy and perseverance the circula- 
tion of the paper is nearly six hundred, while its advertisements are all reliable. For 
two years this periodical was issued as a twelve-column paper, eight by twelve inches 
in size, finally emerging into a six-page, then to an eight-page of the same size, and 
on July 2, 1881, the present size was established. On September 14, 1881, it became 
a semi-weekly publication, continuing so until May, 1882. It is the official organ of 
the town of San Leandro. 

San Leandro "Sentinel." — Was first started January 8, 1880, by Weston P. 
Truesdell, editor and proprietor, as a weekly. As such it continued until April, 1883, 
when it was changed to a semi-weekly issue. The Weekly Sentinel is a representa- 
tive paper of San Leandro. It is. the exponent of her advantages, industries, and 
necessities. It is a mirror of the events, social, political, and otherwise, transpiring in 
the county, and is a regular visitor in hundreds of homes, and in many families no 
other paper is taken. 

Central Manufacturing Company of San Leandro. — Hopper & Larson, 
Proprietors. This industry was first started in the year 1875 by the above parties in 
a small building, still standing near Smith's grocery store, where they remained about 
six years. In June, 1880, they began the erection of their present large factory situated 
on Main Street, being two stories high, and occupying an area of forty-four by seventy- 
two feet. Attached to it is a building twenty-five by thirty-five feet, used solely for 
the manufacture and repair of agricultural implements. They moved into these 



452 History of Alameda County, California. 

premises in October, 1 88 1, where they are engaged in all work coming under the 
category of agricultural implements and blacksmithing. 

San Leandro Plow Company. — This establishment for the manufacture of 
agricultural implements and farming machinery is located in San Leandro, and may 
be justly ranked among the best agricultural implement factories in the United 
States, though not among the largest. It comprises a planing-mill, blacksmith-shop 
plow-shop, machine-shop, foundry, paint-shop, etc.; in fact, everything required in a 
concern of the kind. The buildings are new, commodious, well arranged, and well 
lighted, and the machinery is nearly all new and of the latest styles, the whole be- 
ing driven by an elegant fifty horse-power Corliss engine. The location is considered 
the best to be found in the State, being close to San Francisco, with which there is 
hourly communication, and yet not within the limits where rents and taxes of any 
large city largely enhance the cost of production. The cars of the Central Pacific 
Railroad run into the yard, thus connecting it with the railroad system of the State, 
and saving all drayages, both on material arriving and goods going away. The 
company is a Joint Stock Corporation, composed mainly of wealthy citizens 
residing in San Leandro or its vicinity, and a number of the leading mechanics of the 
Baker & Hamilton Agricultural Works (which was run for several years in San Lean- 
dro, but has recently removed to Benicia). The company was incorporated April 19, 
1881, with a cash capital of one hundred thousand dollars, the original and present 
directory being: S. Huff, President; T. P. Cary, Treasurer; \^^ H. Gray, Secretary; 
F. Meyers, L. C. Morehouse, I. H. Bradshaw, and J. DeMont. 

San Lorenzo. — This village is distant from Oakland about twelve miles, and 
is situated on the northern bank of the creek of the same nams. In 1852-53 it was 
known as "Squatterville," owing to the number of squatters who took possession of 
portions of the Estudillo Rancho. In 1853 John Boyle erected a blacksmith's shop, 
and with it b.isiness may be said to have had a start in ths place. He was succeeded 
at his death by Henry Smyth, who had been in Boyle's employ, and he started the 
first forge-fire in San Lorenzo. 

P'ollovving Boyle's forge was the store of Daniel Olds, which occupied the position 
whereon the Willows Hotel now stands, and erected in 1854, and in the same year the 
San Lorenzo House was built by A. E. Crane. Save an establishment for drj'ing 
fruit on the Alden process, which was tried some years ago, but failed, no other busi- 
ness venture than Smyth's works has been made in San Lorenzo. 

It should be said, that in this vicinity there is the finest soil in the whole valley, 
as the magnificent orchards, splendid gardens, and rich grain-fields indicate. It is 
truly a garden spot! 

The village comprises the usual quota of countrj- stores, saloons, a post-office, and 
an excellent school besides. The church is a neat edifice in which union services are 
held, while the village is on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad. 

Roberts' Landing is but one mile and a half to the northwest, whence there is 
communication by water with San Francisco. 



Murray Township. 453 



MURRAY TOWNSHIP. 



GEOGRAPHY. — Murray Township is bounded on the north by Contra Costa 
County, on the east by San Joaquin County, on the south hy Santa Clara 
County, and on the west by Washington and Eden Townships. 

Topography. — This township, the largest in Alameda County, is about one-half 
its whole area, and comprises nearly four hundred square miles of territory, composed 
of mountains of considerable altitude, the lesser undulating foot-hills, and the fertile 
valleys, it being estimated that there are one hundred and sixty square miles of the 
first, one hundred and ninety of the second, and fifty of the last. 

Valleys. — The valleys of Murray Township are the Livermore, Vallecitos, 
Sufiol, Amador, Alamo, and portions of San Ramon and Tassajara. The chief of these 
is the Livermore Valley, which is a gentle sloping plain, irregular in shape, and com- 
pletely surrounded by bold mountains. Its length is about fourteen miles from east 
to west, and its breadth from north to south from four to double that number of miles. 
It is situated in the northern part of the township, and extends from its western 
boundary line about two-thirds of the distance across it. North, northeast, northwest, 
southwest, and east of it the hills are low, and susceptible of the highest cultivation; 
while to the south, southeast, and west we have bold mountains valuable only for the 
timber with whfch they abound, and the unlimited range of pasturage which they 
offer. 

Streams. — The water-courses of Murray Township are numerous, but few of 
them retaining their natural uses during the summer months. The principal ones are 
the Arroyo Valle, Arroyo Mocho, Calaveras Creek, Laguna, Las Positas, Tassajara 
Creek, and Corral Hollow Creek. Save the last two, all are tributaries to the Alameda 
Creek, which falls into the Bay of San Francisco, and forms the shore boundary 
betH'een Eden and Washington Townships. The largest of these are the Arroyos Valle 
and Mocho, which, having their source amid the mountains of Santa Clara County 
take a northwesterly course through the township, and empty themselves, the first 
into the Laguna, near Pleasanton, after flowing a distance of some thirty miles; 
and the last disappears into the earth a few miles northeast therefrom, having run its 
course of fifty miles, the greater portion of the distance being through deep ravines 
buttressed by overhanging crags whose recesses are the home of the feathered tribes of, 
every hue and song. The Positas Creek has a westerly course, and drains the 
eastern end of Livermore Valley, emptying itself in the Tassajara, between the towns 
of Livermore and Dublin, while the last named itself, after watering the valley from 
which it takes its name, — opening out to the north of Livermore Valley — meets its 
fate in the Laguna, near Pleasanton. Calaveras Creek has its birth in ' Santa Clara 
County, and finds its way through deep canons into Alameda County, while the Sufiol 



454 History ok Ai.amkda Countv, California. 

Valley is fed by means of the La;4una, with all the waters of the Livermore and 
adjoining valleys. 

The.se chief streams are principally fed by mountain torrents almost innumerable 
in number, which in the summer months are distinguishable only by their rugged 
courses, but which in winter become swirling, treacherous, angry torrents, sweeping 
here, and tearing thither, carrying all before them, until they mingle with the waters 
of the mightier streams. 

Although hardly coming under the category of water-wa}-s, it may be mentioned 
that there are three natural bodies of water in Murray Township, two being small 
ponds of a few acres each, near the east end of the Livermore Valley, which, although 
usually dry during the summer months, in winter have a plentiful supply of water. 
Not far from the foot of the Contra Costa Range, at the western extremity of the 
the Livermore Valley, is a tract vicariously known as the Bolsa, or Lagoon, some fif- 
teen hundred acres in extent, swampy in character, and covered with a thick growth 
of willows, which, during the winter season is generally under water, and to some 
extent preserving this character in summer. 

Climate. — We have already dwelt upon the climate of Alameda Count)- gener- 
ally, and placed before the reader condensed remarks on the climate of each of the 
townships. Of the township now under consideration, and its chief section, the Liver- 
more Valley and vicinity, G. Benton Jarrett, M. D., has stated that, protected as it is 
by the Coast Range, it has almost entire exemption from the nightly fogs of the coast, 
and possessing an altitude of nearly five hundred feet, several disagreeable conditions 
of the sea-shore climate are remo\ed. The breeze of the ocean is toned down, its 
harshness is reduced; its unpleasant effects receive a check, being deflected upward by 
the Coast Range of hills and mountains, and deprived of excessive humidity, it can be 
breathed with comfort by many invalids who feel oppressed when near the coast. 
The summer air is very desiccating, and dead animals left unburied become in a short 
time so dry that scarcels' an)' smell is emitted. So free is the air from moisture and all 
morbific effluvia, that distant objects can be seen with great distinctness. The summit of 
Mount Diablo, though twenty-two miles distant, can be distinctly discerned with the 
naked eye, nearly the entire year. On the south. Cedar Mountain seems to be within 
an hour's walk of Livermore, though about twelve miles dist.mt. On the east, a range 
of hills separates the valley from the San Joaquin; thus the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin Rivers, with their tule lands, are no part of the climate of this section, yet, 
they can be plainly seen from Brushy Peak summit, nine miles from Livermore. 

To present more fully to the reader the climate of Livermore Valle)-, let us begin 
with the winter or rainy season. The Valley of Livermore possesses a great many 
features in common with the rest of the State south of San Francisco. A winter sea- 
son mild and agreeable and, compared to the Atlantic States, very short. The rainy, 
wet, or winter season, begins sometimes in October — though often November is dr)- — 
and terminates about April. The " .settled " rains occur during a period of three 
months. Even during the "settled rainy season," a cessation often occurs for a week, 
much more rain falling at night than during the day. Through the entire year the 
roads in the gravelly part of the valley are in good condition. A few hours after the 



Murray Township. 455 



heaviest rains, all roads, except on adobe soil, become comparatively dry. The nature 
of the soil is assisted by the gradual sloping of the valley towards the mountain passes 
that lead to the bay of San Francisco. The southern winds prevail during winter and 
are those that bring the most bountiful showers. During the intervals between rains 
is the most delightful weather, the atmosphere being purified and yet mild and equa- 
ble. The coolest part of winter is a few degrees below the freezing-point; though on 
days when the morning is coldest, the midday and afternoon become warm and 
pleasant, and a man with extra wraps on is sure to be accosted with " what's the mat- 
ter?" by friends solicitous concerning the state of his health. Lightning is of rare 
occurrence during showers. No lightning rods are used — none are needed. Few 
thunder showers, and those phenomenal, mostly in midwinter, and followed by colder 
weather and hail, soon turning to rain. Snow seldom falls in the valley; it is said to 
be a decennial curiosity and melts immediately. As it lies on the mountain tops, it 
affords a beautiful contrast with the green foot-hills and valleys beneath. 

Spring-time is made beautiful by the many flowers that almost cover the hills and 
dales, and grasses, and evergreen trees. The orange, almond, and oleander trees live 
in the open air the year round; plants, such as the tomato, castor-bean, etc., become 
perennial. 

The dry season begins in June and lasts, as before stated, sometimes till Decem- 
ber. During this time is one continual, uninterrupted succession of clear weather. 
A description of one day is that of another — indeed, of all. The sun rises in a cloud- 
less sky and lights up a scene of beauty; the air, cool and buoyant, is clear as crystal 
without aught of fog or mist to mar the most distant view. As the heat of the sun 
increases, a slight breeze springs up from the west and grows in power with the fer- 
vency of the rays of old Sol, till slightly past noon, when both decline in force. Later 
a slight haze settles in the valley, while stray fog-clouds drift slowly along the distant 
mountain ridges. The sun sinks towards setting and now is the most lovely hour of 
the day. Hills and mountains are bathed in a sea of rich purple haze, bright and 
vivid on the high' ridge, but down in the deep canon dark and sombre. The western 
sky is full of cloud-specks, each aflame with color bestowed by the fast sinking king of 
day. Great mountain shadows race across the valley as if in friendJy rivalry; and, at 
last, in such a halo of glory, as is seen nowhere but in this land of the western sea, the 
sun sinks from view beyond the hills, and the day is done. 

The daytime, often hot, never fails to be followed by cool nights; and, owing to 
the dryness of the atmosphere, one hundred degrees is more easily borne than eighty 
degrees would be in the Middle States. Sun-strokes are of very rare occurrence and 
when they do occur are occasioned by exposure or dissipation. Cerebro-spinal men- 
ingitis of children and infants is entirely unknown. The cool nights are so invigorating 
to the physical powers, that the digestive organs have ample time and opportunity to 
repair any damage incurred by the hottest days of summer. 

Like most of the State, the vicinity of Livermore has its individual localities 
having distinctive features regarding their climate. Streams having their source in 
the surrounding hills and mountains flow through the valleys, watering their banks. 
Far up them can be found openings or windings of the caiion, well protected from 
adverse winds by giant trees and high ridges on either side, which are indeed "indi- 



45C History of Alameda County, California. 

vidual localities," forming the camper's idea of a perfect elysium. The climate here 
is milder having more rain during the wet season, but less wind and cooler than the 
valley proper. For invalids suffering from bronchial diseases and for phthisical persons, 
in first, and early part of second stages, these places in the hills are of incomparable 
value, and are available at little or no expense, compared to " springs" and sea-side 
resorts. Then, close at hand, are benches on the foot-hills or mountains where 
almost any altitude necessary for the invalid can be obtained, while those on the east 
slope are protected from winds and are all provided by nature with water-works that 
need no improvement and in which amimalcula; have no place. Along the streams 
are pleasant groves of trees available for man and beast as shelter from the noonday 
sun. The game consists of rabbit and quail for the most part, although deer arc often 
found. The " grizzly" is a thing of the past; the " lion," or cougar, is only to be started 
from his solitude in deep mountain gorges. Game, however, abounds in sufficient 
quantities to furnish meat for the camper, while at nearly every farm-house milk and 
butter maybe procured at ordinary market prices. Good roads lead from the stations 
on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad to all the adjacent countrj-, and it may be 
said that the most favorable season is from April or May till December, or from the 
close of the wet season until its annual recurrence. 

Soil. — The distribution of the soils of Murray Township is both curious and 
interesting. The Livermore, which we have already stated is its chief \'alley, is ellip- 
tical in form and bears unmistakable evidence of having been at different times sub- 
jected to submersion by water, thus the distribution of soils has been largely effected 
by these floods, forming it into a lake whose shores were the surrounding hil.s. 

The primary soils of the valley, of which there are three at least, lie in circular 
belts, the outer surrounding the second, the third, or inner, forming an ellipsis, occu- 
pying its center. 

The outer belt, or ring, is a black adobe soil, extending completely around, besides 
including a portion of the valley. This belt is very extensive to the north and east, 
and, being most distinctive, very little other soil is found within it. To the south and 
west it is narrow and in certain localities becomes either mixed with other soils or 
covered by them. The second, or middle belt, extends entirely around the valley, and 
is a red or yellowish clay. On the south it is several miles in width; on the east, west, 
and north this appears only here and there. Unlike most surface soils, this red clay 
is of great depth. Lying between the Positas and Mocho Creeks, nearly in the cen- 
ter of the valley, is a gravelly loam, which, during the inundations referred to, has 
been deposited upon the red clay. 

Nearly all of the arable lands of the township are composed of one of these three 
soils; others are found in particular localities, and are, in nearly evcr\' instance, more 
or less made up of one or more of those above mentioned. 

The adobe soil is heavy, nearly black in color, and, when wet, of a persistently 
sticky nature. It is, however, rich in nutritive properties and retains its power of 
fruitfulness much longer than lighter soils. The adobe of this section varies con- 
siderably in quality, that on the hills being generall)' much lighter than that found in 
tha valley lands. Unless in a favorable condition the heavy soil is difficult to work, 




%J~ 






Murray Township. 457 



for, when dry, it becomes extremely hard and brick-Uke, and, if stirred when soaked 
with water, is ruined for that season. The lighter adobe is more tractable, and, when 
well mixed with a sandy loam, which is not unoften deposited upon it by overflows of 
creeks, makes a fine soil. It may be safely sa^d that nearly three-fourths of the ara- 
ble land in Murray Township is of an adobe nature. 

The red clay soil is lighter than adobe and far more tractable. Not possessing 
the richness of that soil it does not, by ordinary means, produce as large crops, still, 
it is remarkable for its recuperative properties, indeed, some of it, which has been 
farmed ever since the first settlement of the valley, even now produces a good return. 
By a system of summer-fallow the red clay soil never fails to produce a good crop. 

Like the adobe, the gravelly loam soil also varies much in quality, while in cer- 
tain places the gravel is thick and the soil scant, yet, it is generally conceded to be 
the equal of the red clay in fertility. This soil succeeds best in a comparatively dry 
year, for a large amount of rain seems to produce a chill which stunts growth. The 
richest soil in the township, however, is a heav}' black loam found at the western end 
of the Livermore Valley, which partakes somewhat of the nature of adobe, but being 
more mellow is possessed of greater fertilizing properties. In the mountains of the 
township the soils are adobe, a sort of gray shale, loam, and white clay, the first of 
which possesses considerable fertility and will produce good crops, but the last, although 
doing well for several seasons, soon runs out. 

The streams entering the valleys from the mountains and the foot-hills every 
wet winter, break their banks, and, overflowing a large area, deposit on the lands a 
rich, sandy loam which is deemed most beneficial, especially to heavy adobe soils, and 
year by year is found to add to their value. 

Products. — Wheat is the one product of Murray Township that overtops all 
others. Barley and hay are raised to a considerable extent, but, compared with the 
one great staple, their production is limited. A large portion of Murray Township 
being of a mountainous nature, is unfit for cultivation, but is especially adapted for 
the raising of sheep, a business that is extensively carried on with generally good 
results in the commodity of wool. The settlement of the township has been of too 
recent a date to admit of there being any extensive vineyards or orchards. The soil, 
however, is especially adapted to this cultivation, and at the present writing several 
farmers have embarked in this enterprise, which will, at no distant date, form one of 
the principal occupations of the township. Still, there are several orchards and vine- 
yards in the district, than which there are none finer in the State. These are located 
chiefly about Pleasanton and Dublin, but by no means confined to these two places. 
Vegetables are cultivated to a considerable extent on the low, rich bottom-lands in 
the vicinity of Pleasanton, where immense crops are produced, the quality of the 
tubers being unsurpassed anywhere on the Coast. Stock-raising is followed with 
much success by most of the farmers, while the dairying interests are of considerable 
magnitude, and constantly on the increase. The superiority of the hay in this section, 
and the excellence of the dry feed, tend to make the business more profitable than in 
most of the other counties. The raising of poultry, too, has become an important 
branch of industry, nearly every farmer keeping from fifty to five hundred hens, while, 
30 



458 History of Alameda County, California. 

scattered throughout the township, are numerous "chicken ranches," where pouhry- 
raising is the only occupation. 

Timber. — The mountainous regions of the town.ship are where we find the most 
timber, the principal growth being white and live oak, although in the carions we have 
the maple, buckeye, sycamore, cottonwood, alder, and other varieties; and along the 
banks of the creeks are many good-sized trees, mainly oaks and sycamores, the wood 
from the latter having given much satisfaction, while generally the timber is used as 
fuel for home consumption and foreign export, it being estimated that several thou- 
sand cords are shipped abroad annually, and find a ready sale at remunerative prices. 

Minerals. — Not much is as yet known about the mineral resources of Murray 
Township. True, gold, silver, quicksilver, coal, coal-oil, building-stone, sulphur, and 
marble have been discovered, but with the exception of coal and building-stone, none 
of these have been worked to a successful end 

About the year 1875, Michael Rogan, of Sunol, erected a derrick and bored for 
oil on the ranch of James Brown, about five miles northeast from the town of Liver- 
more, where he found indications which grew more marked and favorable as the work 
proceeded, but on the fifth day the well, unfortunately not being cased, began to cave, 
and was abandoned, Rogan not feeling like going to the e.xpense of erecting the nec- 
essary casings. The oil which flowed was jet black, of a thick, stick)- nature, and 
with a smell like kerosene. Several barrels were gathered and sold in its crude state 
in San Francisco, at a good price. During the winter of 1877-78 the soil in that 
vicinity was thoroughly saturated with water, and numerous streams ran out of the 
hillside near where the well was bored. In the water which flowed from these springs 
were clots of this black oil in considerable quantities. This substance still e.xudes 
from the earth in that vicinity, through springs, and can be seen floating on the sur- 
face of the water in large clots. Some time in 1871 James Farley, then living on ^is 
ranch in the eastern end of Livermore Valley, bored a seven-inch well for water. 
When down about twenty-five feet, the workmen suddenly heard a noise in the well 
like the rushing of water — a volume of gas had been struck, which escaped from the 
aperture with great force. A lighted match was placed over the mouth of the well, 
when the gas caught fire and burned readily, the flame rising to a height of several 
feet. This well, which was finally filled up, was located about a mile from the Brown 
ranch, where Rogan's prospecting was carried on four years later. These facts make 
it apparent that oil exists in that section, at no great distance from the surface, but its 
quantity, quality, and value can only be determined by research. 

The only stone quarry in practical operation in th'e township is situated near 
Altamont, in its northeastern portion. The formation is of sandstone, of excellent 
quality, and is mostly used for cemetery purposes, large quantities of it being shipped 
to San Francisco for that use. It is a fine, close grain, and when cut and trimmed is 
very handsome, being also fitted for general building purposes. 

The coal deposits of the township will be found treated on among the industrial 
enterprises of the town of Livermore, as well as in the chapter on the geology and 
mineralogy of the county. 



Murray Township. 459 



Mineral Springs. — These abound throughout the township, the most common 
being those impregnated with white sulphur, but there are several containing salt, 
alkali, and iron. On the farm of J. A. Neal, near Pleasanton, are a number of springs, 
one of which is impregnated with iron and magnesia, and the remainder with white 
sulphur, all being highly extolled for their curative properties and much resorted to 
by dwellers in the vicinity for their health. About half a mile from the Mountain 
House there is a spring impregnated with sulphur which we are informed possesses 
the property of petrification, while, a mile and a half away, in another direction are 
several more, containing iron, borax, etc. 

Mexican Grants. — The Mexican Grants, wholly or partly in this township, 
consisted of the San Ramon, four square leagues and eighteen hundred varas, granted 
to J. M. Amador in 1835; confirmed by the Commission, August i, 1854; and by the 
District Court, January 14, 1857; extent in acres 16,516.96. The Santa Rita granted 
April 10, 1839, to J. D. Pacheco; rejected by the Commission April 25, 1854; confirmed 
by the District Court August 13, 1855; and decree affirmed by United States Supreme 
Court; 8,885.67 acres. El Valle de San Jose, granted to Antonio Maria Pico, April 
10, 1839; confirmed to Antonio Sufiol et al., by Commission January 31, 1854; by the 
District Court January 14, 1856; 51,572.26 acres. Las Pocitas, two square leagues, 
granted April 10, 1839, to Salvio Pacheco; confirmed by Commission to Jose Noriega 
and Robert Livermore, February 14, 1854, and by the District Court February 18, 
1859. Canada de los Vaqueros (mostly in Contra Costa County) granted February 
29, 1842, to Francisco Alviso, ^^ rt/., confirmed to Robert Livermore by Commission 
September 4, 1855, and by the District Court December 28, 1857. 

Early Settlement. — Before committing ourselves to a history of the early 
settlement of Murray Township it is proper to state that it received its name in the 
month of June, 1853, when the county of Alameda was created from that of Contra 
Costa, its sponsor being Michael Murray, one of its pioneer settlers, of whom we shall 
have occasion to speak farther on. Let us now take up the chronological order of 
events so far as we have been able to gather them. Would it were possible to banish 
grim death, preserve the ancient colonist in his pristine vigor, and retain him with his 
memory unimpaired; were such things possible, then 'twould be an easy task to pen 
the recollections of the courageous men who were the harbingers of joy and comfort 
to what is now a fruitful district and a contented people. 

As far back as fifty-seven years ago — the year 1826 — Don Jose Maria Amador 
settled in the valley which afterwards received his name, and soon after con- 
structed an adobe house on the site of the present residence of C. P. Doughert}-. We 
have been unable to learn the date of the erection of this building, but on the present 
owner's father, J. W. Dougherty, acquiring the lands in or about 1852 or 1853 he took 
possession of the house and resided in it until the earthquake of July 3, 1863, when 
it was so rudely shaken that it was found necessary to abandon it and erect the 
present residence. 

Don Jose Maria Amador is still alive, having reached the ripe old age of one 
hundred and six years, and as we write, Christmas, 1882, he is visiting friends in San 



460 History of Alameda County, Caiii-hknia. 



Francisco, having made the journey thither from Watsonville, Santa Cruz County. 
He is described as retaining his intellectual capacity to a marked degree. Such 
being the case, what changes must he have noted. When he first saw the light 
the United States of America had but just declared her independence and the 
Mission Dolores been established on the peninsula of San Francisco. When he was 
sixteen years of age the Pueblo de .San Jose was founded. As he grew to man's 
estate he held high office under the .S[)anish and Mexican authorities, and when fifty 
years old he took up his residence in what is now a portion of Alameda County, 
but then known as the Contra Costa. When he arrived he found the countrj' wild 
in the extreme; neither habitation nor cultivation met the eye. The wild cattle of 
the Mission San Jose roamed at will over the mountains and valleys; the Indian held 
undisputed sway over the soil of which he was the primeval monarch; the mountains 
and gorges teemed with game, both feathered and four-footed; and the inaccessible 
crags and timbered hollows were the lair of the beast of prey. This was solitude 
indeed! 

The next settlement within the present borders of Murray Township was by 
Robert Livermore, whose name is a household word with the early Californian. 

Robert Livermore was born in Bethnal Green, a suburb of London, England, in 
the year 1799. In his youth, feeling the restraints of home somewhat keenly, and the 
curb of filial duty slightly strained, he shipped as a cabin-boy on board of a vessel 
and ultimately found himself in a Peruvian port. Here he joined the fleet of that 
nation, then under command of the redoubtable British Admiral Cochrane, afterwards 
Earl of Dundonald, but here finding the discipline of the navy too taut, he made his 
escape and found his way to Monterey in a hide-drogher. There are divers state- 
ments current as to the date of his coming to California, but we are inclined to the 
belief, and upon very reliable testimony, that it was in the year 1820, seven years after 
that of John Gilroy, the first Anglo-Sa.xon settler in the countrj'. In the course of 
time, probably in the same year or that following, he arrived in the Pueblo de San 
Jose where he soon made friends, chiefl\' on account of his sunn_\- disposition, and 
tarried for a space, working on the ranch of Juan Alvarez and acquiring the Spanish 
tongue. He next proceeded to the Rancho Agua Calientc, or Warm Springs, and 
becoming acquainted with the family of Fulgencio Higucra afterwards found favor in 
the eyes of a daughter of the house whom he subsequently married. While resident in 
San Jose he formed acquaintanceship with Jose Noriega, a Spaniard, and with him 
went to the valley which has since taken its name from the Sufio: family where he 
located, built an abode, in a small way entered upon tlic culti\-ation of the soil, and 
embarked in stock-raising. It is presumable that in his wanderings after his cattle or 
game he became familiarized with the locality, and from the summit of one of the 
adjacent "lomas" first cast longing and loving eyes upon the fair vale which bears his 
name to-day, and whither he moved in the year 1835. From that period can be dated 
the first step toward the permanent settlement and development of the vallc\'. 
Livermore at once devoted his attention, alm3st exclusively, to the raising of horned 
cattle, horses, and sheep. For the first few years he was greatly harassed by Indians,, 
who stole and slaughtered his cattle and even rendered it unsafe at times for himself 
and family to remain in their wilderness home. On such occasions they sought pro- 



Murray Township. 461 



taction under the hospitable roof of Don Jose Maria Amador, which was rarely 
molested. 

In the year 1839 the Rancho Las Pocitas was granted to Don Salvio Pacheco 
who also owned the Rancho Monte del Diablo, but he, during the early part of that 
year, transferred his interest to Livermore and Noriega who took possession thereof 
Aprir 10, 1835. That same year they erected an adobe house near the Pocitas Creek, 
which stood until about the year 1875, when it was torn down. Here it was on this grant 
of two leagues of land that Livermore fixed his permanent abode and commenced a 
life that was truly patriarchal. In a few years his flocks and herds were counted by 
thousands, while they roamed about at will over a territory that vied in magnitude with 
many a principality. True it is that he was surrounded on every hand by frequent 
dangers, but these would appear to have added zest to his life. His eminent courage 
and infectious good-nature, however, soon made him friends among the families of the 
ranchos, who, although the distances were magnificent, he frequently visited, indeed 
it was not long ere he became one of themselves. In 1844 he planted a vineyard as 
well as a pear, apple, and olive orchard on the flat near his house, while he also raised 
wheat — the first produced in the valley — and by means of a ditch, the track of which 
is still to be seen, brought water from the Pocitas Springs for the purpose of irrigation. 
In addition to the occupation given to these enterprises, he killed his cattle for their 
hides and tallow — the meat not being salable was left on the ground — the latter of 
which he made in a large copper kettle which is still extant on the ranch of his son. 
When not engaged in this wise it is related that he turned his attention to the manu- 
facture of bear's grease from savage grizzlys that had fallen victims to his unerring 
rifle. 

Thus dwelt Robert Livermore for nearly fifteen years in the splendid valley 
which bears his name, while his cattle roamed untamed from the Amador Valley to 
the San Joaquin River. Here he brought up a family of sons and daughters, lived in 
peace with all men, unmolested and honored, little dreaming what a few years would 
bring to pass, and how the face of his beloved adopted country would be changed. 

It should be mentioned that on September 14, 1846, Livermore purchased the 
Caiiada de los Vaqueros grant, the greater portion of which lies within the boundaries 
of Contra Costa County. This rancho was originally granted in the year 1836 to 
Miranda Higuera and Francisco Alviso, and comprised three square leagues of land, 
or thirteen thousand three hundred and twenty acres. 

Of the original grantees of land, J. D. Pacheco received in 1839 the Santa Rita 
Rancho, located between that of San Ramon and Las Pocitas, but we are not aware 
that he ever placed any building of a permanent nature thereupon, although it was 
occupied in 1844 by Francisco Alviso as inajor-donw; while about the same time, 
towards the east end of Livermore Valley, grants of land were made to Antonio Maria 
Pico, Antonio Sufiol, and Augustin Bernal. 

And now came the discovery of gold, with its accompanying influx of people 
of every tongue and from every clime. Well it was for many of them that a man like 
Robert Livermore had pitched his tent on one of the direct routes between San Fran- 
cisco and the mines. Here was he wont to extend an unstinting hospitality to all. 
The immigrants found him ever ready to hold out the right hand of fellowship, to fill 



46^ History of Alameda County, California. 

their exhausted larders, and otherwise aid them with practical knowledge of an 
unknown country. This discovery of gold was also the means of bringing to him 
communication with people speaking his native tongue, and brought him forcibly back 
to his youthful days. 

The first landmark of these post-halcyon days that we have been able to discover 
was erected in the year 1849, on the site of the Mountain House, not far from the 
spot where the three counties of Contra Costa, San Joaquin, and Alameda come to a 
point. It took the form of a " Blue Tent," and being on the direct road to the mines 
was opened and kept as a house of entertainment by one Thomas Goodale, or Goodall. 
Here McLeod's stage from Stockton changed horses, while for ten years it was a kind 
of special camp for stockmen, rancheros, and immigrants. Goodale, or Goodall, subse- 
quently constructed an adobe house, in the building of which he employed Indian.s, 
and this edifice Simon Zimmerman occupied for twenty-seven years, when he added 
to it in 1868, by putting a frame building in front thereof finally, however, pulling it 
down and erecting the residence now occupied by him on its site. Other than Good- 
ale, we cannot find that the population was in any way increased in the memorable 
year of 1 849. 

Of the events that occurred in the year 1850, save that there was a small augmen- 
tation to the number of settlers, there is nothing to relate. In April of this year, 
Augustin Bernal brought up his family from Santa Clara County, built an adobe house, 
that now in the possession of Captain Chadbourne, on the west side of Laguna Creek, 
and there took up his residence. About the same time Michael Murray, after whom 
the township is named, located near where Dublin now stands, built the house and 
planted the orchard now owned by John Green, while with him came one Jeremiah 
Fallon, who settled on the place now occupied by his widow, in the Amador V^alley. 
Also in this year there came to the township four brothers named Patterson and 
located in what is known as Patterson Pass. One of these, Nathaniel Greene Patter- 
son, still a niuch respected resident of the township, perceiving from the great amount 
of travel on the road the necessity for a hostelry, conceived the idea of opening an hotel; 
for which purpose he rented the Livermore adobe and started the first permanent 
house of entertainment in the district. In this year, too, Jose Sufiol came up to reside 
on his father's possessions, while there also dwelt there as inajo7--doiiio an old Mexican 
named Diego Celaj'a. The house occupied was situated on what is now the land of 
Mr. Ruggles, a portion of the building being used as a kitchen. In this year we also 
find Joshua A. Neal as a resident major-doiiio for Robert Livermore, while it is thought 
that it was in 1850 that A. Bardcllini, the subsequent proprietor of the Washington 
Hotel in Livermore, first cast his lot in the district. 

The year 1851 is noteworthy as that in which the first frame building was erected 
within the boundary of the township. During that spring such a structure was built 
by Robert Livermore, the lumber therefor having been brought from one of the 
Atlantic States around the Horn to San Francisco and thence transported w ith much 
difficulty to its future resting-place. Seven hundred dollars was paid for its construc- 
tion, the carpenter work being done by John Strickland and John Teirney. A portion 
of the building is still standing and is known as the "Old Livermore House." At this 
period more people commenced to settle than had done so formerly, among those being 



Murray Township. 463 



that worthy gentleman and scholar, John W. Kottinger. From this pioneer, with whom 
we had a most interesting conversation and from whom we gained much vahiable 
information, we learn that he came to the township in the month of August, 1851, and 
found already located an Englishman named Strickland, presumably the one already 
mentioned, lived five miles from Pleasanton on the El Valle Creek; near to him dwelt 
a trapper and hunter named Cook, and Francisco Alviso resided on the eastern bank 
of the Laguna Creek. In this year also, Juan P. Bernal commenced building his 
residence on the east side of the. Laguna Creek and completed it in 1852, it being the 
habitation lately occupied by Joseph Black. On the bank of the stream known as the 
Old San Joaquin, in 185 1, Thomas McLaughlin located, he being still a resident there 
engaged in fishing, while about that time, or shortly thereafter, Edward Carroll and a 
man named Wright took up a claim in the section known as Corral Hollow, 
where also in the same season Captain Jack O'Brien, commenced sheep-raising. 
Alphonso Ladd and his family also settled in Sunol Valley in 185 i, where he built a 
two-story frame building, which he occupied until removing to and founding Ladds- 
ville, the eastern portion of the present town of Livermore, while Mr. Kottinger built 
unto himself the frame building now standing on the east side of Main Street, in the 
village of Pleasanton and occupied by Henry Strang. 

Thus are we brought to the year 1852, one which saw the acquiring of a vast 
tract of land by American capital, for it is at this period that J. W. Dougherty came 
to the township and purchased the lands of Don Jose Maria Amador, which still 
remain in the hands of his son. Mr. Dougherty was a native of Tennessee, and as we 
have elsewhere said occupied the original Amador "adobe" until its being rendered 
uninhabitable by an earthquake. In this year, too, the Sefiors Lorenzo and Juan 
Suiiol moved up into the Sunol Valley. These gentlemen were nephews of the 
grantee, and resided there for only about four years. 

The year 1853 is a momentous one in the annals of the district now under con- 
sideration, for on January 6th it received its baptismal rites and by metes and bounds 
became an accomplished fact as Murray Township, what these boundaries were will 
be found on page 171 of this work. On that same date Robert Livermore was 
appointed Supervisor for the township. During that year (perhaps in the following) 
Greene Patterson erected a frame house about two miles southeast from where the 
town of Livermore now stands, while about the same time R. W. Defrees built and 
opened a caravansary on the main road about one mile west from the residence of 
Mr. Livermore. Not long after — in the same year — Thomas Hart came to the district, 
was employed by Livermore for some time, and in 1854 bought the hostelry mentioned 
above and called it the " Half-way House," it being popularly supposed to have been 
equidistant between Oakland, Stockton, and San Jose. • Here Hart resided until i860, 
when he removed to the town of Livermore, where he died in 1871. Among the 
settlers who came to the township in 1853 we have the name of John Whitman, who 
with his family took up his residence on the west side of Laguna Creek on land near 
Pleasanton now owned by Charles Duerr. 

In 1854, during the autumn, Richard T. Pope came to the township, settled on part 
of the ranch now owned by J. P. Smith, and there engaged in stock-raising for eleven 
years, when, disposing of his property, he moved to the location he now occupies. Mr. 



464 History of Alameda County, California. 

Pope says that when he came to the township he found Messrs. Grover and Glascock 
occupying a portion of the ranch where Mr. Smith now is; Ben. Williams was also 
living there; while John G. Griffith was on the place now owned by Mr. Black. In 
this year J. West Martin and others came to the section of country near Pleasanton 
and were the first to embark in farming upon a considerable scale two years later on 
the land now occupied by Abijah Baker. In the Spring of the year Simon Zimmer- 
man located at the Mountain House, where he now resides, on the Stockton road 
fourteen miles from Livermore, but as we have already told the tale connected there- 
with we need not further trespass upon the time of the reader. 

In 1855 Hiram Bailey, a carpenter, came over to Livermore Valley from Contra 
Costa to erect a dwelling-house for Joseph, son of Robert Livermore, in the eastern 
end of the valley, and here has he since made his home. In or about this year, or 
early in 1856, Frank Heare came to the place now known as Midway and settled in 
what was called the "Zinc House;" while F. W. Lucas it is said settled near Mr. 
Pope. 

It has been estimated that at this period there were fully fifty thousand head of 
cattle and horses in the township, besides immense bands of sheep in the hills and 
mountains. Very few attempts at agriculture had been made, it being generally 
believed that the soil would produce nothing but grass. At Livermore's place, Alisal 
(Pieisanton) and Amador's both grain and vegetables had been raised, but in a very 
sm ill way. Everybody in the valley was interested in stock-raising, and no other 
industry was in operation, nor hardly thought of In the year 1856, however, the 
first blow toward the complete revolution of the industrial interests of the district was 
strujk. Joseph Livermore had some time previously fenced a hundred-and-sixty-acre 
field on the Pocitas Grant, including a portion of the ranch now owned by Almon 
We\'mouth, and that year sowed the same to wheat. This was the first field of grain 
ever raised in the Livermore Valley. In this year among the new-comers we have 
the names of Thomas Rafferty, J. L. Bangs, and Michael McCollier, while to this year 
is also the honor of seeing the first educational establishment in the township erected. 
It was placed about three-quarters of a mile south from Dublin and was first taught 
by M. G. Higgins. 

In the Spring of 1857 Joseph Black and two brothers named Carrick began 
raising wheat in the west end of Livermore Valley, the first-named gentleman putting 
in four hundred acres on the ranch of Jeremiah Fallon and the brothers a like amount 
on the Dougherty estate, adjoining. In the Summer of 1857 Robert Livermore 
began sinking an artesian well near his residence. George Duel, a traveling well- 
borer, had charge of the work, which lasted seven months, and, owing to the high 
charges for labor and prices of material at the time, cost a very large sum. A depth 
of about seven hundred feet had been reached at the time of Mr. Livermore's death; 
at which period the work was abandoned. At that sounding the water came within ten 
feet of the surface. A cross-pipe was put in and a flowing stream of water brought 
out on the hill-side below the house. The cost of this well (which is still flowing), 
was not less than five thousand dollars. 

The year 1858 is a sad one in the history of Murray Township. Robert Liver- 
more, the pioneer par excellence of that district departed this life on the fourteenth 



Murray Township. 465 



day of February. For over a quarter of a century had he dwelt within the hill- 
begirted valley which took his name, beloved and honored by all with whom he came 
in contact. A sturdy and adventurous argonaut he wrested that beautiful vale from 
the possession of the wily and murderous savage and paved the way for the onward 
march of civilization. The level plains where his countless herds stood to the breast 
in wild oats and clover, and the ribbed foot-hills, which offered him safety when pur- 
sued by the savage and relentless Indian foe, know him no more. Savage and herds 
have disappeared, never to return. Civilization has come and peopled the wilderness 
as with magic wand. Livermore was a good, brave, and enterprising man. Sur- 
rounded as he was by a class to whom the word "enterprise," or its signification, was 
almost a stranger, he displayed that quality to a most remarkable degree. Thousands 
upon thousands were spent by him upon improvements of which another man in his 
position would never have thought. His house was always open to the traveler,' and 
many are now living who can testify to his hospitality. Then, all honor to Robert 
Livermore; and let his name endure in the hearts of the people as long as lasts the 
beautiful valley he loved so well. 

In the fall of 1858 Supervisor John Green came to the township and found, near 
where Dublin now stands, Edward Horan on a portion of the Dougherty property; 
four miles to the eastward lived William Murray, while about the same time John 
Martin and his family came up from San Mateo County and located among the 
rolling hills about a mile and a half from Dublin; and not long after James F. 
Kapp and Robert Graham settled in the township. 

Among those who arrived in 1859 was Adam Fath, who located on land now 
owned by Charles McLaughlin, about six miles from Livermore, while in this year 
year the first church in the township was erected in the neighborhood of Green's 
Hotel, in Dublin. 

In the year i860 Mr. Zimmerman started a school in his residence already men- 
tioned, which was first taught by Miss White. The following year, however, it was 
transferred to a position on the plain about two miles and a half north of its former 
locale, but still bears its original euphonious name of Mountain House. In this year 
Lysander Stone and William Meek came to the township, while it was in i860 the 
first tov.m in Murray Township was started. This is the hamlet of Dublin, whose 
history will be found further on, and which had the honor of harboring Michael 
Murray and J. W. Dougherty for several years. In the year i860 Hiram Bailey 
sowed eighty acres of wheat on the Positas Grant, three miles north of Livermore, 
and in the same year Joseph Black rented four hundred acres from Dougherty in 
addition to that he was already farming on the Fallon Ranch. In that year, also, S. 
B. Martin, who had in 1854 purchased the Santa Rita Rancho, increased his sowing 
area by several hundred acres. 

During 1861 the acreage of sowed land was increased by Alexander Esdon by 
a thousand acres, situated next to Joseph Black's place on the Dougherty estate, 
while Hiram Bailey, too, added to his farming operations. 

In 1862, when Charles Hadsell came to the Suflol Valley, he found the old por- 
tion of the house in which he now resides, but a short time before evacuated by Nar- 
cisco, son of Don Antonio Sufiol, but it had been previously occupied by the eldest 



46* History of Alamkda County, California. 



son, who was murdered, in the spring of 1855, near the Mission San Josd The Argenti 
Hotel was then kept by a Frenchman named Bertrand. George Ruttner lived where 
he does at present, while Samuel Bonner resided near where Sunol Station now is; 
farther down the Laguna Creek was Isaac Trough, and not far from him was a man 
named Higgins. In this year wheat-raising was in full progress in the west end of 
Livermore Valley; fences sprung up everywhere, stock was crowded up towards the 
Livermore Ranch (which was then thought unfit for agricultural purposes) and flour- 
producing grain became an established fact, the yield, in many instances, being enor- 
mous, while the general average was about a ton to the acre. The number of cattle 
was still on the increase, there being in that year no fewer than eight thousand head 
of calves branded on the rancho of the Bernals. In 1863, of the settlers who came to 
the township we have been enabled to learn of John Booken, Amos S. Bangs, and 
Maas Lueders. 

In 1863-64, that commonly known as the "dry year," two brothers named Bean 
farmed about four hundred acres of the Bernal Grant, two miles southeast of the 
Livermore House, where the yield of grain was immense. At this period, too, John 
W. Kottinger sold some lots where now is the town of Plcasanton, to Jake Teeters, 
William Whittner, and Doctor Goucher, who at once built houses and started in their 
several occupations of blacksmith, carpenter, and medical practitioner. 

In the year 1864 that excellent citizen and pioneer of 1846, William M. Menden- 
hall took up his abode near Livermore, where he has since resided — one of its fore- 
most residents; and in this year the Pleasanton School, which stood to the south of Mrs. 
McLaughlin's house, was opened, under the tuition of a Mr. Powell. This year George 
May purchased a ranch on the grant near the east end of Livermore Valley, and put 
in two hundred acres of wheat, which produced an enormous crop, although scarcely 
any one had faith in the experiment, while that same season Richard Threlfail of 
Centreville leased four hundred acres adjoining Bean's, from which he had a large 
yield. 

Encouraged by these results the sowing season of 1865-66 opened auspiciously, 
while the demands for land largely increased. Threlfail sowed one thousand seven 
hundred acres in the eastern end of Livermore Valle\', belonging to Francisco Auro- 
coechea; Alexander Esdon bought six hundred acres of the Rancho el Valle dc San 
Josd, or Bernal Grant, adjoining the ranch the former had farmed during the pre- 
vious year, and sowed it all. He also farmed a large tract on the Doughert)' property, 
thus making his lands under crop that season twenty-eight hundred acres. In this 
year a school was opened where now stands Scott's store, near Sunol, under the direc- 
tion of Mrs. Sam. Brown, while among those who arrived and made their permanent 
homes within the limits of the township, we have the names of Doctor I. N. Mark, 
Frederick and Charles Rose, Martin Mendenhall, Hugh Dougherty, and Peter 
McKeany. 

Thus far is it our intention to bring the settlement of Murray Town.ship. We 
think the chief points in its history have been attained, and with considerable correct- 
ness, be it for the reader to indorse that statement. 

The large yield produced by the lands above enumerated, which onl_\' a few }-ears 
before had been deemed worthless, except for pastoral purposes, could not but induce 



Murray Township. 467 



a large immigration. Settlers came in great numbers, and either by purchase or 
pre-emption located in the district in every direction. There was one drawback, 
however, to the immediate development and improvement of the country; this was the 
uncertainty of land titles. The chief cause of this was doubt regarding the boundaries 
of the Positas or Livermore Grant. The United States Patent, which was issued February 
i8, 1859, granted "two leagues, more or less," within certain boundaries. The limits 
described, however, contained upwards of eleven leagues, which amount was claimed 
by the heirs' of Robert Livermore. On March i, 1871, this matter was definitely set- 
tled by the approval of the second Dyer Survey (two leagues) by the Commissioner 
of the General Land Office at Washington, in accordance with a decision by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, a decision which threw open for peaceable pre-emption a large 
extent of country, and, coming as it did immediately after the completion of the 
railroad through the valley, resulted in bringing in a large population. Towns sprung 
up as if by magic; every year widened the extent of the grain-fields, and witnessed 
the building of new homes. As will always follow, the stock interests had given way 
before the plow of the sturdy husbandman, and the hut of the Mexican vaquero was 
supplanted by the cozy cottage of the tiller of the soil. 

The lover of the beautiful in Nature can spend many delightful days in Murray 
Township and its caiions. Here can be found every variety of scenery, from the broad 
but quiet panorama of valley and foot-hill to the wild, rugged mountain gorge hemmed 
in by ridges a thousand feet in height, and adown the bed of which, at times during 
the winter months, roll torrents of water in many a beautiful cascade. 

Altamont. — This hamlet is situated some eight miles east of Livermore and is 
on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad. It derives its name from its position in 
the Livermore Pass, it being seven hundred and forty-nine feet above the level of the 
sea. When William H. Wright came there and settled, in the fall of 1869, he found 
an hotel, kept by Edward Hobler, about a quarter of a mile above the present site of 
the village, and which had been built in the spring of 1 868. Of the residents in the 
vicinity at the time there were John Campbell, a quarter of a mile below the village, 
where he located in 1868; E. Cockerton dwelt where he does now, about a mile and a 
half to the northwest, who also came in 1868; near him resided Nicholas Shearer, who 
afterwards lost his life in the Modoc war; there was no house between Altamont and 
Livermore; Alexander McKelvey lived on the place now occupied by Thomas Ryder, 
while near to them was Thomas Gunn. 

Before 1868 there was no agricultural farming in the section, the land being 
almost all taken up by sheep runs, among the sheep-raisers being Charles Hobler, 
now a wealthy resident of Fresno County, who commenced that pursuit in 1864. The 
store in the hamlet was opened by William H. Wright, in 1872, and during the same 
year he put up his dwelling-house. In 1870 the school house was erected, since when 
it has been considerably enlarged, the first teacher being Miss Lelia Stone; while the 
same year saw the erection of the depot, which was placed under charge of E. 
Bridgeman. 

Altamont consists of only about a dozen houses, but in its neighborhood is an 
extensive and excellent quarry of building-stone, which only needs development to 



468 History of Alameda County, Cai.if(;unia. 

become extremely valuable. The little hamlet is situated in the midst of an undu- 
latinq; country, capable of the highest cultivation. 

Dublin. — This village is situated on the main traveled road between Oakland 
and Stockton, and about nine miles due west of Livermore. Here it was that Don 
Jose Maria Amador erected his adobe, which afterwards passed into the hands of J. 
W. Doughert}-; and here also was it that Michael Murray, the godfather of the town- 
ship, pitched his tent. Other than these residences, the first house built in the hamlet 
was by John Green, who opened a store in i860 on the site now occupied by the 
Amador Valley Hotel, and where the stages running between Oakland and Stockton, 
and San Jose and Martinez, changed horses. Six months later Scarlett & Grandlces 
put up what is now Marsh's Hotel, and thus the little village had its start. Here, in 
1856, the first school in Murray Township was opened, and here the Roman Catholic 
denomination built, in 1859, a commodious church, near which is the only Catholic 
cemetery in the township. At one time Dublin was a place of considerable business 
activity, but the building of the railroad drew trade away from it, and left it naught 
but its departed glories. The soil in the vicinity possesses great fertility, there being 
within a few miles of the village several thousand acres of as rich land as is to be 
found on the Pacific Coast. 

It is not precisely known how this place got its name. We fail to find a stream 
running through its center answering to the Liffey of Ireland's capital. It is said 
that in this locality most of the early settlers hailed from the "Green Ould Isle," and 
thus the only two clusters of houses were respectively named Dublin and Limerick 
(San Ramon) by the facetious American, but, miitato nomine — the name being 
changed — the first is occasionall\- called by the possibly less Hibernian cognomen of 
Dougherty's .Station! 

Livermore. — With hills on every side and planted in the heart of the valley of 
the same name, stands the town of Livermore, which needs no spirit of prophecy to 
say whence came its title. Here have we truly a large inland city in embrj-o, and on 
ever\' hand the neccssar)- desiderata to make it so. It is located parth- on two grants 
— the Las Pocitas and El Valle de San Jose — and sprang into life in the year 1869 
with the ad\'ent of the Central Pacific Railroad. A portion of it know n as Ladds- 
ville was a town before then; it is our purpose now to commence with its foundation. 

We have already shown that in the year 1850 there came to the township and 
settled in the Sunol Valley one Alphonso Ladd. In the spring of 1864 he pre- 
empted a quarter-section of land near the " Old Livermore House," and on it erected 
for himself a small dwelling, which was the initial building in the place called Ladds- 
ville, and within the limits of the present town of Livermore. Later he commenced 
the construction of an hotel, the lumber for which he brought from Mowry's Landing, 
and completed it that fall. This was a fine frame building, costing a good deal of 
money. It, however, fell a prey to the devouring element during the year 1876, leav- 
ing naught but blackened ruins to mark its site. Having thus formed the nucleus 
of a town, he soon found neighbors. In the month of September Adam Fath built 
a dwelling-house not far from Ladd's, and occupied it, while, in a short time after, a 



Murray Township. 469 



Spaniard named Alexander Mesa opened a saloon, that accessory to a rising place 
thought more necessary than church or school. The first store was started in the winter 
of 1865, by Henry Goetjen, who built a little house on the side of the rising ground 
above Ladd's, and he was followed in the next season by a blacksmith from Haywards, 
who set up his shop near to him. At this time, 1 866, it was found necessary to do some- 
thing by way of educating the rising generation, therefore a subscription was raised, 
a school district organized, a school house built, and Miss Weeks placed in charge 
thereof In that winter, December 1866, the first free or public school was opened 
with J. M. Ginn as teacher. In 1867 Mesa's house was bought by Ladd, who moved 
it into the town, and the following year R. W. Graham, of Haywards, erected a large 
building near Ladd's Hotel, and commenced operations in it as a dealer in general 
merchandise, where he also conducted the first post-office. Next came the Italian 
restaurant of Anton Bardellini, and about the same time a man named Elliott opened 
a livery-stable. Israel Horton then built the first house used exclusively as a dwelling, ■ 
while it was quickly followed by the store of Joseph Harris, the drug-store of Knight 
& Sproul, Booken's saloon, and other buildings. In 1868 Beazell & Crowell erected 
their blacksmith-shop, which was followed soon after by the residence of A. J. 
McLeod. The first child born in Laddsville was Elsie, daughter of Israel Horton. 

Above we have tried to enumerate the first buildings on what is now the south 
side of the railroad track, and the McLeod addition of the town of Livermore. Let 
us now turn to the growth of that town itself 

During the summer of 1869 the line of the Central Pacific Railroad was pushed 
through the valley and the first depot located about half a mile to the west of Ladds- 
ville, the first train having made its appearance in August of that year. In the pre- 
vious July William M. Mendenhall, already mentioned as a pioneer of pioneers, own- 
ing a large tract to the west of Laddsville, presented twenty acres to the railroad 
company, on which to place the depot, and had a to^\ n site surveye'd, which he called 
Livermore, in perpetuation of the name of the hardy old settler. This was the sig- 
nal for a grand building excitement, the first to commence being C. J. Stevens, who 
constructed his grist-mill there in the year 1869. This enterprise, which was origi- 
nallv started in Union City, or Alvarado, at a very early date, had its day of useful- 
ness, and was burned to the ground on the night of October 16, 1882- Mr. Stevens' action 
was quickly followed by the store of A. J. McLeod, now occupied by his sons, the 
Livermore Hotel, R. B. Campbell's private residence, and others, such as Mendenhall's 
ware-house, and Whitmore's store. In the following year, 1870, a piece of ground 
situated on the Arroyo Mocho was donated by W. M. Mendenhall for the purposes of 
a collegiate institution, which was erected in the same year with the style of the 
" Livermore Collegiate Institute," which is justly a pride to the inhabitants, and of 
which an interesting history will be found elsewhere, while February 12, 1871, saw 
the organization of the "First Presbyterian Church of Livermore," with the appoint-- 
ment of Daniel Inman, W. B. Kingsbury, Jesse Bowles, F. A. Anthony, and Hiram 
Bailey as Trustees. In the month of November of this year the fiery fiend laid low ' 
the principal portion of Laddsville, which caused the business of that place to be 
transferred to the new town, and ga\'e to it a great impetus. In 1872 a Roman 



iTO History of Alameda County, California. 



Catholic church was erected, wliilc in 1873 the Odd Fellows raised their building two 
stories high, and the Presbyterians built their neat little church edifice. 

Between 1870 and 1872 the population of the town and its business had doubled, 
while we are happy to say that its prosperity remains unimpaired. In May, 1874, the 
first newspaper was started and called the Enterprise. On Fcbruar_\- i, 1877, it came 
under the management of W. P. Bartlett, as editor and proprietor, when the naine 
was changed to the Livermore Herald, which will be found more fully described else- 
where. In 1875 water was brought from the Las Pocitas Springs by the Livermore 
Spring Water Company, and distributed through the town. 

On April 30, 1876, by the Act of the Legislature entitled "An Act to incorpo- 
rate the town of Livermore, Alameda Count}," the people of that place became incor- 
porated within the following boundaries: " Commencing at the southeast corner of 
the north half of the northwest quarter of section nine, township three south, range 
two east. Mount Diablo base and meridian; running thence along the southerly line 
of said north half of the northwest quarter of section nine, township three south, 
range two east, and along said line produced one and one-fourth miles to a point; 
thence southerly and at right angles to said last-named line one and one-fourth miles, or 
thereabouts, to a point in the southerly line of plat eighteen, of the rancho l-'.l Valle de 
San Jose, as defined and laid down in the final decree of partition of said rancho ; thence 
easterly and along said last-named line one and one-fourth miles to a point; thence 
northerly in a direct line to the point of commencement." At this time the popula- 
tion was b\' census determined to be eight hundred and thirt\', and the number of 
buildings two hundred and thirty-four, since when the growth of the town has been 
steady. 

As incorporated the town site contains eight hundred and forty acres, which is sur- 
veyed off into four distinct plats, as follows: The Mendenhall plat, or original town; 
the McLeod addition, the Waterman addition, and the Smith-Grant addition. Upon the 
first-named is located the larger portion of the town. The McLeod and Waterman 
additions contain substantial improvements, and there is little doubt but their growth 
will be rapid. The Smith-Grant addition was surveyed in 187S by the Pacific 
Mutual Life Insurance Company, but only a portion of it is located within the town 
limits, that outside being divided into homestead plots of several acres each. 

The population of the town is, at the present writing, upwards of fifteen hundred, 
while the number of buildings has increased in like proportion since the census of 
1876. 

The site of the town is one of the finest to be found on the coast. It is a gently 
sloping plain bounded by low hills on the north and the Arroyo Mocho on the south, 
the banks of which abound with oak and sycamore trees of great size. The soil is a 
gravelly loam, good for garden purposes, and most favorable to the growth of trees, 
both fruit and ornamental. Mud is almost unknown — a few hours after the most vio- 
lent rain-storm the streets are free of water and in good condition. 

The business portion of the town is compactly built, generally in a substantial 
manner. The brick block of Messrs. M. Waterman & Co., built in 1874, is one of 
the finest mercantile establishments outside of Oakland. The residences are gener- 
ally neait and attractive. The public school building is a two-story, eight-room edifice, 



Murray Township. 471 



and cost upwards of nine thousand dollars, with its furniture, the block on which it 
stands having been presented by William M. Mendenhall. Just south of the town, 
on the bank of the Arroyo Mocho, is the Collegiate Institute, where pupils from all 
parts of the Pacific Coast obtain a thorough scholastic training. Its hotels are com- 
fortable, its streets well kept, and its surroundings beautiful. 

First Presbyterian Church. — This church was organized on the 12th day of 
February, 1871, at a meeting held in a school house located in the old town of Ladds- 
ville, by Rev. W. W. Brier (who for several months previous had preached semi- 
monthly, under direction of the Board of Home Missions), with nine members, W. B. 
Kingsbury, Horace R. Huie, Morton P. Scott, F. A. Anthony, Owen Owens, Mrs. F. 
A. Bias, Mrs. Mary M. Huie, Mrs. Margaret Scott, Mrs. Helen S. Kingsbury. H. R. 
Huie and Owen Owens were ordained as elders. Five Trustees were chosen by the 
congregation, as follows: D. Inman, Jessie Bowles, Hiram Bailey, W. B. Kingsbury, 
and F. A. Anthony. Continued to hold services in school house until the spring of 
1 872, when, by vote of the congregation, they moved to the College school building, then 
kept by W. B. Kingsbury, now occupied by J. D. Smith, where regular services were 
held until February i, 1873, W. W. Brier acting as supply. Owing to the distance from 
the town of the College building. Exchange Hall was secured and occupied until July 26, 
1874, Rev. C. W. Anthony, brother of F. A. Anthony, a graduate of the State University 
and a student in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, located in San Francisco, hav- 
ing preached several times while a licentiate. A meeting was held April 6, 1873, 
and a call extended, which was accepted, and soon after graduating, June i, 1873, 
he commenced his labors as pastor, and continued until August 31, 1879, when he' 
resigned, and soon after moved with his family to Illinois. June 16, 1872, by vote of 
the Trustees, it was resolved to enlarge the Board to nine members instead of five, and 
to take steps toward building a church. D. Inman, Jessie Bowles, F. A. Anthony, C. 
J. Stevens, Owen Owens, Hiram Bailey, H. R. Huie, W. W. Wynn, and Wm. M. Men- 
denhall were elected, but not until the last of 1873 was anything accomplished toward 
building. On the 8th of December, 1 873, A. D. Spivalo Esq., of San Francisco, gave lots 
one and two, and the church bought lot three, block thirty-seven, paying seventy-five 
dollars for it, the contract having been let on December i, 1873, to Messrs. Freeman, 
Conkrite,& Harrington, to build and complete the outside of the church,for two thousand 
dollars, estimated to seat two hundred and fifty. Application having been made to the 
Board of Church Erection for aid, which was given, amounting to eight hundred dollars 
currency, it was then decided to complete the same and furnish it, which was done at an 
entire cost of about three thousand five hundred dollars. Dedicated July 26, 1 874, Rev. 
Dr. Scott of St. Johns Church, San Francisco, preaching the sermon, assisted by Rev. 
W. . W. Brier, and the pastor, Rev. C. W. Anthony. After the resignation of Mr. 
Anthony the church was without a regular pastor until November 23, 1879, when a 
call was extended to Rev. Joseph Hemphill, a licentiate of the San Francisco Theologi- 
cal Seminary, which was accepted, and he commenced his labors January 4, 1880, 
and continued until March, i88i. On July 24, 1^81, Rev. P. F. Phelps, of First 
Church, San Francisco, received a call, accepted, and now fills the pulpit. Present 
-Trustees, W. W. Wynn, Dr. W. S. Taylor, John -Armstrong, W. F. Mitchell, J. R. 



472 History of Alameda County, California. 

Swartz, L. Laughlin, F. R. Fassett, F. A. Anthony, W. \V. Colestock. ICldcrs, W'm. 
Anthony, W. W. Wynn, Dr. W. S. Taylor, and W. W. Colestock. Superintendent of 
Sunday-school, W. W. Wynn. 

LiVERMORE College. — Livermore College, the only pri\ate institution of learn- 
ing in the east end of Alameda County, is situated on the north bank of the Arroyo 
Mocho, a wooded stream skirting the suburbs of the bustling town of Livermore- 
The main college building is three stories in height, is flanked by lesser additions, and 
numerous out-buildings, and surrounded by shaded and bcautifull}- kept grounds. 
Located as it is, in the very center of mountain-locked Livermore Valley, the view 
from the cupola of the building is very extensive, and one of the most beautiful in 
the State. Livermore College was founded in 1870 by Dr. and Mrs. Kingsbury. 
The site, of six acres (which has since been increased by purchase), was presented by 
Wm. M. Mendenhall, and the cost of the building was largely defrayed by the assist- 
ance of residents of the valley, and the then incipient town. In 1875 the premises were 
purchased by Prof J. D. Smith, then an instructor in Washington College, who has 
continued as owner and principal, to the present time. Its pupils are about fifty in 
number, of both sexes, and from every part of the Pacific Coast. The principal is an 
experienced teacher, and excellent disciplinarian, and alwa_\'s employs assistants of 
acknowledged learning and ability. Graduates of this institution arc now to be found 
all over the State, engaged in various occupations, with almost uniform success. 

. Livermore Public School. — The first public school in Livermore was organ- 
'ized in May, 1866, and taught bj- Miss Esther Weeks, now Mrs. Babb, of Washington 
Corners. School opened with thirteen pupils, six of whom were children of George 
May, who was one of the trustees. A school house, twenty-four b\- thirty-six feet, had 
bec;n erected during the autumn of 1865 by Israel Horton, the cost of which was 
met chiefly by subscription. The house was located not far from the big oaks near 
the old Livermore House on the Dublin road, about a mile and a half northwest 
from what is now the town. A short time before the school opened a dancing 
party was held in the school house, to raise money to procure desks. It seems to 
have been a great success, as the people came from all parts of the surrounding 
country, and even from as far away as Antioch. The second teacher was J. W. 
Guinn, now of Los Angeles, and well known as a prominent educator in the State. 
In the spring of 1869 the house was moved cast of the town to a lot given by A. J. 
McLeod, and in the following year another building was erected on the same lot 
for another department, to meet the demands of the growing school. F. R. F^s.sett 
\\as then placed in charge of the school, with Miss Brier (now Mrs. Fassett), as teacher 
of the primary department. Not long after a dispute arose with reference to the 
land title, and it became necessary to remove the buildings again. W. M. Menden- 
hall then donated to the district the block of land bounded b)- Fifth, Sixth, I and J 
Streets, and to this site, which is still the location of the school, both buildings were 
moved/ In a few years the number of pupils so far exceeded the accommodations 
that new and larger rooms became necessary, accordingly, the old buildings were sold, 
one of ,which is now doing duty as J. F. Meyers' carpenter shop on Fifth Street, the 





'm/^—c/yc 



5a»^ 




Murray Township. 473 



other as a saloon on Mill Square. TKe present school building was erected in 1877. 
It is fifty by eighty feet, two stories high and designed for eight rooms, with ample 
hallways, etc. The four rooms on the lower floor were suiificient for the demands of 
the schools at the time of its erection, but in the summer of 1880 it became neces- 
sary to finish half of the upper flat. At present the school trustees are: J. F. Meyers, 
Jesse Bowles, and Hiram Bailey. The present corps of teachers is as follows: J. T. 
McDonald, A. B., Principal, Department I.; Miss Mary F. Buckelew, Department II.; 
Miss Minnie E. Buckelew, Department III.; Miss Ada F. Allen, Department IV., 
and Miss Emma C. Smith, Department V. There are upwards of two hundred and 
fifty pupils in the school, and the number is increasing with the growth of the town. 

LiVERMORE Lodge, No. 218, F. & A. M. — The first meeting for the purpose of 
organizing this lodge was held at Pleasanton July 16, 1871, when the following breth- 
ren signed the petition: James Beazell, Charles M. Dougherty, Frederick Kapp, L. W. 
Winn, J. W. Goldman, Harris Arendt, John A. Bilz, Joseph Harris, A. J. Taylor, W. 
A. Jordan, Henry Angelopulo, J. Koopman, J. S. Moor, who received dispensation 
August 26th to open a lodge of Masons in due and ancient form. October 19, 1872, 
the lodge was instituted, with the following charter officers: Charles M. Dougherty, 
W. M.; Frederick Kapp, S. W.; J. S. Moor, J. VV.; William A. Jordan, Treas.; John 
A. Bilz, S. D.; Joseph F'. Black, J. D.; L. W. Winn, Tyler. In November, 1874, the 
lodge was transferred from Pleasanton to Livermore, where they had their first meeting 
on November 28th, in Odd Fellows' Hall. There are at present forty-seven members 
on the roll, the officers for the year 1882 being: James Beazell, W. M.; F. R. Fassett, 
S. W.; W. H. Wright, J. W.; R. W. Graham, Treas.; J. F. Meyers, Sec; George W. 
Brock, S. D.; N. B. Holmes, J. D.; R. Hunter, Joseph Harris, Stewards. The lodge, 
which is in a flourishing condition, meets, on the Saturday on or after full moon, in 
Odd Fellows' Hall. They purchased in the spring of 1882 a tract of land for a 
Masonic Cemetery, about half a mile from the town, where it is the intention to lay 
out a burial-ground wf)rthy of the Order. 

Livermore Lodge, No. 219, I. O. O. F. — Was organized May 23, 1873, by 
Grand Master W. J. Garnett, of Oakland, assisted by T. Rodgers Johnson, R. W. G. 
Secretary, and Brothers Grand: Salz, Rix, and K. Pomeroy Osgood Its charter mem- 
bers were: James Beazell, R. W. Graham, William Gibbons, J. F. Meyers, P. Hinckley, 
R. McGlashan, A. St. Clair, A. A. Overacker, J. T. Campbell, William H. Wright, 
P. C. Waltonbaugh; the first officers being: J. F. Meyers, N. G.; R. W. Graham, V. 
G.; P. A. Hinckley, Sec; James Beazell, Treas.; William Wright, W.; Israel Horton, C; 
J. H. Taylor, I. G.; A. St. Clair, O. G.; William Gibbons, R. S. N. G.; J. T. Camp- 
bell, L. S. N. G.; N. D. Dutcher, R. S. S.; E. P. Braydon, L. S. S. The officers for 
the year 1882 are: N. D. Dutcher, J. P. G.; W. F. Mitchell, N. G.; Wendell Jordan, V. 
G.; O. R. Owens, Sec; A. G. Beazell, P. G. P., Sec; R. W. Graham, P. G., Treas. The 
lodge, which has a present membership of fifty-six, in good standing, is in a flourish- 
ing condition, and meets in their own hall, built in 1874, every Thursday evening. 

Vesper Lodge No. 62, A. O. U. W. — This lodge was organized October 18, 
1878, with twenty-two members, by Deputy Grand Master Dr. Barrows, with the foUow- 
31 



474 History of Alameda County, California 

ing charter officers : James Beazell, P. M. W,; Israel Horton, M. W.; N. D. Dutchcr, 
Foreman; Jesse Bowles, Overseer; George VV. Brock, Recorder; A. J. McLeod, 
Financier; George E. Kennedy, Receiver; F. Malley, Guide; John AyKvard, I. W.; 
R. Case, O. W. The number of members on the roll at present is ninety-five, and 
the officers for the year 1882 are: C. W. Bradshaw, P. M. W.; B. D. Morrill, M. 
W.; William Gibbons, Foreman ; G. S. Fitzgerald, Overseer ; F. A. Anthony, 
Recorder; G. E. Kennedy, Financier ; Israel Horton, Receiver ; J. S. Munos, Guide ; 
H. Gardemeyer, I. W.; William Budvvorth, O. W. Meets at Odd Fellows' Hall every 
Tuesday evening. They have not lost a single member since organization. 

LiVERMORE Lodge, No. 200., I. O. G. T. — This lodge was instituted January 24, 
1881, by G. W. C. T., R. Thompson, with sixty-eight charter members, the first 
officers being: Rev. L. Wallace, W. C. T.; Mrs. A. L. Smith, W. V. T.; F. A. 
Anthony, W. Sec; G. W. Langan. W. F. Sec; George E. Kennedy, W. Treas.; J. 
R. Swartz, W. M.; Miss Minnie Buckelew, I. G.; P. H. McVicar, O. G.; F. A. 
Anthony, Lodge Deputy. There are at present eighty-five members on the roll, 
who meet every Monday evening at the Odd Fellows' Hall. The officers for 1882 
are: Joseph May, W. C. T.; May Smith, W. V. T.; G. V. Shearer, W. Sec; A. K. 
Anthony, W. F. Sec; A. Weymouth, W. Treas.; George Munroe, W. M.; Corinne 
Bardellini, W. I. G.; G. W. Langan, W. O. G. 

LiVERMORE Council, No. 1070, A. L. of H. — This council of the American 
Legion of Honor was organized by D. S. Van Slack, D. C, December 22, 1882, with 
the following charter members : L. H. Cutler, G. B. Shearer, Joseph B. Bardellini, D. F. 
Bernal, William Bradley, William M. Mendenhall, C. J. Pullen, J. A. Wallman, J. H. 
Harden, C Schmidt, F. Gonzales, Z. B. Cheney, H. W. Farmer, G. W. Raymond, P. 
C. Beaufort, M. F. Mack, J. McBride, Martha A. McBride, J. Schock, T. Corner, A. 
Schlinghyde, L. Hilton. The present membership is thirty-five, and the original 
officers who are those now serving are: L. Cutler, G. C; T. Corner, V. C; G. B. 
Shearer, Sec; D. F. Bernal, Treas.; Joseph B. Bardellini, Col. Meets in Odd 
Fellows' Hall on the second and fourth Friday in each month. 

The LiVERMORE Public Library. — An organization known as the Livermorc 
Public Library Association was organized in the spring of 1878, by a number of pub- 
lic-spirited men and women of the town, who recognized the advantages of such an 
institution. By means of public entertainments funds were raised, and a substantial 
library building, costing $500, erected during the fall of that year upon the principal 
busine.== street, the use of a lot having been donated by C. J. Stevens. A debt 
was thus formed which, though afterwards increased by the purchase of books, was, 
three years later, entirely paid. The association has now about thirty life members, 
is the owner of property worth $800, and is free from debt. The library and read- 
ing-room is kept open by a librarian five hours a day, and its use is free to all. The 
parties most prominent in the organization and building up of this public institution 
were Israel Horton, W. P. Bartlett, George E. Kennedy, R. \\'. Graham, Elliott 
Aubury, Mrs. N. G. Patterson, MVs. A. W. Bartlett, G. W. Langan, and W. F. Lau- 
meister. Nearly all the parties above named are still interested in the Library, and 



Murray Township. 475 



will continue their labors to build up an institution of which that of to-day is but a 
nucleus, and upon which the Livermorean of fifty years hence may look with com- 
mendable pride. 

"Herald." — The Livermore Herald was started in January, 1877, by W. P. 
Bartlett, and has at this writing entered upon its seventh year of publication. It is a 
four-page, seven-column newspaper, and has been for nearly three years entirely printed 
in Livermore ; is local in character and largely devoted to the advancement of the 
interests of Murray Township. In fact, much of the growth and development which is 
now taking place in the town and valley is ascribed by many to the efforts of the Herald 
m behalf of this section. The journal has been conducted to the present time by 
Mr. Bartlett, its founder and owner, a vigorous writer, who has in addition to his 
work on the paper, published considerable statistical, descriptive, and historical mat- 
ter regarding Livermore Valley and other portions of the State. The Herald enjoys 
a wide circulation, both in the township and abroad, and a liberal advertising patron- 
age. It is published on Thursday of each week. 

Livermore Hook and Ladder Company, No. i. — This, the senior company 
of the Livermore Fire Department, was organized October 12, 1874, with about thirty 
charter members, who elected the following officers: J. H. Mahoney, President; Anton 
Bardellini, Vice-President; their trucks being procured from San Francisco. In 1875 
a two-story truck-house was erected, partly by subscription and partly by the issuance 
of stock, on Second Street. The present membership is seventeen, and the officers for 
1882 are: W. Jordan, foreman; P. McKeany, First Assistant; F. Sangmaster, Second 
Assistant; J. F. Meyers, Secretary; F. Malley, Treasurer. The company is under the 
direction of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, and has done good service. 
They meet in their own Hall. 

Niagara Fire Engine Company, No. i. — This organization was instituted 
in Exchange Hall, July 12, 1876, with the following members: George E. Freeman, 
F. A. Anthony, A. M. Jackson, William H. Church, Rod. Church, William S. Low, 
John T. Campbell, R. N. Caughill, E. P. Braydon, and C. J. Stevens, the first officers 
elected being: George E. Freeman, Foreman; John T. Campbell. First Assistant; 
William S. Low, Second Assistant; E. P. Braydon, Secretary; William H. Church, 
Treasurer. The present company consists of fifty-two members, with the following 
officers: C. W. Bradshaw, foreman; W. S. Smith, First Assistant; N. D. Dutcher, 
Second Assistant; Thco. Corner, Secretary; C. J. Stevens, Treasurer. They hold their 
meetings at the Town Hall, on the second Wednesday of each month, and have in 
their charge a double-decker hand-engine, purchased from the Stockton Fire Depart- 
ment in 1876, which is still in a good state of preservation. This company is most 
active and in a high state of efficiency. 

Livermore Spring Water Company. — This association was incorporated 
October 19, 1874, by John Aylward, Robert Livermore, William Gibbons, Valen- 
tine Alviso, and M. Mullany, the President of the company being John Aylward, and 
the Secretary William Gibbons. Water is supplied by the Las Pocitas Springs, two 



476 History of Alameda County, California. 

miles and a half north of Livermore, and is brought in a flume two miles long to two 
reservoirs, whence it is conducted by pipe and distributed through the town. In 1876 
the waters of the Arroyo Mocho were condemned and conducted through pipes five 
miles in length, to the northern water-works. The Company has three reservoirs with 
the respective capacity of five hundred and fifty thousand, two hundred and fifty 
thousand, and six hundred thousand gallons. 

Warehouses of W. Watterman & Co. — The storehouses of this firm were 
built in the year 1874 by Alexander Esdon, and subsequently sold by him to the 
present proprietors. They are three in number, and measure respectively three hun- 
dred by eighty feet, one hundred b)' eighty feet, and one hundred by sixty feet, and 
have a capacity in the aggregate of fourteen thousand tons of grain, while separated 
therefrom are the hay warehouses, capable of storing two thousand tons. This firm 
ranks among the largest grain-dealers in Alameda County, and has its buildings 
nearly always full of grain and hay. 

Lumber Yard of Horton & Kennedy. — This yard was first started in the 
fall of 1869, by E. M. Derby, who continued it until 1878, when Messrs. Horton & 
Kennedy became its proprietors, since when it has been conducted by them, they 
keeping always on hand a large stock of lumber. In connection therewith they are 
the owners of the famous Horton & Kennedy Enterprise Windmill, manufactured for 
them in the Eastern States, and also deal in pumps, barb-wire, etc. 

Wagon and Carriage Factory of John Aylward. — This enterprise was 
first located at Mission San Jose but transferred to Livermore in the month of Sep- 
tember, 1879, when Mr. Aylward built his present premises, and has since carried on a 
general blacksmith and wagon-making business, whence he supplies a large portion 
of the surrounding country. 

Livermore Brewery. — This enterprise was established in December, 1873, by 
Messrs. Schwerin & Schobel, who continued it until June, 1874, when W. Jordan 
located it on First Street, since which time it has been considerably enlarged. It wa.s 
originally run by horse-power only; in December, 1882, however, a six horse-power 
steam-engine was introduced to put the machinery' in motion; while the capacity is 
about four hundred barrels per year. 

Olivin.\ Vineyard. — This vineyard, the property of Julius P. Smith and man- 
aged by J. H. Taylor, is located three miles south from Livermore, on a ranch of two 
thousand acres, three hundred and fifty of which is planted in vines, which are in a 
flourishing condition, and promise to be a perfect bonanza to the proprietors. 

The Livermore Coal Mines. — The first discovery of coal in Murray Town- 
ship was made in Corral Hollow, upwards of twenty years ago, by Captain Jack 
O'Brien, at that time engaged in the sheep business in that vicinity. A company was 
formed, and for several years the mines were worked successfully. Finally, the entire 
property was sold to W. T. Coleman, of San Francisco, since which time but little has 
been done. The vein \\as about eight feet thick, and the coal of the same quality as. 



Murray Township. 477 



that from the Monte Diablo mines. In 1873 Thomas Harris and Jenkins Richards 
discovered fine coal croppings in the edge of the Livermore Valley, about three miles 
north of the Corral Hollow Mines. A stock company was immediately formed, and a 
copy of articles of incorporation filed by the directors, W. A. Jones, W. Jenkins, 
T. Harris, J. Richards, and W. W. Wynn, on May 2, 1874. The amount of capital 
stock was ten thousand dollars divided into twenty thousand shares. Operations 
were begun immediately, a shaft being sunk to a depth of five hundred feet, at which 
■depth the coal became harder and brighter. From the bottom of this shaft gang- 
ways were driven east and west five hundred feet. Large and powerful machinery 
was erected for the purpose of hoisting, and upwards of two thousand tons of coal 
were taken from the mine and shipped to different locations along the railroad. This 
vein is about three feet six inches in thickness, but somewhat mixed with slate. 

In 1876 there was discovered another fine vein of coal, four feet in thickness, 
and perfectly clean, overlying the first vein about one hundred feet, but running 
under lands owned by private parties. The company expended nearly seventy thou- 
sand dollars in the mine, but, owing to the large quantities of foreign coal which were 
being imported to the district at low rates, they became embarrassed and were com- 
pelled to suspend operations. 

In the Fall of 1876 another organization was formed, known as the Summit Coal 
Mining Company. They discovered a vein of pure coal, four feet in thickness, one 
mile east of the old mine. A shaft was sunk on the vein some three hundred feet, 
and several hundred tons of coal taken from the mine. 

All the coal strata in this vicinity dip to the north, at an angle of about forty- 
two degrees. The coal, as throughout California, is of a bituminous nature; it is dis- 
tinguished from the majority of coals by its making a very hot fire with but little 
blaze or smoke. It is considered excellent for steam purposes. 

These mines are in good working condition, with thousands of tons of clean, hard 
coal in sight, ready to be taken out at any time. At present, work is being carried 
forward on a scale sufficient for the supply of the towns of Livermore and Pleasanton 
but the principal mines are closed. 

Their situation, however, but eight miles from the town of Livermore, and fifty- 
five from the city of San Francisco, together with the abundant and excellent quality 
of the coal, render these mines too valuable to remain idle for any great length of 
time. It is probable that they will within a few years be developed and worked on a 
large scale. But a little capital is needed to make this coal-field one of the most 
flourishing and prosperous on the Pacific Coast. 

Midway. — This is simply a station on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad 
sixty-three and one-half miles from San Francisco, and at present consists of about a 
dozen houses. It is located near the easterly boundary of the township on the slope 
to the San Joaquin Valley, and fourteen miles from Livermore. Here in 1855 or '56 
Frank Heare put up and occupied what was known as the " Zinc House." The rail- 
road company have no resident agent at this point. 

Pleasanton. — The name of this beautiful village, once called Alisal (Cotton- 



478 History of Alameda County, California. 

wood), is derived, not from its pleasant situation, as many suppose, but was so named 
by John W. Kottinger, after General Pleasanton, a dashing cavalry officer, who served 
during the rebellion under General J. C. Fremont in his Missouri campaign; the 
popular idea, however, is most correct, as it has many beauties of climate and location- 

The ground on which the town now stands was, in the year 1839, in common 
with thousands of acres, granted to Antonio Suflol, Antonio Maria Pico, Augustin 
Bernal, and Juan P. Bernal. Pico having disposed of his interest to Sunol; he in 
turn conveyed it to Juan P. Bernal in 1846. Augustin Bernal, however, maintained 
his residence in the Santa Clara Valley until the spring of 1850, only visiting his 
newly-acquired possessions once a year to rodeo his bands of cattle, the estate during 
the balance of the year being left in charge of his hirelings. 

In 1849 a widow named Wilson who had several grown up sons, moved to the 
rancho of Juan P. Bernal, and made a contract with the proprietor whereby one of 
them should act as his major-domo. In 1850 August,in Bernal took up his resi- 
dence in the vicinity, and built a house at the foot of the mountains, about a mile 
west of the present town. In August, 1851, there came to this section John W- 
Kottinger, a native of Austria, who at once erected a house, still standing, on a small 
eminence near the Arroyo Valle and commenced stock-raising. In September, 1852, 
Juan Pablo Bernal, brother to Augustin, built his adobe on the opposite side of the 
creek from Kottinger's, a portion of which is now in the occupation of Joseph F. 
Black, and thus matters rested until 1857, when Duerr & Nusbaumer opened a store 
in Kottinger's house, while, in 1859, Charles Garth waitc opened another trading-post 
opposite the residence of Augustin Bernal, which he continued four years. 

During the year 1863 Mr. Kottinger, who had become possessed of a consider- 
able portion of the Bernal estate by marriage, conceived the idea that a town might 
be established with advantage at Alisal, he therefore put a 'i&w lots in the market, 
which were soon purchased by Jacob Teeters, a blacksmith, William Wittner, a 
carpenter, and Doctor Goucher, all of whom immediately constructed houses, that of 
the first being on the site now occupied by the wagon factor}' of J. A. Bilz, the 
second^ where Doctor Mark now is, and the third, on the land belonging to Mrs 
McLaughlin. That same year Joshua A. Neal, a native of New Hampshire, and a 
pioneer of '47, who had been several years major-domo to Robert Livcrmore, removed 
to Alisal, and, by marriage with a daughter of Augustin Bernal, acquired over five 
hundred acres of land, upon a portion of which is situated the present town of 
Pleasanton. He immediately erected a residence on an eminence overlooking the 
valley. In 1864 the first public school was opened under the tuition of a Mr. Powell, 
it being erected to the south of Mrs. McLaughlin's house, and has since been super- 
seded by the present commodious structure. In the following year Mr. Kottinger 
built the house on the creek bank now occupied by Jacob Johnson, and opened there 
a store and house of entertainment giving the latter the name of the " Farmer's Hotel." 
On the site of the Pleasanton Hotel, Anton Bardellini opened a hotel in the year 
1867, which forms a portion of that caravansary, there being also a store opened within 
the building then. 

In 1867 Mr. Kottinger made a survey of land in Alisal, with the idea of laying 



Murray Township. 479 



out a town which he called Pleasanton, and in August, 1868, Mr. Neal, whose lands 
adjoined those of Mr. Kottinger, made a survey to supplement that of the latter, and 
began selling building lots on the county road, which is now known as Main Street. 
On September 20, 1869, Mr. Kottinger had a second survey made by Charles Duerr 
to agree with the line of the railroad, which was then being built through the valley; 
Neal also making a second survey, for the same purpose, in the month of December. 

The growth of the town was very rapid during the years 1869 and 1870. The 
building of the railroad through the place and the location of a station there, gave 
assurance of its permanency, and induced settlers to come in rapidly. Since that 
time Pleasanton has continued to grow steadily, until it has reached a population of 
about seven hundred. 

The public buildings consist of a large two-story school house, a neat church 
edifice, and a fine two-story building the property of the Odd Fellows. It also pos- 
sesses Rose's Hotel, than which there is no more finely-appointed house in the country. 
There are many fine residences in the town and in the suburbs, nearly all surrounded 
by well-kept grounds, while the streets are planted with rows of trees on either side 
forming a delightful shade, and rendering the place one of the most beautiful and 
attractive in the county. 

As throughout the entire western portion of Murray Township, the country 
tributary to Pleasanton is held in large ranches, which of course is prejudicial to the 
interests of the town, and tends in a measure to arrest its growth. Several of these 
large tracts, however, are being gradually divided into small farms, and sold to set- 
tlers, a scheme which will go far towards increasing the prosperity of the town, and 
at th? same time build up and improve the surrounding country. 

While it was known as Alisal, the place was recognized as one of if not the 
most desperate in the county, but with all its lawlessness perhaps there was no 
scene enacted in it more exciting than that which we append below: — 

On Wednesday, September 19, 1866, a desperate encounter took place in Pleas- 
anton, or Alisal, between Harry Morse, Sheriff of Alameda County, and the notori- 
ous highwayman and robber, Narcisco Bojorques, in which the latter was wounded. 
This brigand had long been the terror of the Sunol Valley, having committed both 
robberies and murders in that locality and throughout the State, causing his name to 
be feared and dreaded in every household. His rendezvous was in the mountains, 
from whence he frequently sallied forth into the valley, plundering indiscriminately, 
and retreating at pleasure to his hiding-place. He had been arrested at various times, 
but escaped the penalty of his crimes by his shrewdness in having witnesses put out 
of the way. A short account of the career of this Dick Turpin may not be out of 
place. 

In or about the year 1859 the murder of the Golding family — consisting of hus- 
band, wife, and child — occurred in Suiiol Valley. The dwelling-house was burned 
down and the bodies were consumed. A vaquero was found hanging to the limb of 
a tree at the same time. This quadruple murder was laid at the door of Bojorques, 
but when the trial came nothing could be proved against him, although he was uni- 
versally held to be the guilty party. Shortly afterwards, in company with another 
thief named Quarte about dividing the spoils, Narcisco was too quick for Ouarte, the 
latter fallinq- dead in the roadside at the feet of his chieftain. 



480 History of Alameda County, California. 

His next exploit was performed in connection with Procopio — cousin of the 
famous robber, Joaquin Murietta. They stole a band of cattle, and took them to 
Alvarado. Here a warrant was issued for their arrest, but before it could be served, 
Narcisco succeeded in escaping. Not so with his companion, however. Constable 
Wood, afterwards of San Leandro, was deputed to arrest Procopio. The latter, after 
shooting several times at the officer, escaped, and took refuge in the salt-marsh near 
Alvarado. Here he was surrounded by a party of armed men, who finally captured 
him. Procopio, for his part in the robber}', .served a term of nine years in the peni- 
tentiary. 

Mariposa County next was visited by Narciso. Here he committed a robbery, 
for which he was arrested, but finally discharged, after an incarceration of three 
months in jail; no witnesses appeared against him. 

His latest robbery was that of the butcher Gunnel, near Alisal, about the month 
of August, 1866. It may be remembered that on that occasion Narcisco rode up 
alongside the butcher, and, after shooting him, dragged him from his horse, and plun- 
dered him of one hundred and twenty dollars in coin. 

All these robberies were traced to Narciso. He knew that the people suspected 
him, and yet he appeared daily among them, reckless and defiant. Sheriff Morse, in 
order to get some legal foot-hold to arrest Narciso, corresponded during a month pre- 
viously with the Sheriffs of various counties, inquiring whether they had any charges 
against him. On Wednesday (September 19th), a warrant was received from a Justice 
of the Peace in Los Angeles County by the Sheriff ordering him to arrest Narci.so 
on a charge of grand larceny. The Sheriff started immediately for the Mission San 
Jose, where he got on the track of the robber. From the mission the Sheriff went to 
Foscalini's store in Alisal (Pleasanton), where he learned that Narcisco had passed up 
five minutes previously, mounted on a stout horse, and having an additional saddle — 
a new one — in his hand. The Sheriff suspecting that he would return that way, con- 
cealed himself in the rear of the store. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed before the 
robber returned, galloping his horse and whistling. Pulling up in front of the store, 
he was invited in. He refused, being evidently afraid of an arrest. The Sheriff see- 
ing that he would not dismount, went forward quickly, putting his left hand in his 
breast pocket to get out a pair of handcuffs. Narciso detected the officer at a glance- 
In a moment, and before Morse could lay his hands upon him, Narciso had him cov- 
vered with an eight-inch revolver, the distance between the parties, at this time, not 
being more than six feet. The robber's pistol fortunately missed fire, and before he 
could repeat, the officer's weapon had sent a shot at him, which failed to bring him to 
the ground. A second shot took effect in the robber's side, causing him to throw up 
his arm and give a loud groan. Dropping his pistol, the robber put spurs to his 
horse, and jumping the animal over a fence into an inclosure, started for the hills. 
Unable to jump over the fence on the opposite side of the field, the robber dis- 
mounted, and started for a ravine close by, followed by the Sheriff afoot. Climbing 
over, the fence, the Sheriff could see the robber in the distance entering the cha- 
parral. Notwithstanding the woods were scoured all night, Narcisco managed to elude 
his pursuers. An unsuccessful search was also made the following morning by the 
Sheriff. Parties from the mission, who started out in the forenoon on the 20th of 




^< 



c/ft/m^i^^ dy(M/^<^ 



Murray Township. 481 



September, to hunt the robber, traced him fully a mile by drops of blood, until they 
reached a tree, where they discovered a pool of blood. Here the wounded man 
rested during the night, but was not captured at that time. 

Pleasanton Lodge, No. 225, I. O. O. F. — This lodge was organized January 
17, 1877, by District Grand, H. J. Tilden, with the following charter members and 
officers: H. Morris, N. G.; John B. Hortenstine, V. G.; Herman Detjens, Sec; R. J 
Butts, L G.; Dan. McCaw, Treasurer. The present membership is twenty-nine, and 
the officers for the current year are: James W. Hortenstine, N. G.; William T. Harris; 
V. G.; H. F. Grasse, Rec. Sec; J. R. Palmer, Per. Sec; Herman Detjens, Treas. The 
lodge is in a flourishing condition, and hold their meetings every Tuesday evening in 
Detjen's Hall. 

* 

Carriage and Wagon Factory of J. A. Bilz. — In the Fall of the year 1865 
Mr. Bilz came to Alisal, or Pleasanton, and started in a small building where his 
factory now stands. In 1868 he erected his present extensive premises, in dimensions 
one hundred by one hundred feet, where he manufactures wagons, carriages, buggies, 
etc. In August, 1882, he received a patent for Bilz Excelsior two-wheeled buggy. 
The firm also does general blacksmithing, while the factory is supplied with all 
the most improved machinery, engines, etc. 

SUNOL. — The village of Suiiol and the valley in which it is situated derive their 
names from the family whose possessions, as we have elsewhere said, extended through- 
out this section of the country. It is situated on the line of the Central Pacific Rail- 
road, and is six miles west of Pleasanton. Here in 1865 a school was started under 
the tuition of Mrs. Sam. Brown, while the first store in the section was opened by 
George Foscalini, where what is at present known as Scott's store now stands. In 1862 
the Argenti Hotel was kept by a Frenchman named Bertrand. 

This village, like many others, sprang into existence at the time of building the 
railroad, and, owing to the fact that the entire region tributary to it is held in large 
ranches, by a few men, has grown little since. The Sunol Valley and adjacent foot- 
hills and cafions are much resorted to by camping parties during the summer months, 
on account of their wild and beautiful scenery and accessibility. 




482 • History of Alameda County, California. 



OAKLAND TOWNSHIP. 



GEOGRAPHY. — Oakland Township is bounded on the north and east by Con- 
tra Costa County ; on the south by Brooklyn and Alameda Townships ; and 
on the west by San Francisco Bay. 

Topography. — Like the other townships bordering upon the bay, that of Oakland 
is faced with a considerable area of marsh-lands, in the rear of which is a wide 
fertile stretch backed by undulating foot-hills which culminate in the summits of the 
Contra Costa Range. 

Valleys, Streams, etc. — Oakland Township docs not boast of any valleys of 
consideration, although there are several delightfully situated canons which have 
been utilized as sites for handsome residences and grounds. It has no water-waj' 
that could be dignified by the name of a stream, save the Temescal Creek, while on its 
confines are the estuary of San Antonio and Lake Merritt. 

Climate. — So much has been written about the climate of Oakland that little is 
left for us to say. The northern portion of the township has the full force of the 
summer winds as they come sweeping through the Golden Gate. That portion 
occupied by the city of Oakland is preferable. The death-rate is about one-half that 
of San Francisco — a fact that is of itself sufficient proof of the remarkable healthful- 
ness of the city. The afternoon winds that prevail in San Francisco during the sum- 
mer months reach Oakland with diminished force ; the close proximity of the hills 
in the rear of the city and the many large and stately trees serve as a protection. 
There are other reasons perhaps difficult of comprehension, but the fact is well known 
that when the winds prevail in San Francisco with great violence, only moderate 
breezes are felt in Oakland. The sea fogs of summer which roll in from the ocean 
vanish from Oakland several hours before they cease to overshadow San Francisco. 
Perfect immunity from wind and fog can be found only in the interior, but intensely 
hot and scorching weather is an annoyance that far more than counterbalances the 
pleasure to be derived from a sky that is always clear, and freedom from the ocean mists. 

Soil and Products. — Like that of the other townships described the soil of 
Oakland is of wonderful fertility, producing to rapid maturity all manner of seeds or 

shoots that may be committed to its nurture. 

Timber. — Save the oaks which gave it its name, and which unhappil}', though nec- 
essarily, are fast disappearing, there is no indigenous timber in the township. With 
the settlement of the country its face has been entirely changed, and where trees 
were they have vanished, while where they were not extensive groves now show them- 
selves. 

Mexican Grants. — Oakland Township is situated on the San Antonio Rancho 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. " 483 

granted to Don Luis Peralta by Don Pablo Vicente de Sala, August i6, 1820, and 
on that portion of it which was afterwards given to his sons Domingo and Vicente 
Peralta, the first-named receiving the portion on which Berkeley now stands, and the 
latter the site of the city of Oakland, who received a patent for 18,848.98 acres, Feb- 
ruary 10, 1877. 

Early Settlement. — It will be unnecessary for us here to produce any remarks 
upon the early settlement of the township. Our space is too limited for such a 
gigantic affair. Suffice it to say that this has been carefully followed in our 
histories of the city of Oakland and town of Berkeley, and as these have been com- 
piled in chronological order the reader will have no difficulty in following the march 
of events. A history of Oakland City itself is a monstrous undertaking, but such as 
we have done we place before the reader with no fear of captious criticism. 



CITY OF OAKLAND. 



Cannot the reader bring before him with vivid distinctness the rapture with 
which Governor Portala looked down upon the noble bay of San Francisco on the 
morning of November 3, 1769. With the spirit which made the victorious Romans 
exclaim, "Ecce Roma! Ecce Tiber!" as they first saw a Scottish vale, with its undu- 
lating hills and wide-sweeping river, that reminded them of their beloved Rome, so 
also did these handful of travelers describe our beautiful harbor, as it was surveyed 
by them for the first time from the San Mateo Mountains, as another Mediterranean 
Sea. To the north and to the south it lay in placid sublimity at their feet, glisten- 
ing in the sunshine of that warm November morn. On the opposite coast — the 
Contra Costa — they beheld the sylvan shades of where is now the prosperous city of 
Oakland, and the wealth of foliage of the peninsula of Alameda, and Temescal. It 
was a scene to be enjoyed in deep silence and in great awe, for here the Divine 
Hand had outdone itself in producing a picture of the rarest excellence. The gran- 
deur of mountain scenery causes the soul to thrill and the pulse to quicken, but syl- 
van beauty brings with it a contentment to the heart that drives bitterness away and 
leaves a calm serenity. 

It is chronicled that the voyagers rounded the bay, and it is asserted by no less 
an authority than Gen. M. G. Vallejo that Don Pedro Fages and Father Crespi led 
an expedition to the valley of the San Joaquin from Monterey by way of San Pablo 
and Martinez, and passed by the Oak Grove Encinal. Thus have we the first ascer- 
tained visit to the territory now comprised in the city of Oakland. From that date 
until the year 1820 we know nothing from absolute fact, but of this we may be 
assured, that the crews of those whalers and other sailing-vessels that visited the 
coves of Saucelito and Yerba Buena for water had many a time and oft gazed upon 
its wonderful loveliness, and mayhap have landed upon its tempting shores in quest 
of game. 

And now came the first settler; let it be our task to introduce him to the reader. 



484 History ok Alameda County, California. 

Four and twenty years before the present century had dawned there came to the 
Presidio of San Francisco, in the capacity of a soldier, Luis Maria Peralta, a native 
of Tubac, in Sonora, who was born about the year 1758, for we find it stated in a 
list of the soldiers connected with the presidio in the year 1790 that Luis Maria 
Peralta was a soldier, aged thirty-two, and his wife, Maria Loretta Alviso, was aged 
nineteen years. He again figures in an inventory of the rich inmates of the Presidio, 
taken in 1793, as being among the "warm" men of the time. He then owned two 
head of stock, the small beginning from which sprang his immense herds of the future- 
By his union with the Seiiora Alviso there were born to him ten children — five sons 
and five daughters, the names of the former being Crcsanto, Ygnacio, Domingo, Anto- 
nio Maria, and Vicente, and of the latter, Teodora, Trinidad, Josefa, Guadalupe, and 
Maria Louisa. On August 16, 1820, on account of distinguished and meritorious 
services descending through a long series of years, forty in all, Don Luis Maria Peralta 
was granted a tract of land which would cast many a principality into the shade, as it 
was full five leagues in extent, and was bounded on one side by the "deep creek of 
San Leandro" to "a hill adjoining the sea-beach" — a shapely knoll near the San 
Pablo Road, and which is the extreme northwestern point of Alameda County. Let 
us attempt to explain what this grant meant. It meant that this obscure soldier 
suddenly was raised to a pinnacle of fame as one of the largest landed proprietors 
of Upper California; it meant that he had been instantly placed with wealth in his 
grasp; and it meant that he had, in the twinkling of an eye, become the owner of a 
domain the soil of which is not to be excelled in any portion of the world. Had his 
horoscope but been cast, and the l^nowledge of to-day been foretold, what vast 
wealth would have been his; yet, mayhap, the city of Oakland would not have been. 
Peralta himself never resided upon the Rancho de San Antonio, but maintained a 
domicile at the Pueblo de San Jose. He also had another grant in the Santa Clara Val- 
ley. Consequently, the district with which we are connected remained uninhabited for 
several years by any one save swarthy vaqueros and a few Indians. In the mean 
time — in 1842 — he had divided the San Antonio Grant among his sons, and to 
Vicente and Antonio Maria fell the portion now comprised within the incorporated 
limits of the city of Oakland; e3.ch took possession of his estate and built houses 
of adobe, that of the former being situated a little north of Temescal, and that of the 
latter at Fruit Vale. There they dwelt, strong in the assurance that their broad acres 
would descend to their children's children. 

"And now the greedy, blue-eyed Sa.xon came." Immigration had commenced, 
and longing eyes had been cast upon the fair lands of the rancheros, b\- the few. 
Next war broke out, and erelong the flowery standard was wa\ing in triumph on 
the Californian coast. Then came the wild delirium consequent upon the discovery 
of gold, when the country was inundated with a vast population of every creed, 
tongue, and clime. These new-comers coveted the lands of the Peraltas; traps were 
laid, and, in due course of time, the original owners became strangers in the place. 

When it had first been seen that a city must necessarily be built somewhere on 
the bay of San Francisco, a cursory examination was made of the Contra Costa 
shore. The village of Verba Buena did not offer many flattering inducements to 
men seeking to found a city, because its steep hills came down to the water's edge. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 485 

and the most casual observer could not fail to note the vast amount of labor that 
would be required to level off these hills and fill in the bay so as to make room for 
the thousands of buildings that must be quickly erected. But the temporary difficul- 
ties on the eastern side of the bay were still more grave. A flat extended out for a 
distance of two miles, timber suitable for the purposes of wharf-building was not 
easily obtained and commanded an enormous price, and no hope was entertained of 
building the metropolis on the present site of Oakland. 

The sandy peninsula was covered by a dense growth of oak-trees, which sub- 
sequently gave to the place its name, and beneath the trees were numerous thickets 
of chaparral and tangled underbrush. Some four miles to the north was the residence 
of Vicente Peralta, and around it were settled a few other native Californians. The 
only use made of the peninsula of Oakland was to obtain from it the necessary sup- 
plies of fuel. At some remote period there had been Indian camps upon the northern 
bank of the San Antonio Creek, and the mounds, composed mainly of oyster-shells, 
are not yet entirely obliterated. San Pablo was a flourishing sub-mission, and San 
Antonio (Brooklyn) was a town before there was a solitary settler in Oakland. 
Indeed, for a year or two after the settlement of Oakland, San Antonio was in advance. 
It had been, as we have shown, an embarcadero, from which were shipped the lumber 
from the redwoods, and the hides and horns collected in the adjoining country. 

Tlie first actual settler in what is the city of Oakland is Moses Chase, who pitched 
his tent at what is now the foot of Broadway in the winter of 1849-50, and com- 
menced hunting. Here he was found by the Patten Brothers on their arrival in Feb- 
ruary, 1850, which we have mentioned in the history of Brooklyn Township. Next 
came Col. Henry S. Fitch, and Colonel Whitney, who made an unsuccessful attempt 
to purchase the tract of land, and then in the summer of 1850 appeared the much- 
abused trio, Moon, Carpentier, and Adams, who squatted upon the land, holding that 
it belonged to the Government and not to Peralta, and erected a shanty near the 
foot of Broadway of to-day. The Spanish owner now made an attempt to oust these 
men, and got a writ of ejectment from the County Court at Martinez, and, says Mr. 
Halley, "a posse of men, under Deputy Sheriff Kelly, was sent to eject them." This 
was never done, and the upshot of the whole affair was that Moon, Carpentier, and 
Adams obtained a lease of a number of acres of land on certain conditions; they then 
laid out a town, and, be their short-comings what they may, were the first persons 
to attract public attention to Oakland, and soon they were joined by many others. 
The part of the city then laid out was its eastern portion, that bordering on San 
Antonio Creek, of which they made a map, and in accordance with its lines sold lots 
and blocks, giving quitclaim deeds, transferring their right, title, and interest. They 
erected the first buildings, and were the actual founders of the city. 

During the first few years after the settlement of the city it was the popular 
belief that the "Squatter Title" was valid, and most of the property was purchased 
from those who had originally taken possession. After the amount of litigation that 
is usually required to establish the legality of a Mexican grant, the Peralta title 
obtained recognition, and has withstood every attack subsequently made upon it. 
We append the outlines of an abstract of title to any city lot: — 

I. Grant from the Mexican Government to Luis Maria Peralta, of the "Rancho- 



486 HisTUKv OK Alameda County, California. 

San Antonio," embracing the lands upon which the city of Oakland is located,* 
dated October i8, 1822. 

2. In 1842 Luis Maria Peralta made a division of the Rancho San .Antonio 
among his four sons, Ignacio, Antonio, Domingo, and V'iccnte, and put them in pos- 
session of their respective portions. Vicente Peralta received that portion on which 
the city of Oakland is situated. 

3. In 185 I, Luis Maria Peralta executed an instrument purporting to be a will, 
wherein he ratified and confirmed the division of the Rancho San Antonio among his 
four sons, which instrument, the Supreme Court of California says, estops the heirs of 
Luis Maria Peralta from denying said gift to his sons. [See 17 Cal. Reps., Adams vs. 
Lansin^i\ The invalidity of title derived from the other heirs than the sons of Luis 
Maria Peralta is also declared by the United States Supreme Court, in a case grow- 
ing out of the "Pretermitted Heirs" title, decided in the early part of 1872. 

4. In 1854 the Board of Land Commissioners confirmed the northern portion 
of the Rancho, embracing the city of Oakland, to Vicente and Domingo Peralta; and 
the same was afterwards, in 1855, confirmed by the United States District Court, and 
still later, at the December term in 1856, by the Supreme Court of the United States. 
[See 17 Howard.] 

5. Ignacio, Antonio, and Domingo Peralta to Vicente Peralta release and deed 
all of their interest in and to that portion of the Rancho embracing the city of Oak- 
land. Dated November 28, 1853. Recorded in Liber "8" of Deeds, Recorder's 
office, Alameda County. 

6. Vicente Peralta to John Clar (Vb); B. De La Barra (1-12); Joseph K. Irving 
(K)'- Jacob A. Cost (i-^); John C. Hays and John Caperton ('4^). Deed dated 
March 13, 1852. Recorded in Contra Costa Countj', in which Oakland was at that 
date situated. 

7. John Clar to J. K. Irving, deed of his interest, February 7, 1852. Recorded 
in Contra Costa County. 

8. B. De La Barra (1-12) deed to J. K. Irving, J. M. Goggin, and William 
Claude Jones; William Claude Jones to Eugene Casserly; J. M. Goggin and Eugene 
Casserly to J. K. Irving, Hays, Caperton, and heirs of Cost, deceased. 

9. J. K. Irving, party of the first part; John C. Hays and John Caperton, par- 
ties of the second part; Anna R. Poole, Catherine S. Lyons and her husband, Joseph 
Lyons; Serena S. Young and her husband, Alexander H. Young (heirs o( Cost, 
deceased), "by William Poole, their attorney," execute a partition deed, duly proven, 
certified to, and recorded in Alameda County. 

10. Power of attorney from Anna R. Poole et aL, heirs of Cost, to William J. 
Poole, June 14, 1853. 

1 I. Power of attorney to Montgomery Blair, from same parties (except Serena 
S. Young, who was deceased, and left minor heirs, for whom Alexander H. Young 
signed as guardian) February 2, 1852. 

12. Proceedings in Probate Court in the same \ear, by which the interest of the 
minor heirs of Serena S. Young became vested in Alexander H. \'nung. 

13. Another partition deed to correct errors in description of lands not blocked 

* This does nut refer to East Oakland. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 487 

off in former deed, reciting and approving the former; the same in all other respects, 
between the same parties (except in place of Serena S. Young, deceased, was Alex- 
ander H. Young, "by M. Blair, their attorney in fact"). Dated May i, 1854. 

14. Deed from Anna -R. Poole to John C. Hays, ratifying and confirming the 
former deed of partition, and confirming the acts of Blair and Black as agents, Sep- 
tember I, 1858. 

15. Similar deed to Hays et al. from Joseph Lyons and wife, November 10, 
1858. 

16. Similar deed to Hays et al. from Alexander H. Young, March 27, i860. 

Subsequent to the chain of conveyances traced, title is vested in numerous own- 
ers, there being no other general claims. All the technicalities and defects which 
ingenuity can discover have been brought to notice. The numerous adverse titles had 
for years hung over property-holders like an incubus, and, in the early part of the year 
1869, the people began an organized movement to defeat them. The position of 
affairs was somewhat critical. The city was rapidly growing, and to allow the idea 
to go abroad that titles were insecure, would check the progress of the city and cause 
incalculable mischief Sound business policy overcame the desire to make a bitter 
fight, however, and the holders of the claims were induced to dispose of them at rates 
that were trivial. The specific claims were the Pretermitted Heirs' title, the Sisters' 
title, the Irving title, and the Cost title, and these comprised all general titles asserted by 
anybody to land within the city of Oakland. These titles were by their several own- 
ers conveyed to Henry Hillebrand, the City Clerk, who acted as a trustee, and by him 
conveyances were made to the several property-holders. Nearly all the land in the 
city is now held by a perfect title, the Hillebrand deeds removing all the clouds. 
These titles, except the Cost title, still cloud property outside of the old charter line. 
The principal ones — the Sisters' and the Pretermitted Heirs' — are virtually defeated, 
and the property-holders, to save trouble and annoyance, have quite generally pur- 
chased the other claims. 

The Kate Hayes' title covers that portion of Oakland Township outside of the 
"Encinal Line," as laid down on the map. The Supreme Court of the State has 
sustained a decision rendered by E. W. McKinstry, Judge of the late Twelfth District 
Court, granting a new trial on the motion made by the defendants (the property-holders). 
That decision was fatal to the claim, which in itself was but for a trifling interest. 

Let us now take up the history of Oakland from the year 1852: — 

1852. — In accordance with the provisions of the Act entitled "An Act to Provide 
for the Incorporation of Towns" (passed March 27, 1850), in the year 1852 Horace 
W. Carpentier, who was a lawyer by profession, and had held an official position in 
the Legislature, had passed, on May 4th, an Act incorporating the Town of Oakland, 
the boundaries of which were declared to be as follows: "On the northeast by a 
straight line at right angles with Main Street, running from the Bay of San Francisco, 
on the north to the southerly line of the San Antonio Creek or estuafy, crossing Main 
Street at a point three hundred and sixty rods northeasterly from 'Oakland House,' 
on the corner of Main and First Streets, as represented on Porter's Map of Contra 
Costa, on file in the ofifice of the Secretary of State; thence down the southerly line 



488 History of Alameda County, California. 

of said creek or slough to its mouth in the Bay; thence to ship's channel; thence 
northerly and easterly by the line of ship's channel to a point where the same bisects 
the said northeastern boundary-line." Section Two of the Act declared the corporate 
powers and duties of the town to be vested in a Board of Trustees to consist of five 
members, to be elected on the second Monday of May in each year, who were to hold 
office for the term of one year, provided that they should receive no compensation for 
their services; and Section Three stated what should be their official duties. On May 
I, 1852, the town charter was signed at Benicia, where the Legislature was in session, 
by Richard P. Hammond, Speaker of the Assembly; Samuel Purdy, President of the 
Senate, and approved on the same date by Governor John Bigler. 

The election was duly held, and A. W. Burrell, A. J. Moon, Edson Adams, Ame- 
dee Marier, and H. W. Carpentier chosen, the latter of whom, however, did not 
qualify; and on the 12th of May they held their first meeting in the office of Mr. Jus- 
tice Adams. At this time, only Messrs. Marier, Burrell, and Adams presented their 
certificates of election, who, on having the constitutional oath administered to them, 
took their seats under the temporary presidency of Mr. Marier, with Mr. Burrell 
acting as Secretary. The charter having been ordered transcribed on the minutes of 
proceedings, the Board passed Ordinance Number One, entitled "An Ordinance to fix 
the time and place of holding stated meetings of the Board of Trustees," and thus 
was the official machinery of Oakland set in motion. On the 17th Andrew Moon 
took his seat at the Board, Mr. Marier being elected permanently to fill the presiden- 
tial chair, and F. K. Shattuck to perform the duties of Town Clerk. Besides these 
transactions, the following Ordinances were passed: "An Ordinance declaring certain 
streets public highways," "An Ordinance concerning bonds of officers," and "An 
Ordinance for the disposal of the water-front belonging to the town of Oakland, and 
to provide for the construction of wharves." 

What the passage of this ordinance has been to Oakland will now be our duty 
to explain. 

On May 17, 1852, there was introduced by A. W. Burrell, one of the Board of 
Trustees, "An Ordinance for the disposal of the water-front belonging to the Town of 
Oakland, and to provide for the construction of wharves," and which was as follows: — 

The Board of Trustees of the To7un of Oakland do ordain as fotlo7vs : 

Section One. — The exclusive right and privilege of constructing wharves, piers, and docks at any points 
within the corporate limits of the town of Oakland, with the right of collecting wharfage and dockage at such 
rates as he may deem reasonable, is hereby granted and confirmed unto Horace W. Carpentier and his legal rep- 
resentatives, for the period of thirty-seven years; provided that the said grantee or his representatives shall within 
six months provide a wharf at the foot of Main Street, at least twenty feet wide, and extending towards deep 
water fifteen feet beyond the present wharf at the foot of said street; that he or they shall within one year construct 
a wharf at the foot of F street or G .Street, extending out to boat channel, and also within twenty months another 
wharf at the foot of D Street or E Street ; provided that two per cent, of th.; receipts for wharfage shall be pay- 
able to the town of Oakland. 

Section Two. — With a view the more speedily to carry out the intentions and purposes of the Act o! the 
Legislature, passed May 4, 1852, entitled An Act to incorporate the town of Oakland, and to provide for the 
construction of wharves thereat, in which certain property is granted and released to the town of Oakland, to 
facilitate the making of certain improvements ; now, therefore, in consideration of the premises herein containeil, 
and of a certain obligation made by said Horace W. Carpentier with the town of Oakland, in which he under- 




/-^^fe^ ..^^^^t^^^^^z?^^^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 489 

takes to build for said town a public school house, the water front of said town, that is to say, the land lying 
within the limits of the town of Oakland between high tide and ship channel, as described in said Act, together 
with all the right, title, and interest of the town of Oakland therein is hereby sold, granted, and released unto 
the said Horace W. Carpentier and to his assigns or legal representatives, with all the improvements, rights, and 
interests thereunto belonging. 

Section Three — The President of the Board of Trustees is hereby charged with the duty of executing 
on behalf of the town of Oakland a grant and conveyance in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance. 

A. Marier, President of the Board of Trustees. 
May 2^, i8s2. F. K. Shattuck, Clerk of the Board of Trustees. 

In consonance with the provisions of the third section of the above ordinance 
therefore, Carpentier obtained from Mr. Marier, the President of the Board of Trus- 
tees, the accompanying deed: — 

Know all men by these presents that I, Amfed^e Marier, President of the Board of Trustees of the town of 
Oakland, in the county of Contra Costa, and State of California, in conformity to the provisions of an ordinance 
passed by said Board of Trustees bearing date May 27, 1S52, and entitled "An ordinance for the disposal of 
the Water Front, belonging to the town of Oakland, and to Provide for the Construction of Wharves," and by 
virtue of the authority vested in me as said President of the Board of Trustees by the Constitution and Laws of 
the State of California, and especially by an Act of the Legislature approved May 4, 1852, and entitled "An Act 
to Incorporate the town of Oakland and to Provide for the construction of Wharves thereat," in my official 
capacity as said President, and in view of the public convenience, have granted unto Horace W. Carpentier and 
his legal representatives, the exclusive right and privilege of constructing wharves, docks, and piers, at any 
point or points within the now corporate limits of the town of Oakland, with the right of collecting wharfage 
and dockage for the period of thirty-seven years, and in consideration of the covenants hereinafter mentioned, 
and of five dollars paid to the town of Oakland, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, in obedience to the 
ordinance aforesaid, and by virtue of the authority as aforesaid vested in me as President of the Board of Truste^i; 
as aforesaid, now by virtue of said office I have sold, and by these presents do sell, transfer, grant, and release 
unto the said Horace W. Carpentier, and his legal representatives, all the right, title, and interest of the said 
town of Oakland, in and to the Water Front of said town, that is to say, all the land lying within the now 
corporate limits of the town of Oakland, and situated between high, tide and ship channel, as granted to said 
town by, and as described in the said above entitled Act, to have and to hold the same, provided ; That the 
said Carpentier or his legal representatives shall within six months provide a wharf at the foot of Main Street 
at least twenty feet wide and extending towards deep water fifteen feet beyond the present wharf at the foot of 
Main Street ; that he or they will, within one year, construct a wharf at the foot of F Street or G Street, extend- 
ing out to boat channel, and also, within eighteen months, another wharf at the foot of D Street or E Street, and 
provided also that two per cent, of the receipts for wharfage shall be payable to the town of Oakland. In 
witness whereof, I, the said President of the Board of Trustees of the town of Oakland, have hereunto set my 
hand and private seal at Oakland, May 31, 1S52. 

[Signed] A. Marier, 

President of the Board of Trustees^ 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of T. C. Oilman. 

State of California, 1 
County of San Francisco, j^^" 

On this first day of June, A. D. 1852, before me, R. S. Lammott, a Notary Public, duly commissioned and 
sworn in and for the county aforesaid, personally appeared Amfed^e Marier, to me known to be the person 
described in and who executed the foregoing conveyance, who acknowledged that he executed the same freely and 
voluntarily, and for the use and purposes therein expressed. 

Witness my hand and seal of office on the day and year last above written : 

[Signed] Robert S. Lammott. 

In consideration of the above grant, and of the premises, I, Horace W. Carpentier, do hereby covenant and 
32 



490 History of Alameda County, California. 

agree to carry out the objects and purposes of this grant and conveyance, to construct the wharves as herein 
provided for and to build for the town of Oakland a public school house agreeably to the terms of an obligation 
in reference thereto, made by me and bearing earlier date. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Oakland, May 31, 1S52. 

[Signed] H. \Y. Carpe.ntier. 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of T. G. Oilman. 

Filed for record the 12th day of January, 1853, II o'clock A. M. Thomas A. Brow.n, County Recorder. 
Recorded Vol. 2, page 32S, Recorder's office, Contra Costa County, 12th January, 1853. 

[Signed] Thomas A. Brown, County Recorder. 

It is to be a.ssumed that Carpentier lost no time in unnecessary delay, for on 
December 30, 1852, the ordinance entitled "An Ordinance to approve the wharf at 
the foot of Main Street, and to extend the time for constructing the other wharves," 
was introduced, and is as follows: 

The Board of Trustees of the Town of Oakland do Resolve and Ordain as Follows : 

Section One. — The Board of Trustees having examined the wharf built by Horace W. Carpentier at th» 
foot of Main Street in said town, and having had the matter under consideration, do find that the same is built 
and completed to their entire satisfaction, and according to the terms and within the time specified in an ordi. 
nance of the Board passed May 18, 1852, and entitled, "An Ordinance for the disposal of the Water Front belong- 
ing to the town of Oakland, and to provide for the construction of Wharves," and to accept the same. 

Section Two. — In consideration of the memorial of the said Carpentier to this Board, and of five dollars 
paid by him to the Treasurer of the said town, the time allowed to the said Carpentier in which to construct a 
wharf at the foot of F Street or G Street, extending out to boat channel, as required in said ordinance above 
recited, and in the dual conveyance to said Carpentier of the Water Front of said town, is hereby extended for 
the period of twelve months from the expiration of the time limited and expressed in said Ordinance and Convey- 
ance, and the time for building a wharf at the foot of D or E Streets is hereby extended in like manner for the 
term of eight months from its expiration. 

The ordinance was passed Januarj' i, 1853. 

Mr. Carpentier at once entered upon his newly acquired possessions, and in 
accordance with the ordinance and its provisions, on the 30th December made a 
report respecting wharfage, accompanied by an affidavit that the due percentage of 
wharfage and dockage had been paid to the town of Oakland, up to date. On July 
12, 1853, he reports, in further contemplation of what was required from him, that " I 
have built a substantial, elegant, and commodious school house for said town, which is 
now completed and ready for delivery. In the plan and construction of the building 
I have intended to go beyond rather than to fall short of the obligation of my con- 
tract. I would also state for the official information of the Board that a free sc/ioo/ is 
at present maintained at my expense in the building above referred to, which, I am 
happy to inform you, is well attended and promises to be the beginning of an impor- 
tant system of free schools. I herewith transmit to you a conveyance of the school 
house together with a deed for the lots upon which it is erected; I trust that the 
building will meet your approval, and that the additional present of the lots will prove 
acceptable to your Honorable Body." This "substantial, elegant, and commodious" 
building stood near the corner of Fourth and Clay Streets, but would hardly be 
recognized from the foregoing description. On the 26th August Mr. Carpentier 
addressed the following communication to the Board of Trustees which speaks for 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 491 

itself: "In pursuance of my contract with the town of Oakland in accepting the con- 
veyance of its water front, I have already expended about twenty thousand dollars in 
wharves, besides those referred to in said contract, at a very heavy expense. Believ- 
ing that the wharfage will be the source of but little profit to myself, and that exemp- 
tion from wharfage might be pleasing to some who seem to regard the wharves as at 
present conducted as a monopoly to be complained of, I propose to abandon the 
collection of wharfage, provided, the Board of Trustees will undertake perpetually to 
keep all the wharves in good order and repair. As some of my plans may be altered 
by your decision and as those plans would suffer from delay unless this proposal be 
accepted at the next meeting of the Board, I shall consider it as withdrawn and 
void." These propositions were, however, declined on the following day, but an 
ordinance was passed at the same time, entitled, " An Ordinance concerning Wharves 
and Water Front," whereby, on the completion of the wharf at the foot of Main Street 
(Broadway), and satisfactory arrangements being made in respect to the others — 
that is the handing over of the school house, etc. — the water front of the town of 
Oakland would be granted to Carpentier " in fee simple forever." 

It was now felt by the citizens of Oakland that the Board of Trustees had over- 
stepped the bounds of their legitimate authority, that it was not in their power to sell, 
grant, or release unto any individual, for any consideration, what had been ceded to 
them in trust for the benefit of the people; therefore with one consent they rose in 
their majesty and demanded from the Board of Trustees that legal proceedings should 
be instituted forthwith to recover the water front, which belonged to them. This 
petition is not among the city records, but was presented September lo, 1853, and on 
the 19th the committee to whom the matter was referred made a report in writing, 
recommending that the prayer be not granted, a suggestion which was unanimously 
adopted on the motion of Trustee Edson Adams. 

And now the controversy assumes another phase. Immediately after the sign- 
ing of the deed which conveyed the water front to him, Carpentier places himself in 
communication with his niece in New York, Harriet N. Carpentier, and from her 
receives an absolute power of attorney " to purchase, rent, receive, and hold property, 
real or personal" in the State of California, "and to sell, lease, grant, assign, and 
convey any and all property, either which I now hold or which I may hereafter 
acquire in said State, using his entire discretion in the premises," under date June 14, 
1852. Then, on January 18, 1853, he sells one-fourth undivided interest of the water 
front to Edward R. Carpentier, who was at the time Commissioner of Deeds for the 
State of California and residing in New York, for the sum of two thousand eight 
hundred and fifty dollars, together with an equal one-fourth of all rights, titles, and 
claims either present or prospective; and, on August 2, 1854, while Mayor of the 
city of Oakland (to which office he had been elected in the month of April of that 
year), he disposes of the remaining three-fourths to Harriet N. Carpentier, for the sum 
of sixty thousand dollars. We next find, under date April 4, 1855, Harriet N. 
Carpentier purchasing from Edward R. Carpentier all the " right, title, claim, and 
interest in and to the water front of the city of Oakland, in the county of Alameda, 
State aforesaid, that is to say, all the lands or land and water lying within the limits 
of said city between high-tide mark and ships' channel, the same being the one 



492 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

undivided one-fourth part of the premises herein before described " for the sum of 
twelve thousand dollars; and on August i6, 1855, John B. Watson sells the entire 
water front property to Harriet i\. Carpentier for the sum of six thousand dollars- 
How it ever passed into the hands of Mr. Watson, however, is a matter of the pro- 
foundest mystery; no official records divulge the secret, neither are we in a position 
to state why these inscrutable transfers should have taken place, nor is It our duty to 
hazard conjecture on the subject. 

But let us have a glance at what was transpiring on the spot. On December 5, 
1853, Horace W. and Edward R. Carpentier executed a" lease to Edson Adams and 
Andrew Moon, "for the period of twenty \-ears, an equal, undivided two-third interest" 
in and to the following described premises in the town of Oakland, count)' of Ala- 
meda, California, the same being a beach and water lot, bounded as follows: Com- 
mencing at a point in the easterly line of Broadway, protracted four hundred and 
twenty feet souther!}- from the southern line of First Street; thence running easterly 
on a line parallel witlx First Street one hundred and five feet; thence running northerly 
on a line parallel with Broadway fifty feet; thence running westerly on a line paral- 
lel with First Street one hundred and five feet to the easterly line of Broadway con- 
tinued; thence southerly along said line fifty feet to the place of beginning, being the 
same lot on which the store-house erected by the said parties is now standing," for the 
the sum of two thousand dollars. It is in this transaction that either Edson Adams 
or Andrew Moon appear in the roll of lessees, although it was pretty generally acknowl- 
edged that the former claimed one-half of the entire property, and, indeed, did event- 
ually obtain his share by forcible measures, subsequently selling it to the Central 
Pacific Railroad Company for a large sum. 

We last left the citizens of Oakland entertaining a dim idea that all was not as 
it should be in regard to the transfer of the water front to Horace W. Carpentier, and 
that the Board of Trustees had declined to entertain their petition that steps should 
be taken to recover them. For this and several other cogent reasons a riot was 
apprehended; therefore, on October 22, 1S53, it was ordered that "circumstances 
appearing to endanger the destruction b)' riot of the town records, the clerk is author- 
ized to remove them to a place of safety." This was done, a fact which may account 
for the non-appearance of several very valuable documents. That the exasperated 
mob took their revenge upon the property of Carpentier is, however, to be gleaned 
from the statement of the records, as on November 19th of the same year we find 
that the President laid before the Board of .Trustees a certified copy of a summons 
and complaint in the case of Horace W. Carpentier versus The Town of Oakland, in a 
suit for four thousand five hundred dollars, damages to the plaintiff's property from 
a mob or riotous assemblage, to which, on motion of Mr. Moo 1, the President, an 
answer was directed to be filed. This was ordered to be transferred, by consent, from 
the District Court of Alameda County to the Superior Court of the city of San 
Francisco on Januar\- 18, 1854, and on the I ith February H. P. Watkins was employed 
as counsel to defend the cause, but on February i8th an ordinance was passed com- 
promising the suit. 

And now followed the incorporation of the city of Oakland on March 25, 1854, 
and in accordance with the charter an election was dul)- held, and Horace W. Car- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 493 

pentier receiving one hundred and ninety-two votes was chosen the first Mayor, who, 
on April 29th, forwarded to the City Council his first message, an able and exhaust- 
ive document. But soon the air became oppressive, for trouble commenced to break 
through the clouds; the councilmen elected were decidedly antagonistic to Mr. Car- 
pentier, and to his claims upon the water front. Besides, the Board of Trustees dis- 
played much unwillingness to transfer the papers and public moneys in their charge to 
the newly-elected City Council, although they subsequently did so in a very confused 
and incomplete condition, that is, as regards the papers, for the treasury had been 
attached in the hands of the Marshal by Colonel John C. Hays, and legal process was 
necess ry to release it. The storm soon burst. On August 5, 1854, at the meeting 
of the City Council, Alderman A. D. Eames presented Ordinance No. 34, entitled, 
"An Ordinance to provide for the construction and maintenance of a Wharf in the 
city of Oakland," and which reads as follows; — 

Section One. — For the purpose of facilitating the comaierce of said city and the travel to and from the 
same, there shall be and there is hereby established a street and wharf from a point on the Encinal in the southerly 
part of the city limits (to be selected and designated as hereinafter provided) to the nearest deep water in a westerly 
direction from said point and within the city limits, on the following conditions, viz. ; 

Section Two. — There is hereby granted to the person or persons who shall become the best bidder for the 
same under the following conditions — the right and franchise of building a wharf and collecting the wharfage 
thereon, on a wharf to be constructed at said point and to said deep water, for the term of fifty years. 

Section Three. — The said grantee or grantees shall also have the right to take, use, possess, and enjoy 
for said term of years a lot, strip, or parcel of land and water one hundred yards in width along the line of said 
wharf from the beach to the boundary line of the city. 

Section Four. — Said grantee or grantees shall have the right to form an association and stock company 
for the construction of said wharf, or to make the same into stock of convenient shares. 

Section Five. — The said right of franchise for the construction and maintenance of said wharf, together 
with the use of the land for the same, shall be offered at public auction as required by the charter of said city, and 
the person or persons responsible for the same, who will offer the largest percentage on the business of said wharf, 
shall be declared the best bidder, and to him and them shall be awarded the said right, title, and franchise for the 
term aforesaid. 

Section Six. — It shall be the duty of the Council to enter into a written covenant with the said contractor 
and grantee, expressing the foregoing contract and conveying such franchise, and the use of said land in appro- 
priate language. 

Section Seven. — There is hereby granted to said grantee or grantees, the exclusive right to regulate the 
use, terms of landing, and rates of wharfage of said wharf, land and water, to the extent above expressed, providing 
they don't exceed the rates of wharfage at present charged in Oakland. 

Section Eight. — The said wharf, fit for use, shall be constructed within one year from the execution of 
the covenant aforesaid. 

Section Nine. — H. P. Watkins, S. B. McKee, and William Hillegass are hereby appointed commis- 
sioners to locate said wharf and lands and to advertise and conduct the sale of the same, and to make a report 
thereof to the Council when such sale shall have been concluded. 

Section Ten. — The grantee or grantees shall not hold the city responsible for any damages accruing to 
them from such grant as is made under this ordinance. But nothing herein contained shall be construed into any 
acknowledgment on the part of the city of the right of ownership of others to any part of the water front of the 
city e.\cept herein provided. 

The ordinance was passed at the regular meeting of the Council held August 6, 
1854, and on the 19th four separate petitions, signed in all by one hundred and seventy 
citizens, were received in favor of building the wharf on the southwestern corner of 
the Encinal. At the same session, August 19th, the ordinance above mentioned 
having previously been sent to Mayor Carpentier for his signature and approval. 



494 History of Alameda County, California. 

was returned to the Council with the following message, which, being in a measure his 
views on his tenure of the city water front, we produce in extenso: — 

"To THE Common Council: — A bill for an ordinance entitled 'An Ordinance 
to provide for the construction and maintenance of a wharf in the city of Oakland, 
has been presented to me and is herewith returned without my approval. 

"My objections to the ordinance go both to its form and its substance: to its form 
because it is careless and illegal in its terms, and contains no provisions of safeguard 
to the city: to its substance, because, first, it is calculated to involve the city in long 
and costly litigation, and exposes her to ruinous losses by way of awarded damages, 
and, secondly, because it is in open violation of private rights and in contempt of that 
good faith which should mark the transactions of corporations as well as of individuals. 

" In Section First of this ordinance the corporation, by an act of positive and 
arbitrary legislation, lays and establishes a wharf upon private propert}' without the con- 
sent of the owner thereof and, in Section Second, it sells the right and franchise of build- 
ing the same and of collecting wharfage thereon. If this ordinance proposed merely 
to part with the right and interest of the city, unless that right and interest were 
clearly ascertained and definite, it would still be an act of sufficient gravity and 
importance. In this case, however, the city undertakes to grant and convey real 
property already granted and regranted to others, and to sell certain positive, specific 
and substantive rights and franchises not owned by the city, under the terms and 
obligations of a contract of bargain and sale, which she is bound by every rule of 
law to make good and defend. 

" ' Right and Franchise ' is a term of definite legal signification, and the sale of a 
right and franchise is in contemplation of law a declaration of ownership on the part 
of the granter, and is equivalent to a special warranty from the consequence of which 
nothing short of a release in clear and explicit language can relieve the grantor. In 
such covenants it is the rule of law to interpret them most strongly against the 
grantor. Nothing is taken in his favor by implication or intendment. 

" Section Four provides for the formation of a private corporation. Corporations 
are the creatures of sovereign power, and a mere municipality cannot, as such, pro- 
vide for their establishment. The charter of Oakland has not delegated to the City 
Council the exercise of any such extraordinary power, and nothing can legally be 
done under the charter but what is therein specially authorized, or is necessarily inci- 
dent thereto. Besides, the Constitution has imposed certain restrictions and limita- 
tions to the power of the Legislature to create corporations and joint-stock compa- 
nies which the City Council in this proposed creation have entirely neglected. 

" Section Five provides for selling the right of franchise for the construction and 
maintenance of the wharf and the use of certain lands to the person who will offer 
the largest percentage on the business of the wharf, who is to be declared the ' best 
bidder.' This is an evasion of the section of the charter, which provides that sales 
or leases shall be to the the liigliest bidaer. It authorizes the sale of lands and fran- 
chises with a limitation in effect that none shall bid beyond a certain price, whilst it 
leaves it cntirel}' with the grantee to determine whether the cit\' shall ever receive a 
farthing by giving him full power to fi.x the rates of wharfage and terms of landing. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 495 

Such a sale does not allow the competition which the Legislature intended, and is not 
the kind of -sale to the highest bidder which is contemplated in the charter. 

" Section Six provides that the Council shall enter into a covenant, etc., with the 
grantee. This the Council cannot properly do. The Mayor is the executive officer 
of the corporation, and the charter provides that he shall sign all contracts on behalf 
of the city. Experience has generally shown that the public interest is best sub- 
served by leaving the responsibility of public acts where the law has placed it, and 
nothing has occurred to warrant the inference that the present executive will hesitate 
to perform any duty which may devolve upon him. The City Council are the mere 
creatures of the charter, and they cannot provide a new way of performing an act or 
discharging a duty when the charter has directed that it shall be done in a specified 
manner. 

" Section Eight provides that the wharf ' fit for use ' shall be constructed within one 
year. Here there is no guarantee that a suitable wharf will ever be constructed. It is 
not provided that it shall be of a certain length, width, or strength, that it shall be 
built after one or another plan, or that it shall be subject to the approval of the city, 
or equal to the demands of public convenience. ' A wharf fit for use ' is the language 
of the ordinance. One ten feet wide and five yards in length answers this descrip- 
tion. There are no provisions for keeping the wharf in repair, nor is even the build- 
ing of it ' fit for use ' made a condition precedent to the grant. There are no condi- 
tions precedent or of avoidance or forfeiture. 

" The grant is in terms positive, final, and absolute, and a total and willful failure 
on the part of the grantee to carry out any of the objects or intentions of the ordi- 
nance so far from working a forfeiture of the lands and franchise conveyed would not 
even afford sufficient grounds for a suit to annul the grant. 

" So bald is the whole thing of any guarantees of remuneration to the city, or of 
performance on the part of the grantee as to induce the belief that the ordinance was 
artfully drawn and imposed upon the City Council under specious pretexts by some 
designing person whose only object is to involve the city in an expensive litigation 
with some of her own citizens under the hope of gaining large advantage from the 
losses of others by speculating in a grant so promising in its pretensions and which 
imposes no real obligations. 

" There are unfortunately persons in every community not particularly distin- 
guished for enterprise or attention to their own business, who are always eager to 
agitate and embroil under the hope that out of confusion there will come spoils. 

" The proviso in Section Ten is adroitly worded and amounts to nothing as a 
security to the city. It provides that the ' grantee or grantees shall not hold the city 
responsible for any damages accruing to them from such grant as is made under this 
ordinance.' This neither relieves the city from the legal consequences of 2. failure of 
the title and franchise which it undertakes to grant, nor does it save her from the pay- 
ment of such damages and costs of litigation as she would certainly incur by thus 
arbitrarily disposing of the private property and vested rights of others. 

" And in this connection I ask your candid consideration of the fact that the 
franchise of wharfage and the land proposed to be granted do not belong to the city 
to grant or control. 



496 History of Ala.mi':da County, California. 

" The land mentioned is a part of the ' water front of Oakland,' which was ceded 
by the State to the town in the first Act of Incorporation passed May 4, 1852, for the 
purpose of enabling the town to construct 'wharves and other improvements,' for 
which purpose the Act authorized the Trustees of the town to dispose of tlic land so 
granted. 

"At that time the town had no public improvements nor the means of construct- 
ing them. There were but few inhabitants and but little taxable property in the city. 
It became then a matter of the first importance and anxiety in the minds of those 
who wished to see the young town thrive and prosper that suitable wharves should be 
built as contemplated by the Legislature, and that common schools should be at once 
.established. But how were these desirable and necessary objects to be accomplished? 

" The town had received the water front from the State for the very purpose, and 
for that purpose was it disposed of by the Board of Trustees. They sold and con- 
veyed the land, including that mentioned in the bill herewith returned to you to one 
of her citizens under ample guarantee for the faithful performance of the contract 
which he entered into to construct three wharves and a school house. And in con- 
sideration of a percentage upon the income of the wharves, and the care and repairs 
of the same, and in consideration of the premises, the exclusive right and franchise 
of wharfage was granted for a term of \-ears to the contractor, and has passed from 
him into the hands of other citizens. 

"This grant was made under an ordinance passed May 27, 1852, to which )-our 
attention is respectfully directed. The grantee at once constructed at a large expense 
the substantial wharf at the foot of Broadway, which was duly approved b)' ordinance 
passed December 30, 1852. He also built and delivered to the town the commodious 
school house now in use on the corner of Clay and Fourth Streets, and subsequently 
erected the wharf at the foot of Webster Street, both of which were approved and 
accepted, and the grant reaffirmed in all of its provisions by ordinance passed August 
27, 1853, to which you are also referred. The third wharf has also recently been 
built at the foot of E, now Washington, Street, in final completion on the part of the 
grantee with the terms and conditions of the contract, and the percentages have been 
duly paid over from time to time and received by the city. 

"These are public acts and matters of record in the office of the City Clerk and 
of the Recorder of Alameda County, and are existing legal facts not depending upon 
hearsay nor the treacherous memories of men. 

"A report of a Select Committee of the late Board of Trustees on this subject 
was made in October, 1853, a copy of which is hereunto annexed as exhibiting some 
of the facts referred to more fully than I have deemed it necessar}- in this communi- 
cation. 

"To suppose that the grantee would volunteer these costly impro\-ements with 
no object but to invest his private fortune for the common benefit of the public would 
be doing violence to common sense and common experience. And for the city to 
endeavor to retake, or by her consent to permit others to appropriate, the legitimate 
consideration for those public benefits would be equal violence to common justice and 
to vested legal rights. Corporations are as much bound to keep faith as individuals, 
and a disregard of this principle will prove disastrous to the credit and finances of 
any city. 




<J^/J ^ (yOa^tc^ 






Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 497 

"I am enabled to state for the information of the City Council that the present 
owners and holders of the water front and of the franchise connected therewith have 
expended in this behalf a very large sum, say one hundred thousand dollars, and I 
am assured they will not submit to any interference with their rights, but will demand 
and recover from the city full compensation for any losses, costs, or expenses which 
they may sustain by reason of her illegal acts. 

"The conveyance of the water front was a contract binding upon the town and 
its successor and successors in interest. The consideration in this contract was on one 
side the percentage payable to the city and the capital invested for her benefit; on 
the other side the use and enjoyment of the lands and franchise purchased and con- 
veyed and of the advantages naturally flowing therefrom. On the faith of this con- 
tract large sums have been expended and much time and labor employed, and any 
acts on the part of the city, whether directly or constructively, in violation of this con- 
tract is in fraud of private rights and will meet with no favor from any Court of 
Justice. 

"If the city has cause of complaint, or fancies that she has cause, she should 
resort to the Courts, which are open to all. But whilst her deeds of conveyance 
remain of record, and the contracts which bind her conscience are unimpeached, she 
cannot, with any regard to morality or law, make the grant contemplated by the pro- 
posed ordinance. 

" The Legislature has wisely declared it to be a felony, punishable by heavy 
penalty, for a person who has once conveyed lands knowingly shall ab initio null and 
void (sic). If in this case the proposed regrant would not be a criminal offense it is 
simply because corporations are not in the same manner as individuals amenable to 
penitentiary punishments, but at least the moral force of such a statute should deter 
public officers from a willful infraction of the spirit of the law. 

"The question of the diversion of travel and business from the neighborhood of 
the present landing, and the consequent injury to those who have made investments 
there, I do not propose now to discuss. The injustice and illegality of the measure 
and the amount of litigation and expense which would fall so heavily upon our young 
city if it were accomplished, and the injury which would result to her from the further 
discredit thrown upon her titles, is suflficient to point out the path of my duty, and I 
therefore withhold my approval of the bill and return it for your reconsideration. 

"Mayors Office, Augiisi 14, 1854.. H. W. Carpentier." 

The Council, however, were not to be intimidated; they therefore referred the 
ordinance to a Special Committee, consisting of Messrs. Eames, Blake, and Kelsey, 
who were empowered to take the advice of counsel in San Francisco on the subject. 
Having consulted the law firm of Crittenden & Ingo, these gentlemen gave their 
opinion — this document is nowhere to be found — which it is presumable was favora- 
ble to the city, for, at the meeting of the Council, held September 1 3th, it was moved 
by Alderman Marier that the ordinance providing for the maintenance and construc- 
tion of a wharf be taken up, and carried. This was done notwithstanding the veto 
of the Mayor, by the following vote: Ayes — Aldermen Eames, Gallagher, Marier, 
and Kelsey. Noes — ^Alderman Josselyn. On the 23d September the following com- 



498 HisTOKV OF Alameda Countv, California. 

municatiDii, with its inclosure (no trace of which is to be found in the records), was 
received and referred to the Committee on Public Buildings: — 

"Mayor's Office, September 14, 1854. 

"To THE Common Council : — Herewith is transmitted to you a copy of a com- 
munication from the owners of the water front concerning the wharf lately con- 
structed at the foot of Washington Street, formerly E Street, in this city. 

"I have carefully examined said wharf and I find it to have been well and sub- 
stantially built from the shore to deep water, a distance of five hundred feet, accord- 
ing to the terms and within the time specified in the contracts providing for its con- 
struction, and I have accepted it on behalf of the city and in full and final satisfac- 
tion and discharge of the terms and conditions of the ordinances, grants, and con- 
tracts for the sale, disposal, and conveyance of the water front of the town of Oak- 
land. Horace W. Carpentier, Mayor." 

It is curious to note the fact that Mr. Carpentier in this communication arrogated 
untohimself a prerogative that no single member of a corporation possesses, but which 
is usually delegated to a committee previous to final acceptance, namely, that of 
accepting on behalf of a city work in which the individual may be personally inter- 
ested, as in this case, and which he had performed himself 

On October 7, 1854, we find that a communication from the Attorney-General, 
having reference to the water front, was presented by Alderman Josselyn, and ordered 
placed on file, but this important document has also vanished from the records, as 
has the resolution proposed by Mr. Marier, and passed on the 21st of the same 
month, whereby the Marshal was instructed to erase from the Assessment Books the 
impost on the water front. At this juncture the tables were completely turned, and the 
Carpentier faction were elated, but what suasion was brought to bear upon the Coun- 
cil so that they should pass the ordinance to repeal "An Ordinance to provide for the 
construction and maintenance of a wharf in the city of Oakland," which had been 
passed finally on the previous 15th of September, may never transpire, suffice it to 
say that his Honor the Maj'or won the day and and gave his approval to it (it was 
passed December 9, 1854) on December 11, 1854. 

As a proof of the navigability of the San Antonio Creek, and the consequent 
incalculable value of the water front to the city, it may be here mentioned that on 
January 10, 1855, a resolution to advertise for proposals to remove the bar at the 
mouth of that stream to admit of free passage was adopted; but let us not antici- 
pate, this subject will be especially treated elsewhere. 

At a special meeting of the City Council, held January 24, 1855, the President 
gave official information that an outrage had been perpetrated on the previous even- 
ing which took the shape of an attempt to destroy or abstract the whole or a portion 
of the records of the city. Mayhap it was in the confusion consequent upon 
this violent proceeding that the several important documents mentioned were lost, 
while it is a remarkable coincidence that nearly all of the missing papers refer to this 
question of the water front. A reward of a thousand dollars was offered for the 
apprehension and conviction of the perpetrators, but whether they were ever arrested 
is a matter clothed in the profoundest mystery. 



Oakland Township — Citv of Oakland. 499 

At the election of March S, 1855, Charles Campbell succeeded Mr. Carpentier as 
Mayor, and a new Council was chosen, all of whom held their offices intact until the 28th 
April, when Messrs. Gallagher and Williams resigning, on the 29th May Messrs. E. 
Gibbons and Robert Worthington were elected in their stead. 

On May i6th, in accordance with the report of a committee appointed to 
acquaint the Council in regard to certain moneys paid in by Horace W. Carpentier, 
the following resolution was passed: — ^ 

Resolved^ That the sum of twenty dollars and sixteen cents for wharf percentage, and fifty dollars for ferry 
money reported by the Treasurer (May 2d) as being received by him from H. W. Carpentier be rejected by the 
city and not received by them, as not being money belonging to the city. 

Thus showing that in the opinion of the then Council the arrangement entered 
into with Carpentier was illegal. 

There now entered into the breasts of the City Fathers an evident desire to "put 
their house in order," and at once strike at the root of the evil, for on June 6, 1S55, 
Alderman Gibbons presented the ordinance entitled "An Ordinance repealing an ordi- 
nance entitled 'An Ordinance concerning Wharves,' " passed October 29, 1853, which 
abrogated all concessions made in regard to the water front. It was duly approved by 
Mayor Campbell, became law, and there is no record extant to show that it was ever 
cancelled by official decree. The next move of the Council, which seemed bent upon 
giving a death-blow to monopolies, was directed against an ordinance passed in April, 
1853, granting to Edward R. Carpentier, the brother of the ex-Mayor, the exclusive 
right of ferry privileges between Oakland and San Francisco. The initial step in the 
matter was taken by Alderman Williams, who offered the following resolution : — 

In the Council, of the City of Oakland, April 25, 1855. 
To THE Honorable, the Legislature of the State of California: The Mayor and Council of the 
city of Oakland, in obedience to what they consider the popular wish in said city, respectfully but strongly and earnestly 
remonstrate against the passage of any law granting to any person or persons, or body, a monopoly of ferry 
privileges, between this city and the city of San Francisco. 

The resolution was duly carried. On June 6th Alderman Gibbons introduced 
an ordinance in reference to ferry laws, which, having passed its second reading, was 
referred to the Committee on Ordinances, who, under date June 14, 1855, made 
the subjoined report: 

The Committee to whom was referred the ordinance for the repeal of an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance 
to create a Public Ferry between the town of Oakland and the city of San Francisco, and to provide for the 
keeping up and running of the same," respectfully report: The ordinance which it is proposed to repeal was 
passed by the Board of Trustees of the town of Oakland, on March 5, 1855.* It authorizes and directs the 
conveyance to E. R. Carpentier, his heirs, agents, or assigns of exclusive ferry privileges "between Oakland and 
San Francisco, or between the said town or any other place," for the term of twenty years, together with all the 
ferry rights, privileges, and franchises which now are or may hereafter be held or owned by the town of Oakland. 

The ordinance directing this conveyance to Mr. Carpentier is but one of similar ordinances by which the 
town of Oakland has been unlawfully despoiled of her property, divested of her rights, and retarded in her pros- 
perity. Prior to the passage of this ordinance, the trustees of the town granted to the brother of said Carpentier 
all the water front of the town extending to ship channel in the bay of San Francisco, together with the exclu- 
sive right of constructing wharves and collecting wharfage (without limit or restriction), for thirty-seven years. A 
mere nominal percentage, without guarantee or security to the town, and amounting, in the course of two or three 
years to about one hundred dollars, is the only consideration (with the exception of a small frame school house for 
which no deed can be found) profl'ered to the town for the aforesaid grants. As trifling as this consideration is, 
the grantee in the latter case applied to the Board of Trustees, and obtained the passage of an ordinance by which 

* This date should be 1853. 



500 .Hlstdry of Alameda County, California. 

the ti)\Mi assumes all taxes which might be levied upon any «harf or wharves which he had constructed or might 
hereafter construct. This wgukl render the city liable for the State and County taxes upon said wharves, which, 
at a moderate estimate, would amount in one year to more than the aforesaid has amounted to in two years; thus 
compelling the city to pay a premium to the grantees for taking all the property, ferry rights, privileges, and fran- 
chises which the town of Oakland had, present or prospective, to give away. Under this arrangement the people 
of the town are plundered of their property, and then ta,\ed to pay the taxes of those who have plundered them, 
and to support a monopoly which adds its exactions to the measure of iniquity thus imposed upon the community. 

As matters now stand, tw-o individuals claim exclusive and entire control oier the only outlet through which 
the farmer can gain access to the market, or the merchant ttansport his goods. If the grants to these two individ- 
uals be valid, they can charge whatever rates of freight and wharfage they may choose to exact, and if the article 
transported should be thus taxed to douljle its value, the owner thereof could have no redress. A monopoly which 
so completely subjects a whole community to the caprice of an individual, cannot stand the test of the law. In 
the case before us, your committee would suggest that the ordinance which it is proposed to repeal is of itself null 
and void. To suppose that the town of Oakland has any right to establish such a ferry across the bay of San 
Francisco, is about equivalent to supposing that she has a right to grant exclusive ferry privileges to the Sandwich 
Islands. But, however absurd the ordinance in question may be, the impression ])revails to some extent that so 
long as 'said ordinance stands unrepealed, so long does the city of Oakland indorse the nefarious contract of a 
Board of Trustees who administered the town government for the especial benefit of two or three individuals, and 
to the detriment of the community at large. That this impression may be removed, and that any mere shadow of 
right on which the present ferry monopoly pretends to exist may be dissipated, and that the public may know that 
the door is open for unlimited competition, your committee report back the ordinance and recommend its passage, 
with an amendment declaring any contract made under or by virtue of said ordinance null and void. 

E. GlHHONS, 

Oakland, June /y, /.5j_j. L. JOHNSO.N. 



HONS, 1 „ ... 

NSO.N. I Comnuttcc. 



No time was lost. At the same meeting the committee introduced an ordinance 
entitled "An Ordinance Repealing an Ordinance entitled 'An Ordinance to create a 
Public Ferry between the Town of Oakland and the City of San Francisco, and to 
provide for and the keeping up and running the same.' " This ordinance, which was 
passed on June 14, 1855, and approved by Mayor Campbell on the following day, 
reads: — 
The Council of the City ok Oakl.\nd do Ord.m.n .\s follows : 

Section One. — The ordinance entitled "An Ordinance to create a Public Ferry between the town of Oak- 
land and the City of San Francisco, and to provide for the keeping up and lunning the same," passed by the 
Board of Trustees of the town of Oakland, March 5, 1853, is hereby repealed. 

Section Two. — Any contract made, or purporting to have been made, under or l»y virtue of said ordi- 
nance, is hereby declared null and void. 

Thus was war declared against monopolies and Carpentier's Water-front claim. 
To support their action in repealing the ordinance concerning wharves on August 8, 
1855, the Committee on Streets and Buildings was authorized to advertise for pro- 
posals to build a wharf at the foot of Bay Street, opened August i, 1855. The jetty 
to be not less than eight hundred and fifty yards long, with a T at the end one hun- 
dred feet in length and fifty feet broad. This wharf was ne\tr completed; its 
remains may be seen in a few piles at Oakland Point, on the north of the railroad 
mole. 

The passage of the Ferrj- ordinance was the cause of the establishment of a ferry 
by the late Hon. James B. Larue, of Brooklyn, and which led to the famous suit of 
Minturn versus Larue, in which the following most interesting and \aluablc affidavits 
of Doctor Gibbons and A. Marier, which are here produced, were taken in evidence: 

" Edward Gibbons, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he is a resident of 
the city of Oakland, in the County of Alameda, State of California, and has resided in 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 501 

Oakland since the year 1851 ; that he was residing in Oakland at the time of the pas- 
sage of the Act to incorporate the town of Oakland, to wit: on the 4th day of May, 
1852, and had been residing there for several months previous to that date; that so 
far as he knows or is informed, there was no petition or request of the people of that 
place (which was then, and had been previously, known by the name of Contra Costa 
and never by the name of Oakland) to the I^egislature for the incorporation of said 
town, nor was the subject of its incorporation previously discussed among the people, 
nor the intention to incorporate it known to them; that there has been no public 
meeting in regard to any intended incorporation of said town, and that the population 
of the place did not exceed seventy or eighty persons; that when the news reached 
the people of the incorporation of the town of Oakland by said Act of the Legisla- 
ture, it was received by them with great surprise; that it was afterwards ascertained, 
as deponent was informed and believes, that the town had been so incorporated at the 
instigation and through the agency of Horace W. Carpentier. 

" That a few days after the passage of said Act of Incorporation, to wit: on the 
lOth day of May, 1852, an election for Trustees and other Town officers was held, and 
the following persons were elected Trustees, viz.: Amedee Marier, A. W. Burrell, A. 
Moon, E. Adams, and the said Horace W. Carpentier; that a day or two before the 
said election, the said Carpentier showed to deponent a ticket containing the names 
of persons to be voted for at the election, on which were the names of the five Trus- 
tees above named and who were afterwards elected; that at the time the said Horace 
W. Carpentier, A. Moon, and E. Adams were partners, and as such dealing in town 
lots, and deponent advised the said Carpentier to strike off from the ticket the name 
of A. Moon or E. Adams, for the reason that it was not right that three partners 
should be on the Board of Trustees, but he refused to do so, and the three were elected; 
that the said Horace VV. Carpentier never qualified or took his seat as a member of 
the Board of Trustees, and no election was ordered or held to fill the place to which 
he had been elected, but until the next annual election the four remaining Trustees 
composed the Board. 

" And deponent says that afterwards, to wit: about the i8th day of May, 1852, 
he, deponent, heard of the passage, by siid Board of Trustees, of an ordinance giving 
the water front of the town to the said Carpentier, and immediately went to said 
Carpentier and inquired of him the nature of it; that said Carpentier in reply said 
that it was to secure the water front to the town; that there was some talk of a called 
session of the Legislature, and if there should be a called session of the Legislature 
the Act incorporating the town of Oakland would be repealed, and he did not want 
to see the town deprived of so munificent an endowment; moreover, that it would 
enable settlers to make better terms with the Spanish claimants, in case the Spanish 
grant were confirmed; that he would rather deponent would take it, or any other 
responsible person, than hold it himself; that it was a mere conveyance in trust for the 
safe-keeping of the property, and that he would give bonds, if necessary, to restore it 
to the town; and added, that there was no necessity for the people knowing anything 
about the transaction; that the said Carpentier requested deponent to call upon the 
said Marier, who was President of the Board, and say to him that he (Carpentier) 
would give bonds to restore the property to the town, and to repeat to the said Marier 



502 History of Alameda County, California. 



what he (Carpentier) had told this deponent, which request deponent compUcd with. 

" Deponent further says that on the night of the same day, to wit, the i8th day 
of May, and after the conversation had as aforesaid, deponent was present at a ineet- 
ing of the Board of Trustees, the said Carpentier was present, and stated publicly to 
the Board in the hearing of all present, that as some dissatisfaction had been expressed 
in relation to that ordinance, he would alter it to a term of years, or to a limited time, 
or words to that effect; that the words ' thirty-seven years,' or the words 'for the period 
of thirty-seven years ' were then inserted by the said Carpentier (the ordinance having 
been reconsidered) as deponent supposed, and from the declarations of said Carpen- 
tier, so as to limit the estate or interest in the water front of the town to be vested in 
said Carpentier, to the period of thirty-seven years, or such shorter period as the 
authorities of the town might at any time thereafter determine, and it was not until 
after the lapse of six or eight months that deponent discovered that the said words 
had been so inserted as only to apply to the right to collect wharfage and dockage, 
and not to the grant of the water front; that the said ordinance appeared to be in the 
handwriting of said Carpentier, who, in the presence of the Board, himself inserted 
the said words. The amendment was adopted and the ordinance passed, and depo- 
nent says that the ordinance now on file amongst the papers in the office of the Clerk 
of the city is not the same paper which was then before the Board; that other amend- 
ments beside the one mentioned as aforesaid were made by the Board, as the journal of 
the Board will show; that any such amendments as the one suggested aforesaid by the 
said Carpentier, were either proposed to or adopted by the Board, nor does said 
journal contain any notice whatever of the same; that the ordinance now on file in 
the office of the Clerk of the city appears to be in the handwriting of the said Car- 
pentier; that it contains no interlineations or erasures, and cannot therefore be the 
ordinance that was passed by the Board at the said meeting; that only three members 
of the Board were present at that meeting, viz.; A. Marier, A. Moon, and E. Adams; 
that the journal of the proceedings of that and other meetings of the Board appear to 
be in the handwriting of the said Horace W. Carpentier. 

"And deponent says further that afterwards, to wit: in the summer and fall of 
the year 1852, that Carpentier stated to deponent in the course of conversation, that 
he, Carpentier, had promised to give to Gen. James M. Estill a portion of the water 
front, and that he had been obliged to do so in order to get the bill incorporating the 
town of Oakland through (the said Estill being at the time of the passage of said 
Act a member of the State Senate), and afterwards, in the winter of 1852 and 1853, 
the said Carpentier again stated to deponent that he, Carpentier, was under bonds to 
the said Estill to convey to him the one-fourth of said water front, and that in the 
spring of 1853 the said Estill told deponent that he held the said Carpentier so bound 
as aforesaid, adding that it was in consideration of using his (Estill's) influence with 
the Governor to induce him to approve the bill incorporating the town of Oakland; 
that at or about the same time some conversation occurred between the said Carpen- 
tier and Estill, in the presence of deponent, in relation to the value of said one-fourth 
of the water front; that this last statement of the said Carpentier, and the conversa- 
tion between the latter and said Estill, occurred in consequence of ;in application 
made by deponent to said Carjif^nticr, to purc!ias-: from him that pa:t of the water 
front opposite- dcpoiicni's premises. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 503 

" And deponent further says that the said Board of Trustees also passed an 
ordinance entitled 'An Ordinance to approve the Wharf at the foot of Main Street, 
and to extend the Time for constructing the other Wharves,' which ordinance 
appears to be in the handwriting of the said Carpentier, and that on the 5th day of 
March, 1853, according to the minutes of said Board, the said Adams introduced an 
ordinance entitled ' An Ordinance to create a Public Ferry between the Town of 
Oakland and the City of San Francisco, and to Provide for keeping up and running 
the same,' which ordinance according to said minutes was passed; and said minutes 
show, that the only members of the Board who were then present, were the said 
Adams, Burrell, and Moon; and no previous notice appears on the journal of said 
Board, of the introduction of said ordinance, nor does it appear that any petition was 
before the Board for the passage of the same, nor did the nature of said ordinance or 
its passage become generally known, as deponent believes, until several weeks 
thereafter. 

" And deponent says further, that from the circumstances attending the passage 
of the Act incorporating the town of Oakland, the secrecy practiced, the agency 
through which it was effected, the manner in which the Board of Trustees was elected 
— two of its members being partners of said Carpentier — the failure of the said 
Carpentier to qualify or take his seat as a member, although elected by his own choice, 
the action of the Board in the passage of the ordinance giving to said Carpentier the 
exclusive privilege of erecting wharves and collecting wharfage, and granting him the 
water front of the town; the circumstances attending the amendment of that ordi- 
nance, and the other facts herein stated, he, deponent, became convinced and verily 
believes that the incorporation of said town and all that was done by the Board of 
Trustees in the premises was the contrivance of the said Carpentier, fraudulently to 
get into his hands a valuable property and valuable rights, and convert to his own 
use what had been intended and should have been used for the public benefit, and 
deponent says that such has been the general conviction and belief of the people of 
Oakland, and that all subsequent actings and doings of the said Carpentier and his 
confederates have tended to strengthen that conviction and belief 

" And deponent says further, that when the facts above stated became generally 
known, and it was ascertained that under the ordinance first above referred to, and a 
contract made in pursuance thereof, the said Carpentier claimed for his own use the 
exclusive privilege of constructing wharves and collecting wharfage, and to hold an 
absolute grant of the water front of the town, and that the said Board of Trustees, 
had conveyed to E. R. Carpentier (who \Yas generally believed claimed a one-fourth 
undivided interest in said water front) exclusive ferry privileges under the ordinance 
passed as aforesaid on the 5th day of March, 1853, it excited great public indignation, 
and with a view to check the fraudulent practices of said Carpentier and his partners 
and creatures in said Board of Trustees, and to assert the rights of the town, the 
people attempted at the second municipal election which took place (to the best of 
deponent's recollection) on the 9th day of May, 1853, to elect a Board of Trustees 
composed of men in whom they had confidence, but the appointment of Judge.s and 
Inspector of the election being in the hands of the former Board, and the Board hav- 
ing the power to determine upon the election and qualifications of its own members, 



504 History of Alameda County, Camfornia. 

it was declared by the Board that the following persons were elected, viz.: Alpheus 
Staples, A. W. Burrell, A. Moon, E. Adams, and A. Marier, the last four of whom 
were members of the former Board; that at said election, when the tickets were 
consulted, it appeared that only some forty odd votes had been cast for the candidates 
who were declared to have been defeated while about seventy or eighty had been cast 
for those declared elected, but in the course of thirty-six or forty-eight hours after the 
election, not less than seventy voters made their affidavits that they had \oted for the 
former. And the deponent says that the returns of said election together with the 
tall\'-list are not on file in the office of the Clerk of the city, nor from the best 
information he can obtain, does not believe that the same were ever handed over to 
the authorities which succeeded to the town of Oakland. 

" z\nd deponent further says, that A. Marier, one of the Trustees declared elected, 
and whose name had been on both tickets, and who for some time had refused to 
attend the meetings of the Board, did not qualify or take his seat as one of the 
Trustees, and the four remaining members composed the Board during the year; that 
said Board so elected and so constituted, did, as appears by the minutes of the pro- 
ceedings of said Board, on the 27th of August, 1853, pass an ordinance entitled 'An 
Ordinance concerning Wharves and the Water Front;' and that said Board also 
passed an ordinance on the 29th of October, 1853, entitled 'An Ordinance concern- 
ing Wharves' — That the passage of said ordinances as deponent believes, and has been 
informed, was not publicly known for several weeks or months thereafter. 

" And deponent further says, that the journal of the said Board of Trustees shows 
that the said A. Marier did not attend any of the meetings of said Board held after 
the 3d of March, 1853, and that from that date to the l6th of May, 1853, the business 
of said Board was conducted by the said A. W. Burrell, A. Moon, and E. Adams, 
that the journal of the proceedings of the aforesaid second Board of Trustees shows 
that only four members qualified and took their seats, viz.: A. W. Burrell, A. Moon, 
E. Adams, and Alpheus Staples, and that nowhere does it appear that five members 
organized, constituted, or were present at any meeting or meetings of any Board of 
Trustees that ever existed in the town of Oakland. 

"And deponent further says, that to the best of his knowledge and belief the city 
of Oakland has never recognized the claims of the said Horace W. Carpentier and 
E. R. Carpentier under the grants aforesaid, as being valid, but on the contrarj' have 
passed sundry ordinances and resolutions asserting the rights of the city in the 
premises; certified copies of which ordinances and proceedings accompany this 
deposition, and the others being 'An Ordinance concerning Ferries' approved June 
5, 1855; 'An Ordinance Repealing an Ordinance, entitled An Ordinance to create a 
Public Ferry between the Town of Oakland and the Cityof San Francisco,and to Provide 
for keeping up and running the same;' passed June 15, 1855; 'An Ordinance con- 
cerning Ferries,' approved May 19, 1855; an Ordinance passed on the 13th of 
September, 1855, under which a contract was made with Rodman Gibbons for the 
construction of a wharf; 'An Ordinance to extend the time for completing the wharf 
on Bay Street.' 

"And deponent says that under authorit}- of the Council of the city of Oakland 
an action^^ was brought in the District Court of the Third Judicial District, for the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 505 

county of Alameda, in the name of said city and against Horace VV. Carpentier and 
Harriet N. Carpentier to set aside and have declared void the ordinances and deeds 
under which said Carpentier claimed the said water front and said exclusive privilege 
of erecting wharves and collecting wharfage, and for the delivery to the plaintiff of 
the wharf and property claimed under said ordinances and deeds, and that said action 
is now pending in the Supreme Court of this State. 

" And deponent says, that he is the Treasurer of the city of Oakland and ex 
officio Clerk of the city, and has the custody of the journals of said Boards of Trustees 
of the town of Oakland and Council of the city of Oakland, and of the original 
ordinances and papers of said bodies. 

"(Signed) E. Gibbons. 

"Sworn to before me this 28th day of May, A. D. 1858. 

"(Signed) T. J. Tl-IIBAULT, Notary Public" 

" AiliiD^E Marier, being duly sworn, -deposes and says, that he is a resident of 
the city of Oakland, in the county of Alameda, and has resided in said city, formerly 
town of Oakland, since April, 185 1; that at the first election of Trustees for said 
town, held on the loth day of May, 1852, he was elected a member of the Board of 
Trustees, and at the third meeting of said Trustees he was chosen President of the 
Board; that he was present at the meeting of the Board, at which was passed the 
' Ordinance for the Disposal of the Water Front of the Town of Oakland, and to 
Provide for the construction of Wharves; ' that said ordinance was introduced on the 
17th of May, 1852, and was finally passed on the i8th of May; that the ordinance as 
presented was in the handwriting of Horace W. Carpentier; that on the 17th of Ma}', 
1852, before the meeting of the Board, said Carpentier exhibited the proposed ordi- 
nance to the deponent, and wished deponent to vote for it; that deponent refused to 
do so, whereupon said Carpentier stated to deponent that the object of having the 
ordinance passed was to secure the water front to the town of Oakland, and to enable 
the settlers to compromise with the claimants to the land on which the town of Oak- 
land was situated; that there was some talk of a called session of the Legislature, and 
if there was a called session, the Act of Incorporation would be repealed; and upon 
this subject he made to deponent various representations to induce him to support said 
ordinance, all which tended to show that the ordinance would benefit and could 
not injure the people of the town; that deponent did not then read the ordinance, but 
said Carpentier stated its contents to be that it was a grant to himself of the water 
front, and the exclusive privilege of constructing wharves at Oakland; but he said 
that he did not care to have the grant to himself; that he would rather that some 
other person should take it than himself; that he would hold it in trust for the town, 
and reconvey it to the town whenever requested; that deponent, relying upon these 
representations and promises, consented to support the ordinance, and at the meeting 
of the Board did vote for it; that before its final passage there were some amend- 
ments made to it by striking out the word ' forever,' and inserting the words ' for the 
period of thirty-seven years,' which alterations, as deponent then supposed and still 
believes, applied to the grant of the water front as well as to the privilege of con- 
structing wharves; that deponent afterwards signed the ordinance, now on file, under 
33 



506 History of Alameda County, California. 

the same impression, believing that it was a true copy of the ordinance and amend- 
ments as passed, and did not know until some time afterwards that it was incorrect in 
not limiting the grant of the water front to the period of thirty-seven years. 

" And deponent says that some time afterwards, as President of the Board of 
Trustees, he signed the grant or contract, dated May 31, 1852, made in pursuance of 
said ordinance; that said contract had been previously drawn up by said Carpentier, 
and was laid with other papers on the table in the room where the Board met, where 
it remained for some days, but deponent was reluctant to sign it, and was determined 
not to do so until said Carpentier should give bonds according to his promise, to 
reconvey the property whenever requested; that at length the said contract was pre- 
sented to deponent by said Carpentier in person, on board the ferry-steamer Erastus 
Corning, at. the wharf in the cit\- of San Francisco, and deponent was requested by 
said Carpentier then to sign it; that said Carpentier represented that he wanted it 
immediately for some important purposes, deponent thinks to submit it to the Land 
Commissioners, and that it was very important that it should be executed at once; that 
deponent asked said Carpentier where was the bond that he was to give to reconvey, 
to which said Carpentier replied that he had not time to give it then, but would give 
it as soon as he came over to Oakland, and thereupon, relying upon the representations 
•and promises of said Carpentier, deponent signed said contract. 

"And deponent says, that at that time he knew very little of the nature and 
effects of deeds and grants, or of the forms and modes of doing business in munici- 
pal bodies, and had unlimited confidence in said Carpentier, who used to act as Clerk 
and draw up papers for the Board of Trustees and its members, and advise and 
counsel them in all matters connected with municipal matters, no member of the 
Board being able, unassisted, to draw up an ordinance. 

" And deponent says that prior to the passage of the Act of the Legislature 
incorporating the town of Oakland, the name of the place was Contra Costra, and it 
had never been called Oakland so far as deponent knew; that no proposition had ever 
been made amongst the residents of the place to change its name or to have it incor- 
porated, nor had there ever been any discussion upon these matters, nor any wish 
expressed for the incorporation of the town; that at the time of the passage of the 
Act there were only about sevcnt\'-five persons residing at the place; that when it 
became known amongst them, through the newspapers, that a town called Oakland, 
in Contra Costa County, had been incorporated, the people did not know that it was 
the town where they lived, and it was a subject of discussion amongst them where the 
town of Oakland w as, 

"(Signed) A. Marikr. 

"Sworn and subscribed before me this 2Sth da_\' of May, icS5cS. 

" (Signed) Fred'k A. Sawyer, Nota>y Public." 

It is unnecessary for us to dilate upon these two documents; they breathe the air 
of truth; better, therefore, is it to leave them in the hands of the contemplali\-e 
reader, while we return to the official acts of the City Fathers. 

At the meeting of August 8, 1855, Alderman Gibbons introduced an ordinance 
having reference to wharfage and dockage, prescribing and regulating the amount 
thereof; that, after passing its second reading, was referred to the Committee on 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 507 

Streets and Wharves. The intention of this enactment was a mnterial reduction of 
the rates then in force, and being favorably reported upon by the committee, was, on 
the 15th August, read a third time, and unanimously adopted on the motion of 
Alderman Worthington. At this same session a resolution was passed refusing to 
recognize E. R. Carpentier, who had been appointed counsel for the town during the 
regime of his brother, as attorney for the city in the suit of S. J. Clark against the 
city, and forbidding him to act as counsel in her behalf in any action, matter, or pro- 
ceeding. On September 12th Aldermen Williams, Johnson, and Harwood were 
appointed a committee to draw up a contract with Rodman Gibbons for the building 
of the wharf at Bay Street, there being subsequently another ordinance passed con- 
firming the contract to him, while on January 17, 1856, he was granted an extension 
of time to August, 1856, for its completion. 

The election for the third Council of the city of Oakland resulted in the choice 
of S. H. Robinson as Mayor, and although his seat was contested by Mr. Campbell, 
his immediate predecessor, resulted in the confirmation of the former gentleman. It 
is thought by some that the reason of Mr. Campbell's defeat is to be found in the 
implacable detestation he had for the water-front scheme and all that belonged to it, 
while it is hinted that many illegal votes were cast for Mr. Robinson. However, in 
the ranks of the new Council, Carpentier had several opponents to his claim, and they 
soon opened fire upon the enemy. Their first move was a petition to the State Leg- 
islature, praying for a confirmation to Rodman Gibbons of the contract to build the 
Bay-street Wharf. 

In obedience to the provisions of the charter, the newly elected Mayor now dis- 
patched his first message to the City Council, in which he called their attention to the 
urgent necessity that existed for removing the bar at the mouth of the San Antonio 
Creek, and also to the manner in which the ferry between Oakland and San Francisco 
was being conducted. In regard to the latter, we quote his own words: "That the 
present ferry between this city and San Francisco is not what it ought to be, and is 
conducted in almost total disregard of the public wants and interests is a fact notori- 
ous to all. What steps, if any, ought to be taken by you with a view to an improve- 
ment, I am not at present prepared definitely to recommend; but I commend to you 
the whole subject-matter as one eminently worthy your careful consideration." 

Water-front matters were comparatively tranquil during the tenure of the third 
Council, the only action worthy of notice being the granting of further time, to May, 
1857, to Rodman Gibbons for the completion of the Bay street wharf on which work 
had been commenced, however, without let or hinderance on the part of the water- 
front claimants. It is just possible that even at that early date they recognized the 
feebleness of the reed on which they leant. 

On March 4, 1857, Andrew Williams was elected Mayor, and among the Coun- 
cilmen we once more have the name of Mr. Marier. In his message we find Mayor 
Williams referring to the vexed ferry question, while he strenuously urged upon the 
minds of the Council the fact that there existed no ferry monopoly; that they had 
under their sole control the matter of wharfage and dockage privileges, and were free 
and independent from the water-front ownership. In regard to the water front he 
remarked: "The question of the city's title to its water front is of such paramount 



508 History of Alameda Couxtv, Calikornia. 

interest that I propose to make it tiie subject of a special communication to your 
Honorable Body at an early da)'. The threat extent of the water front, bounding the 
city on three sides and part of the fourth, for a distance of eight or ten miles, and its 
future incalculable value, entitled it to \'our special and prompt attention. There have 
been put forth some claims of individuals to this large patrimony which we believe 
to be without founciation, and there is also a question as to its ownership by the pro- 
prietors of tlie Mexican grant of the adjacent shore. To obviate any pretense 
of the individual claims against the cit\' first above named acquiring any plausibility 
bv five years' adverse possession, I recommend the immediate commencement of a 
suit at law to quiet the title to this large and valuable property. It is believed an 
amicable arrangement can be made with the proprietors of the Spanish grant to save 
the city harmless from expense in case of the eventual confirmation of their title to 
this immense domain. The great importance of this subject is my apology for rcitcr- 
atincr my earnest recommendation of this subject to you for your immediate action." 
Acting upon the advice of the Mayor, at the meeting held April i, 1857, Alder- 
man Davis offered the following resolution : — 

Rc'solvcil, That the Judiciary Committee be, ami they are hereby authorized and directed to confer w!th 
competent counsel upon the subject of the title to the water front of the city, and also to confer with the claimants 
thereto under the Spanish grant and ascertain and report to this Council what arrangements can be ma<le, and 
what steps may be necessary and expedient to t.ake for settling the claim of the city thereto, 

Which, on motion of Alderman Marier, was adopted. On the 15th April they 
reported progress, and on May 13th the Judiciary Committee last mci-.tioncd in the 
matter (the water front) presented the following communication from Joseph Z. Bald- 
win and Henry P. Irving, attorneys: — 

"Having been requested by Mr. Marier to state in writing the terms on which 
we would act as Counsel of the city of Oakland in a suit proposed to be instituted 
bv the cit>' for the purpose of setting aside a conveyance purporting to have been 
made by the town of Oakland to Horace W. Carpentier, we agree to render our 
professional services for that purpose on these terms: Two hundred dollars to be paid 
to each of us in cash, or as soon as convenient, and se\en hundred and fifty to be 
paid to each in case of success in tlie judgment. The services to be rendered not only 
in the District Court, but, in case of an appeal, in the Supreme Court of California." 

The committee also reported an agreement upon the part of certain claimants 
to the mar.sh-lands within the limits of the cit)', to bear their proportion of the expenses 
attending a suit for the recovery oi' the water front, which agreement they would 
present in writing at a subsequent meeting. This report was accepted in tlue form, 
and the annexed resolution adopted: — 

Kcsolved, That the proposal of H. P. Irving and Joseph Baldwin be herebj- accepted, and that they be 
instructed to commence suit immediately for the recovery of the water front. 

Nothing more of interest in regard to water-front matters OLXurred during the 
year 1857, save that W. M. La Roche was granted until Ma\', 185S, to complete the 
wharf at Bay Street. 

In March, 1858, Mayor Williams was re-elected to the civic chair, and on May 
19, 1858, an ordinance was passed granting permission to the San Antonio Steam 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 509 

Navigation Company to run a ferry between the cities of Oakland and San Francisco, 
the passenger rates of which were not to exceed twenty-five cents for each passenger. 
The president of this company was the late James B. Larue, and he was licensed to 
run the ferry-boat San Antonio between the cities above named. The ordinance pro- 
vided also that nothing in it should be so construed as to prohibit any other com- 
pany or individual from running boats between Oakland and any other place. 

During 1859 and until the election of the seventh Council in March i860, no 
mention is made of water-front matters. In his message of March 28, i860, however, 
Mayor J. P. M. Davis refers to the subject in these terms: "Prior to the organiza- 
tion of the city government, Oakland had fallen a prey to the passions of designing 
men, who, in an avaricious desire to accumulate wealth, regardless of the means by 
which it was to be obtained, seemed to set at defiance all rights of property, public 
and private. The results of this were oftentimes manifested in scenes of lawlessness 
and disorder on the one hand and a reckless regulation and control of municipal 
affairs on the other. The consequences were that when the city was organized under 
the charter of 1854 she was found despoiled of all the marsh-lands which had been 
donated to the town by the Legislature of the State, and burdened with an enormous 
debt, incurred by most reckless means. For the recovery of the land a suit has been 
instituted by the city which is now pending in the Supreme Court of the State." 

On April 11, i860. Alderman Cole offered the following resolution, which, on his 
motion, was read and adopted, as follows: — 

"Resolved, That Messrs. Irving & Thompson, Attorneys for the city in the case of the City of Oakland 
versus H. W. Carpentier et al., be and they are hereby requested to take such steps as they may deem necessary 
to obtain from the proper Court the appointment of a Receiver of the rents and revenues of the property 
invol\'ed in said suits." 

In reply to which the Council received a communication from Irving & Thomp- 
son, informing them that the remittitur in the case of City of Oakland versus H. W. 
Carpentier et al. had been sent down and that the costs were due thereon. These 
were ordered paid on May 9th. 

In the mean time Mr. Carpentier attempted to steal a march upon his antago- 
nists in the hope that he might be enabled to keep the water-front property. To this 
end he obtained the passage of an Act through the Legislature, entitled "An Act to 
amend an Act entitled an Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland,'" confirming all 
the ordinances passed by the town of Oakland. Of this proceeding the Council 
and the citizens of Oakland were supremely ignorant. Suddenly the startling intelli- 
gence burst upon them as they read the twelfth section of the Act, which is as fol- 
lows: "The Corporation created by this Act shall succeed to all the legal and equita- 
ble rights, clauses, and privileges, and be subject to all the legal or equitable liabilities and 
obligations of the town of Oakland; and the ordinances of the Board of Trustees of said 
town are hereby ratified and confirmed, and the Common Council shall have power 
to maintain suits in the proper Courts to recover any right or interest, or property 
which may have accrued to the town of Oakland." When the news reached the city 
officials of the passage of the Act it seemed as if a shell had burst in their ranks. 
A meeting was immediately convened, and on July 24, 1861, the following resolution 
was passed and ordered published three times in the Alta California and the Alameda 
Gazette: — 



510 History of Alameda County, California. 

Whereas, At the late session of the Legislature of the State of California, a bill was introduced \>y K. F. 
Fargo, at the instigation, as we believe, of H. W. Carpentier, entitleil " An Act to amend an Act entitled, ' An 
Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland, passed March 25, 1854,'" and 

Whereas, The said Act so passed, ratified and confirmed all the ordinances passed by the Board of 
Trustees of the town of Oakland, thereby designing to confirm to said Carpentier the entire water front of the 
city of Oakland, exclusive ferry privileges, and other grants and franchises unlawfully made by the Trustees of 
the said town, therefore 

Resolved, That said Act of Confirmation was introduced and passed without tlie knowledge, consent, or 
approval, or application of the city of Oakland, or of any officer or agent of the same, and will be resisted by 
all legal means that the city can command. 

These machinations of Carpentier, however, were soon to be thwarted. Recog- 
nizing the manifest impoUcy of such a movement, the Legislature, at its ne.\t session, 
repealed the obno.Kious Act, and there the subject rested for some time. 

At the election held in March, 1863, William H. Bovee was elected Mayor, and 
in the Council were Messrs. O. L. Shafter, James de Fremery, and W. W. Crane, Jr. 
In their reign the water-front question assumed a new phase, as will be gathered from 
the following resolution, introduced by Alderman de Fremery and passed on motion 
of Alderman Woolsey: — 

Whereas, The City Council of Oakland did, on the 14th day of January, A. D. 1861, pass an ordinance 
granting the right of way to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company to construct their road through 
the city of Oakland, and, as a further inducement for the construction of their road, granted to said company the 
use of a portion of the overflowed lands situated at the western terminus of said road; and 

Whereas, Said City Council did, on the 21st day of January, 1S63, prepare a bill and forward (he same to 
the Alameda delegation in the Legislature, ratifying and confirming saiil ordinance and the deed executed in pur- 
suance thereof, which bill is now pending in the Senate; and 

Whereas, Opposition to the passage of said bill has been made by parties claiming all the overflowed lands 
within the limits of the city, and whose aim is to defeat the construction of said road or of any other similar enter- 
prise, and thereby securing a monopoly of the transportation of passengers and freight to and from the city, under 
an ordinance improperly obtained from, and, as we believe, illeg.ally p.assed by, the Board of Trustees of the town 
of Oakland, in the year 1S52; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the City Council of Oakland regard the construction of said road as of such vital importance 
to the interests of this community and of the people of Alameda County, that the city of Oakland can well afford 
to grant the use of said lands to said company as an inducement for its construction, and we respectfully represent 
to the Honorable Legislature that the passage of said bill will destroy rather than establish a monopoly and give 
almost universal satisfaction to the people of this city and county. 

A copy of this resolution was sent to the Honorable A. M. Crane, Member for 
Alameda County. On April 21, 1863, Eugene Casserly was retained to represent the 
city of Oakland, and arrangements made with him to draw up a brief and conduct 
the case of the City versus Carpentier at the time pending, on appeal, in the Supreme 
Court. The city was ultimately defeated. Carpentier was defeated on all material 
points, but on legal technicalities he prevented any final judgment of ejection from 
being recorded against him. The case had boen commenced in the Third District 
Court in Oakland, and, on application for a change of venue, was transferred to the 
Fourth District Court in San Francisco. A demurrer had been entered by Carpen- 
tier, and was tried before Judge Campbell. When the case was appealed. Judge 
Baldwin of the Supreme Court gave judgment against the city. The demurrer was 
on the question of the power of the town of Oakland to grant an exclusive right or 
franchise of the water front to any one person. The city failed to set up in its com- 
plaint the deed and the ordinance, as they should have been, therefore the demurrer 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 511 

was not proceeded upon as to the power of the Trustees to convey in fee the water 

front. 

The city set up an action for fraud when it was an equitable action, and on the 
first hearing of the demurrer, Judge Baldwin held that the grant of the exclusive 
right of the franchise by the Town Trustees was absolutely void. But he could not 
reach the power of the question of the water front, by reason of the defective plead- 
ings. There was a rehearing granted in the Supreme Court, and the case was sent 
back to the Court below, with the suggestion that the complaint be amended'on the 
part of the city. But the city refused to amend. The result was, although on trial in 
the District Court, a judgment was given for the city. When it went again to the 
Supreme Court the judgment was reversed in favor of Carpentier. 

We now append the decisions of the Supreme Court: 

"City of Oakland ~) 

I's. |> Appeal from Third District Court. 

"Carpentier. j 

" Thompson, Irving & Pete, for appellant; 

"Justice Baldwin delivered the opinion of the Court, Chief Justice Terry con- 
curring. 

" This is a bill in equity filed by a municipal corporation to set aside a contract 
or lease made of certain franchises and real estate. The bill charges that the city of 
Oakland is the legal successor of the town of Oakland by Act of the Legislature 
passed March 25, 1854; that the town of Oakland was incorporated by law on the 4th 
of May, 1852, and, by the same Act, was vested with a title to certain lands compris- 
ing the water front within the corporate limits; also, with certain privileges touching 
the erection of wharves, docks, etc.; that by the Act incorporating the town of Oak- 
land, the corporate and municipal powers were lodged in a Board of Trustees to con- 
sist of five members, whose election was given to the qualified voters of the town, the 
election fixed on the second Monday in May in each year, and the term of office one 
year, and until their successors were qualified; that an election for Trustees occurred 
in pursuance of the Act, but only four of them qualified as Trustees; and, at a meeting 
of the four persons so elected and qualified, a resolution, purporting to be an ordi- 
nance, was passed, whereby the Trustees pretended to convey to one Horace W. Car- 
pentier and his representatives the exclusive right and privilege of constructing 
wharves, .piers, and docks at any point within the corporate limits of the town of 
Oakland, with the right of collecting wharfage and dockage as he might deem reason- 
able, upon certain conditions expressed in the ordinance; that by this pretended ordi- 
nance, and for the considerations therein set forth, a pretended grant was made to the 
said Carpentier and his assigns or legal representatives, with all the improvements, 
rights, and interests belonging to said town, in and to the lands lying within the 
limits of the town of Oakland; that Carpentier afterwards, by fraud, procured certain 
men to be elected again as the Board, who ratified this contract; that the first ordi- 
nance was fraudulent, Carpentier having procured himself to be elected Trustee for 
the purpose of getting it and having his agents on the Board of Trustees. Various 
other charges of fraud are made, some of which will be noticed in the course of the 
opinion. 

" The defendants filed a demurrer to the bill. The ground is that it does not 



512 History of Alameda County, California. 

state facts sufficient to show a cause of action, and that the claim of the plaintiff, as 
stated, is barred by the statute of limitations. Final judgment was rendered on the 
demurrer in favor of the defendants, the plaintiff declining to amend his bill. 

" Several important questions are raised by the record. 

"i. Had the Trustees of the town of Oakland power to grant to Carpentier the 
exclusive right and privilege of constructing wharves, piers, and docks at any point 
within the corporate limits of the town, with the right of collecting wharfage and 
dockage, at such rates as he might deem reasonable, for the ]:)eriod of thirty-seven 
years ? 

"The charter of the town of Oakland is to be found in the Acts of 1852, page 
180. By section third of that Act it is provided: 'The Board of Trustees shall have 
power to make such by-laws and ordinances as they may deem proper and neces- 
sary: to regulate, improve, sell, or otherwise dispose of the common property; to pre- 
vent and extinguish fires; to lay out, make, open, widen, regulate, and keep in repair 
all streets, roads, bridges, ferries, public places and grounds, wharves, docks, piers, 
slips, sewers, wells, and alleys, and to authorize the construction of the same, and, 
with a view to facilitate the wharves and other improvements, the lands l}'ing within 
the limits aforesaid, between high tide and ship channel, are hereby granted and 
released to said town; provided that said lands shall be retained by said town as com- 
mon property, or disposed of for the purposes aforesaid; to regulate and collect wharf- 
age and dockage; to secure the health, cleanliness, ornament, peace, and good order 
of said town; to organize and support common schools; to license and suppress dram- 
shops, horse-racing gambling-houses, and houses of ill-fame, and all indecent or 
immoral practices, shows and amusements; to regulate the location of slaughter- 
houses, stables, and places for the storage of gunpowder; and to pass such other laws 
and ordinances as, in their opinion, the order, good government, and general welfare 
of the town may require.' 

"The rules in relation to the construction of charters of corporations are familiar. 
They are special grants of power, emanating from the paramount authority. The 
corporation owing its existence to the law, is precisely what the law makes it. It has 
no powers except those expressly given, or which are necessary to the exercise of those 
expressly given. The general legislative power residing in the State Government may 
delegate to a municipal government .some portion of its own powers; but those grants 
are held in subordination to the general power, and are not construed as taking from 
that Government any other powers or rights than those clearly granted. These dele- 
gated powers, given for local objects, are regarded as trusts confided to the hands in 
which they are placed, and are not subject to be delegated by the repositories of them. 
To ihis Board of Trustees, as has been seen, was given power to 'lay out, make, open, 
widen, and regulate, and keep in repair all streets, roads, bridges, ferries, public places 
and grounds, wharves, docks, piers, slips, sewers, and alleys, and to authorize the con- 
struction of the same.' Under these general terms it is claimed that this Board had 
a right to authorize Carpentier to enjoy the exclusive privilege of laying out, estab- 
lishing, and constructing wharves within the city at pleasure, and fix the charges, for 
a period of thirty-seven years. It is not difficult to see that such a construction is not 
warranted by the provisions of this Act. The charge in the bill is not that Carpentier 





/ ^ 



Oakland Township — City op^ Oakland. 513 

agreed, or was allowed, to construct a wharf, or any number of wharves; that by con- 
tract he was authorized and bound himself, on certain terms and conditions, to do this; 
but that to him, in exclusion of the right of everybody else, and of the corporation 
itself was imparted the sole privilege, not only of constructing all wharves, but of lay- 
ing out, establishing, and regulating them too. This amounts, not to the grant of a 
license or privilege to erect a wharf, or all the wharves, laid out or ordered by the 
Council, but the grant of an exclusive right to lay out and construct them at his own 
convenience, in his own way, and to hold and use them on his own terms; and if he 
did not choose to exercise this privilege, the corporation is prevented from giving the 
privilege to any one else; and so of docks, piers, and the like. If, by a sweeping ordi- 
nance of this sort, an exclusive and comprehensive privilege like this could be given 
to Carpentier, it is hard to see why the opening, repairing, and regulating of streets 
and roads should not be given to him exclusively, as a privilege with the right to 
charge and collect what tolls or charges for using them he might please, since, as has 
been seen, the very same words apply to these public easements' as to docks, and 
piers, and wharves. We do not regard this ordinance as an exercise of a power under 
the charter, but as a transfer of the corporate powers intrusted to this Board, to this 
favored grantee. What power of regulation is left, after an unconditional grant of the 
exclusive privilege of all the wharves, and docks, and piers, and a lease for thirty- 
seven years of all the lands, and a right to fix such tolls as the grantees please, and 
this without any obligation to build or construct any, it is not easy to see. If the 
grant had been to the city of San Francisco, in the same words, and the city authori- 
ities had granted the exclusive privilege to one man to construct all the wharves 
along the line of the bay, and fix his own toll, we suppose no one would question 
that the grant exceeded the powers of the agents of the corporation. 

"The general power over the wharves and docks is like the general power over 
the streets and highways. The corporation must exercise the general powers which 
the term 'regulate' implies. This 'general power involves the determination of 
the questions whether a wharf shall be constructed, when, how, in what places, on 
what terms, how kept, and what charges shall be exacted for their use. These police 
regulations are essential to the interest of the city, its commerce, its health possibly, 
certainly its convenience and general prosperity. It might, as we have intimated, just 
as well be said that the Board could by ordinance delegate to Carpentier the power 
of opening all streets and alleys anywhere in the town, where he chose, or widening 
them where he chose; to run an alley through any one's lot, or to make a sewer near 
any man's door, at his pleasure; but it would be rather a startling proposition to say 
that he would hold — through an ordinance — the exclusive privilege to do all these 
things, and charge for them what he chose, and that nc one else — nor the town itself — 
had any right to do any of them. And the same reason precisely which denies the 
power to make this grant, applies to the grant of the exclusive privilege of construct- 
ing all the wharves he may choose, he determining, of course, where these wharves 
shall be, the number, the dimensions, the kind, the toll, and every matter concerning 
them^ — comprehended with the term 'regulation.' The leason is that this power of 
regulation is a political power, and therefore the transfer of it is the transfer of a 
power of municipal legislation; which authority is not, in its nature, alienable. It is 



514 History ok Alameda County, Calikokma. 

not the transfer oi so much property; it is the transfer of a power to create, and con- 
trol, and regulate, a certain species of franchise, the creation, control, and regulation of 
which are powers of the political department. It is no answer to say that after a 
wharf is constructed by the authority of the corporation, it»might be sold as property: 
the reply to this is, that the establishment of it is of the promise of the corporation; 
and that it can no more give a general privilege to one man to establish wharves, 
when, where, and as he chose, within the limits of the city — the privilege being given 
for his own profit, use, and benefit. 

" The principle upon which these general views rest, has been fully supported by 
the United States Circuit Court for the districts of California, in the case of Minturn 
vs. Larue* (i McAll. 370), involving the construction of this charter. 

" The former is given the Board ' to regulate and collect wharfage and dockage; ' 
but this power is not e.Kercised, but ceded, by a grant allowing the grantee to regulate 
it as he pleases. 

" It will not do to say that the lands lying between high tide and ship channel 
are ceded to the city; this does not deprive the argument of its force, that the establish- 
ment of wharves, docks, etc., is one of its corporate powers, and that no wharf can be 
so constructed, unless each wharf be so laid out by the order, or with the leave of the 
corporation — which cannot be by the general session of a privilege to another to 
establish, when, where, and how he pleases. We understand the Supreme Court of 
Massachusetts, in Fay, Petitioner (15 Pick. 256), to intimate this doctrine, when it is 
said — speaking of the right of the city of Boston to grant a ferry — 'Even if the city, 
by their authorized agents, had made a grant of a ferry or other franchise, claiming to 
be owners thereof, with express or implied covenants for an exclusive enjo)-ment of 
such franchise, this would not prohibit or restrain the Mayor or Aldermen from exer- 
cising the powers vested in them by statute, to license a ferry required by public con- 
venience and necessity. Such authority is vested in them as Trustees for the public, 
to be exercised for the public good, and cannot be restrained by the covenant of the 
city, though such covenant happens to be executed by the same agents.' But iiow 
much stronger would have been the statement of the venerable Judge C. J. Shaw, if 
in that case a general grant had been made of the exclusive privilege of establishing 
all the ferries on a river, or between the shores of Boston and Chelsea, with the right to 
select the places at which to exercise the privilege, or, if exercised, to charge what 
ferriage they chose. This would be, not to make the grantee a license of a ferry right, 
but the assignee of the privilege of making and unmaking ferry franchises at pleasure; 
indeed it would be transferring all the powers of government over the subject, to one 
individual. 

" We see no distinction in this charter between a wharf or dock, in or upon a 
navigable stream, and a ferry right or bridge. They are all of the same class of 
interests, and the same powers over all of them are given in the same words. 

" But if there was a difference, the charter giving the power of right and regula- 
tion to this corporation over the subject, it is held as a political power, and must be 
exercised by those to whom it is confided. The power to lay out and regulate wharves 
being given to the Council, cannot be exercised by Carpentier. 

* This decision will be found in this chapter when treating the subject of ferries. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 515 

"We think, then, that this general grant of this exchisive privilege is wholly void, 
as exceeding the powers of the corporation; and that the plaintiff, the successor of the 
old town, has a right to come into equity to remove this impediment, constituted by 
these proceedings, from the free and beneficial exercise of its corporate functions and 
property. The plaintiff stands here as a Trustee, administering important trusts, and 
charged with responsible duties to the public, which cannot be safely discharged so 
long as doubts hang upon its title to property, and to the exercise of its control over 
its franchises; and, like any other Trustee, has the right to seek the aid of equity to 
remove obstructions to the performance of its duties. It is difficult to see how else 
the plaintiff could vindicate its right. The claim of the defendants is in this case 
incorporeal. They assert that certain franchises have been ceded to them, and that 
the plaintiff has parted with them; the plaintiff, claiming only to hold these 
franchises and the administration of them in trust for the' public, would be without 
any relief, if equity could not aid in removing this difficulty; for it could neither build 
wharves nor authorize others to build them, as long as its powers and rights were 
denied. Nor do we perceive what form of legal action would give an adequate remedy. 

" This view disposes of the demurrer, for it is general — going to the whole bill; 
and if the bill contains in any part, a complete cause of action the general objection 
to it for want of equity, fails. 

"What effect the invalidity of this has upon the grant of the land, the bill does 
not enable us to determine. Neither the ordinance nor the deed is set out as they 
should have been in the bill. It is charged in the complaint, it is true, that the land 
between high tide and ship channel, and this exclusive privilege, were conveyed in the 
same instrument; but in what relation the land stood to this privilege, or what were 
the particular considerations or inducements to the grant of the land, we are not dis- 
tinctly informed. If the land were conveyed merely or mainly to give effect to this 
illegal purpose, probably the incident would fall with its principal. 

" The charter is, perhaps, the most defective upon the statute book, and this is 
saying a great deal. A perverse ingenuity seems to have been exercised to make it 
as lame and loose as possible. The joint labors of Malaprop and Partington could 
scarcely have made such a collocation or dislocation of words and sentences. Among 
other things, it gives the Board of Trustees power ' to license and suppress dram-shops, 
horse-racing, gambling-houses, and houses of ill-fame, and all indecent and immoral 
practices, shows, and amusements.' However general the words of this charter, the 
received rules of construction require us to construe them in reference to the substan- 
tive purposes expressed. The Act gives power 'to regulate, improve, sell, or other- 
wise dispose of the common property; to prevent and extinguish fires; to lay out, make, 
open, widen, regulate, and keep in repair all streets, roads, bridges, ferries, public 
places and grounds, wharves, docks, piers, slips, sewers, mills and alleys, and to author- 
ize the construction of the same, and with a view to facilitate the construction of 
wharves and other improvements, the lands lying within the limits aforesaid, between 
high tide and ship channel, are hereby granted and released to said town, provided^ 
the said lands shall be retained by said town as common property, or disposed of for 
the purposes aforesaid.' Now, looking into this jumble of incoherent and contradictory 
verbiage, the questions arise: To what 'other' improvements besides whai-ves, was it 



516 History of Alamkda County, California. 

ciesijjncd that this water front should be apphed ? or, what arc ' tlie purposes aforesaid' 
for which it might be disposed of, and how disposed of? It may well be doubted 
whether, under this charter, the Town Council, being bound to lay out and regulate 
these wharves, streets, and docks, an unconditional sale or lease of the land necessary 
to be ret lined, to accomplish and give effect to this power, could be made, especially if 
accompanied with this was a renunciation of all dominion or control over the land 
necessary for the site of thes; docks, streets, or wharves. But perhaps it is not nec- 
essary to decide these points now, as they can be presented more satisfactorily where 
the facts are better developed. 

"2. It is contended by the appellant that this ordinance and deed arc void, for 
the reason thit the Board of Trustees were not legally organized; that though five 
were elected (Carpentier being one), all did not qualify; and that though a majorit)- of 
the members of such a public body may act after the organization, it requires all the 
members to make the organization. 

"Section second of the charter is in these words: 'The corporate powers and 
duties of said town shall be vested in a Board of Trustees, to consist of five members 
who shall be elected,' etc. Nothing is said in this Act further, as to the number 
required or mode of corporate action. In the first section, the town is declared to be 
incorporated under the provisions of the Act of 1850, to provide for the incorporation 
of towns. (C. L. 114.) The third section of this last Act provides that the Board of 
Trustees shall assemble within ten days after their election, etc., and, section fourth: 
'At all meetings of the Board a majorit}' of the Trustees shall constitute a quorum to 
do business.' 

" We can see no reason for holding that a majority of the members elected to 
this Board should not as well be held empowered to act at the first as at any subse- 
quent meeting of it. 

" 3. The next question is as to the alleged fraud in procuring this grant b)" Car- 
pentier. Some astute and forcible criticism is emplo)'ed b)- the counsel for the 
respondent upon the complaint. The facts are not as fully, stated as is desirable in 
such cases. The complaint is defective in not averring fully the terms of the ordinance 
and the contract, and the particular injury resulting to the plaintiff from the alleged 
fraud; nor are the fraudulent practices of the defendent, Carpentier, in procuring the 
election of the first Board, or his procuring the election of the second, nor the circum- 
stances attending the ratification of the first contract, nor the promises or agreements 
made by him on or inducing the execution and delivery of the deed fully set out. 
But as the bill may be amended, on the return of the cause, in these particulars, and 
as the general questions have been discussed, we proceed to consider them. 

" It is alleged that Carpentier procured men, who were his agents or consjiirators 
with him, to be elected to this Board, for the purpose of getting them to defraud the 
town, for his benefit, of all this property and these franchises; and if he got himself 
elected to this place, in order to help the contrivance through, whether b\' his influ- 
ence, or by keeping out some one else who might have exposed tiie scheme, then this 
was sufficient to brand the whole transaction with illegalit}-. Nay, more — if Carpen- 
tier put himself in the position of a member elect of this Board, neither resigning nor 
qualifying, and took advantage of this position to advance his personal interests, at 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 517 

the expense of those of the corporation, this was a fraud for which a Court of Equity- 
would hold him responsible. He would occupy the position, really, of a Trustee deal- 
ing for his own profit v\ ith the subject of the trust, and his conduct would be scrutin- 
ized with the jealous)- with which equity regards the interested dealings of an agent 
with the principal, in respect to the subject of the trust. Nor would a ratification by 
a subsequent Board, if the members were fraudulently elected, or procured to be 
elected, by Carpentier, have any effect in validating the transaction. Carpentier 
could not protect this fraud by the sanction of his own associates united in effect, 
together, an illegal enterprise. 

" If these facts be made to appear, the statute of limitation would not begin to 
run until after the corporation thus defrauded got out of the hands of the confeder- 
ates, and an opportunity were afforded innocent agents, coming to the management of 
the affairs of the town, to look into and ascertain the true state of things. Knowl- 
edge on the part of the guilty agents of the corporation of the criminal fact is not 
notice to the corporation of such fraud, so as to give the advantage of this notice to 
the equally guilty associate of those agents. If this were the law, an agent could 
always protect himself by joining in a conspiracy to defraud his principal with a 
convenient friend, who received the principal's property, and who might claim against 
the principal that the agent had notice of the fraud. 

"4. The next and last point is, the statute of limitations of three years applies 
and bars the claim of the plaintiff to set aside this deed. By article seventeenth, 
section seventeen ("Wood's Digest, 47), is given the limitations of certain actions. The 
section is ' Actions other than those for the real property, can be commenced as fol- 
lows: * * * within three years. An action for relief on the ground of fraud, the 
cause of action in such case not to be deemed to have accrued until the discovery by 
the aggrieved party of the facts constituting the fraud.' 

"We think that this provision has no relation to an equitable proceeding to set 
aside a fraudulent deed or real estate when the effect of it is to restore the possession 
of the premises to the defrauded party. In such a case, the action is substantially an 
action for the recovery of the real estate; indeed, it is literally. Express fraud, gen- 
erally, as well avoids a deed at law as in equity, and it would be strange if, after three 
years, a party could set up the fraud in avoidance of the deed at law, and a different 
rule prevail in equity. This is really an action for the recovery of real estate, and the 
plaintiff is no worse off because fraud has been committed upon him, nor the defend- 
ant in any better situation than if the latter had innocently bought and entered under 
an imperfect title. 

" For the reasons assigned, the judgment below must be reversed and the cause 
remanded for further proceedings, in accordance with this opinion." 

On petition for rehearing. Judge Baldwin delivered the following opinion — 
Chief Justice Field concurring: — 

" Petition for rehearing denied. The opinion modified so as to leave open for 
future revision the question of the validity of the contract with Carpentier under the 
ordinance referred to in the opinion." 



518 MlSTOKV OF Al.AMKDA C(-)L;NTV, CALIFORNIA. 

"City of Oakland i 

7's. - Appeal from Third Judicial District. 

"Carpentier. j 

"The facts arc stated in the opinion. The case was before this Court at the 
April term, 1857, on appeal from an order sustaining a demurrer to the complaint, a 
report of which will be found in 13 Cal., 154. A trial was subsequently had in the 
lower Court, resulting in a judgment to the plaintiff, from which the present ajipcal is 
taken by defendants." 

Chief Justice Field delivered the opinion of the Court, Justices Cope and Nor- 
ton concurring. 

"By an Act of the Legislature passed Ma)- 4, 1S52, the town of (Jakland was 
created a municipal corporation, the corporate powers being vested in a Board of 
Trustees, consisting of five members, to be elected on the second Monday of May of 
each \'car. B\- the third section of the Act, the Trustees were clothed with certain 
powers in relation to wharves, piers, and docks; and with a view to facilitate the con- 
struction of wharves and other improvements, the town was invested with the title to 
lands within the corporate limits lying between high tide and ship channel of the 
bay of San Francisco. On the second Monday of the same month, jiursuant to the 
Act of Incorporation, an election was held, and five Trustees were chosen. Of these 
only four ever qualified; and at a meeting of the Trustees, consisting of this number, 
an ordinance was passed granting, in its first section, to the defendant, Horace W 
Carpentier, and his legal representatives, for the period of thirty-seven years, the 
exclusive right and privilege of constructing wharves, piers, and docks at any point 
within the corporate limits of the town, with the right of collecting wharfage and 
dockage at such rates as he might deem reasonable, subject to certain provisions as to 
the erection of particular wharves, and the payment to the tow n of a certain percent- 
age of the receipts of the wharfage; and granting to him in its second section, with a 
view, as expressed therein, the more speedily to carry out intentions and purposes of 
the Act of Incorporation, and in consideration of a contract on his part to build a 
public school house for the town, all the land lying within the corporate limits between 
high tide and the ship channel. The ordinance also charged the President of the 
Board of Trustees with the duty of executing, on behalf of the town, a grant or con- 
veyance to Carpentier, in accordance with its provisions. Under this ordinance the 
President executed to Carpentier the grant or con\-e}ance designated, reciting in the 
instrument the authority under which he acted. 

"In May, 1853, at the second election under the Act of Incor]:)oration, five 
Trustees were again elected, and of them also only four ever qualified. The 
Board, consisting of the four who qualified, by an ordinance, passed in August, 
1853, ratified and confirmed the ordinance of the previous Board, reciting that the 
consideration upon which such previous ordinance had been passed had been ' in 
chief satisfactorily paid and performed,' and also regranted to Carpentier, and his 
legal representatives, the water front of the town, with the right to erect wharves, 
piers, docks, and buildings at any and all points thereon not obstructing navigation. 

" By an Act of the Legislature, passed March 25, 1854, a municipal corporation 
b\- the name of the ' City of Oakland ' was erected, and invested with all the rights, 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 519 

clairxis, and privileges, and subjected to all the obligations and liabilities of the ' Town 
of Oakland.' The present suit is brought by the new corporation, and its object is to 
set aside and cancel the grant or conveyance to Carpentier, and enforce a surrender 
of the interests and property transferred, or claims to be transferred thereb}'. 

" The suit is, of course, for equitable relief, and the grounds alleged for the inter- 
position of equity are that the grant or conveyance was obtained by fraud on the 
part of Carpentier, and was made without authority on the part of the Trustees, and 
that it constitues a cloud upon the title of the city, and embarrasses her in the exer- 
cise of her legitimate functions. 

" The fraud alleged is that Carpentier obtained the Act of Incorporating the 
town of Oakland without the consent or knowledge of the people of the town, and 
for the purpose of acquiring the franchises and lands subsequently granted to him; 
that at the election held under the Act of Incorporation he procured the election of 
himself and ' partners in land speculations ' as members of the Board of Trustees, and 
declined to qualify himself, in order to remove a legal obstacle to his obtaining the 
grant in question; and the conveyance to him by the President of the Board was 
according to an understanding with the Board, to be executed upon the delivery of a 
bond to reconvey the franchises and lands to the town when requested, but that it was 
obtained without such bond, upon representations that i.t was important to the interests 
of the town that it should be executed at once, in order to be filed before the Board 
of Land Commissioners, then in session, and that he would give the bond at some 
future period. No matters are stated in support of the allegation that he 'fraudu- 
lently procured the election of his tools and agents' in the year, 1853, when the con- 
firmation of the ordinance was obtained. It is very evident that the matters thus 
alleged, in order to taint and vitiate the ordinance of the Board of Trustees and defeat 
the grant to Carpentier, are on their face too vague and general to merit serious con- 
sideration. It is of no consequence whether the Act of Incorporation was procured 
with or without the knowledge of the people of Oakland. The validity of the public 
acts of the Legislature is in no respect impaired by the knowledge or ignorance of the 
parties who may be affected by their operation. And the general charges referring to 
the election of members of the Board of 1852 and of 1853, so far as the complaint is 
concerned, rest in mere averment. And in relation to the bond for conveyance, which 
it is alleged Carpentier, by an understanding with the Board, was to execute, it is 
sufficient to observe that the ordinance itself, to which the complaint refers, negatives 
any understanding of the kind. The allegations of the complaint are, as a whole, of 
so vague and indefinite a character that no relief can be based thereon. When the 
case was here upon the demurrer to the complaint, the Court observed that the alleged 
fraudulent practices of Carpentier, in procuring the election of the first, or of the 
second Board, or the promises or agreements made to induce the execution and 
delivery of the conveyance from the President, were not fully set out; but as the com- 
plaint might be amended on the return of the cause in these particulars, it proceeded 
to consider the general questions discussed by the counsel. It is sufficient to say 
that the complaint was not amended; and aside from this consideration, the answer 
fully meets and denies the charges of fraud or fraudulent interest in the acts of 
Carpentier; and what is of more consequence, the charges are wholly unsustained by 
the proof 



520 History of Alameda County, California. 



"Stripped of the charges of fraud, the whole claim for equitable relief falls to the 
ground. The grant was either valid, or void, or voidable. If valid, as contended by 
the counsel of the Respondent, there can be no occasion for the interference of a 
Court of Equity. If void, the condition of things — of the rights, privileges, and estate 
of the city — remains as though no transfer had been attempted. No cloud is cast 
upon the title, and no embarrassment can attend the exercise of her legitimate func- 
tions. She has only to proceed and assert her privileges and claim her interests, and 
whoever interferes with them will be a trespasser. If, however, the grant is only 
voidable, and not void, the plaintiff seeking the aid of a Court of Equity by doing 
equity — that is, she can only obtain relief from the acts of agents of the town, by 
tendering compensation to the defendant, who has relied upon them, for his expend- 
itures. One of the counsel of the plaintiff, in a brief exhibiting ability and learning, 
takes the same position in answer to the defendant, who urges his principle against 
the relief prayed. 'The principle invoked,' says the counsel, 'is not applicable to a 
case like the present. It is a rule only in cases where a plaintiff is in Court seeking 
to set aside some act or contract voidable, but not void, as for fraud, mistake, etc.; or 
to rid himself of a liability, otherwise valid, upon a ground which is against good 
conscience, and not favorably regarded in equity, as usury, gaming, etc. Here our 
case is that there never was a grant, contract, or act of any sort, on the part of the 
town, whatever might have been attempted by her unfaithful agents. As already 
remarked, she was an artificial being, endowed by the law of her creation and e.^iistence 
with certain limited functions, and utterly incapable of acting or even of being beyond 
or against these, to any intent or purpose whatever.' 

" The conclusion which follows from the views we have expressed is evident. 
The charges of fraud, as a ground for the equitable interpo.5ition of the Court, are 
fully answered, and must be left out of the case. If the ordinances of the Board, 
granting the franchises and lands to Carpentier are void, there is no occasion for the 
interference of equity. If they are only voidable, that interference cannot be invoked 
until equit}- is done by the party claiming it — that is, by placing or offering to place 
the party relying upon the acts of the agents of the town in the same position which 
he would have occupied but for his reliance upon their validity. These views dispose 
of the case, and render it unnecessary to consider the other point made b_\' the 
appellants. 

"The Judgment of the Court below must therefore be reversed and that Court 
directed to dismiss the suit, and it is so ordered." 

The Plaintiff filed a petition for a rehearing, upon which Justice Norton deliv- 
ered the opinion of the Court — Chief Justice Cope concurring. 

"The plaintiff asks a rehearing in this case, upon the ground that when the case 
was before this Court on a former occasion, it was decided: first, that the action could 
be sustained without an offer by the plaintiffs to do equity; and, second, that although 
the transfer to the defendant was void, it was a proper case to ask the transfer to be 
set aside by the equity powers of the Court, and that these decisions have become the 
law of the case and cannot now be reversed. 

" In the former decision the complaint was held to be sufficient, upon the ground 





■^fTtM^^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 521 

that the transfer was absolutely void. Nothing was said as to whether it would have 
been sufficient without an offer to do equity, if the court had considered the transfer 
not void, but only voidable. Afterwards the opinion was modified, by reserving for 
future revision the question of the validity of the contract with Carpentier. This was 
a reservation of the whole question as to its \'alidity, as well whether it- was voidable 
as whether it was void. The question whether or not the transfer was voidable being 
thus withdrawn, no decision can be inferred as to what would have been necessary to 
render the complaint sufficient, in case the Court shoulfi consider the transfer only 
voidable. 

" It may be argued that when this question was withdrawn from the opinion, 
there was no ground specified in the opinion upon which the decision was made, but 
it may be so, it does not follow that the decision necessarily involves a determination 
of a question which was not only not mentioned, but the basis for which was withdrawn 
from the opinion; and so, although it was said in that opinion that it was a proper 
case for equitable relief, considering the transfer absolutely void, yet when the ruling 
that the transfer was void was withdrawn from the opinion, the remark that it was a 
proper case for equitable relief became merely 'obiter' and decided nothing. At most, 
it could be considered as only saying what would be the opinion of the Court in case, 
upon a revision of the question on some future occasion, the Court should hold the 
transfer void. Rehearing denied. Filed June 1864." 

It remains a mystery why it was that the city, by her attorneys, never amended 
the complaint referred to above. It is evident that the Court was on the side of the 
city, for it held that so far as the right of the question was concerned, the city was 
correct in its reasonableness. Had their pleadings been perfected and their case been 
properly conducted, there is but little doubt that the finding of the lower Court would 
have been sustained; but as it was the water front was given to Carpentier and the 
law to the city of Oakland. 

On August 25, 1863, we find it on record that D. P. & A. Barstow were paid 
fifteen hundred dollars for services as counsel in the case of The City of Oakland 
versus H. W. Carpentier, these rendered being: " Trying the cause in the District 
Court; settling statement for new trial and appeal; arguing cause in the Supreme 
Court and preparing and filing brief; the same extending over a period of two years." 

During the expiring days of the month of August an ordinance was introduced 
for the purpose of taking immediate action in the Courts to regain, if possible, the 
water front. The Council made arrangements with the late Hon. John B. Felt6n, 
then a lawyer of San Francisco, but the terms being illegal — that they should give and 
deed to him a certain portion of the public property — nothing was consummated, for 
such an act was especially forbidden by the charter. 

On March 5, 1866, the thirteenth Council was elected, with the late J. W. 
Dwinelle in the civic chair, and on March 12th, Mr. Barstow introduced a bill grant- 
ing to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the privilege of construct- 
ing and maintaining a wharf for the landing of ferry-boats, and a marine railway for the 
repair of the boats belonging to the company, the wharf and railway to be located on 
the San Antonio Creek, at the foot of Franklin Street, the franchise to continue for a 
term of fifty years; all of which was referred to a special committee consisting of 
34 



History of Alameda County, Calikoknia. 



Aldermen Jayne and Wilcox, who, March 13th, reported: "That whereas, the prop- 
erty embraced in the bill was long since granted by the Legislature to the city of 
Oakland, thereby divesting the State of all its rights, title, and interest, the State has 
no interest to grant; therefore it would be asking the Legislature to commit a moral 
wrong — a breach of faith — besides interfering with vested rights, in recommending it 
to grant again to other parties that which it has once already granted. Believing 
such to be the fact, we report against the recommendation asked for;" thereuj^on 
Alderman Barstow introduced the following resolution: — 

Resolved, That the Alameda delegation in the Legislature be requested to use their endeavors to procure the 
passage by the Legislature of the bill as amended by the Council authorizing the city of Oakland to gram to the 
San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the right to build a wharf and marine railway on the water front 
in the city of Oakland, and that a copy of this resolution, together with an engrossed copy of the bill, be for- 
warded by the Clerk to the delegation, 

Which was adopted. 

After the decision of the Supreme Court, water-front matters remained quiescent 
until November 3i, 1866, on which date the Council, at a general meeting, passed the 
accompanying resolution: — 

Resolved, That the Judiciary Contmittee, in conjunction with the Mayor and the President of the Council, be 
authorized to take the opinion of counsel on behalf of the city, at an expense not exceeding two hundred and fifty 
dollars in gold coin, as to the rights of the city to the water front heretofore granted to the town of Oakland, and 
as to the proper mode of enforcing the same, and that they report thereon to this Board. 

And on January 23, 1867, the same Council received a communication from the 
Mayor, advising the employment of Messrs. Wilson & Crittenden, Counselors-at-Law, 
to give their written opinion as to the right of the city to her water front, which was 
placed on file. 

On March 4, 1867, a new (the fourteenth) Council was elected, with W. W. 
Crane, Jr., as Mayor. On July 30th, Aldermen Moody, Barstow, and Wilco.x were 
appointed a Committee to investigate and report to the Council as to the interest of 
the city in the water-front property, who, August 24th, represented by Mr. Moody, 
moved that the Council adjourn and resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole, for 
hearing the report of the Committee and for discussion. For this purpose a special 
meeting was convened on August 31st, when Alderman Moody made a verbal report 
and subsequently introduced " An Ordinance Providing for a Suit to Settle the Title 
of the Cit)- to the Water Front and for the employment of Counsel therein." The 
■ordinance, which was passed, reads: — 

Section One. — A suit shall be prosecuted in the proper Court to determine the rights of the city to the 
water front, against the persons claiming the same adversely, and John B. Felton is hereby retained to act for 
the city in said suit, to be paid for his services by a conveyance of an interest equal to fifteen per cent, of the prop- 
erty and franchises recovered by the city; but to receive no compensation for his services in case nothing shall be 
recovered. 

Section Two. — The Mayor of the city is hereby requested to execute the cuiUracl hereto annexed on behalf 
of the city, which is in the following words, viz. : 

Whereas, The city of Oakland claims title to that portion of the tide lands situated within the limits of 
said city, and lying between high tide and ship channel, and also certain franchises connected therewith, by virtue 
of a grant to the town of Oakland made by the State of California, by an Act of the Legislature of said Stale, 
approved on the 4th day of March, 1852, and 

Whereas, Certain persons claim said lands and franchises by virtue of pretended grants made by the pre- 
tended Board of Trustees of the town of Oakland, to Horace W. Carpentier, in the years 1852 and 1853. Now, 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 523 

therefore, this agreement made the day of , 1S67, between John B. Felton of the city and county of 

San Francisco, party of the first part, and the city of Oaliland, party of the s.-cond part, 

Wilncsscth, That for the consideration hereinafter mentioned, the party of the first part undertakes and 
agrees, as the Attorney-at-Law of said city, to institute and prosecute to final judgment, a suit or suits in the 
proper Courts against the person or persons so claiming said lands and franchises, adversely to said city; to render 
his personal services therein until the title and right to the cause shall be finally settled and determined by the 
Supreme Court; and the city of Oakland promises and agrees to pay said Felton for such services by conveying 
to him an interest equal to fifteen per cent, of all the property recovered by the city in said litigation, after the 
same shall have been finally terminated, and a like interest in the franchises, which shall be adjudged, as against 
the persons so claiming them, to belong to the city; it being understood that, in case nothing is recovered, the city 
is to pay the necessary court costs and disbursements incurred in said litigation. 

In his message, dated September 28, 1867, Mayor Crane observes on the water- 
front question: " The right of the city to its water front will very soon be tested, and 
I hope finally fettled. It may be that the fraud which deprived the city of this valua- 
ble property has been so carefully covered as to now be effectual in preventing a 
recovery, but it will at least be satisfactory to our citizens to have such a conclusion 
judicially reached." 

Save two petitions for certain portions of the water front from William Surrhyne 
and A. A. Cohen, made in the month of September, we cannot find that any action 
was taken by the City Council until the 19th October, 1807, on which date the 
Committee, to whom Cohen's application was referred, reported favorably on the 
granting of that portion of the water front lying between Webster and Franklin 
Streets, subject to certain conditions; while;- on the 26th of the same month, the report 
on Surrhyne's application was made; but owing to the absence of the documents for 
that year, it is impossible to state whether it was favorable or otherwise. There was 
passed November 1st, "An Ordinance granting to the San Francisco and Oakland 
Railroad Company the use of a Portion of the Water Front for the erection of a 
Marine Railroad," which we quote: — 

Section One. — That portion of the water front lying below high-water mark, between the easterly line of 
Franklin Street and the westerly line of Webster Street extended, being three hundred feet in width, and running 
into San Antonio Creek for a distance of three hundred and fifty feet, is hereby granted to the San Francisco and 
Oakland Railroad Company, during the corporate existence of said Company, for the purpose of erecting and 
maintaining a marine railway and wharf, at the annual rent of one hundred dollars, in gold coin, for the first five 
years, and, at the expiration thereof, and every ten years thereafter, the rent shall be fixed by three Commission- 
ers, one to be chosen by the Council, one by said Company, and the third shall be appointed by the County Judge 
of Alameda County, provided^ that said Company shall not collect tolls, or wharfage, or dockage, for the use of 
said wharf, without the consent of the Council of the city of Oakland; and provided, fur/her, that said marine rail- 
way and wharf shall be so constructed as not to interfere with the free navigation, nor obstruct the channel of 
said creek. 

Section Two. — Said Company shall commence the construction of said improvements within three tnonths 
from the date of the passage of this ordinance, and complete the same within six months thereafter; and.it is 
made a condition of this grant that said company shall, in good faith, contest any claim made to said premises by 
any person, under a pretended grant of the water front, made by the Board of Trustees of the late town of Oak- 
land, to Horace W. Carpentier; and shall not, upon any terms, compromise such claim, provided, that the time 
herein provided for commencing and completing said improvements shall be extended to a period equal to the 
time said work shall be delayed by legal proceedings; axiA provided, further, that said improvements shall be sub- 
ject to the payment of city taxes as personal property of said company. 

And now that well-known resident of Oakland, Doctor Samtiel Merritt, appears 
on the scene. On November 2, 1867, he succeeded to the mayoralty on the resig- 



524 History of Alameda County, California. 

nation of W. W. Crane, Jr., while, on the .same date, F. M. Campbell took the seat in 
the Council vacant by the death of Alderman Anderson. 

At this period the advisability of making a change in the charter commenced to. 
engross the attention of the City Council. Several special meetings were had for the 
purpose of discussing the subject, and citizens were invited to suggest amendments 
thereto, and it was then that the section giving the city the power to compromise and 
settle all causes of action and legal proceedings then pending was embraced into it. 
On the 9th Alderman Miller offered a resolution to the effect that the city charter 
be referred to the proper committee for revision, with the intent of applying to the 
Legislature for the necessary amendments, and that the committee be instructed to 
report at the earliest possible moment. On December i6th they were granted further 
time, and on the following day, the 17th, on motion of Alderman Pendleton, the 
Council resolved to go into a Committee of the Whole, for the purpose 'of taking into 
consideration the proposed amendments to the charter; but the original committee 
was not yet ready to report, and further time had to be given them. On the i8th 
and 19th special meetings were held, but no report came from the committee. The 
26th December was settled as the day on which they should make their report, but 
still none came, therefore, a motion was subsequently made by Alderman Moody, that 
the charter, with amendments, when ready, should be referred to a committee, which 
was instructed to put them into shape, and have two hundred copies of them printed. 
But the Committee on Amendments had made no progress towards a report on the 
30th December, and although special meetings were called on January 2, 4, 6, and 8, 
1S68, it was not until the 13th of that month that their report was made. On January 
22d, at a special meeting, the Council proceeded to take final action with regard to 
the amended charter. The first seven sections of it, with certain emendations, were 
adopted, while citizens were invited to note amendments which they wished to sub- 
mit to the Council, on the margin of the pamphlet, and to present them at the nc.\t 
meeting; at which, all the sections having been passed upon, the charter, as amended, 
was, on motion of Alderman Moody, given into the hands of a committee, with 
instructions to engross the same. 

The amended charter having been accepted by the people it was forwarded to 
the Legislature, where it was so roughly handled that its original drafters would have 
failed to recognize their handiwork. The most earnest protests were entered against 
this action of the legislative body, and the Alameda representative was urged to 
strenuously oppose its passage. On March 9, 1868, the Council received a communi- 
cation from Hon. J. W. Dwinelle, the Alameda Delegate, in relation to the city charter 
and proposed amendments, which resulted in the action mentioned above and 
embodied in the following resolution: "That it is the unanimous desire of the city of 
Oakland, that the Oakland Charter Bill, now before the Legislature, should not pass 
that body, the charter having been so altered and amended since it left our hands, as 
no longer to be desirable," while at the same meeting it was, on motion of Alderman 
Hobart, resolved: "That the Senator and Assemblymen for Alameda County be 
requested to urge the passage of the bill left with Senator Robinson, entitled 'An Act 
Supplemental to an Act, etc., incorporating the City of Oakland,' passed in the year 
1862." A resolution was also offered by Alderman Hobart, requesting the Mayor to 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 525 

inform the Council in regard to the present state of the suit for the recovery of the 
water front and of the contemplated compromise, which was laid upon the table; 
while, on the same date, Alderman Campbell offered a resolution, requesting John B. 
Felton to inform the Council as to his powers in the compromise matter, which, too, 
was laid over. 

We have seen how the charter was sent to the Legislature, and how it was treated 
there. It should be mentioned that tacked on to the end of the instrument was the 
Act, authorizing the city to settle all causes of action and dispute, which was subse- 
quently segregated, duly approved March 21, 1868, and became known in history as 
"The Compromise Act." It is entitled "An Act to enable the City of Oakland to 
settle its Controversies," and is as follows: — 

Section One. — The Council of the city of Oakland, with the concurrence of the Mayor of said city, is 
hereby authorized and empowered to compromise, settle, and adjust any and all claims, demands, controversies, 
and causes of action in which the said city is interested. , 

, Section Two. — This Act shall take effect immediately. 

On March 27, 1868, there sprung into existence an incorporation called the 
"Water Front Company," whose first Board of Trustees consisted of E. R. Carpentier, 
Horace W. Carpentier, Leland Stanford, John B. Felton, Samuel Merritt, and Lloyd 
Tevis. The articles of incorporation of this company we now append : — 

This certifies that we, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby associate ourselves together, and form 
a company, under the provisions of the Act of the Legislature of the State of California, passed April 14, 1853, 
entitled "An Act to Provide for the Formation of Corporations for certain Purposes." and the Acts amendatory 
thereto and supplemental thereto. 

The objects for which the said company is formed are, to acquire, build, construct, own, hold, manage, use, 
and control wharves, docks, basins, dry-docks, piers, and warehouses in the city of Oakland, and in the vicinity 
thereof, in the State of California, and to lease, sell, convey, grant, mortgage, hypothecate, alienate, or otherwise 
dispose of the same; to borrow and loan money; to engage in and carry on the business of commerce, foreign and 
domestic; to purchase, acquire, manage, hold, and control, or to lease, sell, convey, grant, mortgage, hypothe- 
cate, alienate, or otherwise dispose of the water front of said city, or any part thereof, and any submerged tide 
and other lands in and about the b.ay of San Francisco, or elsewhere, together with the rights and franchises con- 
nected therewith or appurtenant thereto; and also all other property, real, personal, or mi.\ed, choses in action, 
rights, privileges, or franchises. 

The corporate name of the said company shall be "The Oakland Water Front Company;" the time of its 
existence fifty years, and its principal place of business shall be located in the ci'ty of Oakland, in the county of 
Alameda, and State of California. 

The amount of the capital stock of said company shall be five million dollars, and shall consist of fifty thou" 
sand shares, of one hundred dollars. 

The number of the Trustees of said company shall be six, and the names of those who shall manage the con- 
cerns of the company for the first three months are Edward R. Carpentier, Lloyd Tevis, Horace W. Carpentier, 
Samuel Merritt, John B. Felton, and Leland Stanford. 

In witness whereof we have heresvith signed our names, this 27th day of March, A. D. 1S68. 

[Signed] E. R. Carpentier, 

[Signed] H, W. Carpentier, 

[Signed] Leland Stanford, 

[Signed] ' John B. F'elton, 

[Signed] Samuel Merritt, 

[Signed] Lloyd Tevis. 

On behalf of the Committee on Water Front, April i, 1868, Alderman Moody 
introduced "An Ordinance for the Settlement of Controversies and Disputes con- 
cerning the Water Front of the City of Oakland, the Franchise thereof and other 



526 History of Alameda County, California. 

Matters relating thereto," which was passed to its third reading and unanimously car- 
ried. The ordinance is as follows: — 

Section One. — The claims, demands, controversies, disputes, litigations, and causes of action heretofore 
t.^isting between the city of Oakland, on the one part, and Horace \V. Carpentier, and his assigns, on the other 
part, relating to the force, validity, and effect of a certain ordinance passed by the IJoard of Trustees of the town 
of Oakland, on the l8th day of May, A. D. 1S52, and enrolled May 27, 1852, signed by A. Marier, President of 
the said Board of Trustees, and F. K. Shatliick, Clerk of said Koard, entitled "An Ordinance for the Disposal of 
the Water Front belonging to the 'J'own of Oakland, and to Provide for the construction of Wharves," wherein 
and whereby, for the consideration therein named, "the water front of said town, that is to say, all the lands lying 
within the limits of the town of Oakland, between high tide ar.d .ship channel," as described in theAct of the 
Legislature for the incorporation of said town, passed May 4, 1852, together with all the right, title, and interest 
of said town therein, together with all the privileges, rights, and (lanchi.sts therein mentioned, were sold, 
granted, and released to Horace W. Carpentier and his assigns. 

And also in relation to the validity, force, and effect of a certain conveyance, executed and delivered to the 
said Carpentier, of the said water front, dated May 31, 1S52, by the said AmC-due Marier, President of said Board 
of Trustees, under and in pursuance of said ordinance. 

And also in relation to the force, validity, and effect of a certain other ordinance, passed by the Board of 
Trustees on the 30th day of December, A. D. 1852, entitled "An ordinance to approve the wharf at the foot of 
Main Street, and to extend the time for constructing the other wharves," which said ordinance was enrolled Janu- 
ary I, A. b. 1853, and signed by the said President and Clerk of the said Board of Trustees, wherein and whereby 
the said first-mentioned ordinarce ar.d the said detd of ccnvtyarce was rcccgnizid and approved. 

And also in relation to the force, validity, and effect of a certain other oidir.ance entitled "An Ordinance 
concerning Wharves and the Water Front," passed on the 27th day of August, A. D. 1853, by the said Board of 
Trustees, which said ordinance was eniolled, dated Augist 27, 1^53, ar.d wass'gred by A. W. Burrell, President, 
and A. S. Hurlburt, Clerk of the said Board of 1 rustees, wherein and whereby the said first-nientioncd ordinance 
was in all things satisfied and confiimed, and the said water front again granted, sold, and conveyed to the said 
Carpentier in fee simple forever: — are hereby compromised, settled, and adjusted, and the said above-mentioned 
ordinance and conveyance are made valid, binding, and ratified and confirmed, and all disputes, litigations, contro- 
versies, and claims in and to the franchises and property described in said ordinances ar.d deed of conveyance, 
and every part thereof, are abandoned and released to the said city of Oakland, to the said Carpentier and his 
assigns, upon the following conditions, to wit: — 

That the said Carpentier and his assigns shall convey, by prcper and sufFcicnl deeds of conveyance, all the 
property and franchises mentioned and described in said ordinances and deed of conveyance herein before referred 
to, to the Oakland Water Front Company, to be used and applied in accordance with the terms, conditions, stipula" 
tions, and agreement contained in certain contracts between the said Oakland Water Front Ccmpany and the 
Western Pacific Railroad Company, and other parties, bearing even date herewith, with the exceptions in the said 
agreement specified. 

But nothing herein contained shall be deemed to affect any lights of the San Franci.sco and Oakland Railroad 
Company, derived under an ordinance of the city of Oakland, pas.std the 20th day of November, 1861. 

Let us in this place produce the deed of Mr. Carpentier. 

In pursuance of the foregoing ordinance the said Horace W. Carpentier executed 
and delivered to the said Water Front Company a deed of which the following is a 
copy : — 

This Indenture, made the 31st day of March, 1S6S, between Horace W. Carptntiir. party of the first part, 
and the Oakland Water Front Company, party of the sec( nd part, witnesseth: 'Ihat the said party of the first 
part, in consideration of the sum of five hundred dollars to him paid by the said party of the second part, the 
receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, hereby gives, grants, sells, and conveys to the said parly of the sec- 
ond part, its successors and assigns, the following described prtmise."^, to wit: All of the water front of the city 
of Oakland — that is to .say, all the lands, and the lands covered with water, lying within the limits of the said city 
between high tide and ship channel, being the water-front lands within the boundaries discrihid and granted in 
and defined by the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Town of Oakland and to Provide for the Construction 
of Wharves thereat," approved May 4, 1852, and the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland," 
passed March 25, 1854, and repealing certain other Acts in relation to said city, approved April 24, 1862, together 



Oakland Township — Citv of Oakland. 527 

with all the privileges and appurtenances, rights, and franchises thereunto appertaining and belonging, together 
with all rights to collect tolls, wharfage, and dockage thereon and therefrom, and all lands, rights, privileges, and 
franchises of every kind and nature which have been heretofore acquired by the party of the first part, from the 
town of Oakland and the city of Oakland or either of them, and all the rights to the above-mentioned lands, fran- 
chises, and privileges which he may hereafter acquire from the said city of Oakland, excepting therefrom, how- 
ever, so much of the said water front as lies between the middle of Washington Street and the middle of Franklin 
Street, and extending southerly to a line parallel to Front Street and two hundred feet southerly from the present 
wharf, according to the map of the city of Oakland, with the rights of wharfage, dockage, and tolls thereon, to 
have and to hold the aforesaid and aforegranted premises to the said party of the second part, its successors 
and assigns, to their use and behoof forever, in witness whereof the said party of the first part has hereunto set his 
hand and seal the clay and year aforesaid. 

[Signed] H. W. Carpentier. 

On the 1st day of April, 1868, the agreement and indentures, of which the fol- 
lowing are copies, were made, executed, and delivered by and between the parties 
therein named, to wit: — 

This indenture made the ist day of April, iS68, between the Oakland Water Front Company, party of the 
first part; the Western Pacific Railroad Company party of the second part; the city of Oakland, party of the third 
part; Horace W. Carpentier, party of the fourth part; John B. Fellon, party of the fifth part; and Leland Stanford, 
party of the sixth part. Whereas the said Horace W. Carpentier by deed bearing date March 31, 1868, conveyed 
to the said Oakland Water Front Company the water front of the city of Oakland, and certain rights, privileges, 
and franchises, as by reference to said deed will more fully appear; and whereas the said deed was executed and 
delivered to the said Oakland Water Front Company, upon the express trusts and subject to the covenants 
therein set forth. Now, know all men by these presents that the said Oakland W ater Front Company, in con- 
sideration of the said conveyance, and the said premises, and in further consideration of the sum of one dollar to 
be paid by the other parties herein named, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowdedged, doth hereby declare and 
make known that it holds the said premises conveyed by the said deed upon the following express trusts, and 
subject to the following covenants and agreements, to wit: First: The said Western Pacific Railroad shall, with 
reasonable diligence, and within three months from this date, select from and locate on the premises described in 
said five hundred acres thereof, in one or two parcels in the form of squares or parallelograms with right, acute, 
or obtuse angles, but not so as to include an aggregate frontage on ship channel exceeding one-half mile in 
length; also to select and locate within said time, over the remainder of said pretiiises, not exceeding tw'O strips of 
land, each strip not to be more than one hundred feet wide, as grade for the track or tracks of its railroad from high- 
water mark to such parcel or parcels, and between the same; and the said Oakland W^ater Front Company hereby 
covenants and agrees with the said party of the second part that it will at any time after such selection and loca- 
tion, upon demand, convey by proper conveyance or conveyances the said five hundred acres and the exclusive 
right of way over the said strips of land thus selected and located, to the said party of the second part, which said 
conveyance or conveyances shall contain a covenant or agreement that if the said parcels or either of them shall 
be located out to a westerly water front of twenty-four feet depth of water at low tide, no land shall be sold west- 
erly therefrom, and no obstruction or impediment shallever be placed or put in front or westerly of the same, or 
anything done to prevent the free and unobstructed approach and access of vessels to said parcels. 

Second. — And the said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it shall and will, upon 
demand, convey to the city of Oakland so much of the said premises as lies between the middle of Franklin Street 
and the easterly line of Webster Street, and extending out to a line parallel with First Street, and two hundred 
feet southerly of the present wharf at the foot of Broadway in the city of Oakland, according to the map of said 
city, with the right of dockage and wharfage and tolls thereon. And said party of the first part further covenants 
and agrees that it will, within a reasonable time, designate and dedicate, as a navigable water-course for public use, 
the channel of San Antonio Creek, from ship channel to the town of San Antonio, to a width of not less than 
two hundred feet, over the shallow w-ater at the bar, and three hundred feet wide above that place, subject to, and 
reserving the right, however, to build bridges across said channel with suitable draws. 

Third. — The said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it will issue to the said 
Horace W. Carpentier fifty one-hundredths, equal to twenty-five thousand shares of its capita] stock, also issue to 
the said John B. Felton ten one-hundredths, equal to five thousand shares of its capital stock, and also issue to 
the said Leland Stanford the remaining forty one-hundredths, equal to twenty thousand shares of its capital stock. 

Fourth. — The said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that it will and does hereby 
authorize the city of Oakland or other parties to con.stnict a dam above the "Oakland Bridge" across the estuary 



528 History of Alameda County, Calikorma. 



Seal of the 

Western Pacific 

Railroad Company. 



of San Antonio, which lies between Oakland and Clinton, so as to retain the water and keep the land above 
submerged to high-tide mark, for the use of the owners of the adjoining lands and the public. 

[Signed] The Oakland Water Front Company, 

By Horace \V. Carj'EXtier, Presidml, 
Ll.OYD Tevis, Secretary. 
The Western P.^^cific Railroad Co.mpany, 
15y Lei.and Stanford, President, 
L. H. .Mll.l.ER, Jr., Seerclary. 
Horace W. Cari'entier, 
John B. Kelton, 
Lei.and Stanford. 

Articles of Agreement made this 1st day of April, 1868, between the Western Pacific Railroad Company, 
party of the first part, and Leland Stanford, party of the second part, and the Oakland Water Front Company, 
party of the third part. 

Whereas, Horace W. Carpentier has by deed bearing date of March 31, 1S68, conveyed tlic water front of 
the city of Oakland, and certain rights, privileges, and franchises to the said party of the third part. And, 
whereas, the said party of the third part has e.xecuted and delivered to the said parly of the first part, bearing 
even date herewith an agreement to convey certain portions of said premises to the said party of the first part, 
which deed and agreement are hereby referred to for greater certainty. 

Now, the said party of the first part hereby covenants and agrees in consideration of such conveyance of said 
premises, that, upon such conveyance or conveyances being made so as to vest a good title in fee simple in said 
premises in said party of the first part, and upon the performance and execution by the municipal authorities of 
the city of Oakland, of all instruments, ordinances, acts, and proceedings necessary to perfect, complete, and make 
good the title to said premises described in the said deed from the said Carpentier to the said Oakland Water 
Front Company, and which is to be done within a reasonable time from this date, it will, within eighteen months 
thereafter, and with reasonable dispatch proceed and construct or purchase and complete a railroad connection 
from its main line to the said parcel or parcels thus selected by it, or one of them, and will, within said time 
complete such connecting railroad thereto; and, further, will erect and construct on said selected parcels, or one 
of them, the necessary buildings and structures for a passenger and freight depot for the use of its said railroad, 
expending upon its said premises, within three years, not less than five hundred thousand dollars in gold coin, but 
not including therein the purchase of existing improvemsnts thereon. And if the said party of the first part shall 
fail, neglect, and refuse to provide such connecting railroad, and to make such depot buildings, and expend 
the said sum of money within the said three years; the said five hundred acres thus conveyed shall be for- 
feited and the same shall be conveyed by said party of the first part to the city of Oakland. 

And the said party of the first part further covenants and agrees that it will not convey to any person 
or corporation any portion of the said five hundred acres, at any time within two years from this date. 

And the said party of the second part hereby covenants and agrees that the said party of the first part 
shall and will faithfully do and perform its said covenants and agreements herein set forth. 

And the said party of the first part hereby further covenants and agrees that in constructing its bridges across 
that portion of the estuary of San Antonio vvhich lies between Oakland and Clinton, between San Antonio Creek 
and the Oakland Bridge, it will leave a space under each of said bridges of not less than forty feet in width free 
and unobstructed by piers or otherwise, for the passage of flatboats, scows, barges, and vessels without masts, 
and will not place any obstructions in said estuary between said points, except what may be necessary for such 
bridges — such bridges to be without draws or openings. 

[Signed] The Western Pacific R.Aii.KOAn Comi'anv, 

By Lei.and Stanford, President. 
E. H. Mii.i.ER, Jr., Seerelary. 
Lei.and Stanford. 
The Oakland Water Front Company, 
By Horace W. Carpentier. President. 
Lloyd Tevis, Seerelary. 



Seal of the 

Western Pacific 

Railroad Company. 



From the foregoing documents it will need no remarkable i)enetiation to solve 
the riddle and find that the Oakland Water Front Company and the Western Pacific 
Railroad Company were one and the same in their interests. They ])ut forth their 



;-^«£^'":^'*^ 




C3^ 





^Z^^^t.^:^ 



A 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. , 529 

octopus arms and drew everything" within their vise-like clutches. It mattered not 
whether it was marsh or tide lands, all must be held so that their position should be 
strengthened, while a line of demarkation was quietly but surely being drawn around 
the doomed city. The transparent transfers on record will expose the weakness they 
felt, as well as display the grasping greed that governed their actions. 

Let us now return to the transactions of the City Council. On April 2, 1868, it 
was 

Resolved, That it is the unanimous desire of the Council that Samuel Merritt, Esq., the Mayor of Oakland, 
accept the position of Trustee of the Oakland Water Front Company. 

A resolution that was carried without a dissentient voice, while, on the same date 
an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance for the Settlement of Controversies and Disputes, 
concerning the \A^ater Front of the City of Oakland, the Franchises thereof, and other 
Matters relating thereto, passed, and approved, April i, 1868, was finally voted for 
and passed. This was followed by the passage of " An Ordinance Finally Settling. 
Adjusting, and Compromising the Question of the Water Front." This instrument 
was as follows; — 

Section One. — It appearing to the satisfaction of the Council, that all the terms and conditTons of a certain 
ordinance heretofore passed, entitled "An Ordinance for the Settlement of Controversies and Disputes concern- 
ing the Water Front of the City of Oakland^ the Franchises thereof, and other Matters relating thereto" have been 
fully satisfied and complied with by Horace W. Carpentier and his assigns, all the ordinances and deeds therein 
mentioned and described are hereby finally ratified and confirmed, and all disputes, controversies, claims, demands, 
and causes of action heretofore existing between the city of Oakland on the one part and Horace W. Carpentier 
and his assigns of the other part, relating to the force and validity of the said ordinances and deeds are hereby 
abandoned and released by the said city of Oakland to the said Carpentier and his assigns — Provided : That noth. 
ing herein contained shall release the right of the city of Oakland to the reversion of the property, franchises, and 
rights released, as provided in the contract between the Western Pacific Railroad Company and the Oakland 
Water Front Company, in case said city of Oakland shall become entitled to the same under said contract. 

About this time John B. Felton addressed the citizens of Oakland on the subject 
of the water front, and being possessed of a noble intellect and logical mind it was no 
difficult task for him to cast a halo around the subject, which they found out only after 
the compromise had been indorsed by them and the actions of the Council fully con- 
firmed. 

At the meeting of the 6th April, Alderman Hobart introduced "An Ordinance to 
repeal the Ordinance granting to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company 
the use of a portion of the Water Front," which was duly carried; after which it was 

Resolved, That the City Clerk be instructed to return to A. A. Cohen, President of the San Francisco and 
Oakland Railroad Company, the sum of one hundred dollars, which amount was received by him from said Cohen, 
as rent of the portion of the water front lying below high- water mark between the easterly line of Franklin Street 
and the westerly line of Webster Street, extended, being three hundred feet in width and running into San Antonio 
Creek for a distance of three hundred and fifty feet. 

On April i6th the following resolution was offered by Mr. Moody: — 

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to investigate the conflicting interests of the city and the 
San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company to certain water-front rights between Webster and Franklin Streets, 
and to report at the next meeting of the Council some method of adjusting and compromising the same if possible. 

A. A. Cohen, who was present, then made some explanatory statements in regard 
to the subject, after which, on motion of Mr. Hobart, and some discussion, the resolu- 



."):30 History of Alameda County, Califoknia. 



tion was finally passed with the emendation tliat all should be omitted after the word 
"Council." Messrs . Moody, Barnes, and Pendleton, of the Council, having been 
appointed such committee, through the first-named gentleman made the following 
report: "That in October last, the Council, with the approval of the Mayor, granted 
to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the use for fifty years of that 
portion of the water front lying between Franklin and Webster Streets, that in the 
settlement of the general water-front interests in the current month one only reserva- 
tion of four hundred and twenty feet was made upon the water front to give to the 
city at least one place for free egress and ingress: — that this reservation includes the 
same property granted to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company. 

" Your Committee believes that if it was necessary to make a reservation for the 
benefit of the city, it is equally necessary to so protect that reservation as that no 
one shall enjoy any exclusive rights, but that the benefits of the reservation should be 
equally enjoyed by all. In particular your Committee believe that the ferry interests 
should be especially fostered, and that every ferry should be afforded the fullest accom- 
modation at the least possible cost, or, better still, free from all cost. That though the 
reservation is quite limited in extent, your Committee believe that with proper 
economy it will be found sufficient to protect our most important interests. With the 
view of giving the best possible facilities for a landing upon the creek and for space 
for a marine railway upon which to repair and clean boats, your Committee would 
recommend the adoption of some such plan as that accompanying this report by which 
the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad .Company may obtain all the accommoda- 
tions required, and at the same time the same facilities may be afforded to any other 
ferry and to transient shipping. 

" This recommendation is made under the supposition that the grant to the San 
Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company will not be confirmed, and that the prop- 
erty will not be disposed of by sale or lease to any other party; but that it will ever 
remain the property, and under the full control of the city; in which case it will be 
necessary for the city to make some arrangement for the control and improvement of 
the same. 

" We would recommend that all ferries have slip and landing privileges free of 
all costs, and that the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company be granted the 
right to lay a marine railway between Franklin and Webster Streets upon the most 
equitable terms. 

"The question as to the legality of the grant to the San Francisco and Oakland 
Railroad Company is one which properl\- belongs to the Court; the Council has 
already given its verdict in making the grant. But still we believe our true interests 
will be consulted, and all ferry interests be satisfied by the adoption of the plan pro- 
posed." The foregoing was the minority report: the majority, Messrs. Barnes and 
Pendleton, stated, " We believe that said Company has no right nor shadow of claim 
to one foot of the water front at the place described above, and your Committee believe 
it would not be good polic}' for the city to dispose of all the little outlet it has by 
water at this time, and when it is deemed proper by the Council to dispose of a part 
or the whole thereof, the sale or lease must conform to the statute and be sold or leased 
to the highest bidder; we therefore recommend that no portion of said water front be 
.sold or leased at tliis time." 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 531 

In his message of March 15, 1869, Mayor Merritt says on this subject: "At the 
time of the organization of the Water Front Company, I was elected a Director, which 
position I accepted, the City Council having passed a resolution requesting me to do 
so. One share of the stock of the company was transferred to enable me to fill that 
position. Soon after the company was organized, Mr. Calvin Brown, an engineer of 
skill and reputation, was employed by the company to make a survey of the entire 
water front of Oakland and to report to that Board his views on the most advisable 
plan of improvements to be adopted. That gentleman entered upon his duties with 
zeal, made a hydrographical survey of the creek, the bar, and the entire water front, 
and presented a very elaborate and interesting report accompanied with a map. Not 
having that report at hand I can only state some facts which it establishes beyond 
controversy. I will allude to some of the more important. The water in the creek 
for miles in extent is of sufficient depth to accommodate vessels of ordinary size at 
any time of tide. To dredge the bar and convert the creek into a safe and commodi- 
ous harbor, will cost not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. But little 
dredging will be required to keep the passage open, when the channel is once cut, as 
the constant flow of the tide will prevent considerable deposit, etc. 

" I am informed that a suitable dredger has been purchased and is now about due 
from the Atlantic States, and will be put to work soon after its arrival. 

" I know the policy which the Water Front Company designs to pursue is a lib- 
eral one, and will tend to encourage improvements on the water front, stimulate 
manufacturing business, and thereby add to the existing growth and prosperity 
of Oakland. The interests of the Water Front Company and the citizens of Oakland 
are so nicely blended that the two cannot be separated; the line of demarkation can- 
not be drawn; whatever promotes the interests of the one must reflect its advantages 
upon the other. It is not easy for any one to fully appreciate or comprehend the 
many advantages which Oakland will derive from the dredging of the bar, thereby 
converting the creek into a safe and commodious harbor for vessels; one of these 
which I regard as the most important to Oakland is the opening up of a new route by 
giving additional facilities of communication with San Francisco." Certainly the 
dredging of the creek and the bar at its mouth were highly important to the city of 
Oakland; but there was another matter of still more importance to it, namely, action 
to recover the entire water front, a subject which the worshipful Mayor has rather 
ingeniously burked in the above remarks. 

On March i, 1S69, John B. Felton was elected Mayor of the city of Oakland. 
When put in nomination, the Neivs, a periodical published in Oakland, says of Mr. 
Felton's candidature: " We were somewhat amused by a remark made by a ' sover- 
eign ' in reply to a question as to how he liked the ticket headed by John B. Felton. 
'Too much water front I Too much water front ! ' said the voter, who, by the way, is 
a property-holder, who pays considerable taxes. We reflected a moment and our 
memory brought us back to the night when land-owner and laborer, mechanic and 
business man, crowded Shattuck & Hillegass' Hall to suffocation for the purpose of 
petitioning the Legislature to pass an enabling Act so that the title to the water front 
should be forever settled, and the terminus of the Pacific Railroad thus secured for 
Oakland. We do not recollect of seeing at that meeting the particular individual 



532 History of Alamkda County, California. 



whose objection to the Felton ticket we have quoted above; but as it was worth a 
man's Ufe to say a word in opposition to the 'compromise' at that time, we are con- 
fident that his voice was in accord with that of the entire communit)-. At the 
time we speak of — about a year ago — every man who owned a twent\'-five foot lot 
was ready to hug and kiss his neighbor, in view of ihc g/orioiis prospects in store for 
Oakland. Rejoicing was observed on every hand; old animosities were forgotten, and 
even the sins of Carpentier were, by the action and voice of the people, absolved 
unconditionally, and the 'monster who.se blighting influence had retarded our 
prosperity ' for years and years previously was reinstated in the good opinions of the 
community for his efforts to secure the terminus. This glorious feeling and general 
prosperity was attributed, at the time, to the fact that the location of the Pacific Rail- 
road terminus was about to be fixed in Oakland, through negotiations then pending 
and about to be closed satisfactorily. Every one said, secure the terminus at all haz- 
ards, even if to do so the entire water front, so far as the cit\'s interests are con- 
cerned, has to be deeded to the company In order to induce the Legislature to 
empower the Council to settle the controversy, an invitation to visit this city and 
accept its hospitalities was tendered to that body, and on February 22, 1868, that mob 
came down here, and after feasting and carousing at municipal expense, went back 
determined to help Oakland to get the upper hand of San Francisco in securing what 
was regarded as the greatest prize ever offered to any city on the continent. The 
bills for this banquet were freely and ungrudgingly paid; and well they might be, since. 
as if by magic, the moment the Bill passed the Legislature, property doubled in value 
and men who had been for years impoverishing themselves in paying' taxes on upro- 
ductive lands, suddenly found themselves transformed into millionaires. And this 
transformation of values was mainly effected by the prospect of having the railroad 
terminus located here. 

" One of the principal agents in these negotiations was John B. Felton. 
Employed by the Council and instructed b\' the people, he bartered the city's interest 
in the water front to a corporation, getting in return therefor that which has trebled 
in value every foot of property within our city limits. When, therefore, we hear a 
man objecting to Felton because the latter was one of the main instruments in 
enriching him, we are obliged to remain indignantly silent. We trust that Mr. Felton 
will spike the guns of his enemies by addressing a meeting some evening during the 
present week, and give an account of his stewardship in the water-front transaction. 
His connection with that business is being misrepresented every da\' by the very men 
who made most out of it in the way of speculation, and it would be an act of retrib- 
utive justice to get them together some evening and e.xplain to them the fortuitous 
circumstances which has changed their condition from comparative pauperism to ple- 
thoric wealth." 

Consequent on the action of the Council in taking possession of the water-front 
lot formerly granted to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company that cor- 
poration brought suit in the Third District Court against the city of Oakland, when 
the following judgment was rendered by Judge S. B. McKee: — 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 533 

"The San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company^ 

" The City of Oakland et al. ) 

" The central question of the controversy between the parties of this action 
involves the consideration and construction of an ordinance passed by the Common 
Council of the city of Oakland on the 20th of October, 1867, by which the plaintiff 
claims to have become vested with the rights of property to the land in controversy, 
which have been invaded and violated by the defendants. Many lesser questions 
revolve around this central question which have been discussed by counsel, but it is 
only necessary to examine and adjudicate the validity of the ordinance itself 

"By the ordinance the Common Council granted to the plaintiff, during its cor- 
porate existence, a block of land in the city of Oakland, three hundred and fifty feet 
wide, between what is described on the map of the city as Webster and Franklin 
Streets, and extending three hundred and fifty feet into the San Antonio Creek, for 
the purpose of erecting and maintaining thereon a marine railway and wharf 

" For this the plaintiff covenanted to pay the city annually for five years, one 
hundred dollars gold coin; and thereafter for every ten years, annually, such sum of 
money as should be agreed upon by three Commissioners to be appointed as pro- 
vided by the ordinance. 

"After the passage and approval of the ordinance, the servants and workmen of 
the plaintiff entered upon the land and commenced the construction of the improve- 
ments, when they were interfered with and prevented from continuing their work by 
the officers of the city, who took possession of the property. The Common Council 
afterwards repealed the ordinance. If the rights of property vested in the plain- 
tiff, by the ordinance of course they could not be divested by a subsequent repeal 
of it. 

" Counsel of plaintiff attempt to sustain the validity of the ordinance by the 
exercise of a power ' to construct and keep in repair wharves, docks, ferries, piers, 
slips,' etc., conferred upon the City Council by the fourth section of the charter of 
the city. But such a power can only be exercised for the city and not for the plain- 
tiff, nor any one else. The Council have no authority under it to make improvements 
of any kind or nature whatsoever, for the use and benefit of a railroad company. If 
the Council should consider the building of a wharf on property of the city, required 
by public necessity, it might in exercise of such a power, contract for the construction 
of it if it had in hand the necessary means. Or, if it had no money and it could 
substitute the use of the land and the improvement to be constructed on it, for a 
number of years, as a consideration to induce another to construct such an improve- 
ment for the city, the Council might exercise the power in that way; for every power 
carries with it such incidents as are necessary to make it effectual. But in such a case 
it must plainly appear that the improvement to be constructed was for the city; and, 
that when the use of the land which formed the consideration for the improvement 
ended, the land and improvements would revert to the city as its property. It must 
also appear that the title to the property remained in the city. 

" No such intentions ' crop out ' of the ordinance in question, nor are they to be 
found in any part of it. The object was to build a marine railway and wharf, not for 



534 History of Alameda County, California. 

the use and benefit of the city, for the necessity for such an improvement for the city 
is nowhere apparent. But the plaintiff, as a railroad company, needed it for its own 
purposes, and it has authority under the general law of its corporation to receive and 
take by purchase, voluntary grant, or donation such lands as might be necessary for 
the maintenance of its railroad, and for such uses and purposes as might be considered 
necessary for accomplishing the object for which it was created. The construction of 
this marine railway and wharf, therefore, could only have been intended for the use 
and benefit of the plaintiff, not of the city, and there is nothing of the elements of a 
contract, direct or indirect, between the plaintiff and the Common Council for the 
construction of this improvement for the city. 

" The ordinance aims at a disposition of the land to the plaintiff for its sole use 
and benefit; the word 'grant' used in it is a comprehensive term which may be con- 
strued so as to include a conveyance of the fee. The plaintiff obtains by its terms 
the absolute use and enjoyment of the land and of the rents and profits of it; for, 
although the plaintiff is prohibited from collecting wharfage, without permission of 
the Council, this does not interfere with the use and profits of the land. The money 
agreed to be paid for this is in the shape of annual rent, and in that respect the ordi- 
nance has the feature of a lease; but, as a lease, it might be considered void, because 
it has an uncertain term. But whether the ordinance amounts to a sale or lease of 
the property, or is, as contended by the plaintiff, simply an act done in the exercise 
of a power to build wharves, piers, slips, etc, it is void, because the act was not done, 
nor the sale or lease made, in the manner prescribed by the city charter. All sales 
or leases of property belonging to the city must be by public auction, upon such terms 
and conditions as may by ordinance be prescribed, and all contracts for work must be 
let to the lowest responsible bidder, after publication made. A municipal corporation 
can only exercise such powers as have been conferred upon it, and in the manner 
prescribed by its charter. I, therefore, think that the ordinance in question vested in 
the plaintiff no right of property to the land in controversy, and the defendants are 
entitled to judgment. Let judgment be entered accordingly. 

" S. B. McKee, Judge" 

Against this decision the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company 
appealed. 

On February 26, 1869, an adjourned meeting of the City Council was held for 
the purpose of receiving a report of a special committee appointed to inquire into Dr. 
Merritt's title to certain water-front property in the city of Oakland. These gentle- 
men, through Mr. Moody, made the following report: 

"Your committee, to whom was referred the duty of inquiring into the title by 
which Mayor Dr. Samuel Merritt holds certain property at or near the foot of Wash- 
ington .Street, and for what purpose he holds the same, beg leave to report that in the 
discharge of their duties they addressed a note, of which the fijUowing is a copy, 
inclosing the resolution of inquiry, to his Honor, the Mayor, to Lloyd Tevis, Secre- 
tary of the Water Front Company, and to Messrs. John B. Felton and E. R. Carpentier: 

'"OAKL.VXn, February 24, 1869. 

'"Dear Sir: — Inclosed please find a resolution which will explain itself To 
assist the committee in the discharge of their duties, will you do us the favor to 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. .535 

answer the following questions: By what title, if any, does Dr. Samuel Merritt hold 
the water-front property on San Antonio Creek, lying between Broadway and Clay 
Streets, at or near the foot of Washington Street? Did he obtain the property in 
trust for the city, or for his own use and benefit? Please answer in time for the 
committee to report upon Friday evening, February 26th, and oblige, etc' 
"To this communication the following reply was received: 

" ' San Francisco, Feb ruary 26, 1 869. 

"'Messrs. W. G. Moody and F. M. Campbell, Committee — Gents: The 
following statement is made in reply to your letter of the 24th instant: Some 
months ago Dr. Samuel Merritt applied to the Oakland Water Front Company for 
the land referred to by you. He represented that the building of the new bridge, as 
proposed by the railroad companies, would seriously damage his property at the 
old bridge by destroying his communication with the creek, and that all he desired 
was a fair remuneration for the actual loss sustained by him. On the iith July last 
the Board, passed a resolution appointing a committee to confer with Dr. Merritt on 
the subject. Up to this time no arrangement or understanding had been made with 
Dr. Merritt in reference to this land at the time of the settlement of the water-front 
compromise, nor has there been any since, except what might be inferred from 
expressions of members of the Water Front Company favorable to his request. 

" ' Yours Respectfully, Lloyd Tevis, 

" ' Secretary of Water Front Compayiy. 
"'John B. Felton.' 

" Your Committee have also received the following communication from the 
Mayor: — 

"'Oakland, February 26, 1869. 

"'Messrs. Moody, Campbell, and Barnes — Gents: I am in receipt of your 
favor of the 24th instant, inclosing a copy of a resolution pas.sed by the Council 
relating to the property which I have recently improved near the foot of Washington 
and Clay Streets in this city. The questions which you wish me to answer are as 
follows, viz.: By what title, if any, do you hold said property? If you have a title, 
from whom did you obtain it, and what was the consideration paid for the same? 
Did you obtain the property in trust for the city or for your own use and benefit? In 
reply, permit me to say: No conveyance has ever been made to me of the property 
in question. Some weeks, or perhaps months, after the settlement of the water- 
front controversy, I made application to the Water Front Company for the property 
referred to, for the purpose of constructing a wharf, it being understood that the 
Western Pacific Railroad Company proposed to enter this city by building a bridge 
across the arm of the San Antonio Creek, without a draw, which would virtually cut 
•ofT communication with my present place of business near the Oakland bridge. That 
application was referred to the Executive Committee with power to act. Since then, 
I am not aware that any action has been taken in the premises. I do not hold the 
property in trust for the city. I remain, etc., SAMUEL Merritt.' 

" In these communications we noticed: First — That no valid title to this prop- 
erty has passed to Dr. Samuel Merritt. Second — That the doctor applied to the 



536 History of Alameda County, California. 

Oakland Water Front Company for this jiropert}' as compensation for damages sus- 
tained upon certain other desirable property, by certain contemplated iinprovements. 
Third — That no definite action has been taken upon this claim, and, Fourth — That 
neither at the time of the water-front settlement, nor at any time since, was there any 
agreement or understanding other than expressions of members of the company to 
his request. 

" In presenting this matter so that it may be thoroughh- understood, your Com- 
mittee feel compelled to make the following points: First — That the Mayor, Doctor 
Samuel Merritt, is in full possession of the property at or near the foot of Washington 
Street, claiming the ownership thereof using it for his own profit, and has been for 
nearly one year. Second — That the property near the bridge, referred to, has suffered 
no damage by any contemplated improvements; and when these improvements are 
made it may be found that this property suffers no damage; or, it is possible that the 
plan of improvements may be so changed as that no damage can result; or, these 
improvements may be deferred at that point, using for a considerable time the present 
means for crossing the creek. In either event the doctor would be the apparent owner 
of both properties, with no damage to the upper property. Third — That Doctor 
Samuel Merritt has no title to a large, if any, part of the property near the bridge, as 
he himself has informed a member of your Committee. That being upon the prop- 
erty as a mere trespasser upon the city or its assigns, your Committee cannot see 
what legal or equitable claim he can possibly have for damages in this case. Fourth 
— That Doctor Samuel Merritt obtained possession in some manner, through the 
water-front settlement, at or near the foot of Washington Street, and that no consid- 
eration has passed for the same; and that at the time of the water-front settlement, 
and ever since, he was engaged in the water-front negotiations as agent for the cit\% 
and has ever since been a member of the directorship of the Oakland Water Front 
Company as representative of the city's interests. 

"Your Committee therefore come to the conclusion that, inasmuch as Doctor 
Samuel Merritt obtained the property in some means through the water-front settle- 
ment, without the payment of any valuable or legal consideration, and during the 
time he was representing the city of Oakland, and in all those transactions, your 
Committee are compelled to believe that he, the Mayor, holds this property for the 
city, whatever may be the title under which he claims, and that the city should take 
the necessary steps to protect her interests. With this view, your Committee have 
not felt called upon to discuss the comparative value of the property near the bridge 
with that at or near the foot of Washington Street. Your Committee would, therefore, 
recommend that the City Attornej' be directed to take the necessary steps to protect 
the city's interests in the water-front property, at or near the foot of Washington 
Street now held by Samuel Merritt, Mayor. With this view \^our Committee recom- 
mend the passage of the accompanying resolution. " W. G. MOOUV, 

"D. G. Baknks." 

The resolution submitted was brielly to the effect that the City Attorney take 
the proper steps to recover the property at the foot of Washington Street. 

The foregoing being the majority report, we now give that of the minority: Mr. 
Campbell stated that he had not signed the report as the committee was instructed to 




Cc€yu2y>rL. y^cm^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 537 

ascertain and report facts, not to express opinions and make pleas. He had not seen 
the report until early in the evening. As a member of the Committee he would simply 
submit the documents from Dr. Merritt and Messrs. Felton and Tevis. It was for the 
Council to devise plans and to act. Mr. Moody then made a speech in which he 
asserted his bravery in daring to undertake anything for the public good; while Mr. 
Campbell considered that the letters referred to had not been submitted to him in 
time for him to consider them. The resolution submitted by Mr. Moody did not even 
meet with a seconder. 

It ma}' be mentioned here that a newspaper war had been waged between Messrs 
Moody and Merritt about this time, in which the former was very severely handled 
by the doctor. 

In this year the Water Front Company entered suit against the city to quiet 
title, which. May loth was duly reported on by the City Attorney. In regard to the 
matter, August 9th, E. R. Carpentier forwarded the following communication to his 
Honor Mayor Felton: — 

" I have this day entered a dismissal of the suit brought in the Twelfth District 
Court by the Oakland Water Front Company against the City of Oakland. As you 
will remember, that suit was instituted soon after the Water Front Compromise in 
pursuance of an understanding, then had, that a judgment should be obtained without 
opposition, quieting the title of the Water Front Company to its lands and franchises 
in accordance with the terms of the compromise. > 

" The then Mayor, on whom process was first served, was a Trustee of the Water 
Front Company; and he was succeeded in office by yourself, also a Trustee of the 
company. Under such circumstances it was not thought proper to take a judgment 
by default against the city, and no judgment was entered. 

" Recently the City Attorney has entered an appearance. But as the under- 
standing in pursuance of which the suit was instituted seems to have been forgotten 
by some, and the object of the suit misapprehended by others, and there not being at 
this time any real dispute by the city of the company's title, nor any doubt enter- 
tained of its validity, the company has thought it proper that the case be dismissed." 

It is to be hoped that we may not be brought under the ban of prolixity. Our 
aim has been to place before our readers the true story of the water-front controversy 
itself To follow it from its germ to its full fruition as the so-called property of the 
Central Pacific Railroad Company, which is, so far as this affair is concerned, an agglom- 
eration of the railroads and companies mentioned in these remarks, and evidently 
the inspirer of all action since taken. In his message of February 28, 1876, Mayor 
Webber sounds the paean of the "Central Pacific " in these words: "Nearly the whole of 
the frontage on the line of the Oakland water front is owned by private parties. Council 
having at an early day transferred this property and a subsequent Council having 
ratified the transfer. This latter act was the inducement that influenced the Western 
Pacific Railroad Company to locate their terminus in this city. Extended improve- 
ments have been made by that corporation and its successor, the Central Pacific 
Railroad Company; and the importance and prosperity of the city has been immeas- 
urably advanced. The right of the city to extend its streets to the line of ship channel 
has never been denied, and when necessity for such action arises I doubt not but that 
35 



ooS History of Alameda County, California. 

right will bo asserted. There is no conflict of interest between the individuals and 
corporations owning this property and the city. Whatever improvements they may 
make will advance the public interests; they cannot turn their possessions to any 
valuable use without benefiting the whole city as much, if not more, than they benefit 
themselves. The public h.ive a deep interest in the policy of the large corporations 
that have such an influence in promoting the common prosperity, and the time has 
fully arrived when a request should be made to the Water Front Company for the 
property which forms the extension of one or more streets, that wharves may be con- 
structed there by the city. Operations upon the bar have so far advanced that we 
must soon have a commerce that will demand such facilities as suggested. We have 
ample reasons for the great faith we entertain as to Oakland's future. The wonderful 
growth of the last few years is but the forerunner of what is to come. We hold the 
position of center of the railroad system of the Pacific Coast. All railroads entering 
the State must seek San Francisco, and the easiest way to reach the metropolis is by 
Oakland. We must afford what privileges we can for the encouragement of such 
enterprises and render our city easy of approach by land and water. Railroads, 
commerce, and manufactures are to be the basis of our prosperity, and the policy of 
Oakland should be enlightened and liberal. Though there are few direct acts within 
the province of the Council which would have an important bearing, the general tenor 
of all your acts exerts a powerful influence. When it is seen that \^ou are friendly to 
all enterprises that can increase Oakland's greatness, and that you duly appreciate 
their importance, the city becomes an inviting field for men of capital and energy 
Your policy has been, thus far, most praiseworthy, and it is bringing its merited 
reward." 

The reward to which his Honor alludes to must be, to use his own words given 
above, " the time has fully arrived when a request should be made to the Water Front 
Company," and through them the Central Pacific Railroad Company, "for the propert\- 
which forms the extension of one or more streets, that wharves may be constructed 
there by the city " — and this in the face of a ruling of the Supreme Court, already 
produced /;/ extetiso. 

In the summer of 1877 ^ clamor was raised in fa\or of taking fegal steps to open 
up the case from the beginning, tlie particular occasion for which was the dedication 
by the Oakland Water Front Company to the city of " the channel of San Antonio 
Creek from ship channel, in the bay of San Francisco, to the town of San Antonio, 
said channel or navigable water-course to be included between parallel lines, and to 
have an uniform width of four hundred feet," a width that \\ as deemed insufficient for 
the future commercial wants of Oakland. On No\embcr u, 1877, Henry V^rooman, 
the then City Attorney, addressed an able and lucid opinion on the subject to the 
Council. In this document he states ere concluding: "We haxe herein before shown: 
First — Not only that the Estuary of San Antonio, or 'Oakland Harbor,' is navigable 
in fact and in law, but as well that it is, in fact, navigated by vessels from both foreign 
and domestic ports. Second — That Congress has the exclusive right to regulate 
commerce with foreign nations and among the several States; that this includes the 
right to prevent the obstruction of any of the navigable waters of the United States, 
of which the waters of 'Oakland Harbor' arc certainly a part, and that Congress has 



Oakland Township — City -of Oakland. 539 

exercised its power, in regard to the Estuary of San Antonio, by appropriating for, 
and spending money in, the improvement thereof, with the intention and avowed 
purpose -of increasing the capacity of said harbor. Tliird — That the National, State, 
County, and City Governments have spent large sums of money amounting in the 
aggregate to hundreds of thousands of dollars, in improving the very harbor over 
which this Oakland Water Front Company assumes to exercise the rights of owner- 
ship, which it pretends to own in fee-simple, and through which it now assumes to 
dedicate a limited channel four hundred feet wide. Foiii'tli — That if the channel is 
limited to a width of four hundred feet, as by this company proposed, the capacity 
of the harbor will be greatly lessened, to the irremediable detriment, inconvenience, 
and interruption of commerce and navigation, and a consequent injury to the city of 
Oakland. 

"Wherefore, my conclusions are, and I so advise you: — 

"«. That the Estuary of San Antonio, or "Oakland Harbor," and the whole 
thereof, between the lines of low tide, is a public highway for navigation, and that the 
Oakland Water Front Company has no right to use, build wharves within, or bridges 
across, or to exclusively occupy or appropriate to its own use any portion of said 
estuary or harbor (waiving in this report any question touching the title to the shore 
of the estuary). 

''b. That the action of said company in assuming to dedicate a limited channel or 
water-way through the harbor, confers no additional rights upon the public, because 
the public have the prior and paramount right to the whole harbor. 

'V. That it is not necessary or advisable for your honorable body to accept said 
dedication, or take any action in the matter; and 

"^. That if said company does not immediately relinquish its pretended claims 
to said estuary or harbor, and to the whole thereof, the best interests of the city 
demand the commencement and vigorous prosecution of such proceedings as will 
establish the rights of the public to said harbor, and for this: That the further 
improvement of the estuary by the United States Government will be prevented, 
unless this pretended claim can be set aside." 

And now corhes the last act of what may be termed the Water Front Tragedy. 
On November lo, 1879, the Central Pacific Railroad Company filed a complaint 
against the city of Oakland, in the Third District Court, in an action to quiet the 
title to the water front. Besides this the complaint, which was sworn to by Charles 
Crocker, seemed to claim an exclusive right of way into the city of Oakland, over all 
other railroads. Suit having been brought it was necessary to take steps towards 
making a defense; therefore, at a meeting of the Council held December i, 1879, a 
resolution was presented authorizing the Committee on Ordinances and Judiciary to 
"employ counsel to assist the City Attorney in defending the suits now commenced 
against the city in which the title to the water front of the city is involved." On 
motion to adopt, Mr. Hewes presented a communication from Judge A. Campbell 
Senr., and Chief Justice A. L. Rhodes, and called for its reading, which was done. 
Mr. Hewes then addressed the Council at considerable length, approving the sugges- 
tions made in the communications and opposing the adoption of the resolution. 
Mr. Millan offered as a substitute a resolution directing the Committee on Ordinances 



540 History of Alameda County, California. 

and Judiciary to inquire into and report to the Council the probable cost of 
defending the water-front suits, and addressed the Council opposing the original reso- 
lutions and advocating the adoption of the substitute. The substitute was lost by : 
Ayes — Messrs. Millan and Hewes, 2; Noes — Messrs. Cole, W dl, Babcock, and 
President White, 4. Mr. Hewes offered as an amendment that the Committee on Ordi- 
nance and Judiciary be authorized and empowered to employ Messrs. Campbell and 
Rhodes to defend all the suits brought against the city by the Central Pacific Railroad 
Company, C. P. Huntington, and the Water Front Company. Mr. Hewes again ad- 
dressed the Council, earnestlyadvocating the abilityof the above-named gentlemen. The 
amendment was lost, Messrs. Millan and Hewes voting for, and Messrs. Cole, Wall, Bab- 
cock, and White against it. Mr. Millan then raised a point of order that the committee 
could not be empowered or delegated, unless by unanimous voteof the Council and before 
a ruling was had from the Chair. Mr. Hewes offered an amendment, directing the com- 
mittee to report totheCouncil the namcsof the attorneys to be employed, and the amount 
to be paid. The amendment was ruled out of order, as the matter had been already 
disposed of Mr. Millan then moved to lay the original resolution on the table, which 
was lost: Messrs. Millan and Hewes voting aye; and Messrs. Cole, Wall, Babcock, and 
White, no. An amendment was offered to add the words: "the action of said com- 
mittee to be subject to ratification or rejection by this Council," which was adopted 
by the following vote: Ayes — Messrs. Millan, Cole, Hewes, Babcock, and White; No — 
Mr. Wall. The resolution was then adopted as amended, there voting for it Messrs. 
Millan, Cole, Wall, Babcock, and White, and against it, Mr. Hewes. This gentleman 
next offered a resolution expressing the sense of the Council that "it" (presumably the 
Council) was antagonistic to the interests of the Central Pacific Railroad. After some 
discussion the resolution was laid on the table by a vote of five to one. 

On December 4th a motion was made having as its purpose the emplo\ inent of 
Albert A. Cohen as counsel to defend the water-front suits. It being read and motion 
made to adopt, Mr. Hewes addressed the Council, advocating the propriety of employ- 
ing additional counsel and expressing a fear that by employing one at a time it would 
open the door for the approach of designing men. President White then called Mr. 
Babcock to the Chair and addressed the Council, acknowledging the weight of respon- 
sibility he felt in the premises, and declared his intention to stand by the interests of 
the city. Mr. Millan next addressed the Council, approving the action of the com- 
mittee and favored the adoption of the resolution. Mr. Hewes, in explanation, stated 
that he would vote for a resolution employing Mr. Cohen, with the understanding 
that it was the intention of the committee to employ other counsel, and would favor 
the employment of Mr. Vrooman, Judge Rhodes, or others who might be named; he 
could confide in the good judgment of the committee. The resolution was then 
adopted. On the 17th December, the attorneys in the water-front suits were directed 
to cjmmence action against Samuel Merritt and others, to recover lands now in their 
possession on the water front; while on the 22d of that month Col. J. P. Hoge was 
employed as counsel for the city. 

The last entry on this subject which we will place before the reader is that on 
January 12, 1882, there was passed "An Ordinance to prevent further litigation 
concerning the Oakland Water Front" — a consummation devoutly to be wished; but 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 541 

the citizens of Oakland should never forget that Judge Baldwin has said: "The grant 
of the exclusive franchise by the Trustees is absolutely void." " The power to lay 
out and regulate wharves being given to the Council, cannot be exercised by Car- 
pentier." "We think that the general grant of this exclusive privilege is wholly void 
as exceeding the powers of the corporation." Judge Hoffman has placed on record 
the opinion that "the legality of the grant of an exclusive franchise cannot for a 
moment be supported." The Supreme Court of California stated : "We think then 
that this general grant of this exclusive privilege is wholly void." The late Governor 
Haight gave it as his opinion that "The claim advanced by the Water Front Com- 
pany is perfectly baseless." And in 46 Cal, 18, the reader will find these words: 
"Nothing short of a very explicit provision in the law will justify the Court in hold- 
ing that the Legislature intended to permit the shore, between high and low water 
mark, to be converted into private ownership." 

Closely allied to the water-front question is the subject of communication with 
San Francisco. It is now our purpose to follow the topic to the best of our ability. 

We doubt not that if the records of some of the Mexican ports could be referred 
to we would find that the San Antonio Creek is mentioned therein. With the splendid 
adjunct of the bay of San Francisco it is unquestioned that droghers found their way 
to the embarcadero of San Antonio, there to ship hides and tallow from the ranches of 
the Peraltas. Upon the arrival of the earlier pioneers and their establishment in the 
San Antonio redwoods, its advantages as a navigable stream were still further tried, 
and with the advent of the gold-seekers its capabilities were still further put to the 
test. From the earliest times it has been practically an artery of navigation, and as 
such was the proper property of the "Lord of the Soil," and could not be handed over 
to the tender mercies of private individuals. 

We have seen that communication with San Francisco was at a very early day 
kept up by means of whale-boats, and one of these named the Piroiiretie plied regu- 
larly as a ferry-boat between the e.-nbarcadero at San Antonio and San Francisco. 
The first official intelligence, however, of there being an actual ferry is to be found in 
the records of Contra Costa County, where, on August 4, 185 1, the Court of Sessions 
granted a license to H. W. Carpentier and A. Moon to run a ferry "from Contra Costa, 
in the township of San Antonio, to the city of San Francisco," and fixing the tariff as 
follows : — 

T 

For one person $i oo 

" one horse 3 oo 

" one wagon 3 00 

" one two-horse wagon 5 00 

*' meat cattle, per head 3 00 

" each hundred weight o 50 

' ' each sheep i 00 

' ' each hog i 00 

And in that year regular communication was established. In 1852 the San 
Antonio Creek was declared to be a navigable stream by Act of the Legislature. 

In 1850 the Kangaroo was put on the route, but made only two trips in the week, 
her point of departure being San Antonio (now East Oakland). A small steamer, 
name not remembered, ran from Oakland in 1851, while, in 1852, the Boston, and the 



542 History ok Alameda County, California. 

Caleb Cope, Thomas Gray, Master, commenced to ply. The first-named was, how- 
ever, shortly after this destroyed by fire. Towards the end of the year the Kate Hayes, 
the Red Jacket, and other boats were put on the route, until finally the Contra Costa 
Steam Navigation Company was established, with two steamers, making regular daily 
trips, and charging one dollar for each passage. 

On January 15, 1853, the now famous Board of Trustees passed an ordinance 
granting to the Contra Costa Steam Navigation Company ferry privileges between 
Oakland and San Francisco, which, however, was repealed on the 1st of March follow- 
ing. An attempt was made though to have a bill quietly passed through the Legis- 
lature granting the exclusive privilege to G. W. Ryckman to establish and run a ferry 
between Oakland and San Francisco, an action which brought forth the following res- 
olutions from the Council at a meeting held April 18, 1854: — 

Where.'VS, We have learned that a bill has been introduced into the Senate of this State, proposing to 
grant a monopoly of the ferry privilege between the cities of Oakland and San Francisco to Garret W. Ryckman 
for fifteen years, at rates of ferriage exceeding those now charged upon the ferries already established, and to raise 
a revenue therefrom to the State, therefore be it 

Rfsolvcd, By the City Council of the city of Oakland, that we view such a proposition with jealously and 
regret, as an unwarrantable attempt on the part of foreign speculators to cripple the commerce and resources, and 
to retard the prosperity of this city. 

Resolved, That we regard all such monopolies as injurious, not only to the city of Oakland, but also to 
other towns in the vicinity. The Legislature has already declared San Antonio Creek to be a navigable stream. 
There are several towns situated upon it and it is the only outlet for the increasing trade of one of the most pop- 
ulous and fertile valleys of the State. Any individual or individuals, who, by Legislative enactment, may hold a 
monopoly of that trade, will thereby injure and retard the growth and enterprise of our city and surrounding 
country. We deem a fair and honorable competition in all ferry enterprises between this city and San Francisco 
as a matter of constitutional right, and we deprecate any attempt to curb the prosperity of our people by the 
granting of any monopolies in relation to the same. 

Resolved, That we protest against any attempt to raise a public revenue by a special tax levied upon the 
citizens of Oakland as unjust, undemocratic, and oppressive. 

Resolved, That our Senator and member of Assembly be requested to oppose the passage of said bill. 

Resolved, That his Honor, the Mayor, be requested to forward copies of the foregoing preamble and reso- 
lutions to our Senator and Assemblyman and to the branches of the Legislature. 

In his message of April 29, 1854, Horace VV. Carpcntier, then occupying the 
civic chair, reverts to the subject of ferries in these words: "The subject of public 
ferries is an important one and worthy your consideration. Upon the proper regula- 
tion and the facilities for travel which they afford, Oakland is largely dependent, and 
I recommend that vigorous measures be taken to insure the speedy removal of the 
bar at the mouth of the San Antonio, so as to render communication with San F'ran- 
cisco easy and certain at all hours and stages of the tide. Your attention has already 
been directed to a bill now pending before the Legislature, granting to an individual a 
monopoly of ferry privileges for fifteen years at greatly increased rates of ferriage, and 
to raise therefrom a revenue to the State. A proposition inore inanifestly unjust to 
the city of Oakland, or more devoid of all guarantees for the public security and con- 
venience could scarcely have been devised, nor one which will ineet the more earnest 
disapprobation of every man living in Oakland or its environs, or in the least inter- 
ested in its prosperity. The resolutions of remonstrance heretofore passed by the 
City Council, I have caused to be presented to the Senate, and I feel assured that no 
fears need be entertained of its passage." In the foregoing we can see the jealousy that 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 543 

was to prevent at all hazards the establishment of any line of communication in which 
the Carpentier faction had no interest. To them the navigable waters of the creek 
and bay were a part and parcel of the water-front concession — so-called — therefore the 
Mayor might well encourage the Council with the words, "that no fears need be 
entertained " of the passage of the bill through the Legislature. It is curious to watch 
also that what was a monopoly in one case was not so in the other — exclusive posses- 
sion of ferry line was not akin to exclusive possession of a city's entire water front! 
A year later, in 1855, the Council passed another resolution earnestly remonstrating 
against the passage of any law by the Legislature granting to any person, persons, or 
body a monopoly of ferry privileges between Oakland and San Francisco; while, in 
accordance with the suggestion of the Mayor, a resolution was passed, January 10, 
1855, that proposals for the removal of the bar at the mouth of San Antonio Creek, 
or dredging the same, so as to admit of navigation at low stages of the tide be received, 
and that the same be handed in to the Clerk of the Council on or before February i, 
1855. 

We have shown before that Horace W. and E. R. Carpentier had been granted 
exclusive ferry rights in March, 1855, and that considerable dissatisfaction was being 
felt at the consequence of this concession, but still they held their own against all 
comers. 

Mayor S. H. Robinson, on April 2, 1856, sent a message to the Council wherein 
he dwelt at length on this and the subject of the Oakland Bar. He said, " I would 
call the attention of the Council to the bar at the mouth. of the San Antonio Creek, 
an obstruction to the navigation of the same, which is estimated can be moved for 
about five thousand dollars. The dredging of this bar, owing to exaggerated estimates 
of its cost, has heretofore been looked upon as an enterprise, the expense of which 
was far beyond the reach of the limited means of our city. Such, however, is not the 
case. There is not a property-holder or a business-man within its corporate limits 
that would not cheerfully pay an additional percentage as taxes towards such an 
object, knowing that the value of property and the amount of business would be 
increased thereby. The citizens of Clinton and San Antonio profess a willingness to 
contribute to this object, but they cannot be expected to do anything in the matter 
until Oakland takes the lead. I particularly urge you to consider this matter and 
would recommend the passage of an ordinance appropriating the sum of two thousand 
dollars to be paid, provided the balance is made up by cash subscriptions from other 
sources. Every part of Alameda County, and every citizen living within its limits is 
directly interested in the matter and would, I have no doubt, if the subject was prop- 
erly presented, contribute liberally towards the removal of its obstructions, without 
which a cheap, speedy, and certain access to the San Francisco market cannot well be 
found. 

" And in this connection I desire to call your attention to the subject of the 
ferry, as one of vital importance to the prosperity of the city. That the present ferry 
between this city and San Francisco is not what it ought to be and that it is conducted 
in almost total disregard of the public wants and interests, is a fact notorious to all. 
What steps, if any, ought to be taken by you with a view to its improvement, I am 
not prepared at present definitely to recommend, but I commend to you the whole sub- 



544 History of Alameda County, California. 

ject matter as one eminently worthy of your careful consideration. Public improve- 
ments, either in dredging the bar, in placing the ferry upon a proper footing, or in 
constructing wharves, thereby increasing the means of access to our city, are public 
benefits and should be encouraged by all practical means, and in cases where private 
property is taken for public use, just and fair compensation should be made therefor." 
The outcry against the management of the ferry is continued by Mayor Williams, in 
his message of March lo, 1857. He there remarks: "The want of suitable and proper 
accommodations for passage between this city and San Francisco has produced great 
discomfort to passengers and worked a serious injury to the prosperity of this city. 
The high charges for freight and passage; the want of comfortable accommodations; 
the uncertainty of time for trip; the length of tim; to effect a crossing of eight miles 
— generally one hour — the daily apprehension of remaining grounded on the bar for 
hours, have deterred hundreds from settling here, who, doing business in San Fran- 
cisco, would otherwise, with their families, have been domiciliated with us. The rates 
for passage charged, for instance, one hundred and eighty dollars a year for commuters, 
or, three hundred and sixty-five dollars per annum for non-commuters, and for indi- 
viduals for daily passage, and same rates of freight as charged two years ago, would 
seem to afford patronage sufficient to justify more convenient and enlarged accommo- 
dations, especially for females and children, to whom the want of suitable and proper 
arrangements, especially in inclement weather, is a serious inconvenience. 

" San Francisco Bay is an arm of the sea, being a maritime highway, and San 
Antonio Creek declared by Legislature a navigable stream, there is not now, and 
cannot be, any legal ferry monopoly. The regulations of the wharf and dockage 
privileges are entirely under your legal control, independent of the question of the 
ownership of the water front; and it is believed that a competition of passenger boats 
would produce a great reduction of fare; increased speed on trips; mare promptness 
in the time of starting; greater comfort in the passenger-seats on board; less annoyance 
of wharfage at each end of the trip, and still leave, for two rival lines, a far larger profit 
per cent, on the capital invested than any other business or investment in the State. 
It is believed that the wharfage and dockage receipts realized by individuals which 
justly belong to the city are far more than adequate to pay the whole expense of the 
City Government, including the public schools without any other source of revenue. 
I recommend your encouragement of any feasible plan for competition in passenger 
boats, and, also in connection with this subject, a careful revisal and re-enactment with 
amendments of Ordinance Number Twenty-two, 'to regulate the tolls, wharfage, 
and dockage on wharves, piers, and slips' — approved May 16, 1855, and the subse- 
quent enforcement of a strict compliance with its provisions and an e.xamination of 
the rights of the city to the wharfage and dockage collected at the wharves." 

It needs no words of ours to impress the reader with the annoyance experienced 
and the baneful influences exercised by the Carpentier ferry, under the management 
of Minturn, to whom the honor of giving the name to the line is awarded. The 
Mayor in the above statement has most capably told the story, while, at the same 
time, in relation to the bar he says: "The dredging of the bar at the mouth of the 
San Antonio Creek is also a work of such general utility to the counties bordering on 
each side of the bay, and the whole country at large, and so unlikely of accomplish- 





Si!^</c^t^^ c^. 




Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 545 

ment under any present arrangement, that it would seem to present just claims to the 
consideration of the Legislature, and I therefore submit to you the propriety of an 
application for aid from the State to dredge and plank a channel of sufficient depth 
and width to obviate any further danger or obstruction from that source in all time 
to come." 

The discontent with the Minturn line continued and soon manifested itself by the 
establishment of the Oakland and San Antonio Steam. Navigation Company. This 
association was duly launched towards the end of 1857, and with the feeling then 
existing towards the opposition company, it was not long before all of the stock was 
taken up, and its originator, the lamented Hon. James B. Larue, installed as its Pres- 
ident. T.iey at once purchased the steamer Confidence, and from her built the San 
Antonio, which commenced to ply in April, 1858, the rate of fare being reduced to 
twenty-five cents. In the fall of that year the O.ikland was constructed, and with her 
a very lively competition was inaugurated against the Contra Costa, both of which 
took the place of the Clinton and the San Antonio. But the newly formed Oakland 
and San Antonio Steam Navigation Company was not to be allowed to ply its 
boats unmolested. The suit of Minturn versus Larue et al. was instituted, in which 
the plaintiff prayed for an injunction on the ferry of which th^ latter was President; 
the case was taken before Judge Hoffman of the United States Circuit Court, and in 
the July term of the year 1858, that learned e.Kponeat of the law rendered the follow- 
ing decision, which declared that the ordinance granting an exclusive franchise was 
unconstitutional and illegal. It may be remembered that that also was the expressed 
opinion of Mayor Carpentier, when it was proposed to grant ferry privileges to 
Ryckman, in 1854: — 

"Minturn ') 

vs. Circuit Court U. S., July Term, 1858. ' 

"Larue et al. \ 

"The Bill in this case is filed for an injunction to restrain the defendants from 
interfering with the privilege of franchise of the complainant, in a ferry from the town 
of Oakland to this city, of which he claims to be the exclusive owner for a term of 
years. 

"This franchise is alleged to hive been conferred on the complainant by an ordi- 
nance and contract pursuant thereto, made by the Trustees of Oakland in the year 
1 85-. The authority of the Trustees to make the ordinance and contract is derived 
from the Act of the Legislature, passed May 4, 1852. 

"Under the supposed authority of this Act, a contract was made by the Trustees, 
granting to the assignor of the complainant the privilege, claimed to be exclusive, of 
keeping and running all ferries between the town of Oakland and the city of San 
Francisco and elsewhere. It is not denied that the defendants are running a ferry- 
boat between this city and the town of San Antonio, touching at Oakland; nor that 
the profits and business of the complainants are seriously affected thereby. It is 
urged that the Court should not, at this stage of the cause, determine its whole merits, 
but that the injunction should be granted if the complainant has made out a prima 
facie case. 



546 HisroKv OK Alameda County, Cai.ii-'ornia. 

"But it is well settled that injunctions will not be granted to secure the enjoy- 
ment of a statutory privilege, unless the right be clear. (3 Cowcn, 755; I Johns, I'h. 
R., 64.) 

"In cases where an injunction is prayed to restrain an act which, if committed, 
will work irreparable mischief it will be granted V.r necessitate' even in doubtful cases, 
as the only means of keeping the parties '/'« statu quo,' and preventing the parties 
final decree from being abortive. Such are the cases of the threatened destruction of 
heirlooms, or works of art, or objects having a 'pietiiin affectionis' like family portraits, 
etc.; or the publication of private letters, or the erecting of nuisances calculated to work 
irreparable mischief etc. In all such cases it is clear that the Court, b}' refusing the 
injunction, permits the act to be done, its subsequent decree, granting the injunction, 
would be but a 'briitiim fuliiian.' 

"But when an exclusive privilege under a statute is claimed, and the Court is 
asked to forbid the commission of an act, otherwise lawful, because it interferes with 
the exclusive privilege claimed, the legal right of the complainant must be clear. It 
is said that in this case the Court should interfere because the tresspass on the com- 
plainant is continuous, and cannot be estimated in damages. 

"But the damages to the defendants, if they are prevented from running their boat 
until their cause is heard, are equally unsusceptible of calculation, and may be greater 
than the complainant can sustain by the competition. The Court should therefore be 
fully satisfied that the right exists, before, by its injunction, it will cause to the 
defendants an injury quite as irreparable and perhaps more extensive than that appre- 
hended by the complainant. 

"The supposed authority of the Trustees to make the ordinance and contract 
relied on by the complainant, is contained in the third section of the Act to incorpo- 
rate the town of Oakland, passed May 4, 1854.* This section provides 'that the 
Board of Trustees shall have power to make such by-laws and ordinances as they 
m ly deem fit, proper, and necessary; to regulate, improve, sell, or otherwise dispose of 
the common property; to prevent and extinguish fires; to lay out, make, open, widen, 
regulate, and keep in repair all streets, roads, bridges, ferries, public places and 
grounds, wharves, docks, piers, slips, sewers, wells, and alleys, and to authorize the 
construction of the same; and with a view to facilitate the construction of wharves 
and other improvements, the lands lying within the limits aforesaid, between high-tide 
and ship channel, are hereby granted and released to said town.' 

"It is not claimed that the foregoing provisions constitute a grant to the town of 
Oakland, of all ferries from that town, as property. 

"It is urged, however, that they amount to a delegation to the Trustees of all the 
legislative and sovereign power possessed b}' the State, over the subject of ferries from 
that town. That, in the exercise of that power, the trustees could make any contract 
and confer any rights, with regard to ferries, they might deem proper, and that, hav- 
ing done so, the rights thereby conferred rested and remain indefeasible, either by the 
Trustees or the State, except in the exercise of the right of eminent domain. 

"The first question to be considered is, what were the nature and extent of the 
authority conferred upon the Trustees b)' the Act above cited? 

* Should be May 4, 1852. 



Oakland Towns-hip — City of Oakland. 547 

"The only words in the clause which can be construed to confer the powers sup- 
po;eJ, are the words 'make' and 'authorize the construction of.' 

"It is evident that most of the empowering words in the phrase do not apply to 
all the objects in reference to which the powers are to be exercised. For instance: 
The word 'open' cannot refer to 'ferries,' nor the word 'widen' to 'wells.' The words 
'lay out' evidently refer to 'streets,' 'roads,' 'public places' and 'grounds;' and the 
words 'authorize the construction' have obviously a more specific reference to the 
docks, wharves, bridges, and sewers mentioned, or to the ferries. 

" It is clear, therefore, that the various empowering words in the phrase must be 
construed distributively ' reddendo singula singulis; ' and they must be distributed 
among the objects mentioned, in such a way as to give, with respect to each, only 
those powers which would naturally be conferred upon a municipal corporation, with 
reference to such objects. 

" To apply the word ' make ' to ' ferries ' and to construe it as conferring the 
absolute right of leasing indefinitely, or granting the franchise for all ferries from the 
town to any individual, would seem a forced interpretation, suggested rather by the 
desire to find in the Act the authority sought for, than by the natural construction of 
the phrase itself. If ' make' were the only word which could apply to ferries, or if 
'ferries' was the only word which would satisfy and give effect to the word 'make,' 
the construction contended for would be more plausible. 

"But the word 'regulate' not only can be applied to the ferries, but is sufficient 
to confer all the authority with respect to them which would naturally and appropri- 
ately be given to a municipal corporation from whom a grant of the franchise in prop- 
erty is withheld; while the word 'make' has a similar operation if applied to the 
bridges, wharves, piers, docks, sewers, wells, etc. 

" ' To make ferries ' is certainly an unusual and awkward expression. The more 
appropriate phrase would _ obviously be 'to establish ferries;' and had the extensive 
powers with regard to them which are now claimed, been intended to be conferred, it 
is hardly possible that the Legislature would have omitted in specific terms to grant 
and enumerate them. The construction contended for assumes that while the Legis- 
lature withheld the grant of the franchise from the corporation as property, it never- 
theless intended to give them full power to grant the exclusive franchise as property 
to any individual; to be assigned or sold by him at pleasure, and capable of being 
owned by a foreigner or a citizen of another State; and all this by the force of the word 
'make' which is wrested from its natural application to other objects and made to 
refer to ferries by an ingenious and forced construction. 

"The words 'authorize the construction of cannot be appealed to as conferring 
the powers attempted to be exercised in this case. Whatever propriety there might 
be in the phrase ' construct a ferry,' the power to do so can hardly be deemed a power 
to grant or lease an exclusive franchise and privilege of establishing it, especially when 
such franchise is not conferred upon the donee of the power to construct; and in this 
case the power is not given to 'construct,' but to 'authorize the construction of ferries, 
if, indeed, it refers to ferries at all. It is, therefore, merely a power to permit, or to 
allow them to be constructed. It would surely be an unwarrantable latitude of con- 
struction, to hold that a power to permit the construction of a ferry unaccompanied 



548 History of Alameda Gountv, California. 

by a grant of the franchise, authorized the absolute grant of an exclusive franchise to 
any one the party empowered to permit might see fit to give it. But for the reasons 
before assigned, I think the words 'authorize the construction of apply to wharves, 
docks, piers, bridges, etc., and not to ferries; with reference to which they arc obviously 
inappropriate. But assuming that the words 'make' and ' authorize the construction 
of apply to ferries, the question recurs, whether the trustees were authorized by the 
power thus given, to confer the right now claimed. 

"The ordinance under which the contract with Edward R. Carpcnticr was made, 
provides that ' the Trustees, etc., do hereby make, open, widen, lay out, grant, create, 
ordain, establish, and regulate a public ferry between said town of Oakland and the 
city of San Francisco, to be called the Oakland Ferry; and the\' do hereby bargain 
and contract with Edward R. Carpentier, his heirs, agents, and assigns, to run said 
ferry for the period of twenty years, according to the terms of this ordinance, either 
as a separate ferry, or in connection with, or continuance of the one already estab- 
lished and used between said town and said city, hereby granting, selling, and releasing, 
and conveying to his successors in interest and assigns, exclusively, for the period of 
twenty years, the right to keep and run a public ferry, or public ferries so as to 
demand and receive compensation therefor, between the said town of Oakland and the 
city of San Francisco, or between the said town of Oakland and any other place! 
together with all and singular the ferry rights, privileges, and franchises which now are 
or may hereafter be owned by said town.' The contract made in pursuance of this 
ordinance is in substantially the same language. 

"Admitting that so much of this ordinance as purports to establish, create, and 
make a public ferry between Oakland and San Francisco is a valid exercise of the 
power conferred on the Trustees, we are next to inquire whether the grant and the 
subsequent contract was also within the power of the Trustees. 

" It will be seen that the Trustees in express terms convey and grant for twenty 
years to Carpentier and his successors, exclusively, the right of running and keeping 
a ferry or ferries between Oakland and San Francisco, and between Oakland and any 
other places, and they undertake to convey to him ' all the ferry rights, privileges, and 
franchises which now are, or may hereafter be, owned by said town.' 

It is not contended that the town of Oakland was the owner of any exclusive 
ferry franchise whatever. The grant, therefore, of the ferry franchises owned by the 
town would, of course, pass for nothing. As to the grant of all ferry franchises which 
might thereafter be owned by it, no observations are necessary; but it is said that the 
Trustees, in the exercise of their power to establish ferries, had incidentally and as 
the appropriate means of establishing them, the right to lease them to individuals. 
It is not necessary to inquire into the authority of the corporation to cstabli-^h a par- 
ticular ferry, and to lease it to an individual. 

"The right they have attempted to convey to Carpentier was not a lease of a 
particular ferry between a certain point in the town of Oakland and the city of San 
Francisco, but the exclusive right to keep and run a ferry or ferries between Oakland 
or any other place. Thus they abdicated and renounced the e.xercise of all the powers 
with respect to ferries with which they were intrusted, except that of ' regulating.' 
For the power to establish other ferries could be of no avail, so long as Carpentier 
retained the exclusive right to run and keep them. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 549 

" It would perhaps be difficult to find in the history of municipal corporations 
another instance of so extraordinary a grant. It was not only not an exercise of any 
power they may have possessed to establish ferries, but it was, in effect, the surrender 
of the whole power to establish them, and it amounted to an agreement that no ferry 
should be established from Oakland to any place whatever, unless by the permission 
of the person to whom they had given the exclusive right to run them. It seems 
to me that the legality of the*grant cannot, for a moment, be supported. 

" The authority vested in the Board was conferred upon them as Trustees for the 
public, to be exercised for the public good. They had not only the right, but it was 
their duty, and that of their successors, to exercise the power of establishing ferries as 
agents and trustees of the public, whenever the public good might require. 

" The power to establish ferries, if it existed at all, was a continuing power and 
duty, which existed in every Board of Trustees for the time being; and no contract 
by one Board not to exercise it, or for the exclusive enjoyment of the franchise by an 
individual, could prohibit or restrain their successors from exercising the powers 
vested in them by the statute to establish and license other ferries required by public 
convenience and necessity. (Fay, Petitioner, etc., 15 Pick. 243.) 

" But to ascertain more certainly the intention of the law, and the nature and 
extent of the powers conferred upon the Trustees, the Legislature of the State with 
regard to ferries must be considered. 

" By the Act of March, 1850, all persons were forbidden to keep ferries without a 
license, except for their own use, or of that of their families. The Courts of Sessions 
were empowered to establish ferries across bays, creeks, or sloughs bounding or within 
their respective counties, as they might deem necessary, and were authorized to issue 
a license to keep a public ferry to any suitable person applying therefor, for a term 
not to exceed one year, on the fulfillment by the applicant of certain prerequisites. 
They could also license and establish additional ferries within less than two miles from 
a regularly established ferry, when necessary for public convenience, and on notice to 
the proprietor of such previously established ferry. The Act further provides for the 
establishment of ferries on private property, for the occupation of ground at either end 
of the ferry, and for the publication of a notice of the application of a ferry. It also 
prescribes the duties and privileges of ferry-men, and provides for the rates of ferriage, 
revoking licenses, and for the penalties to be imposed for a refusal to transfer persons 
or property. 

" All those provisions were of a general character, and applied to all the counties 
of the State. They were evidently designed to provide by general law for the estab- 
lishment of ferries, for conferring the franchise in suitable cases, with proper checks 
and securities, and with the express reservation of the right to confer a similar fran- 
chise upon persons other than the proprietor of the first established ferry, wherever it 
might be deemed necessary or advantageous to the public. 

" The same provisions, in substance, remain as part of the general law of this 
State, to the present day, except that it having been determined that under the Con- 
stitution of this State, the Courts of Sessions could not exercise the functions assigned 
to them by the Act, the same powers, in substance, were by the Act of 1855. vested 
in the Boards of Supervisors. 



550 History of Alameda County, California. 

"On the 14th of April, 1853, an Act was passed, declaring that the second sec- 
tion of the Act creating and regulating public ferries should not be construed to 
apply to the bays of San Pablo, Suisun, San F"rancisco, or Monterey; and the naviga- 
tion of said bays, and the transportation of freight or passengers over, across, or through 
the same was declared to be free and exempt from the restriction of any ferry laws 
then in force in the State. These provisions have been repealed, in substance, in all 
the succeeding ferry laws passed on the subject. 

"It will not be disputed that these laws indicate and establish the settled policy 
of the State, with regard to public ferries; that it was intended to confer the franchise, 
for a limited time, on persons found to be suitable, and with certain privileges, checks, 
securities, and penalties provided by law; that such pri\ilcgcs were not to be exclu- 
sive, but other ferries could be established contiguous to any established ferry, when- 
ever deemed necessary; and that the State was to derive a revenue from the issuing 
of the licenses. 

"The law of 1853, and subsequent enactments to the same effect, show that the 
great arms of the sea therein mentioned were not regarded as fit for the establish- 
ment of any ferries whatever, but that the navigation and transportation of freight and 
passengers across, through, and over them were to be left free and exempt from the 
restriction of any ferry laws in force in this State. Such being the settled policy and 
law of this State with regard to public ferries, and with reference to the bays men- 
tioned, it is not to be presumed, without the clearest evidence of a contrar}- intention, 
that the Legislature intended to confer upon the trustees of a small town on the 
bay of San Francisco, the power to grant an exclusive privilege to establish ferries 
across the most important of these bodies of water, the navigation ot which was, the 
next year, declared free and exempt from all ferry laws. 

"If the general ferry law, under which no exclusive rights could be acquired, 
nor license granted for more than a year, was deemed unfit to be applied to the bay 
of San Francisco, the inference is irresistible, that it could not have been the inten- 
tion, only one year previously, to confer upon the trustees of a town an unlimited 
power to grant exclusive privileges, for any period, with reference to the same waters, 
to any individual they might choose. 

"It is admitted that the law by which the power claimed was conferred, might at 
an)' time have been repealed. Had the Legislature, when, in 1853, it declared the 
bays mentioned to be exempt from the operation of all ferry laws, and the naviga- 
tion over and across them to be free, supposed that the Trustees of Oakland were 
empowered to grant an exclusive right to an individual to establish ferries to the 
most important city of the .State, the)- would surely not have omitted to re\oke the 
powers and repeal the law by which they were conferred. 

"The question we have been considering is purely one of construction, and even 
if the language of the Act were more doubtful, yet, when read by the light of the 
previous and immediately subsequent legislation of the State, its true interpretation 
would seem to be unmistakable. 

"But, it is said that the power to establish a ferry imparts 'r.r vi termini^ ■&. power 
to confer exclusive rights in the ferry so established; that without such rights it 
would not be a ferry in the legal sense of the term. But on this point the case of 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 551 

Fanning I's. Gregoire (i6 Howard, 524) is decisive. In that case Fanning claimed 
under a direct grant from the Legislature, authorizing him to keep a ferry at the town 
of Dubuque, across the Mississippi River, for the term of twenty years. This he 
accordingly established. Subsequently, the State conferred upon the City Council of 
Dubuque power to license and establish public ferries across the Mississippi; and 
under the power a license was granted. On a suit by Fanning against the license, it 
was held that his franchise was not e.xclusive, but that the Legislature had a right to 
license other ferries. 

"It is clear that if a direct grant, to an individual, of authority to establish and 
keep a ferry at a particular place does not vest in him an exclusive franchise, the 
grant to a municipal corporation power to establish ferries, does not authorize them 
to bestow exclusive privileges. If the term 'ferry' in the grant to Planning did not 
impart any exclusive franchise, it cannot have that meaning in the Act incorporating 
Oakland. It can surely make no difference whether the State is supposed to have 
duly surrendered to an individual its power of improvement and accommodation in 
a great and important line of public travel, or whether it is supposed to have author- 
ized a municipal corporation to surrender it; in either case 'its abandonment ought to 
be presumed, when the deliberate purpose of the State to abandon it does not appear.' 
(I Peters, 5x4.) 

"It is urged that, even if the town of Oakland or the State had power to license 
other ferries, yet the right of complainant to the exclusive enjoyment of the ferry on 
the particular ferry-ways established by him ought to be protected. But in the case 
above referred to no such distinction appears to have been taken. The right 
claimed was like this — an exclusive right to run a ferry from a certain town across 
the Mississippi for twenty years. The infringement complained of was the licensing 
and establishment of another from the same town, across the same river. The Court 
decided that the franchise claimed was not exclusive, and that the establishment of 
the second ferry was legal. It is nowhere suggested that the second licensee could not 
run his boat from any part of the town of Dubuque, and even from the same wharf 
as that used by the first licensee. 

"The privilege attempted to be granted in this case was not the privilege of 
keeping and running a ferry from any specified dock or wharf in the town of Oakland 
to any other point across the bay. It was the right to keep and run a ferry or ferries 
from the town of Oakland generally to any place whatever. Whether, if the trustees 
had established a ferry from a certain wharf, and leased the same to an individual, 
his rights in such ferry would have been exclusive, it is not necessary to inquire, for 
the right granted was the exclusive right to run 'a ferry or ferries ' from the town of 
Oakland to any place, with all the ferry rights, privileges, and franchises then owned 
or thereafter to be owned by the town. 

"But admitting, for the sake of argument, not only that the trustees were empo^^•- 
ered to establish ferries, but that the Legislature intended to confer upon them powers 
to grant to an individual the exclusive franchise for any period of running and keep- 
ing the ferries so established, such a construction affords an argument almost irre- 
sistible: that those powers could only have been conferred with regard to ferries 
wholly within the corporate limits. 



History of Alameda County, California. 



"Within those h'mits is the creek San Antonio, which can only be crossed by 
bridges or boats. If, then, the power to grant a franchise in property was intended 
to be conferred, it is surely more reasonable, and more in accordance with every rule 
relating to the construction of grants of this description, to construe it as referring to 
ferries across waters wholly within the corporate limits, than to sujjpose it to extend 
to ferries across a bay, the navigation of which was, in less than a year afterwards, 
declared free and open to all. 

"With reference to the streets, doL-ks, wharves, and sewers this limitation is 
necessarily understood. Why not with regard to ferries, if the power to grant the 
franchise was intended to be given ? The ferry from Oakland to this citj- affords the 
principal, if not the only means of convenient access to the commercial center and 
chief seaport of the State, not only to the citizens of Oakland, but to the inhabitants 
of a considerable district, and the possession of an e.xclusive franchise of running and 
keeping all ferries between Oakland and this city, gives to the possessor the prac- 
tical control of the means of communication. Can it be supposed that the Legisla- 
ture intended to give the power to grant such a right to the corporate authorities of 
a town situated at one terminus of the ferry, and to take away or render nugatory 
the rights of the count)' at the other terminus to license ferries across the water 
forming their common boundary? That this right existed in both counties, under 
the law of 1851, is clear. But the privileges conferred b}- the license under the ferry 
laws are limited, and not exclusive in the person obtaining the lice ise. To suppose, 
then, that the power contended for was conferred upon the Trustees of Oakland, we 
must suppose that the power gixcn to e\ery county on the bay of San Francisco, 
between which and Oakland a ferry might be established, were revoked, and the gen- 
eral ferry laws on that subject repealed by implication. And this b)- force of the 
word 'make,' which we are asked first to apph' to ferries, and then to construe as has 
been explained. It may be said that the question is not now as to the right of other 
counties to license ferries under the general ferry laws. This is true. But the question 
is, as to the exclusive right of the complainant to a ferry between Oakland and this 
city — as against defendants; and in construing the law under which this his alleged 
rights are claimed, it is of importance to show that the power to confer such rights 
was incompatible with the then existing laws, conferring powers over ferries to other 
counties, and could only ha\e been given by repealing pro tanto these laws; as also 
that it was incompatible with subsequent laws, by which all power to establish ferries 
over the v.'aters in question was taken away. 

" It has not seemed to me necessary to refer on this point to the general rules 
relating to the construction of grants of this kind. 

" It is not denied that grants of privileges, franchises, etc., are to be strictly con- 
strued, and that nothing is to be taken by intendment. 

"It is claimed, however, that this is a delegation of legislative authority, and not 
a grant of a franchise, and that therefore a different rule must be applied. I confess 
myself unable to see the propriety of this distinction in the present case. 

"The State is the sovereign from whom the power is derived, whether it is sup- 
posed to have granted directly to a corporation the exclusive franchise as property, 
as was done in the case of the cit_\- of New York, or to have granted to the corpora- 




•fw^ 



-^<£a4y^ O^^^^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 553 

tion power to make an exclusive grant of the franchise to an individual; in either 
case the rules of construction must be the same. It can surely make no difference 
whether the corporation is the direct grantee of the franchise or the donee of a power 
to make a grant of it and receive the consideration. 

" Many other questions were raised and argued at the hearing, which it is unnec- 
essary to discuss. 

"On the whole, I think: 

"■First. — That it is at least doubtful whether the Act incorporating the town of 
Oakland gave to the Trustees any other power with regard to ferries than that of 
regulating them. 

" Second. — That if the power to establish ferries was conferred, such power was 
held by them as a public trust, to be exercised by them and their successors when the 
public good might require. They had, therefore, no authority to confer upon any 
individual the exclusive right to keep and run a ferry or ferries between Oakland and 
San Francisco, still less such a right with regard to ferries ' between Oakland and any 
other place.' 

" Tliird. — That if such powers were intended to be given the Trustees, they could 
only have referred to ferries across waters wholly within the corporate limits of the 
town. 

"Fourth. — That under any possible view of the case, the right of the complainant 
is doubtful; and that therefore the injunction ought not now to be granted. 

In the same case. Judge McAllister delivered an opinion, and in summing up 
says: — 

" The contract between the town of Oakland and Carpentier must be deemed a 
fraud upon the law and a complete evasion of its policy and object. A public trust 
was confined to the authorities of Oakland, to be executed by them as agents of the 
public. It was not in their power to denude themselves of the trust. It was not 
their 'common property,' and by the charter could not be sold or disposed of It 
■ was a public trust to be exercised by them as agents of the community, which they 
could not discard so as to prevent their successors from establishing additional ferries 
required by the public convenience. By the contract they 'granted, sold, released 
and conveyed ' to an individual, his successors and assigns, exclusively, for the space 
of twenty years, the right to keep and run a public ferry or ferries, so as to demand 
and receive compensation therefor, between the town of Oakland and the city of San 
Francisco, and between ' the said town and any other place ' together with all and 
singular, the ferry rights, privileges, and franchises which now are, or may hereafter 
be, held and owned by said town. By such contract the then authorities of Oakland 
attempted to convert a public trust to private and individual use, and to place for 
twenty years under the exclusive control of an individual and his assigns all, even 
future means of ferry communication across the navigable waters from Oakland to 
any other place. Such never was the intention of the Legislature. Such an Act it 
was not in the power of the authorities of Oakland to do, and such a transaction a 
Court of Equity cannot sustain. 

" This tribunal could not interpose by the extraordinary process of injunction, to 
support rights derived from such a source; and maintain a title, which, so far from 
36 



554 History of Alameda County, California. 

being free from doubt, was executed under a contract in fraud of the law, under which 
it proposes to be executed, and to sustain restrictions over the navigable waters of 
this State, which the Legislature has declared shall be exempt from all such restric- 
tions." 

The case was taken on appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, when 
the judgment of the Lower Courts was sustained, as will be gleaned from the follow- 
ing decision of Mr. Justice Nelson: — 

" This is an appeal from a decree of the Circuit Court of the United States for 
the district of California. 

" The bill was filed by the complainant in the Court below to restrain the defend- 
ants from running a ferry between the city of San Francisco and the cit\' of Oakland, 
on the opposite side of the bay, and which, it is claimed, is in violation of the exclusive 
privileges belonging to him under the authority of law. The authorit}', as set forth 
in the bill, is derived from the charter of the town (now city) of Oakland. The third 
section of the charter (passed May 4, 1852) provided that 'the Board of Trustees 
shall have power to make such by-laws and ordinances as the}' may deem proper and 
necessary;' among other things, 'to lay out, make, open, widen, regulate, and keep in 
repair all streets, roads, bridges, ferries,' etc., ' wharves, docks, piers, slips,' etc., ' and 
to authorize the construction of the same; and with a view to facilitate the construc- 
tions of wharves and other improvements the land lying within the limits aforesaid> 
(that is of the corporation) between high tide and ship channel, are hereby granted 
and released to said town.' 

"It is admitted, if the authorities of the town of Oakland possessed the power 
under the charter to grant an exclusive right of ferries between that place and the 
city of San Francisco, the complainant has become vested with it. The question in 
the case, therefore, is whether or not the power was conferred by this third section of 
the charter. 

" It is a well-settled rule of construction of grants by the Legislature to corpora- 
tions, whether public or private, that only such powers and rights can be exercised 
under them as are clearly comprehended within the words of the Act, or deri\ed 
therefrom by necessary implication, regard being had to the objects of the grant. 
Any ambiguity or doubt arising out of the terms used by the Legislature must be 
resolved in favor of the public. This principle has been so often applied in the con- 
struction of corporate powers, that wc need not stop to refer to authorities. 

" Now, looking at the terms of the grant in this case, and giving to them their widest 
meaning, either separately or in the connection in which they are found, or with the 
object for which the power was conferred, we find, indeed, a power to establish and regu- 
late ferries within the corporate limits of the town, but not an exclusive power. Full 
effect is given to the words in which the power is granted, when the simple right is 
conceded to establish and regulate ferries. If the grant had been made to an indi- 
vidual in the terms here used, the question would have been too plain for argument. 
In our judgment we can have no wider interpretation, though made to a corporation- 
It must be remembered that this is not the case where the Crown or the Legislature 
has aliened to a municipal corporation its whole power to establish and regulate 
ferries within its limits, as may be found in some of the ancient charters of cities of 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 555 

England and in this country. In these cases the municipal Body in respect to this 
legislature or public trust, represents the sovereign power and may make grants of 
ferry rights in as simple a manner as the sovereign. The error, we think, in the 
argument for the appellant, is in confounding this grant with these ancient charters, 
or those of a like character. But, on referring to them, it will be seen that the form 
of the grant is very different — much more particular and comprehensive, leaving no 
doubt as to the extent of the power (Costar vs. Brush., 25 Wend. R. 31 J. So here 
if the Legislature had intended to confer their whole power upon this corporation to 
establish and regulate ferries within its limits, or a power to grant exclusive ferry 
rights therein, a very different form of grant would have been used — one that would 
have expressed the intent of the law-maker to part with the exclusive power over the 
subject, and vest it in the grantee. In the form used, no such intent appears or can 
be reached except by a very forced interpretation, which we are not at liberty to 
•give, according'to well-settled authority (11 Pat. 422; 8 How. 569; Mills et al. vs. St. 
Clair Co. et al., 16 id. 524; Fanning vs. Gregoire). In Mills vs. St. Clair Co. the 
Court speaking of a ferry grant, said that in a grant like this by the sovereign power, 
the rule of construction is, that if the meaning of the words be doubtful, they shall be 
taken most strongly against the grantee and for the government, and therefore should 
not be extended by implication beyond the natural and obvious meaning of the words; 
and if these do not support the claim, it must fall. And again, in Fanning vs. Gre- 
goire, speaking on the same subject, the Court says: The exclusive right set up pnust 
be clearly expressed, or necessarily inferred, and the Court think that neither the one 
nor the other is found in the grant to the plaintiff nor in the circumstances connected 
with it. 

"As the town of Oakland had no power, according to the above construction of 
the charter, to establish an exclusive right of ferries within its limits, it follows that it 
did not possess the power to confer upon others an exclusive privilege to establish 
them. 

" The power conferred is to make (meaning to establish) and regulate ferries, or 
to authorize the construction (meaning the establishment) of the same. 

" We think the Court below was right, and that the decree must be affirmed." 
Too much credit cannot be accorded to the late Mr. Larue for the persistency with 
which he fought this monster imposition, finally proving beyond a peradventure that 
the first or subsequent Boards of Trustees had no authority in law to grant either 
property or privileges belonging to the city of Oakland to individuals. 

The obstruction at the mouth of San Antonio Creek continued to offer many 
difficulties to free communication with San Francisco, and, to push the matter, 
some gentlemen formed themselves into a committee for the purpose of raising sub- 
scriptions to defray expenses of dredging, etc. The sum of eleven thousand dollars 
was soon collected, but three thousand dollars more were wanted; therefore in August, 
1859, a circular letter was issued by these gentlemen, in which they remarked: "The 
channel is to be thoroughly dredged, from the deep water of the bay to the San 
Antonio Channel, t\yo hundred feet wide and five feet deep at extreme low tide — to 
be marked with piles on each side through the whole length, at a distance of forty 
feet from each other. The whole work is to be done, and materials furnished, for the 



556 History of Alameda County, Caijkoknia. 

sum of fourteen thousand dollars, the contractor giving the most satisfactory securities 
for the faithful performance of the work. The United States Government has given 
the gratuitous use of the splendid dredging-machine which has been in use at Mare 
Island, and the work will be commenced as soon as the contract monc)- is paid in to 
the treasurer, W. A. Bray, Esq. 

W. A. Bray, A. L. Tubbs, Jufix Cai-kktun, 

A. A. Cohen, L. Johnson, R. E. Cole. 

Meeting with success, the harbor was soon cleared of its hinderances, and for a 
time at least something like certainty in duration of transit prevailed; while, an Act 
was passed in the Legislature for the improvement of San Antonio Creek, the Board 
of Supervisors being appointed to superintend the work. The Act also provided for 
plans and specifications being drawn up; stated that the county should not be respon- 
sible stockholders, but that it might purchase the work when the sum of forty thou- 
sand dollars was paid in, and directed that the privileges should expire in ten years. 
The scheme, however, did not result satisfactorily; therefore, in i860, a bill was intro- 
duced in the Legislature to enable the Board of Supervisors to ta.x the county for 
the work, which duly became law. The Commissioners appointed under this enact- 
ment were James Dougherty, Alfred L. Tubbs, and VV. A. Bray. 

Much enthusiasm was evinced in Oakland on August 2, 1862, on the commence- 
ment of the ferry railroad, and the initial steps being taken towards the construction ot 
the wharf, proceedings which caused an immediate advance of about fifty per cent, in the 
value of real estate. On September 2, 1863, the railroad ferry went into operation 
with the following time-table, uhich is produced simpl\- as a matte;' of comparison 
between now and then: — 

Leave San Francisco at 7 .-v. M.. g A. M., 11 A. M., 2:30 r. M., 4:30 v. M., 6:30 r. M. 
Leave Oakland at 6 A. M., S A. M., 10 A. M., i p. M., }:;i3 [•. M., 5:30 p. M. 

The Steamer Clinto>i continued on the creek route, carr\-ing freight and the San 
Antonio passengers, making five trips per day. By October, 1864, the railroad had 
been extended to San Antonio, and soon six daily trips between that place and San 
Francisco were made besides an extra "night trip" every Saturday, leaving San 
Antonio at 6:30 P. M., and returning from San Francisco at 11:30 r. M. In 1863 
James B. Larue, A. W. Swett, and William Hayward obtained a franchise to con- 
struct a wharf in San Francisco for the accommodation of their line of steamers. 

It may be mentioned that up to this time all previous efforts to place the bar at 
the mouth of San Antonio Creek in a good navigable condition had proved compara- 
tive failures; therefore, in January, 1864, Mr. Larue, in the name of the. Oakland and 
San Antonio Steam Navigation Company, presented to the Board of Supervisors for 
their approval a scheme for dredging the bar, and keeping it clear, provided they 
would grant him a franchise and permit him to take toll. He argued that there was 
no danger of such a franchise proving a monopoly as there were two ferries communica- 
ting with Oakland and Alameda, irrespective of the creek. The proposition was sub- 
sequently approved by the Supervisors, and the project embodied in a bill, which, 
although it passed the Legislature, was, as the sequel has shown, ver}- properly vetoed 
by the Governor. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 557 

The Oakland and San Antonio Steam Navigation Company did not prosper 
financially as well as its promoters expected. The California Steam Navigation Com- 
pany purchased a large amount of their stock and strove to get the majority of it. 
The President, Mr. Larue, was forced to buy a sufficient amount to control the whole 
business, or allow the scheme to fail; in doing so he became largely involved. The 
steamers were sold to the Oakland and San Francisco Railroad and Ferry line, but 
the great desideratum of cheap rates was established in the place of most exorbitant 
demands. In March, 1 865,. the Contra Costa or Minturn ferry line of steamers, consisting 
of the Contra Costa and Clinton were sold to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad 
Company, who continued the service. 

Under date September 28, 1867, the City Records show that Mr. Moody offered 
the following resolution: — 

Whereas, The population of the city of Oakland and vicinity being wholly made up of the families of 
those who do business in San Francisco, and of those who, not having business in San Francisco, are sustained by 
the business created here by those who daily cross the bay, and the Oakland Ferry and Railroad being the only 
means by which this large population can travel between their homes and places of business; and 

Whereas, It being only by the extension of proper facilities, in frequency, regularity, speed, and safety of 
transit, combined with comfort upon the baats and convenience of stations upon the road, that homes here may 
become desirable and property valuable; and 

Where.as, The facilities for transit afforded by the Oakland Ferry and Railroad not having been such as to 
give entire satisfaction to the community, and satisfaction and confidence being indispensable to our prosperity, 

Resolved, That this matter be referred to a special Committee to devise ways and means to obtain more sat- 
isfactory ferry facilities between Oakland and San Francisco, wherein the community can have some voice or 
guarantee for the facilities afforded; and that said Committee be instructed to consider and report with the view of 
obtaining Legislative aid if necessary. 

On October 28, 1869, notice was given at Sacramento that the Western Pacific 
and San Francisco and Bay Railroad Companies, the latter of which had been in exist- 
ence only a short time, had amalgamated and consolidated into a new company, and 
on the 1st November the Western Pacific took formal possession of the Oakland Ferry, 
the rates for commutation tickets being then established at three dollars per month, 
and hourly trips introduced. On May i, 1871, the trips were increased from twelve 
to fourteen in number, and on the 30th of the same month the passenger-shed was 
opened. 

March 16, 1868, a special meeting of the City Council was convened to take 
action in regard to a bill introduced in the Legislature granting a franchise to certain 
persons for cutting a channel through the bar at the mouth of San Antonio Creek, 
when Mr. Barstow introduced the following resolutions, which were unanimously 
agreed to: — 

Whereas, It is reported in the newspapers that a bill has been introduced into the Assembly to grant to 
certain persons the right to improve the navigation of San Antonio Creek and to collect tolls at the rate of five 
cents per ton on all vessels navigating said creek; and 

Whereas, The county of Alameda has expended the sum of forty thousand dollars and upwards in cribbing 
and dredging the bar at the mouth of said creek, thereby rendering the same passable for all vessels which are 
suited to the depth of water in the channel of said creek, except at the lowest stages of the tide, and affording all 
the facilities for navigating said creek which the demands of commerce will require for some time to come; and 

Whereas, There has been no public demand on the part of the citizens of the county for the passage of any 
such bill or the granting of. any such exclusive privileges, and said bill has been prepared in the interests of pri- 
vate parties, without reference to the public wants or the public good; therefore. 



558 History of Alameda County, California. 

Resolved, I'hat we regard the granting of a franchise to collect tolls on vessels navigating San Antonio Creek, 
as a measure highly detrimental to the interests of our city and of the county as well. 

Resolved, That there is no present necessity for the improvements contemplated by said bill, and that when 
such necessity shall arise it will be for the public interests that such improvements be made at the public expense, 
and the navigation of the creek remain free to the public. 

Resolved, That the clerk send a copy of these resolutions to each member of the Alameda delegation in the 
Legislature. 

Subsequently steps were taken to effect the dredging necessary, and on Septem- 
ber i6, 1873, the bid of Ball & Weatherby was accepted by the Council and the work 
proceeded with. On January 19, 1874, Mr. Warner presented a communication from 
his Honor, the Mayor, transmitting the preamble and resolution of the Board of 
Trustees of the town of San Leandro, petitioning Congress to make an appropriation 
for the construction of a ship channel from the bay of San Francisco, along the south- 
erly line of the city of Oakland, and connecting with San Leandro Bay, which was 
received. Mr. Spaulding then presented the following preamble and resolution: 

City Council Chamber, \ 

City Hall, Oakland, January 19, 1S74. ) 

The Common Council of the city of Oakland, duly convened for official business this iQth day of January, 
A. D. 1874, the president and all the members being present, on motion of Councilman Spaulding, seconded by 
Councilman Warner, it is resolved to memorialize the honorable Congress of the United States upon the impor- 
tance of improving the harbor of Oakland" for commercial purposes, and for the reasons which the following 
recital of facts will show; 

First. — The commerce of the United States in traffic and travel, as connected with the Pacific Coast and 
the great Continental roads, is now and has been for several years carried on over the water front of the city o 
Oakland in the State of California. 

Second. — That while this commercial business is rapidly increasing, it had a!re.idy attained, in 1872 and 
1873, the aggregate of four hundred and fifty thousand tons of general freight, and in the year ending July I, 1S73, 
no less than one hundred and ten ships were loaded at the Oakland Wharf with California wheat, amounting to 
one hundred and sixty-one thousand tons, to be distributed to the markets of the world. 

Third. — The transit of passengers from Asiatic and other foreign ports, from San Francisco and from the 
cities east of the Rocky Mountains, arriving and departing at Oakland by the great overland railroads, amounted 
to an aggregate of sixty-seven thousand souls for the year ending January 31, 1873. ^"he local travel by ferry- 
boat between Oakland and San Francisco shows a rapid yearly increase and now requires the constant use of 
half-hourly boats and trains, carrying a daily average of five thousand persons, equal to a yearly total of nearly 
two million passengers. During the year 1873 the treasure from all sources in the interior of the State of Califor- 
nia, and from the Nevada mines reaching the Oakland dock, amounted to no less than thirty-one millions of 
dollars in value. The two staples of the Pacific Slope, wheat and bullion, find readiest access to deep water upon 
the Oakland water front. The location of the city of Oakland relative to the range of mountains known as the 
Coast Range of California, and the great bay of San F'rancisco, is such as to make the Oakland water front the 
nearest pr.acticable railroad approach to deep water in the bay, alike adjacent to the city of San Francisco and 
the Pacific Ocean. And 

Whereas, The present wharf, although erected by the railroad companies at a cost of nearly one million of 
dollars, can only be regarded as a temporary structure, entirely inadequate to the present and prospective demands 
of commerce. Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the City Council of the city of 0.ikland, California, do hereby most respectfully call the 
attention of Congress to the above plain recital of facts, and ask that a suitable appropriation may be made for the 
improvement of the estuary of San Antonio, the harbor of Oakland, in accordance with such plans as may be 
recommended or considered expedient by the Board of Engineers for the Pacific Coast and the Chief of Engineers 
of the United States Anny. 

In the same month, January 12th, the Board of Supervisors adopted a inemoria! 
to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States Congress, couched 
in similar language, the result of these being that appropriations were, and are being, 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 559 

made to perfect the contemplated improvement. On February 28, 1876, the Mayor 
informs the Council in this regard: "It affords me great pleasure to be able to 
announce that the improvements of the Oakland Harbor by the United States Gov- 
ernment have been progressing rapidly and with gratifying results. From the engi- 
neer in charge I learn that the work of constructing the channel training-walls has 
advanced satisfactorily and with few interruptions. Each of the two walls have now 
reached a respective length of nine thousand feef, linear, consuming collectively about 
ninety-five thousand tons of stone, and their further extension still progressing. The 
recent heavy weather has set at rest the disputed question as to their stability, and 
their anticipated settlement has been so small a per cent, that the funds at the disposal 
of the Board will accomplish an amount of work beyond the most sanguine expecta- 
tion. The effect of the building of the said walls has been to increase the tidal cur- 
rent to such an extent as to scour out the channel on the bar to a present depth of 
eight feet, at United States Coast Survey, mean low water, and it is continually 
increasing. Vessels drawing six feet of water and piloted by suitable men, can, at 
the present day, go and return through this channel at all stages of the tide, without 
danger. 

" In regard to future operations I am informed that a channel two hundred feet 
in width and twelve feet deep at low water is to be dredged, and work will be com- 
menced very shortly. Should our representative in Congress have reasonable suc- 
cess, within one year from this date Oakland will enjoy shipping advantages far 
beyond all present expectations. 

" Merchant vessels of three hundred tons and four hundred tons registered bur- 
then, drawing sixteen feet of water, will be able to receive and discharge cargoes along 
the present city front, even during ordinary tide. These facilities must necessarily 
give rise in the immediate future to a commercial prosperity of paramount importance 
to our city and county." 

It is only necessary to say that these improvements are being still carried out 
with eminent success, and the day is not far distant when Oakland will possess com- 
mercial advantages in respect to her harbor second to no other port on the Pacific 
Coast. 

In regard to the ferries we shall simply observe that no better service exists any- 
where. The building of the mole and new depot by the Central Pacific Railroad 
have added materially to the comfort of passengers on the main local line, while the 
creek route has its fair share of patronage; add to these the boon conferred by the 
South Pacific Coast Railroad Company and their excellent line of ferry-boats which, 
landing on the Alameda side of the San Antonio Creek, transfer their passengers by 
a local line over Webster-street Bridge into the heart of the city, and we have the 
summum summaruin of comfortable travel. 

In times past several steamers have been used on the creek route. One of these, 
the Express, is said to be laid up in Napa Creek, dismantled and fast rottijig to pieces. 
She was run by Wingate, and made trips from San Francisco to Oakland and Brook- 
lyn. Oaklanders of some ten years back will recall the Chin-dii- Wan, another stern- 
wheeler of small capacity, which was on the creek route in opposition to the regular 
ferry and to two small side-wheelers, the Louise and another, run by the Central ^ 



.5C0 History ok Alameda County, California. 

Pacific Railroad, all three making their landings at the old tumble-down wharf at the 
foot of Broadway. The Chin-du- Wan carried passengers across for ten cents, and had 
a horrible instrument of torture, called a calliope, which went by steam and was played 
upon by turning a crank. This cross between a hand-organ and a steam-whistle 
went with forty thousand fog-horn power, and went at all hours of the day and night. 
Its services were popularly supposed to be efficacious against the " bloated monopoly," 
much as a Chinese tom-tom makes against the devil's machinations. It was e.xhila- 
rating to view the brave spectacle of the Chin-du- Wan, loaded down to the guards 
with ]3assengers, move out from the wharf, its automatic brass band playing its one 
tune, whose pianissimos, even, smote upon the ear at a distance of five miles, and 
whose " ffo" aroused the dogs of two whole townships. At such times the Louise or 
her consort would creep forth from her berth with usually not enough of passengers 
to keep her captain from nearly dying of loneliness. One paid five cents to cross on 
the Louise. The rivals invariably raced, and the Cliin-du- Wan invariably got left. 
To be beat never troubled the calliope voice, and, though distanced, the discordant 
hobgoblin always played its song of triumph. After a while the Chin-du- Wan was 
put on the .Stockton route, and the people of the city of the tules cannot have forgot- 
ten their sensations when the calliope gave forth its notes on the vessel's first arrival 
in the slough, at two o'clock in the rnorning. The sleep-destroying monster never 
became popular in that town, perhaps because of a too close trenching upon the 
religious scruples in favor of Gabriel and his trumpet. 

The 5. M. Whipple, also a stern-wheeler, did service on the creek route for a 
while, and received as a legacy the calliope. But the novelty of the thing was gone, 
and the machine came to be regarded as a nuisance; as indeed it was. 

Let us now conclude the official acts of the Board of Trustees during the jcar 
1S52. On May 12th of that year an ordinance (No. i) was passed, fixing the time 
and place of holding their stated meetings; on May 26th, Ordinance No. 4, providing 
for the protection of oyster-beds within the corporate limits, and Ordinance No. 5, 
prohibiting the taking of oysters at certain seasons, were passed, thus early establish- 
ing a proper care for the luscious bivalve. 

1853. — The first subject to which we will turn our attention in the year 1853 is 
that which comes under the head of the cit>', its streets, bridges, public highways, 
plazas, and such like. We have not the space to devote to the intricate action taken 
on the opening of each thoroughfare throughout the city; indeed such is unnecessary; 
it has therefore been thought that only the salient points in regard thereto should be 
mentioned. 

On January 29, 1853, an ordinance was pas.sed, consequent upon a petition 
received from the citizens, that all shade-trees should be protected under the fostering 
care of the Town Trustees; and on August 27th the stumps remaining on Broadway, 
after its being laid out as a thoroughfare, were directed to be removed; while on 
December 24th the road, as surveyed and located, one hundred feet wide and runnino- 
from Broadway to Cerito and known as the "County Road," was declared to be a 
municipal highway to be called "Contra Costa Avenue." 

Let us for a moment take a retrograde step and inform the reader of the manner 




ULv AAJ V ^ i^A-ALX-^jy-vo ' 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 561 

in which the town of Oakland was started. While Carpentier was at work perfecting 
his water-front scheme, other parties were in negotiations with Vicente Peralta for the 
purchase of the ground on which the town is built. The transaction was completed 
March 3, 1852, and the property deeded by Peralta and his wife to John Clar, B. de la 
Barra, J. R. Irving, Col. John C. Hays, John Caperton, and Jacob A. Cost for the 
absurdly small sum of ten thousand dollars. The first named being the one with 
whom the contract was made, the others afterwards becoming interested in the prop- 
erty with him, a deed of partition was duly executed in August, 1853, setting off their 
respective portions to each, at the same time making an equal division of the town 
plot, within the limits surveyed earlier in the year by Julius Kellersberger. The orig- 
inal town is described as being within the south line of Fourteenth Street, and east of 
a line running parallel with and distant three hundred feet westerly from West Street, 
dividing the property into blocks of the uniform size of two hundred by three hun- 
dred feet, with streets eighty feet wide, excepting only Main Street, now Broadway, 
which is one hundred and ten feet wide. Six blocks of land were reserved for public 
squares. An extension of the streets was subsequently made to the northward and 
westward, at right angles with each other, from the line of high-tide on San Antonio 
Creek, those running north extending two hundred feet northerly of what is described 
as "the northern line of Thirteenth Street;" and those running westerly, from what 
was designated on the map as the westerly line of West Street. 

On January g, 1854, an ordinance providing for the better protection of shade- 
trees was passed; while on the same date an enactment was made whereby the bridge 
(a history of which will be found in the Legislative History, in the first part of this 
work) in the town of Oakland should be exempt from ta.xation. 

By the Act entitled "An Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland," approved 
March 25, 1854, the town of Oakland ceased to be, and she was distinguished by civic 
honors. The boundaries were declared to be: "Northerly, by a straight line drawn at 
right angles with Broadway, formerly Main Street, in said city, crossirig the extended 
line of Broadway three hundred and sixty rods northerly from where stood the 'Oak- 
land House,' on the northwest corner of Broadway and First Streets, and running 
from the bay of San Francisco, on the west, to the easterly or southeasterly line of 
that branch of the San Antonio Slough, or estuary, over which crosses the bridge from 
Oakland to Clinton; thence along the eastern and southern highest-tide line of said 
slough, and of the estuary of San Antonio, following all the meanderings thereof to 
the mouth of said estuary, in the bay of San Francisco; thence southwesterly to 
ship channel; thence northerly along the line of ship channel to a point where the 
same intersects the said northerly boundary line extending westerly: provided, that 
nothing in this section contained shall be so construed as to prohibit or abridge the 
right of the Trustees of the town of Clinton and San Antonio, whenever the citizens 
thereof may elect to become a body corporate, under the provisions of any Act which 
may hereafter be passed, to provide for the construction of wharves and other improve- 
ments for the accommodation and convenience of the trade, travel, and commerce of the 
said towns or villages, at their respective sites." On April 29, 1854, Mayor Carpentier 
addressed to the City Council his first message. After stating to them that they have 
been called upon by the people of Oakland to conduct its municipal government, at a 



562 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 



time, he says, "perhaps the most important and decisive in its whole history," he con- 
tinues: "You find yourselves, on one hand, clothed with extraordinary powers, and 
on the other, confined within the narrowest limits, under a charter singularly care- 
less in its provisions, and which affords but a doubtful security to the rights of prop- 
erty of citizens — a charter the errors of which, it is to be hoped, the more mature 
deliberation of the present, or the wisdom of a succeeding, Legislature will duly cor- 
rect. 

"Aware of the efforts being made by the enemies of the town to lessen its 
resources and prostrate some of its most important interests, the people have elected 
you with a flattering unanimity to watch over their common interests during the ensu- 
ing year. And in taking office at such a period, you have assumed a responsible trust 
which I feel assured you will discharge both with credit to yourselves and advantage 
to the city. Under these circumstances I have thought proper to call your attention 
to such matters as I deem of present importance, and to recommend certain interests 
to youri favorable consideration." He further states: " It is gratifying to witness the 
healthy vigor with which a number of villages are springing up around us. Between 
these and Oakland there can be no rivalry, and should be no jealousy. Our interests 
are common and identical, and after a short time will probably be united under one 
corporation. 

"The chief ornament and attraction of this city consists doubtless in the magnifi- 
cent grove of evergreen oaks which covers its site, and from which it takes both its 
former name of 'Encinal' and its present one of 'Oakland.' Their preservation 
ought to be with you, as it shall be with me, a subject of peculiar care. In fact, the 
destruction of a single tree, on whose land soever it stands, should be considered a 
public injury. I recommend the passage of an ordinance for the protection of shade- 
trees, under the heaviest penalties authorized by the charter. 

"There is no other city in California that can boast so wide and regular streets, 
or so numerous and beautiful parks as ours. The substantial and ornamental fence 
around Washington Square affords a gratifying evidence of correct taste, and I recom- 
mend that others of the public squares be inclosed and embellished at as early a day 
as the finances of the city will permit. 

"In the opening of new streets, as from time to time this may become necessary, 
to meet the wants of our rapidly increasing population, it. will, I think, be best to fol- 
low the plans of the old ones, both as to the width and direction, so that the city 
may not lose in this respect her invaluable characteristics of regularity and beauty. 
No city on earth has a more perfect grade than that which is natural to Oakland — a 
gentle slope from the center towards the waters of the bay — which almost surrounds 
it. The soil, too, is of so porous a quality as to afford sufficient drainage and entirely 
obviate the necessity for artificial drains and sewers. Here, then, in the items of 
grading, paving, drainage, and sewerage we have an immense saving of expenses, 
which are incident to most other cities, and which in San Francisco cost in some 
instances full fifty per cent, upon the value of property." 

June 24, 1854, the Marshal was directed to clear Broadway of filth; and Mr. 
Kellersberger was ordered to run out Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, and Fourteenth Streets 
at right angles with the pre-emption claim of Mr. Hardy, and to mark the line. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 563 

About this time it was attempted, by ordinance, to vary the original plan of Oak- 
land as regards its streets, which, had such been permitted, would have done much to 
make what is a beautiful city hideous in its outlines, therefore, on July 13th, the 
Mayor vetoed the ordinance and gave his reasons for so doing in the following able 
communication to the Council: "'An Ordinance concerning streets' is herewith 
returned without my approval. This ordinance provides that the streets running in 
an easterly and westerly direction shall be crooked from their course at acute and 
obtuse angles to coincide with certain private boundary lines which have neither 
certainty nor legal existence, and that a portion of the streets running northerly and 
southerly shall cut others which have the same general direction obliquely. 

"The original plan of the city of Oakland is well calculated, if carried out, to 
make this the most regular and beautiful city on the Pacific Coast. The advantage 
to the city to be gained by a change in that plan, such as is proposed by the ordi- 
nance herewith returned, I am wholly unable to see, whilst the disadvantage that 
would result from it are to my mind clearly apparent. 

"Acute and obtuse angles in a city are opposed alike to beauty and convenience, 
and a careful examination of the map of the city of Oakland will show that a system 
of straight, uniform, and rectangular streets following out the plan and direction of 
those that have heretofore been opened would be best calculated to avoid waste of 
land and to promote public convenience. Instead of the magnificent vistas which a 
system of straight and rectangular streets would afford, looking out in every direction 
upon the craters of the bay or the mountains, by crooking them the view on all sides 
will be intercepted by buildings. 

"Another serieus objection to crooking the streets in the manner proposed is 
that the winds which prevail in this latitude nearly the whole year would sweep 
directly up through them without any check or obstacle, whereas, if the streets be 
continued straight in conformity to the present plan, the winds, striking them obliquely, 
will be broken and arrested by the buildings. 

"The objections urged by those friendly to the passage of this ordinance against 
the straight streets — that they would, in some instances, divide private land claims 
into fractional blocks — is without weight and deserves but little consideration. Streets 
are laid out for the public convenience, and in the opening of public streets and high- 
ways the common good is mainly to be consulted and not private interests. Not 
that private interests should be disregarded or made to suffer unnecessarily. Our 
laws do not permit the property of individuals to be taken for public uses without 
remuneration. Whatever losses may be sustained by the claimants through whose 
lands new streets are opened, should, I think, be paid at a fair valuation out of the« 
city treasury. 

"It is with reluctance that I withhold my approval on grounds of policy alone 
from an ordinance which has been passed deliberately by the City Council after 
a full discussion of its merits. It interests the people of Oakland perhaps but little 
at present, how, or where the streets are opened. But as we are now laying the founda- 
tion, as it were, of a town which we may reasonably anticipate will, with a steady 
growth, become a great commercial city, with a population to be numbered by hun- 
dreds of thousands, to proceed correctly is important, and, as I am convinced that 



5C4 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

the continuation of our streets in direct lines from their respective termini to the 
waters of the bay would be the best plan that could be pursued and calculated in so 
small degree to preserve the beaut)' and promote the prosperity of the city, I am con- 
strained to return the ordinance for your reconsideration." Notwithstanding; the 
apparently very proper veto the ordinance was passed by the Council' with the fol- 
lowing vote: Ayes — Aldermen Eames, Josselyn, Kelsey, and Gallagher. Noes- 
Aldermen Blake and Marier. 

On November 6, 1854, directions were issued for the surve\- of Eighth Street, 
from Market Street to the ba\-, and of Market Street from San Antonio Creek to the 
city limits. 

A writer in December, 1854, in speaking of the city and its appearance, says: 
Oakland, located within thirty minutes' sail of and directly opposite the great empo- 
rium of the State, blessed with a most salubrious climate and unsurpassed in its 
natural adornments, became at an early day an object of interest to speculators. 
Had these speculators been half as judicious in the management of their interests in 
the town as they were in selecting its location, a majority of its blocks would have 
been occupied at present with handsome edifices, surrounded with flowers and orna- 
mental shrubbery; its population would have been industrious, intelligent, and virtu- 
ous. And Oakland, screened from the cold winds by its removal from the coast and 
its embowering evergreens, would have been the most attractive place upon the Pacific. 
But how different is the reality! Turn which way you will, and comparatively few 
respectable dwellings meet the view — but instead, miserable dwellings meet the view — 
miserable redwood shanties — and these generally vacant. Some blocks, perhaps, you 
will find inclosed by what are termed 'jumper fences' (a class of fi^ice never known 
until recently), consisting of a single redwood rail — so thin, irregular, and cracked that 
all lawful and respectable fences would disown it — tacked upon two sticks \\ith burnt 
nails stolen from the embers of the last great fire in San Francisco. But the most of 
these fences have been torn down by the passing wind or passing traveler, and have 
wholly disappeared from the premises or been broken by the wayside, surpassed alone 
by the worthlessness of the characters of those who erected them. Oakland, to-day, 
notwithstanding all her natural advantages, seems really to be in a state of decline." 
What a contrast is this picture compared with that of the Oakland of 1883! 

On April 25, 1855, the City Council petitioned the Board of .Supervisors to have 
the bridge over Indian Creek (a small stream that runs into the eastern side of Lake 
Merritt) described as being situated between Oakland and the town of Clinton, 
declared free; while, on January 16, 1856, a resolution was passed recommending resi- 
dents and owners of lots of land bounding Broadway to plant trees in front of the 
same at a uniform distance of twelve feet from the line of the street. On the 6th 
April of the last-mentioned year Mayor Robinson, in his message, says : " The toll- 
bridge across the north arm of the San Antonio Creek (Twelfth-street Bridge) is 
anoth^- great obstacle to the growth of our city. It is located upon one of the prin- 
cipal thoroughfares in our county, and several expensive anti important bridges have 
been more recently erected at the expense of the county, upon the same highway. 
At the time the present owners of the bridge undertook to complete it under a con- 
tract made with the county, and which was afterwards approved and adopted by the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 565 

town of Oakland, the county was in its infancy and not in a condition to make an 
appropriation for such purposes, but, now, all the most necessary bridges are com- 
pleted, and the finances of our county are in as flourishing a condition as those of any 
other county in the State, and she should carry out her plan of using her revenue in 
making internal improvements by purchasing and making free the only obstruction 
to the travel on this great highway leading from Oakland to San Jose. The heavy 
debt already resting upon our city will not warrant you making any appropriation 
therefor; if it were otherwise, and our treasury full, we would still have the right as 
tax-payers to call upon the county to expend some portion of her revenue in the 
township of Oakland. This township pays more taxes than any other in the county, and 
as yet has had none of its revenue appropriated for her benefit, except some two or three 
hundred dollars for bridges in the valley. The united efforts of the authorities of the 
city and the citizens of Oakland generally, would, I am confident, secure successful 
action of the Board of Supervisors of the county in this matter, and the cry of 'toll- 
bridge' that has been so long ringing in our ears will be heard no more." No action 
would appear, however, to have been taken on the prayer of the Council, by the 
Supervisors, for we find the succeeding Mayor, Mr. Williams, dealing with the subject 
in a communication to the Council in these words: "Another incubus on the prosper- 
ity of this city is the toll-bridge to Brooklyn across the northern arm of the San 
Antonio Creek. The importance to us of an untrammeled intercommunication with 
the surrounding" country is incalculable. The already great and rapidly increasing 
amount of travel from the range of mountains southeast from us, and from the great 
Santa Clara Valley — a valley which, in an extent of si.xty miles in length by ten to 
twelve in breadth, is capable of more agricultural production than the whole State of 
Massachusetts, or of many other States of the Union, and a large proportion of whose 
products for a distance of fifty miles, from the rich alluvial bottom-lands of San 
Pablo on the north to the fertile valley of San Jose on the south, seek a market in 
San Francisco from this side of the bay — and the great accommodation of an embar- 
cadero at our wharves, present a strong argument for offering ever)^ facility in our 
power to our neighbors, whose ranchos are in our vicinity, to make this a viaduct to 
the metropolis, for the production of the ranchos within thirty miles around. 

" It will promote and increase our daily and hourly business and social inter- 
course with our neighbors and the inhabitants of the whole country round about us; 
bring down, to our markets the flocks and herds from the mountains, and the agricult- 
ural products of the valleys; fill our hotels and boarding-houses with the traveling 
public, increase the trade of our merchants, afford employment to our mechanics and 
artisans, and in a short time the whole face of our community will be changed from 
inactivity and want of employment to industrial activity and life. Your now tenant- 
less houses will become habited by an industrious population; the lowness of rents 
and cheapness of living will invite an honest and thrifty population instead of dull- 
ness and inactivity; your streets will teem with animation and life, and the whole face 
of this city be changed. All this business and travel which would seek our city, were 
the passage over that bridge free, is now turned aside and stopped at other and some- 
times inconvenient points, and, while the public is incommoded our city is impover- 
ished. The tolls now demanded and paid for passing the bridge, varying from 



566 History of Alameda Couxty, California. 

twenty-five cents to one dollar and upwards, form no inconsiderable cash item to the 
farmer and others whose wants or inclinations require them to pass it daily, and some- 
times several times a day throughout the year, and when they have well-founded 
doubts of the legality of the exaction it becomes still more onerous and objection- 
able, for the public sentiment throughout the land is anti-monopoly. The spirit of 
the age is for freedom from restrictions and shackles of every kind consistent with 
individual rights and the laws of the land. It is a spirit eminently American — pro- 
motion on the one hand of enterprise and industry, individual success and national 
advancement; while, on the other, every obstacle to the free business and social inter- 
course of society withers the fresh budding of enterprise, palsies the strong arm of 
industry, and hampers and manacles the free exercise of the higliest and noblest 
powers, both mental and physical, of man. It is the free intercourse between the 
distant portions of this vast country by means of railroads, bridges, steamers, clip- 
pers, and lightning telegraph which has brought us together as neighbors, promoted 
our prosperity, strengthened the national arm, and bound us together with bonds of 
iron. 

" Vou have a strong incentive for your exertions to procure a free bridge in the 
noble stand taken by the Honorable the Board of Supervisors of this county at their 
recent session at San Leandro — the county seat. The Supervisors are fresh from the 
people, represent every town in the county, are supposed to faithfully reflect the pub- 
lic wants and wishes, are themselves a body of great intelligence and gentlemen of 
varied and e.xtensive business experience, and their almost unanimous action is 
deserving of your full approbation. Your zealous and hearty co-operation, therefore' 
with the Board of Supervisors in making a free bridge either by purchase of individ- 
ual interests in the present bridge, or the construction of a" new one, will receive the 
cordial approval of your constituents, carry out the public sentiment, and respond to 
the wishes and feelings of the entire community." Here the matter did not rest. 
This action, so important to the prosperity of the city, was strenuously urged, and a 
special appropriation for the construction of a bridge between Oakland .and Brooklyn 
was strongly recommended. The Board of Supervisors had, with praiseworthy liber- 
ality, appropriated six thousand dollars of the county's funds for that object, and it 
was thought that the requisite balance could be easily supplied by private subscrip- 
tion and a vote from the Council. 

By decree of the Council under date May 1 1, 1859, the public square bounded by 
Fourth and Fifth Streets and Broadway and Washington Streets was given the name 
of Washington Square; and that bounded by Fourth and Fifth Streets, and Broadway 
and Franklin Streets, was to be hereafter known as Franklin Square. It may be 
be mentioned here en passant, that on the former of these is located the Court House, 
and on the latter the Hall of Records, both having been ceded to the county in con- 
sideration of the county seat being located in Oakland. May 25th Washington 
Square was leased by the city to the Alameda Agricultural Society, and on June 8th 
the City Marshal was directed to remove the wooden building occupied by Mr. 
Stuart, daguerreotypist, on Second Street near Broadway, as well as all stands, booths, 
tables, etc., erected on the public streets, sidewalks, and squares. In his message of 
March 28, 1 860, Mayor Davis suggested the advisability of extending Seventh or Eighth 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 567 

Street to the shore of the bay, and of Adeline Street to the northerly limits of the 
city, as matters of great public convenience. On August 27, 1862, the names of 
West Second, West Fourth, West Sixth, West Eighth, West Tenth, West Twelfth, 
West Fourteenth, West Sixteenth, West Eighteenth, West Twentieth, and West 
Twenty-second were given to the streets at right angles with and west of Market 
Street, and running to the "wire fence." 

Of the thoroughfares in the city Mayor Bovee, in his message to the Council of 
March 12, 1863, remarks: "One of the questions which has afforded to the corpora- 
tion more trouble than any other is that of its streets, and although the new charter 
passed at the last session of the Legislature was designed to remedy the evils known 
to exist, yet some portions of it are so awkwardly drawn as to still leave great incon- 
venience and perplexity in dealing with the subject. Section fifty-seven of the Act 
referred to (Session Laws, 1862, p. 354) provides that notice of the application for 
opening streets shall be given to owners or applicants of the land through which the 
proposed street is to pass. In many cases, particularly where the property through 
which the street is to pass is unimproved, there are no occupants, and the owners can- 
not be found, and thereby the entire law is rendered inoperative. Would it not be 
well to seek such amendment as will provide for service of notice in the case referred 
to, by publications or placing notice upon the property ? And another objection to 
the present law is that the person petitioning cannot make any claim for the damage 
he may sustain by the opening of the street petitioned for. Now, as the Council can 
act only on petition, this enactment operates in many cases to delay much-needed 
improvements and deters parties interested from seeking them, because the cost may 
individually be more than the benefit to be derived. The subject of affording just 
compensation to parties whose property may be taken for public improvements has 
been at all times one of great perplexity, but I doubt not your wisdom will enable 
you to devise a mode of settling this difficulty. I would suggest, also, that such 
amendment be obtained to our charter as will provide for an equitable plan of assess- 
ing the damage of opening streets upon the property benefited thereby, instead of as 
at present making such damage in effect a general charge on all the property of the 
city, by paying them from the General Fund. The present Act (Section fifty-sevenj 
provides that parties aggrieved by the action of the Council respecting the amounts of 
damages allowed them shall have the right to appeal to the County Court, and also 
the right to appeal from the decision of the County Court. I would suggest that the 
Legislature be asked to amend this section so as to provide that such appeal shall 
not in any manner delay the opening or laying out of the proposed streets, but that 
the appeal shall be deemed to be only on the question of the sufficiency of damages 
awarded. The above, and all other amendments you may deem desirable, should be 
presented to the attention of our Legislative delegation as soon as practicable, to 
insure their passage at the present session. 

" Some time since the Council adopted a map by Mr. Whitcher as the official 
map of the streets of the city, the western boundary being Market Street. Since that 
time a plan of streets has been laid out extending from Market Street to a line here- 
tofore known as the ' wire fence,' and now named Center Street, of which addition no 
map has yet been printed. As the city is now rapidly extending beyond the last- 



568 History of Alameda County, California. 

mentioned line, and as in all probabilit)' but a few years will elapse before all the 
property in that portion of the city will be built upon or otherwise improved, I would 
suggest that much trouble may be avoided by adopting a uniform system of streets 
extending to the bay of San Francisco, and that this be done before parties now 
improving lands in that neighborhood adopt particular thoroughfares. After improve- 
ments are once made and private routes of travel laid out, the damage of opening 
public streets is in many cases much enhanced. The first clause of Section fifty- 
seven of the charter looks to such action on the part of your Body." 

On April 24, 1S64, the City Council determined to macadamize Broadway, and 
on May 24th, 

Rao/veJ, That it is the intention of this Council to order the following street work, viz.: That all that por- 
tion of Broadway Street, forty feet in width, that is to say, that portion lying twenty feet on each side of the center 
lins of said street, and extending from Broadw.ay Wharf to the north line of Fourteenth Street, be macadamized 
upon the established grade of said street, with rock from the quarry of H. M. Whitmore, near this city, or with 
rock of the same quality, broken into pieces not exceeding two inches square, and laid at a depth of six inches, 
said work to be done under the direction and supervision and to the satisfaction of the City Marshal. 

The Council at the same time resolving that such work would not be proceeded 
with without consulting property-owners. The contract was awarded, August 6th, 
for the portion from Fifth to Fourteenth Street, to A. W. Hawkett, the price being 
five and one-half cents per square foot, in gold or silver coin, or fifteen cents in legal- 
tender notes. On November lOth the portion lying between Fourth and Tenth 
Streets was let to the same person. 

On Julv 26, 1804, the following preamble and resolution were offered and laid 
upon the table: — 

WilERE.\s, It is desirable for all cities to have lar^e parks, which greatly promote the health and the enjoy- 
ment of the inhabitants and o.Ter an inducement to settle in and to visit such cities; and 

Whereas, Oaly one large and well-wooded tract, at present known as thj " Hardy Tract," is left intact in 
the city of Oakland, offering a site admirably adapted for the laying out of a park; and considering that the entire 
city will be much benefited by the possession of a fine park, 

Rcsoh'eJ, That a committee of two be appoint .-d by the Chair to ascertain on what terras the city could pur- 
chase the tract of land bounded by Market, West .Sixth, McCIellan, and West Fourteenth .Streets, with a perfect 
title thereto. 

So far nothing has been done towards obtaining a public park for the city, but 
this need has been effectually met by the establishment of such grounds as Badger's 
and other like places in and within easy access of the city; but perhaps no more suit- 
able location for such could be found than thut of Adams' Point, jutting into Lake 
Merritt. 

On October 25, 1S64, an ordinance was passed directing the widening of side- 
walks on Broadway to twcnt_\- feet. It is curious, at this date, to notice who the peti- 
tioners were that presented this prayer, and how much property they represented: 
F. Delger, ten lots; J. E. Whitcher, three lots; C. Rooney, two lots; F. K. Shattuck & 
Co., nine lots; James J. Cadogan, two lots; I. Herzog, one lot; B. F. Ferris, five lots; 
P. Hayes, one lot; A. D. Fames, two lots; Edson Adams, twelve lots; S. B. McKee, 
two lots; Joseph Becht, four lots; S. Hirshberg, one lot; R. Hcyman, one lot; Louis 
Meyer, three lots; Dr. de Taval, two lots; Frank Dufit — lots; \V. S. Hurlburt, eight 
lots; \V. W. McKenzie, two lots; James Brown, four lots; S. H. Robinson, one lot; 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 569 

S. Harris, five lots; First Presbyterian Church, eight lots; H. Jahn, four lots; Geo. H. 
Fogg, seven lots; F. Figel, eleven lots; C. Reier, three lots; T. Manl. Valde, four lots; 
Joseph Mayers, two lots; Thomas Mahoney, two lots; A. Anderson, two lots; Thomas 
Dombrowski, two lots; E. P. Sanford, four lots. September 26, 1865, sidewalks were 
ordered for the following streets: Fourth Street, from Oak to Jefferson Street; Sixth 
Street, from Oak to Grove Street; Eighth Street, from Oak to Castro Street; Tenth 
Street, from Oak to Jefferson Street; and, on October 3di Seventh Street, from Broad- 
way to Washington Street. January 16, 1866, the initial point of all surveys of the 
city was directed to be in accordance with the following resolution: — 

Whereas, It is shown that the building known as " A la Mariposa, " situated at the southwest corner of 
Fourth Street and Broadway, is located in conformity with the original plan of the city by Julius Kellersberger; 

Resolved, That the face of said building at the corner above mentioned be, and hereby is, established as the 
initial point for measure, and that all property be located by the City Engineer according to the said Kellersberger's 
plan. 

On July 18, 1866, the first sewer in the city was ordered to be constructed 
between Fourth Street and the water front on Broadway; but this subject will be 
treated separately further on. December 19th of the same year the name of McCIellan 
Street was changed to Linden Street; and on December 21st Twelfth Street was 
ordered to be macadamized from Broadway to the Oakland bridge. On February 22, 
1867, an appropriation of three thousand dollars for lighting streets for the year 1867-8 
was made; while, on May 25th, Mr. Little, a resident of Oakland, made a formal 
tender to the city of that part of Webster Street opened north of Seventeenth Street, 
through the old cemetery to the San Antonio Creek, eighty feet wide, a grant which, 
on motion of Mr. Barstow, was accepted by the Council. 

Mayor Crane, in his message of September 28, 1867, says on the subject of streets, 
etc.: "As you are well aware, the Act touching street improvements, passed April 4, 
1864, prohibits the Council from subjecting the city to any expense in the shape of 
compensation for opening new streets, I would suggest that the time has now arrived 
when this restriction can with safety be removed and that the incoming Legislature 
should be asked to confer upon the Council the power of awarding compensation; or, 
if it is deemed inexpedient, to ask for the power generally, to request it with reference 
to the opening of some centrally located street between Broadway and the Point. 
First Street has thus far proved to be of little or no practical benefit to the city 
at large. Our increased population imperatively demands a thoroughfare more con- 
veniently situated. In my opinion, Eighth or Twelfth Streets should be opened 
through to the Point, and I do not believe that the city would be subjected to any very 
serious expense, as the benefits accruing to adjoining proprietors would, in most cases, 
overbalance the damages awarded. If this suggestion meets the views of the Council, 
it is advisable to have the proper bill prepared at an early date so as to present it to 
the Legislature as soon as it convenes in December." 

On December 21, 1867, Tenth Street, from Broadway to Market Street, was 

ordered to be macadamized; while, March 28, 1868, similar work was directed on 

Eighth Street from Oak to Market Street. Like improvements were ordered, June 

1 2th, on Fourteenth Street from Broadway to Market Street; and, on the 22d, on 

. Washington Street from First to Eighth Street, and on Market Street, from Four- 

37 



570 History of Alameda County, California. 

teenth to First Street. On the 1 2th October, AdeHne Street was directed to be mac- 
adamized. 

In his message to the Council, dated March 15, 1869, Doctor Mcrritt, then Mayor, 
states: "Within the limits of the citj' sur\eyed into blocks and streets by Kellers- 
berger, seven blocks were set apart for public squares, and as such have been dedi- 
cated to public use. They are named as follows: Lafayette, Jefferson, Washington, 
Franklin, Oakland, Madison, and Caroline Squares. Having been informed that some 
question existed as to the validity of the city's title to these squares, with the approval 
of the members of the Council, I had five of them inclosed with a good, substantial 
picket fence. The whole cost of inclosing these five plazas was nine hundred and 
ninety dollars and seventeen cents. The remaining two, Washington and Franklin, 
Squares were in the possession of the city." His Honor further remarks: "Section 
Twenty of 'An Act authorizing the City Council of Oakland to improve Streets, Lanes, 
Alleys, Courts, and Places in said City' (approved April 4, 1864) reads as follows: 
'When one street or portion of a street has been, or shall hereafter be, constructed to 
the satisfaction of the City Council and Marshal of said city, under such regulations 
as said Council shall adopt, the same shall be accepted by said Council, and thereafter 
shall be kept open and improved by the said city, and the expense thereof to be paid 
out of the Street Department Fund.' I would recommend that an ordinance be passed 
defining the improvements requisite for such acceptance, and I think the same should 
include grading, macadamizing, sewering, curbing, culverts, and side\\'alks, and in all 
cases practicable the gas and water pipes should be laid before the streets are mac- 
adamized. 

" I have heard various ideas expressed and suggestions made relating to the most 
feasible system to be adopted to connect existing irregularities in the location of 
streets and blocks. Some are for straight lines; some are for crooked lines; some are 
for new lines; and others are for no lines at all. I think that system should be adopted 
that most effectually harmonizes irregularities at the same time interferes the least 
with existing improvements. The diffculty has been the result of inaccurate surveys 
by Kellersberger, who laid out and surveyed the town originally. These surveys were 
made at a time when land was of but little value, and the future destiny of Oakland 
was not appreciated. All the blocks were intended to be (two hundred b\' three hun- 
dred feet, and all the streets, with two or three exceptions, eighty feet in width. The 
surveys having been with a slack chain the most of the blocks and streets measured a 
few inches large. Now, by fi.xing an ' Initial Point ' near the center of the city and 
running lines to the extreme limits of that part of the city originally laid out into 
blocks and streets, giving to each block and street the exact number of feet designed, 
the combined surplusage amounts to four or five feet at the extreme limits of the 
original survey. Had there been initial points established at the four sides of the 
city and the surplusage of streets and blocks fi.xed or equalized on the four sides of 
the city before the present system of accurate measurement from one initial point had 
been adopted, I think it would have been much better. The few inches more or less 
in a block or street could have done no harm, and by running short lines through the 
city, there could have been nothing objectionable to the eye." 

On May 17, 1869, it was ordered that Broadway should be opened from its inter- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 671 

section with Telegraph and San Pablo Roads to the charter line; and on July 12th, 
an ordinance was passed directing the numbering of houses. This, however, was 
repealed, July 26th, and left in abeyance for a time. 

The extending of Broadway was accompanied with numerous legal difficulties 
and perplexities. The first step taken was the tearing down of the only fence in the 
proposed line by the Road Commissioner, armed with the proper authority from the 
Board of Supervisors, and then began the work of grading. The morning after this 
had been commenced that official found the fence restored to its original place, and in a 
short time an injunction was served upon him, ordering him to suspend operations. 
He thereupon entered suit in the County Court against the party obstructing. 

On January 3, 1870, it was 

Resolved, That a special Committee of tliree be appointed to prepare the draft of a bill to be forwarded to 
our Legislative delegation for an Act authorizing the city of Oakland to dispose of Washington and Franklin 
Squares, the proceeds to be applied to the payment of the indebtedness of the city, and that such Committee 
report the same to the Council at its ne.\t meeting. 

To this Mr. Miller offered a substitute resolution, providing for the sale of the City 
Hall and lot, which was lost; the original motion was carried, and Messrs. Van Dyke, 
Spaulding, and Folger appointed a committee to report. On the 14th February 
the building of a bridge across San Antonio Creek was recommended and the follow- 
ing resolution passed ; — 

Resolved, That we approve the bill to authorize the construction of a swing or draw bridge across San Anto- 
nio Creek, in the county of Alameda, the draft of which has been submitted for our consideration; /ros'zfl't'ar, the 
following amendment be made thereto, to wit: That when the road and bridge shall be completed they be turned 
over to the county, and thereafter be under the charge and control of the Board of Supervisors and subject to the 
same provisions as other county roads; and that being so amended we recommend to our Legislative delegation 
the passage of said bill. 

On September 12th the bridge between Adeline and Peralta Streets on First 
Street was ordered to be rebuilt; while, on the 19th, Fourteenth Street, from San 
Pablo Road to the west line of the city, was ordered to be macadamized. On Nov- 
ember 28th, in accordance with the petitions of certain citizens, an ordinance entitled 
"An Ordinance granting permission to certain persons to construct a bridge from the 
intersection of Jackson Street with the shore of the lake across the lake to Adams 
Point" was framed and referred to the Committee on Ordinances and Judiciary, who 
reported, "that the Council had no right to authorize the construction of such bridge 
across the waters of the lake." 

Of the subject of streets, Mayor Spauldiiig, in his semi-annual message, stated : 
" Your Honorable Body is doubtless aware of the difficulty that at one time existed 
respecting the lines and surveys in all that part of the city lying east of Market Street, 
which received the careful attention of the late Board of Engineers, and were by 
them so ably and satisfactorily adjusted. It was not known to the City Council at that 
time what condition the surveys were in, in the western part of the city, but more 
particularly that part lying west of Adeline Street. Recent investigation has devel- 
oped the fact that errors and inaccuracies exist to such an extent that only a thor- 
ough resurvey and the setting of a series of monuments at proper points can correct 
these irregularities and harmonize these difficulties. To accomplish this I would sug- 



572 History of Alameda County, California. 

gestthata series of check-lines be run through even- third or fourth street running 
east and west, north and south, and placing at their intersection iron monuments. 

" These irregularities have arisen from a variety of causes. The surveys have 
been made by different engineers at various times since the organization of the city, 
starting from different points, and, in many instances, the streets have been located 
with reference to property' lines and personal interests. In some instances there have 
been found to exist discrepancies in the measurements made by the same engineer at 
different times, which do not agree within themselves and cannot be made to connect. 
There has not yet been any systematic survey made so as to correct these several 
surveys or tie them together. 

"This matter has already been delayed too long and should be adjusted with as 
little delay as possible, not only for the welfare of the city but for the interest of the 
property-owners who have of late become fully alive to the importance and necessity 
of opening, widening, and straightening the streets. These lines should be established 
while the streets are being laid out and opened and while there are comparatively 
but few improvements to be disturbed, and matters in this direction become more 
complicated. 

"I would further recommend that a map be carefull)- prepared, showing the 
exact location of all improvements and indicating the position of the monuments, 
distances, etc., and to have the same filed in the office of the City Engineer for future 
reference. It is important that these should be done before the adoption of the 
cit\' map, which is now before you for your inspection and approval." 

The Mayor then draws the following picture : " Last, though not least, among 
the necessary improvements that ought to be made and which should claim a share 
of your attention is the construction of sidewalks upon our most thickly populated 
streets, but more especially those that have been graded and macadamized 

"The first noticeable feature that strikes the eye of a stranger when visiting 
our city is the crowd of straggling pedestrians as they diverge from the different 
stations along the route of the railroad, and wend their wa\' hither and thither, some 
through weeds and sand where sidewalks ought to be; others, less brave, seek the 
middle of the streets, much to the annoyance and inconvenience of the travel of car- 
riages and carts, as well as to the risk of life and limb. 

" We now have about fourteen miles of macadamized streets and onl\- about 
two miles of these streets have sidewalks in an)- m inner improved for the convenience 
of foot travel, and the improvements that have been made were made regardless of 
any general system, and some of the intended improvements arc but little better 
than none. 

" As each property-holder has his own individual notion in regard to the best 
method of improvement, and has exercised the privilege of putting his plan into 
execution in front of his own premises, it follows that we have about as many kinds 
of sidewalks as we have property- owners on the streets where improvements have 
been made. I would therefore suggest that some general plan be adopted by \-ou 
for improving the condition of our sidewalks in a uniform and economical manner. 
We have now had sufficient experience with the various kinds of material used, to be 
able to determine which is the best. Loose gra\'el or broken stone wherever exposed 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 573 

to foot travel is extremely unpleasant and difficult to walk upon and will require 
years to render it fit for use. The only macadam walks which have so far proved 
successful have been made from the decomposed rock taken from the Fowler Quarry 
and spread at a depth of about two inches, and well mixed with fine gravel, and 
rolled. This makes a good, serviceable walk, at a cost of about thirty cerrts per 
lineal foot; or, the white cement gravel found in the vicinity of Fruit Vale. The 
latter appears to be more preferable, because it becomes more solidified than any other 
material heretofore used, being less affected by the agencies of the weather. It has been 
used in some localities in this city for the last eighteen months. The peculiarities which 
recommend this cement gravel are that, when it is exposed to the elements it becomes 
adhesive and firm, is comparatively free from mud in winter and dust in summer. This 
makes it a complete and permanent improvement. Sidewalks made from this material 
are estimated to cost about thirty cents per lineal foot for walks eighteen feet wide. We 
have also had some experience with plank walks, laid four feet wide — two-inch plank; 
this makes a neat, commodious walk for temporary purposes, and recommends itself 
on account of its cheapness, and will probably be the most acceptable in localities 
where there are few improvements. This kind of sidewalk can be constructed for 
twenty-five cents per lineal foot." 

From the foregoing it will be gathered that the thoroughfares of the city only 
little more than a dozen years ago were in what may be termed a state of nature. 
Such naturally acted as a determent against the progress of Oakland, and very 
properly was a source of anxiety to the head of the city government. 

On November 13, 1 871, an ordinance was passed levying a tax in the matter of 
opening and widening Broadway from Fourteenth Street, northerly, to the charter 
line, the passage of the enactment being brought about by the issuance of a writ of 
mandamus from the County Court to the City Council commanding such levy; 
while, on December 4th, another ordinance was passed changing the names of Caroline 
Square to Lincoln Square, and Julia Street to Madison Street. An application from 
the land-owners on Ninth Street was received on January 2, 1872, to build a bridge 
connecting that thoroughfare with Franklin Street, Brooklyn. 

His Honor, Mayor Spaulding, in his message to the Council under date April 15, 
1872, tells them: "We now have the advantage of an experience which has put to the 
severest test the material used in macadamizing our streets. The experience of the 
past severe winter has to my mind fully demonstrated the correctness of the principle 
upon which the work has been constructed. The only correction I have to suggest 
and which this experience has proved to be necessary is the omission of clay or any 
like material which has hitherto in some instances been employed. It is important 
that a system of repair should be established. It seems to be extremely difficult to 
eradicate from the minds of those who are most interested the idea that when a street 
is received from the hands of the contractor that it is done for all time. Macadam- 
ized roadways require constant and unremitting attention, and this attention should 
commence from the moment the work is delivered by the contractor; no one thing 
will add more to their durability and improve their condition than the sprinkling of 
them during the summer season. I trust that you will inaugurate some system by 
which the streets that have been macadamized may be kept sprinkled; it will be a 
great saving to the property-owners as well as a convenience to the public. 



574 History of Alameda County, California. 

"Gillespie, who is considered an authority, says, 'Suppose the road to be already 
in condition, that is, in proper shape and free from holes, ruts, mud, and dust, to keep it 
so requires two fundamental operations: First, the continued removal of the daily wear 
of the, material, whether in the shape of mud or dust; and. Second, the employment 
of materials to replace those removed. The number of men required by this system 
of constant watchfulness may at first seem an objection to it, but the expense will be 
amply repaid by the advantages obtained. The labor of one man will keep in repair 
three miles of well-made and well-drained road for the first two years after its forma- 
tion and four miles for the next two years by constantly spreading loose stone in the 
hollows, raking them from the middle to the sides, opening the ditches, etc' Gilles- 
pie's experience has been in a country where the agencies of the weather have been 
much more destructive to macadamized roads than in ours, being subjected to the 
frequent rains of summer and frosts of winter, hence it is but reasonable to presume 
that a macadamized road can be kept in proper condition for much less expense in a 
climate like this of ours. Therefore, in view of the fact that a roadway may be kept 
in constant repair at less expense by a little well-directed care and attention, I would 
recommend that provision be made whereby the Marshal may be provided with the 
necessary means to accomplish this end." 

Under the head of street-lines and grades the Mayor "would recommend that a 
plan of streets and system of grades be established as early as practicable for the 
territory recently annexed to the city.* Any improvements that are hereafter made 
should conform to the general plan, and it is evident that any delay in this important 
work will only complicate the satisfactory adjustment of the various questions which 
always present themselves in the solution of this intricate problem. To establish a 
plan, street surveys should be made to locate all the streets that have been laid out 
and opened by the property-owners, and where no streets have been laid out the 
property line should be accurately shown. The data thus obtained should be shown 
upon a map and a plan of streets should be projected by the Council after due notice 
to all parties concerned. 

"After the plan has been adopted levels should be run through all the streets ; 
profiles should also be made of the streets, and monuments set at the intersection of 
such streets as the city engineer may propose. With the data thus obtained a system 
of grades should be devised that would provide surface and sewer drainage for the 
whole territory, and at the same time accommodate itself as near as practicable to the 
topography of the ground. It is important in connection with this subject that your 
attention should be directed to the following facts which have been furnished me by 
the city engineer, T. J. Arnold. 

"During the heavy rains of the past winter a large area of ground in the vicinity 
of Twenty-first Street, and extending from Lake Merritt westward to the bay. 
was submerged for a considerable length of time. A very large portion 
of this water came from without the city limits where it had been diverted 
from its natural channels by the construction of roadways without proper outlets. 
The natural water-shed north of the city slopes towards the bay, several streets, how- 
ever, and notably San Pablo Road and Telegraph Avenue have been graded in such 

*Lands annexed to the city April I, 1872, referred to more fully hereafter. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 575 

a manner as to obstruct the material flow of the water and force it into the low 
ground near the old charter line. A part of the water which caused the damage upon 
Mr. Booth's premises east of Broadway, came along Telegraph Avenue from a point 
within two hundred yards of Temescal Creek. It seems that special effort should be 
made to correct this evil before the approach of another winter. A part of the 
territory which supplied the water has been annexed to the city and it may be that 
improvement will be made during the summer that will relieve the difficulty, if the 
grades are promptly and properly established. It will, however, be necessary that 
the Supervisors of the county, or the district roadmaster, should provide water-ways 
between the present city limits and Temescal Creek. This is a matter of sufficient 
consequence to warrant a special effort on your part to meet and if possible overcome 
the difficulty. 

" I will call your attention to the necessity of re-macadamizing Broadway from 
Fourteenth Street to the water front. It is important that this work should be done 
soon, or at least before the advent of another winter. It must be apparent to you 
that as it now is it compares very unfavorably with other streets of much less impor- 
tance." 

On December 2, 1872, the numbering of houses was ordered by ordinance; while 
the Council proceeded with a will to general improvement of the thoroughfares. In 
May, 1873, these are remarked by Mayor Spaulding in the following words: "The 
most notable feature of our city improvements during the past year is the signal bet- 
terments which are shown upon our streets. The City Marshal's report shows that 
there has been during the year eleven miles and three thousand two hundred and 
forty-five lineal feet of streets graded, curbed, and macadamized, at a cost to the prop- 
erty-owners of ninety-eight thousand one hundred and twenty-four dollars and eighty- 
nine cents; also that there has been constructed seven miles and nine hundred and 
twenty-five lineal feet of sidewalks and crosswalks, at a cost of sixteen thousand 
nine hundred and forty-three dollars and forty-one cents. Our streets now show, for 
the first year since they emerged from the dust and ashes of their primitive barbarity, 
that decent respectability for which they have so long and patiently struggled. Their 
appearance does tolerable justice to the character and enterprise of our people; 
they now afford as pleasant walks and as delightful drives as can be found in any 
city on the shores of the Pacific. While it is with pleasure we comment upon the 
splendid improvements made upon our streets, I deem it right and just to state in 
behalf of the people, whose servants we are, that we have neglected a very important 
duty, one for which the Council cannot hold itself blameless. It is the matter of 
keeping our streets in repair. In my former communication I urged at length this 
important measure. I urged it then, and I now urge it again, on the strong ground of 
economy. It is painful to note that, after all the generous expenditures of money 
that have been employed in bringing our streets from their almost impassable condi- 
tion of but a few years since, to their present state of excellence, that no system has 
yet been adopted for keeping them in repair. The old adage that 'a stitch in time 
saves nine,' may, with the greatest propriety, be applied to our public streets. They 
are suffered to be dug up by 'Tom, Dick, and Harry' for 'this, that, and the other' 
cause. The macadam broken up and replaced without regard to 'how or where,' 



576 History of Alameda County, California. 

regardless of law or ordinance regulating these matters. As a matter of econom\" 
alone, our macadamized roadways should ha\-e constant and intelligent care. A sys- 
tem of repairs should be inaugurated for this purpose, without further delay. All 
species of vandalism and unlawful spoliation should receive that kind of attention that 
will be most likely to prevent its recurrence. The streets should be kept clean, the 
gutters free and clear from all obstructions, all depressions should be promptly 
leveled up, etc. A team and all necessary implements should be provided for the 
purpose. By a little well-directed, prompt, and judicious action on your part the 
excellent condition of our streets (which are now a credit to the city) may be contin- 
ued from year to year with but trifling expense. Otherwise, if the unlawful spolia- 
tions, the accumulation of dust and filth are allowed, and the ruts and holes to go 
unrepaired, they will go on from bad to worse until the\^ become no longer endura- 
ble, when the cry will be raised for a general repairing, which will cost a great deal 
more and give much less satisfaction than the continued system, which I have for- 
merly and now again recommend. The plan which has been adopted, and in a meas- 
ure carried into effect, for the improvement of our sidewalks, has met with such uni- 
versal favor that I deem it unnecessary at this time to make any further recommen- 
dations concerning them. The large number of trees which have been planted along 
our thoroughfares shows a sensible and praiseworthy effort on the part of our people 
to make their homes pleasant and attractive, as well as enhance the value of their 
property, and certainly it cannot be otherwise than devoutl)- wished that their patri- 
otic e.xample will in the future be more generalh' followed. 

"I desire to call your special attention to the embarrassing and vexatious ques- 
tion of opening streets. The law, which should direct in such matters, and which 
should be so plain that it could be susceptible of but one interpretation, has been 
found so ambiguous that the efforts to open streets where such work was emphatic- 
ally necessary, has in most cases been abortive; in some cases creating expensive liti- 
gation, engendering confusion and discord among the people, besides bringing the 
Council into contempt in its endeavor to do the people's will. I therefore would rec- 
ommend that you suspend further action in all such cases until such time as some of 
the pending cases can be taken to the Supreme Court for final decision." 

As the city increased in population, property-holders found it to their advantage 
to open streets by compromise among themselves, and in every case, or nearly so, 
where the law for the opening of streets was resisted in the Courts the city was 
defeated. The constitutionality of the method provided for the assessment of dam- 
ages and benefits had frequently been argued, but the decisions were uniformly based 
upon points which, to non-professional men, seemed to be of minor importance- 
Fatal irregularities were disco\ered in the proceedings of the Council, or of the Com- 
missioners who made the assessment. In a few instances parties consented to the 
opening of streets under proceedings instituted by the Council, because the amounts 
involved were not sufficient to justify litigation, or because those affected were 
satisfied with the justice of the assessment, and desired the improvement to be made. 
In some localities, again, these were greatly retarded from the lack of suitable streets, 
and property-owners that resisted such improvements in anj' spirit of captiousness 
harmed themselves more than they did others. While on this subject. Mayor Webber, 






CtA/^t-^U-^^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 577 



under date February 28, 1876, says: "I do not think that the Council should hesitate 
to inaugurate proceedings when it is evident that an improvement should be made. 
We do not know that there is any valid defect in the law, and we should presume it 
to be sound, and attempt to comply with its requirements. The acceptance of streets 
is a subject that had frequently been brought to the attention of the Council, but 
upon which no definite action had been taken up to that time. Section Twenty of 
the law authorizing the city to improve streets, provides that the Council shall accept 
those improved according to such regulations as it may have adopted, and that the 
cost of improvements and repairs on said streets thereafter shall be paid out of the 
Street Fund. The Marshal is required to keep a register of all accepted streets. No 
streets have ever been accepted under this statute, and the city has no authority to 
expend money for repairs. The law is somewhat obscure, and extreme caution is 
necessary, for any mistake now might entail upon the city the cost of a class of 
improvements that should be paid by the property which they benefit. It is no more 
than equitable that the city should stand the expense of re-macadamizing a street) 
where the original improvement has been worn out by the public, but it would be 
highly unjust to require the city to construct a pavement more valuable than the orig- 
inal one. If the city, under the law, accepts streets without incurring any liability 
other than I have mentioned, such action should be taken." 

On April 24, 1876, an ordinance was passed authorizing the construction of a 
bridge across the estuary of San Antonio, between Eighth Street and East Ninth 
Street, and fixing the dimensions thereof On the same date the name of Middle 
Street was changed to Ninth Street; and on November 27th the contract for building 
the Eighth-street Bridge was awarded to the Pacific Bridge Company, at thirty thou- 
sand dollars. 

After the burning of the City Hall on August 25, 1877, a certain faction of the 
citizens of Oakland conceived the brilliant idea that now was the proper time to open 
Washington Street to the San Pablo Road. By so doing the line of the street would 
necessarily run through the City Hall lot, to which the City Council most naturally 
demurred. Meetings were held; some considerable feeling on the subject was engen- 
dered; letters were written to the Council reflecting upon their ideas in the matter; 
indeed, several pseudonymous letters were received by that body bearing on the 
affair. Eventually it took a tangible shape, and at their meeting held September 21, 
1877, President Walter stated that they were ready to hear from the Committee 
appointed to confer with the Council relative to the opening of the street. Mr. Flint, 
as chairman of the Committee, read the resolutions adopted by the Merchants' 
Exchange and presented petitions from property-owners on Washington Street, and 
from citizens, in favor of the opening of said street; also submitting a proposition to 
buy the city's property, affected by the opening, for twenty thousand dollars, and for 
the improvements on the same ten thousand dollars, equal to thirty thousand dollars, 
cash, as soon as the city was ready to sell. Discussion here ensued relative to the 
proposition, and remarks were made by Councilmen Miller, Sohst, and Citizens Reier, 
Wetmore, Emerson, and Flint, after which the question was taken under advisement. 

Let us now refer to the actions on record in regard to Lake Merritt, that beautiful 
sheet of water which is so justly a source of pride to the residents of Oakland. It had 



57t> History of Alameda County, California. 

long been under the fostering care of the Council and citizens of the city. A very 
large extent of country is drained by the lake. On February 21, 1870, an ordinance 
was passed having for its purpose the prevention of the destruction of fish in it. It 
then was left in repose, save by the whipping winds, until February 9, 1874, when 
some hard-hearted individual attempted to dub it with another appellation, which 
very properly called forth a strong protest against it from the City Fathers. Lake 
Merritt had, however, met with a more formidable enemy in the shape of the Tide 
Land Commissioners. In the month of February, 1873, they appeared to have a 
settled determination to sell the tide lands in its vicinity, but some of the public citi- 
zens of Oakland — who are never weary in well-doing — circulated the following petition 
in the hope that the Commissioners would leave them that indispensable piece of 
property: 

"To THE Board OF Tide Land Com.MISSIONER.S — Gentlemen: The undersigned 
citizens of Alameda County respactfully protest against the threatened spoliation of 
Lake Merritt, by the- sale of any portion thereof. 

"The area of said lake is a natural tidal basin, the larger portion of which was 
formerly bare at low water. The part lying within the corporate limits of Oakland 
was long since abandoned to public use, and a large sum of money (say thirty thou- 
sand dollars) has been expended in building a permanent dam with tide-gates, so that 
said basin can be kept full, or may be partially emptied when desired. 

"The lake is indispensable for drainage purposes to much of the surrounding 
country, including the entire city of Oakland; and the sewerage system of Oakland, 
as recommended by eminent engineers and adopted by the city, depends upon the 
waters thereof as confined by the dam. The area of the part of the basin outside of 
the city limits is about fifty-five acres, and if this should be filled — the bottom being 
deep, soft mud — it might convert the lake into an insupportable nuisance, or destroy 
it as a tidal basin for the purpose of drainage and sewerage, as described. 

"The tidal basin of said lake also constitutes an important feature in the con- 
templated improvement of the estuary of San Antonio, for the purpose of navigation 
and commerce. We, therefore, respectfully but urgently petition your Honorable 
Body to abandon the portion of Lake Merritt belonging to the State, as a basin for 
the purpose of drainage and commerce, as provided in Section Two of the Act of 
1870, or to withdraw the same from public sale, as provided in Section Nine of the 
Act of 1868." 

In his message of February 28, 1876, Mayor Mack Webber states in regard to 
the improvement of Lake Merritt: " By your direction temporary repairs have been 
made to the Lake Merritt dam. As long as the present structure can be maintained 
with a moderate outlay for repairs, it is not necessary to construct one of a more 
permanent nature: whenever replaced it should be by one that will last for all time. 
It is to serve a double purpose: It gives us a beautiful lake and has made po ssible 
the construction of the main sewer, just completed. [This work we shall treat of 
presently.] The dam and roadway should be combined in a single structure, thereby 
saving a needless expenditure when it shall become necessary to build another bridge. 

"There is at present a roadway running by the margin of the lake on its eastern 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 579 

side. This should be continued around it and connected with Webster, Harrison, or 
Ahce Streets. 

" I recommend that the Council take suitable steps to open a street over the 
designated route and cause the same to be improved, if it can be done under existing 
laws. This can easily be made one of the most magnificent water parks in the world. 
A moderate amount of dredging would deepen the water so that sail-boats could 
navigate any part of it, and also furnish material for the construction of one or more 
artificial islands. The completion of such a work would increase the reputation of 
our city and doubtless attract to it large numbers of gentlemen of fortune, v/ho, by 
the erection of costly houses, would add to the general wealth and prosperity. It 
would be equally important to thousands of our citizens, who would indulge in the 
pastime of boating if the navigable area of the lake were not so circumscribed as at 
present. Works of this nature cannot fail to exact a powerful and beneficial influence 
in favor of the community that have the energy and good taste to project them." 

Most of these improvements have been carried out; while, on a fine afternoon or 
moonlight summer's evening, no more animated view is to be seen than the white- 
winged boats flitting hither and thither, loaded with a merry freight of laughter-loving 
youths and maidens. 

In the year 1S70 the Webster-street Bridge was built. In this matter, at the 
meeting of the Council held February 21, 1870, Mr. Spaulding offered the following 
resolutions: 

Whereas, It has come to the knowledge of this Council that there is dissatisfaction among the residents 
and property-owners of Brooklyn and San Antonio respecting the action taken by this Council in the matter of 
giving their sanction for the passage of a law for the construction of a bridge at the foot of Webster Street to 
connect with Alameda; and 

Whereas, It is not the wish nor desire of Oakland or its representatives to obstruct or in any way to 
impede the progress of our neighboring towns; therefore be it 

Resolved, That the citizens of Brooklyn, San Antonio, and Alameda, by their representatives, be requested 
to meet this Council at their rooms at half-past seven o'clock p. M. on Friday evening, February 25th, to show 
wherein or how they will be injured or benefited by the construction of a bridge at the point above named. 

This special meeting was called, but in the mean time a protest was received from 
Brooklyn Township to the following effect: "At a meeting of the citizens and property- 
holders of Brooklyn Township, held at Swett's Hall, Wednesday evening, February 23, 
1870, the following resolution was unanimously adopted, and the .Secretary of the 
meeting was instructed to present a certified copy to the City Council of Oakland on 
Friday evening, February 25th: 

Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that the construction of a bridge over the San Antonio Creek 
will be detrimental to the inhabitants of Brooklyn Township in an eminent degree; also injurious to the interests of 
the county in general, by the creation of a very costly structure to be foisted upon the county at great expense for 
the care and keeping the same in repair. 

A printed protest was also received from thirty-three citizens of Oakland, to the 
following effect: " The undersigned hereby protest against the erection of a bridge 
across San Antonio Creek, as is now proposed by parties in Alameda. In our esti- 
mation a bridge would seriously obstruct navigation and impose unnecessary expense 
upon Oakland. We would suggest that the proposed connection, if necessary, be 
made solely at the expense of residents of Alameda, and by road and ferry only, in 



580 History of Alameda County, California. 

accordance with the original proposition." In furtherance of the subject, on February 
28th, citizens of Alameda and Brooklyn being present, on motion of Mr. Van Dyke, 
these were invited to express their views on the bridge question. The Council hav- 
ing listened to the remarks, pro and con, Mr. Folger offered the following resolution: 

Resolved, That the City Clerk be authorized to communicate with Messrs. Calvin Brown, George E. Gray, 
and A. F. Rogers, and ask them to give this Council, on or before Monday, March 7, 1870, their opinion of the 
effect that the erection of a bridge across San Antonio Creek, especially as aft'ecting the depth of water therein, 
and that the opinion of any other scientific gentlemen on the subject, who ma)- favor us with the same, will be 
cheerfully received. 

These gentlemen in due time sent in their reports, all being at one on the subject. 
What these views were, the following excerpt from the report of Mr. Rogers will 
inform the reader. After generalizing on the subject of bridges in general and draw- 
bridges in particular, and explaining the trouble attending the passage through, 
whether it be during the day or night, at all stages of the tide, he goes on to say: 
" San Antonio Creek, at the foot of Webster Street, is ten hundred and fifty feet wide, 
with a depth in the channel of ten feet at mean low tide; going east this depth is 
increased, near the junction of the Lake Merritt arm with the main creek, to over 
twenty feet, probably the junction and combination of both tidal streams at this 
comparatively narrow point. Going west the depth varies from ten to eighteen feet, 
never less than ten or over eighteen, until the waters are freed from the banks of the 
creek and enter the bay of San Francisco, and, spreading, lose their identity and force; 
too sluggish, any longer, to scour, they rapidly deposit sediment and add to what is 
known and felt as the Oakland Bar. The effect of accelerating or retarding the current 
is, I think, curiously and plainly marked by increased or diminished depths at several 
points in its course between the localities I have named. 

" The effect upon the channel of throwing a pile-bridge across it at the point pro- 
posed would be serious; it would, I think, make it only a question of time when the 
draw would be useless; sediment would be deposited under the bridge, eddies formed 
around it, the current retarded, and gradually, but surely, the process of filling up 
would be extended both above and below the structure. This is so palpable a fact 
that I am sure any engineer who has looked at the effect of throwing wharves into, 
or bridges across, tide-waters, will corroborate the statement. I repeat that ilie effect 
would be to shoal the water both above and below the bridge, and I think that I may say 
so thus positively without the fear of honest contradiction. 

" In order properly to estimate the value of the San Antonio Creek to Oakland, 
Alameda, and Brooklyn as a navigable channel, we must look back and ask what these 
places would have been without it; the creek channel as nature made it and entirely 
unimproved, afforded the opportunity, and the only opportunity, in early da\-s, of 
coinbining a San Francisco business with an Oakland residence; this combination 
built houses by the thousand in Oakland and vicinity when there would otherwise have 
been to-day but tens to count. This route thus furnished the incentive to build a 
powerful rival and has afforded the only means since to prevent that rival front greatly 
abusing its power! 

" From our experiences of the past we may estimate the possible future of San 
Antonio Creek, if the advantages nature here holds out shall be utilized for commer- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 581 

cial purposes. Some of the principal elements for what is not elsewhere now in San 
Francisco Bay, are here offered to us — a perfectly sheltered harbor. 

" It is to be hoped that the interests of the Water Front Company and our great 
railroad may be identical in developing these advantages; a third of the expenditure 
necessary to carry the Central Pacific Railroad over a permanent bridge to permanent 
iviproveinents at Verba Biiena Island, would adapt San Antonio Creek to the reqtiire- 
ments of shipping, admit tlie largest vessels and open a zvater frontage of eight or ten miles, 
or as much effective front as San Francisco shoius to-day. 

"When Oakland has improved the channel of the Creek, it may be proper to 
build bridges, for then, and not till then, can the necessities of bridging command the 
capital and warrant the expenditure necessary to build such structures as may not 
obstruct navigation or injure that channel." 

The bridge as then planned was to be one thousand feet in length with a "draw'' 
of two hundred feet, and to cost twenty- iive thousand dollars. Early in March, 1 871, it 
was completed. On April loth, "An Ordinance levying a Special Tax upon Property ■ 
in the City of Oakland for the purpose of defraying the proportion of the Expense 
assigned to the City of Oakland for the construction of a Swing or Draw Bridge across 
San Antonio Creek, in the county of Alameda, as provided in an Act of the Legisla- 
ture of the State of California, entitled, 'An Act to authorize the construction of a 
Swing or Draw bridge across the San Antonio Creek, in the County of Alameda. 
Approved April 4, 1 870,' " was passed, and a special tax of twenty-five cents on each 
one hundred dollars of property ordered to be levied for the purpose of defraying the 
expense of the bridge. On July loth of the same year, an ordinance was passed, 
having as its object the protection of what is known and denominated " The Alameda 
Bridge" across San Antonio Creek. 

But this by no means winds up the matter of the Webster-street Bridge : more 
will be found about it in our remarks on railroads. 

We will now turn our attention to the sewerage of the city of Oakland. Mayor 
Spaulding, in his message to the Council, dated May 15, 1871, speaks of this subject 
as follows : " Another matter which I deem of eminent importance to the city, and to 
which I wish to call your attention, is the subject of sewerage, important because it 
comes directly home to every citizen. Nothing can be of more importance to the 
people of a city than that which tends to promote and secure its healthful condition. 
It seems strange that after so much has been said and so much time devoted to this 
matter, that so little has been accomplished.' How can our citizens be so blind to 
their interests as to longer neglect it, while it is within their power to accomplish a 
perfect system of sewerage and at a cost that will not be burdensome to, the most 
humble property-holder. It has not been the fault of the Council; for I am well aware 
that its purposes have been negatived by protests from the property-holders in locali- 
ties where these improvements were sought to be made. Another long and dry sea- 
son is upon us with the evil consequences resulting from an imperfect system of 
sewerage. In view of this fact, I believe it to be your duty to lose no time in doing 
all within your power to put the city in a proper sanitary condition. In order to 
accomplish this end, as the law now stands, it is necessary that you should have the 
support and co-operation of the citizens, who have the power to annul all your efforts 
by majority protests. 



582 History of Alameda County, California. 

" The subject of sewerage and drainage was brought before the City Council 
about two years ago, and by them submitted to a Board of Engineers. This Board 
was composed principally of the best engineering talent of the State — men of large 
practical experience — who spent a great deal of time in examining the topography of 
the city and of determining the best and most economical method of drainage. One 
of their number during their investigation (Mr. Hoadly) visited many of the eastern 
cities, among them Brookl)'n, New York, and Chicago, where they have fully demon- 
strated the practicability of cement and stone or earthen-pipe sewers, and satisfied him- 
self that they were a success, both as regards econom\- and practicability. With these 
investigations and information procured from scientific works, thc\' submitted to the 
Council an able and elaborate report, recommending the adoption of the pipe .s)-stem 
of sewerage. This report was unanimously adopted by the Cit)- Council. 

" To relieve your minds of doubts and to corroborate more fully the correctness 
of this system of sewerage, permit me to call your attention to the following extracts 
taken from reports of engineers in some of the Eastern and European cities. 

" Mr. Francis, in his report on the sewerage of Manchester, ICngland, sjicaking of 
the pipe sewerage which is extensively used in that city, says: 'I think the idea of 
requiring that the main sewer of ever\- street should be large enough for a man to go 
through, is absurd, because it involves an awful waste of monc}-. ***](■ soon 
appeared to me that the oval-shaped pipe was better for sewer purposes, and I get 
oval tubes made b\' a fire-brick-maker in this vicinity. * * * j ^^1 quite satisfied 
that the tubes are sufficient for large areas and that a pipe twenty by fifteen inches 
will be sufficient to drain thirt\- acres. * * * A tube sewer laid in 1847, size, 
fifteen by twenty inches, oval, drained an area of about five or six acres, with an inclination 
of one foot in one hundred and forty-four, or one-fourth of an inch per \"ard, has 
kept perfectly clear. * * * With regard to inclination, my views are as follows: 
Nature is the great guide, the large rivers have very slight inclinations, and as we pass 
up to their tributaries and minor streamlets, this is found constanth' increasing. 
Sewerage should be a copy of nature's plan on the surface. The following rates of 
inclination should be adopted where practicable: nine-inch pipes one in fifty to one 
in two hundred feet; twelve-inch pipes one in fifty to one in four hundred feet; fifteen- 
inch pipes one in fifty to one in four hundred and eight feet; eighteen-inch pipes one 
in fifty to one in four hundred and eighteen feet. 

" Mr. Chesborough, Cit\' Engineer of Chicago, who was sent to liurope by the 
cit\- authorities some years ago to examine the different s\stems of sewerage in use 
there, reported, that he found the pipe sewers in successful operation in almost ever)- 
city that he visited. Upon his recommendation they are now used upon all the prin- 
cipal streets of that city. In his report on pipe sewerage in Liverpool, in speaking of 
the town of Rugele\', sa\s: 'This town has been drained since 1851 b\- circular stone- 
ware pipes having socket joints filled with cla\', the mains var\-ing from six to twent\-- 
(bur inches; they receive, not onh' the ordinar\- house drainage, but in some cases the 
surface water from the streets and all the contents of water-closets. Some of them 
are seven by eight inch sewers, having an inclination of one foot in one liundred and 
thirty-seven, yet have never given any serious trouble. At this time,' he says, ' the 
number of sewers in London is one hundred and twentj'-seven, the least inclination 
of the pipe is one foot to two hundred and twenty feet.' 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 588 

"Mr. Kirkham in his report on the Brooklyn sewerage, pubhshed in 1865, after 
discussing the manner of laying the pipe and enumerating the many advantages to 
be derived from this system of sewerage, says: ' If the rate of inclination of a sewer 
is not flatter than one foot in four hundred and fort}', the experience of Brooklyn and 
other cities equally well supplied with water, shows that the blind domestic sewerage of 
any street is competent to carry off daily all the heavier matters of sewerage, and to 
keep the drains free and clear, provided that the form of the sewer is such as to con- 
centrate these sewerage waters as much as possible. If the sewer is made unneces- 
saril»y large, the depth and velocity of the fluid passing through it are proportionately 
reduced and its ability to keep itself clear will be confined to high rates of inclination. 
It is important therefore to have it as small as the service required of it will admit. 
As regards the necessity of entering sewers, which was dwelt so much upon ten years 
ago, the successful use of the small sewers shows that this necessity does not exist; 
they have been found safe and effective when properly built, and less troublesome as 
regards cleansing than the old sfewers.' 

"Extract of a letter from Robert Rawlinson, Civil Engineer of London, to Mr. 
Kirkwood, Chief Engineer of the Brooklyn Water Works, under date March 4, 1858, 
says: ' I find that in Great Britain, within the last five years, not less than two thou- 
sand five hundred lineal miles of earthenware-pipe sewers and house-drains have been 
used, and for the five previous years some twelve hundred miles, making in all not 
less than three thousand seven hundred miles. I have completed sewerage and drainage 
works in some dozen towns, and have laid upwards of two hundred miles of earthen- 
ware-pipe sewers and drains without a single failure.' 

" In Chicago, where pipe sewers of twelve inches in diameter are used with an 
inclination of one foot in five hundred, a tank is placed upon wheels and is used for 
flushing where water is not otherwise convenient. This may be done in Oakland, if 
necessary, where the termination of the sewers is not accessible to hydrants or cis- 
terns. The experience we have had in the Broadway sewers shows that flushing is 
seldom necessary, as these sewers have been flushed but twice within the last year, 
and no stoppages have occurred to impair their usefulness. A late inspection finds 
them free and clear of all solid matter or obstructions, the house drainage furnishing 
sufficient water to keep them open. It may be observed that in general the contem- 
plated sewers of our city have a greater inclination than those above cited, as in but 
few instances will they have less than one foot in two hundred, and many of them one 
foot in one hundred. An important consi deration in favor of the pipe sewer is the 
comparative cheapness of its construction, costing from one dollar to one dollar and a 
half per lineal foot, while the ordinary brick sewer costs from five to seven dollars, 
besides being much more expensive to keep clean and in repair. Hence, with the 
knowledge we now have and one year's successful experience with the cement-pipe 
sewers on Broadway, the most populous street in the city, there should be no question 
in your minds as to the ultimate success of this system of sewerage. 

"Another point in connection with this subject to which I wish to call your 
attention is that many residing on the streets where sewers are laid have neglected to 
connect their house drainage with the sewers, thereby rendering void, to a certain 
extent, the salutary benefits calculated to be produced. I wo uld therefore recom- 



584 History of Alameda County, California. 

mend that necessary steps be taken by \'our Honorable Body to compel these connec- 
tions to be made with as little delay as possible. To effect this object I would sug- 
gest that a police officer be detailed to act with the City Marshal and Health Officer 
for the purpose of seeing that these connections are made and maintained, and other 
nuisances which would impair the sanitary condition of the city promptly abated." 

In this year (1S71) the .sewer on Webster Street from Twelfth Street to the 
water front was constructed, but no espscial action was taken to establish a general 
system of sewerage, although a large majority of actual residents upon the principal 
streets favored the scheme, but these intentions were usually defeated by non-tesi- 
dents. Late in the year 1871, the Board of Engineers recommended, as a part of 
the system of sewerage proposed by them to the Council, the " construction of a 
main sewer, leiiving Lake Merritt at Delger Street, and running thence along Delger 
Street to San Pablo Avenue; thence to Twenty-first Street; thence to Market Street; 
and thence continuing along Twenty-first Street to the shore of the ba\-, a total length 
of eighty-four one-hundredths miles. This sewer should be five feet wide at the 
bottom, and five and a half feet high in the clear. It should be built of the best 
quality of hard burnt brick, and provided with a self-acting tidal-gate at its outlet 
into the bay, and may ba flushed when required from the waters of Lake Merritt." 
By this means all the sewerage and drainage of that section of the city h'ing north 
of the watershed, and of the sloping ground north of the sewer itself, and beyond 
the charter line would be received, while the southerly limit of the area that would 
drain into this sewer would correspond very nearly with the line of Twelfth Street. 
On April 15, 1872, Mayor Spaulding continued to urge upon the Council, as a duty 
incumbent upon them for the protection of the city against the encroachment of sick- 
ness and disease, the construction of extended sewerage and the abatement of every 
nuisance which could in any way militate against the healthful condition of the city. 
The matter at last met with a pretty general approval, and the good work was pro- 
ceeded with. During the year ending February 28, 1873, three miles and three thou- 
sand one hundred and fifty feet of sewerage were laid at a cost of twenty-six thousand 
and seventy-five dollars and seven cents, a fact which certainly speaks well for the 
energy of one year. 

The construction of the main sewer became now imperatively necessary, and 
attracted much discussion. The city, however, had no power to cause the work to 
be done; therefore the necessary steps to get an Act passed by the Legislature were 
taken. On December 22, 1873, the draft of the proposed bill entitled "An Act to 
provide for the construction of Main Sewers in the City of Oakland " was read at a 
meeting of the Council, while on the 29th December, a communication from the 
Secretary of the Oakland Citizens' Union was received by the Council, inclosing a 
report of a Committee on main sewer from Lake Merritt to San Francisco Bay, and 
a profile map of the same, together with certain resolutions adopted by the Union, 
recommending the preparation of a new charter for the city and naming a committee 
for the purpose. On March 23, 1874, "An Act to authorize the City of Oakland to 
construct a Main Sewer" was approved, and on the i8th May, the City Council passed 
an ordinance directing the building of the sewer; on October 12th the contracts were 
awarded to Mr. Jordan and M. Miles & Co. At the meeting of the Council, had 





c^es Mc., 




Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 585 

September 20, 1875, the City Clerk was directed to advertise for the period of twenty 
days for the sale of sixty thousand dollars in bonds of the city of Oakland author- 
ized to be issued in accordance with the above Act of the Legislature. 

The Main Lake Sewer is the most costly and important public improvement 
ever made in the city of Oakland. It was completed in 1876, and, as stated before, 
connects Lake Merritt with the bay of San Francisco. The tidal current steadily 
flowing through it from the east is of sufficient velocity to remove all extraneous 
matter that may be run into it, while the correctness of the engineering has been 
demonstrated, and the wisdom of the Board that directed an excellent system of 
sewerage is fully apparent. 

The first contract for the two sections of the sewer was let to Dennis Jordan at 
an aggregate of one hundred and twelve thousand dollars, a sum far below the real 
cost. The contractor failed to prosecute the work according to agreement, and con- 
tracts were let in October, 1874, for the entire work to Mr. Jordan, who agreed to 
construct the first, or brick, section for eighty-eight thousand dollars, and M. Miles 
and F. Raesch, who agreed to construct the second, or wood section for thirty-four 
thousand dollars, the total being ten thousand dollars in excess of the price agreed 
upon with Dennis Jordan. 

These parties also made default, and the contracts were a third time awarded. 
The Pacific Bridge Company contracted to construct the first section for one hundred 
and twenty-six thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars. The Alameda Macadam- 
izing Company agreed to construct the second section for thirty-eight thousand two 
hundred dollars, making a total of one hundred and sixty-five thousand and fifty 
dollars. 

On account of the default of the earlier contractors, the completion of the 
sewer was delayed for a year, causing very great inconvenience. 

By the terms of their contract the defaulting contractors were liable for the dif- 
ference between the original price and the price finally paid, or fifty-three thousand 
and fifty dollars. The cost of the work is given below: — 

First Section — Contract price $126,850 00 

" " Extra work 512 40 

Second Section — Contract price 38, 200 00 

" " Extra work 525 00 

* 

Total $166,087 40 

Paid Contractors 157,483 73 

Balance unpaid $ 8, 603 67 

Cash in Sewer Fund $ i , 250 73 

Deficit $ 7,352 94 

The unpaid balance consisted of three hundred dollars retained until the con- 
tractors had removed surplus material and five per cent, on the amount of their con- 
tracts not payable until one year after the completion of the work. The deficit was 
caused by the extra work (one thousand and thirty-seven dollars and forty cents) 
and the discount on a portion of the bonds which had to be placed upon the market 
during a time of very great stringency and disorder in financial affairs. The material 
38 



586 History of Alameda County, California. 

used and the workmanship have been first-class, for the Council very properly adopted 
the policy that it was the truest economy to have so important a public work done 
in the best manner possible. The sewer drains an area of one thousand two hun- 
dred and eleven and a half acres, while an ordinance was soon after passed prohib- 
iting the further use of lateral sewers which discharged their sewerage into Lake 
Merritt. The sewer commences in the lake near the intersection of Delger Street 
with the west line of Harrison Street, and runs thence along Delger Street to San 
Pablo Avenue; thence along that thoroughfare to Twenty-second Street, and after- 
wards through it to the bay, a total distance of nine thousand nine hundred and 
twenty-four feet, three inches. The first section, which, as has been heretofore 
remarked, is of brick, extends from the east line of Broadwa}- to the west line of 
Adeline Street, a distance of five thousand five hundred and eight\-five feet, three 
inches. The second section, of wood, extends from the initial point in the lake to 
the east line of Broadway, and from the west line of Adeline Street to the bay, a 
distance of four thousand three hundred and thirty-nine feet. East of Broadway the 
sewer is five by five feet in the clear; west of Broadway it is five feet wide by five and 
one-half feet high in the clear. The brick portion of the sewer is of the form and dimen- 
sions recommended by the Board of Engineers, viz.: the bottom an inverted arch of 
six and a half feet radius, the sides vertical, and the top a semi-circular arch. The 
bottom of the sewer at the inlet is two feet six inches below ordinary high water in 
the lake; at the outlet it is four feet six inches below the same plane, giving an availa- 
ble descent at extreme low water sufficient to remove all ordinar\- deposits. 

Ere concluding matters connected with the Engineers' Department of the gov- 
ernment of the city of Oakland, it may be mentioned that at the meeting of the 
Council held June 6, 1878, consequent upon the lamented demise of the City Engi- 
neer, the following resolutions of condolence were unanimously passed: — 

Whereas, It hath pleased Divine Providence to remove from our midst a useful and upright citizen, an 
honest and capable official, Thomas J. Arnold, and 

Whereas, It is due to the deceased to recognize his ability and worth, as e.xemplified by his acts during his 
life, and pay a last sad token of respect to his memory: Thomas J. Arnold was loved and respected; a citizen 
'whose character was ever resplendent with bright deeds and whose acts bore truth and honesty upon their surface. 
Oakland may well mourn, for it has lost a valuable public servant; one who was ever identified with the rise, prog- 
ress, and material interests of the city, and whose name is coupled with the grandest of achievements. He desired 
to live, for he had a great deal to live for, but He who doeth all things well issued the decree which summoned 
him from the earth to a better realm beyond. * 

We drop this sprig of green in mcmoriam of him who dwells with us no longer, but whose deeds are in the 
possession of history and those who know him best. 

We extend to the bereaved widow and the fatherless our sympathy in these moments of sadness. Knowing 
and feeling that we but echo the responses of a kindred nature from many of the citizens of this city and abroad, 
Therefore be it 

Resolved, That this Council attend the funeral of our late lamented City Lngineer, in a body, and that on 
to-morrow the City Hall will be closed to public business, so that city officials can attend the obsecjuies; and be it 
further 

Resolved, That the City Clerk is hereby directed to spread these preambles and resolutions upon the minutes, 
and a copy thereof be transmitted to the widow of deceased. 

In continuation of the official acts of the Board of Trustees of the Town of 
Oakland in the year 1853, we find that an election was held on the 9th I\Ia\- at the 
house of A. Marier, with A. S. Hurlburt as Inspector, and Julius Kellersbergcr and H. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 587 

A. Brown, Judges. The result of this election will be found in the table of city 
officers at the end of this chapter. On the i6th of the same month Albert W. 
Barrell (sic) was chosen to be President of and A. S. Hurlburt Clerk to the Board 
of Trustees. On July 12th an ordinance for the protection of bridges and of people 
crossing the same was passed; while, on the same day, the Clerk was directed to 
devise a Common Seal for the town, and cause the same to be engraved, at a cost 
of not more than fifty dollars. This seal was adopted as the Seal of the Corporation, 
under date May 6, 1854, after Oakland had been invested with civic honors. On the 
last-mentioned date the Clerk was directed to cause to be erected around the "Public 
Square on Broadway* a neat and substantial fence at a cost not to exceed one 
thousand dollars, and, on July 1 6th, it was directed that the Clerk should receive 
five hundred dollars a year for his services. 

In the month of July, 1853, the first public school in Oakland was organized, 
with sixteen pupils, the building used having been erected at a cost of one thousand 
dollars, and until now (January, 1883) has been occupied as an African church, hav- 
ing been removed from its original location at the corner of Clay and Fifth Streets 
to the corner of Market and Seventh Streets. It afforded all the public-school accom- 
modation of Oakland until the year 1862. August 16, 1853, the Board of Trustees 
ordered that the Free School in the town, "already established and supported by 
private means, is hereby continued and declared a Public Free School, and all 
expenses incurred in supporting the same shall be paid by the town of Oakland, out 
of the Free School Fund of said town," and, December 24th, four hundred and fifty 
dollars was allowed to Miss Hannah J. Jayne for teaching the same for three months. 
This lady is now Mrs. Edson Adams, of Oakland. In his first message to the City 
Council after his election as Mayor, Horace VV. Carpentier, under date April 29, 1854, 
says : — 

" The subject of Free Schools and Popular Education will engage your contin- 
ued and most solicitous attention. Of all the duties devolved upon you, that ^ of 
fostering common schools is perhaps the most important. By adopting a wise policy 
in this behalf, and aided by such liberal encouragement as we may hope to receive 
from private generosity and from the State Legislature, Oakland will, at no distant 
day, become a chief seat and center of learning. In this respect I trust that you 
will anticipate the wants of the city rather than follow after them. It will be neces- • 
sary for the city immediately to erect one or more additional school houses, and in 
doing so economy as well as utility will best be subserved by building upon a plan at 
once substantial, durable, and commodious. Though other interests should suffer I 
trust that this will not be neglected." 

On June 24, 1854, the first Board of Education was appointed, and was composed 
of Aldermen Kelsey, Blake, and Marier; while, under date April 18, 1855, we find the 
first report concerning schools, as follows : " We, the Board of Education, having by 
several of our body examined the Free School of this city, and having been satisfied 
that the present provisions for the instruction and accommodation of the scholars are 
insufficient; that with the utmost exertions of the faithful and efficient teacher now 
employed, much that ought to be done must be neglected, as not only an insufferable 

* This is the first official mention of Broadway, formerly known as Main .Street. 



588 History of Alameda County, California. 

loss will be sustained, but a bad example set the pupils in the misuse and waste of their 
precious time, we do hereby present to the Honorable Council our recommendations, 
viz., that larger accommodations be immediately provided b\- the enlargement of the 
present school house, or the leasing of the building known as the 'Pavilion,' and that 
an assistant teacher be procured to take charge of the younger portion of the scholars, 
or otherwise to co-operate with Mr. Warner in the instruction of the school." 

It would appear as if in the month of December, 1855, the Presbyterian Church 
presented a bill to the Council for the use of a bell, for we find that a committee was 
appointed to inquire into this subject, as on the 12th of that month they reported: 
" The First Presbyterian Church of Oakland bill for a bell, now in use for school pur- 
poses, we cannot advise to be allowed, for the following, to us, very conclusive reasons: 
First — That the bell was bought by subscription of the citizens, and not b\- the church. 
Second — That it was bought with the understanding that when the large bell arrived 
(which was then understood to be on the way) it was to be placed on the school house 
and used for school purposes; the money was collected from the people promiscuously 
and not from the church, some giving one, some five dollars, and the church at that 
time having no organization. The bell, as is well known, was used on the school 
house for church and school purposes, and has now reverted to its original intentional 
use on the school house; it is obvious therefore that the city ought not to pay for it 
again, ha\-ing once been paid for by the public." 

We may here mention that in June, 1853, the lamented Rev. Henry Durant 
opened the "College School" at the corner of Main (Broadway) and Fifth Street.s, 
while others had been organized and the foundation of Oakland's present greatness as 
the "Athens of the Pacific" laid. In his message to the Council of March 10, 1857, 
Mayor Williams thus speaks on the subject of education: "Among the institutions 
which adorn our cit\-, far from the least atrracti\e and useful are a collegiate institute, 
a boarding-school for young ladies, a juvenile male school, and a public school. The 
first named of these is now in the third year of its existence, during which period one 
hundred and twenty-eight pupils have received instruction in its halls and have 
brought to and expended in the city upwards of twent}'-fi\e thousand dollars. Itlias 
now about thirty boarding and day students in the various departments of classical 
literature, and is yearly adding to its well-deserved reputation. The second (embrac- 
ing the third) has been established here within the past year, is in successful progress 
and gives high promise of future usefulness and renown. But your fostering care is 
most strongly solicited for the support and advancement of public schools. In 1855 
one hundred and fifty-two, and in 1856 ninety-one children were taught in the public 
schools in this city, but, in 1856, it was continued only four months, owing to want of 
funds to pay the teachers, no taxes having yet ever been appropriated for that purpose. 
The result showed not only a withdrawal of sixty-one scholars, but satisfactorily 
demonstrated that the amount of taxes upon the withdrawn capital — withdrawn by 
the parents of the sixty-one scholars — would have been more thin sufficient to have 
paid their proportion of the teacher's salary, besides adding in various other ways to 
the prosperity of the city; and it will scarcely be questioned that a strong evidence of 
a good and worthy citizen is the fact of his sending his children to school, and from 
such humble schools have heretofore emanated some of those patriots and statesmen 



- • Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 589 

who have adorned }-our Legislative halls and shed an imperishable glory on their 
country. I urgently recommend to you therefore the efficient support of common 
schools, even by some aid (if necessary) from taxation as a measure eminently deserv- 
ing and deservedly receiving the public approbation." These eloquent remarks were 
accordingly acted upon, and the public schools flourished. In December, 1858, the 
School Marshal reports that there were within the corporate limits of the city two hun- 
dred and thirty-eight children between the ages of four and eighteen years of age, and 
by a strange coincidence exactly the same number under four years old. 

Under date September 14, 1859, the Superintendent reports on the condition of 
the public school and the necessity for continuing the same, but there was apparently 
some difficulty in the way of so doing, for, on the 21st September, the City Council 
determined to request the Board of Education to ascertain what amount could be 
raised monthly among those who have children at the public school for its temporary 
support. As year followed year the limited accommodation for scholars made itself 
more and more felt and a cry was made for more space, but with no avail. 

On August I, i860, the school "Trustees" became "Commissioners;" and, March 
6, 1861, a School Fund was inaugurated to be held subject to the order of the Board 
of Trustees. In this month, too, the Committee on Education, in conjunction with 
the Board of Education of Oakland School District, Number One, were called upon to 
select a site for the erection of a public school house, who, May iSth, reported that 
they had selected Jefferson Square for such; but, the school house was never built 
there apparently. It may be said, casually, that this is the block of land bounded by 
Seventh and Sixth Streets and Grove and Jefferson Streets. On February 5, 1862, 
we find that one-half of block number one hundred and forty-seven* was purchased 
from Mr. Birnie for four hundred dollars, for school purposes, but nothing was then 
done there, for it is recorded on the minutes of the City Council that at a meeting 
held on March 19, 1862, a school was ordered to be erected on block number one 
hundred and fifty-five. This block, situated between Jefferson and Grove and 
Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, was purchased for the sum of nine hundred dollars, 
whereon a school house thirty-six by thirty-nine feet, six inches, and eighteen feet 
ceiling was directed to be built, the contract therefor being awarded to George Barnes 
and Joseph Huffman at the price of fourteen hundred and fifty dollars. In that year 
there were one hundred and nine scholars attending the public, and one hundred and 
ninety-three pupils at the private, school, figures which show a steady increase in the 
attendance and therefore a corresponding rise in the population of the city. In 
November, 1862, the new school house was occupied; and, March 3, 1863, the City 
Superintendent of Schools, Rev. George Mooar, made the following report to the 
Council: "When the present Board of Education took the oath of office in November, 
1862, the public school was in the charge of Mr. F. Warner and Miss Martha Pratt. 
Mr. Warner soon after resigned his position, and it was deemed proper to suspend the 
school from December 23, 1862, until January 26, 1863, for the sake of having more 
time to procure a teacher. After sufficient notice of the vacancy had been published, 
an examination of applicants was had before the Board, and certificates were given to 
Henry Hillebrand and S. B. Baker, and Mr. Hillebrand was chosen teacher of the 

*This block is bounded by Tenth and Eleventh Streets and Castro and Grove Streets. 



590 History of Alameda County, California. 

public school, Number One, without specified time. Miss Pratt has been meantime 
continued as assistant; the salary of the teacher is ninety, and of the assistant sixty, 
dollars monthly. The school has been in session to the present date under these 
teachers, with a good degree of success, if its disadvantages be considered. 

"These disadvantages are so great and of a character so unworthy of the city, 
that I beg to state them plainly, and to urge your immediate attention to them. 

" The number of children reported by the School Marshal last November as 
residing in this city, between the ages of four and eighteen years, was four hundred 
and eighty-one. It may be calculated that eighty of these were children belonging to 
other towns and cities, attending the College of California, the College School, the 
Seminaries for Young Ladies, and other private schools, so numerously established 
here. It is not unsafe then to suppose that there are four hundred children for whom 
the city needs to make accommodation. 

"The present accommodation, it will appear evident, is painfull}- insufficient. 
For the city has but one school-room, intended, I am informed, to accommodate sixty 
scholars. In this school-room, as at present furnished, are thirty excellent desks, 
sixteen other cheap seats for younger scholars, four settees, not suitable for school- 
seats, but capable of holding perhaps twenty scholars. There are then sixty-si.x seats 
in the school-room. But the number of scholars in the lists since Januar\- 26th is one 
hundred and eleven, now belonging to the school; March 3d, one hundred and five; 
the average daily attendance being about eighty. To supply these scholars with 
seats, some old benches are furnished on the sides of the room, and a part of the 
scholars are drawn off, from time to time, to the small entry, where Miss Pratt hears 
their recitations. 

"It is plain that, taking only the number of scholars in actual attendance, the 
school needs another room of nearly equal capacity. But if the accommodation 
were what it ought to be, and the school what it then might become, the scholars 
in actual attendance would be many more. But if we compare the actual accommo- 
dations for sixty with the number of children for whom provisions should be made — 
four hundred — the demand for enlargement will seem imperative indeed. 

"It will be urged that the surplus scholars are attending private schools, and 
would not attend the public school in any event. I have no reliable return of the 
number of private school scholars. But it is not at all likely that it is three hundred, 
and if it were, the fact would be no reason against providing ver\' much larger 
accommodations than at present exist. For if the public schools of Oakland were 
what our American school system is capable of making them, when once faithfully 
worked, the number of private schools would be rapidly diminished. Facts may be 
pertinently introduced here. In 1817 no public provision was made for primary 
scholars, and for some others, in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. There were con- 
sequently one hundred and sixty-two private schools, attended by four thousand one 
hundred and thirty-two pupils; in 1862, with a population more than four times 
increased, the one hundred and sixty-two private schools had become sixtj'-two, and 
the four thousand one hundred and thirty-two pupils had become two thousand and 
seventy-two. Meantime the scholars of the public schools increased elevenfold. 
There can be no doubt that if we enlarge our public school and perfect it, the number 
of scholars will be greatly increased. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 591 

"Moreover, it is unjust to many of the poorer classes of our population to subject 
thpm to the necessity of the expense involved in sending their children to private 
schools, when, by a very small comparative expense, schools might be provided which 
would accommodate all classes of scholars equally. I need not enlarge, however, far- 
ther on the general principles of the points presented, presuming that the facts them- 
selves will be sufficient to commend the subject to your attention. 

"At the fisk of injuring my cause by presenting too many subjects at once and at 
too much length, I invite your attention to tire propriety of having all reports and 
other documents pertaining to the public school; excepting, of course, such as the 
Board and Superintendent make to the Council, deposited with the Superintendent 
of Schools, and filed among the papers of the Board of Education. As it now is, the 
Board has no documents before it. Even the reports of the teacher are filed in the 
office of the City Clerk. The report of the School Marshal has not been in its pos- 
session. The reports of moneys likely to be available to the city from the State and 
County School Funds are not furnished. The Board has no proper means, therefore, 
of knowing how long the school can continue in session. It would be well also if the 
ordinance establishing the Board of Education could be revised and published for the 
convenience of the members and for the sake of a better understanding of their duties. 
It might appear best in such revision to make the Board of Education somewhat 
more independent of the Council, and competent to attend to the whole management 
of the schools, of which, according to the present arrangement, it has but partial con- 
trol. This, however, would need very careful and unhurried action. 

"Every officer is likely to magnify his own office, and to set forth the importance 
of it, as if no other were important; but it may well be doubted whether, in the pres- 
ent condition of the public schools of Oakland, it is possible to overrate the urgency 
of immediate and generous enlargement of their resources and their means of useful- 
ness." 

Upon being read, the Council heartily coincided with the sentiments expressed 
in the foregoing able document, and took it under careful consideration. 

On December 22, 1863, the public school property was ordered to be fenced in, 
at a cost of three hundred dollars; while the returns show that during the year one 
hundred and thirty-eight scholars attended the public school, and two hundred and 
seventy-six pupils were at private institutions; and in 1864 two hundred and seven- 
teen, and two hundred and eighty-eight pupils attended the public and private schools 
respectively. 

In the month of August, 1865, the'Iot, one hundred by one hundred and twenty- 
five feet, situated at the corner of Alice and Fifth Streets,* was purchased for eight 
hundred and seventy-five dollars, and a building erected thereon in which school 
commenced, with sixty scholars. 

On March 31, 1866, there was approved by the Legislature an Act entitled "An 
Act creating a Board of Education for the City of Oakland," which was to comprise 
eight members to be chosen by the City Council for the first year, after which they 
were to be elected at the annual charter election of city officers; four members to be 
elected for one year, four for two years, and at every election thereafter four members 

* This property was sold in 1874 to the Central Pacific Railroad for six thousand dollars. 



592 History of Alameda County, California. 

to be elected annuall\- for the term of two years. Under the provisions of this Act 
the powers of the Board were very restricted, but they were by Section four given full 
control of the City School Fund. On its coming into operation, the Council, May 2, 
1866, carried a motion that in electing the Board of Education two members should 
be chosen from west of Adeline Street; four from Adeline Street to Broadway, and 
two from Broadway to the easterly line of the cit>', the choice falling upon Reverends 
B. Ackerly, L. Hamilton, George Mooar, and Messrs. J. H. Brewer* R. E. Cole, 
George H. Fogg, W. S. Snook, F. Warner. On June 27th an ordinance was passed 
appropriating monej- to build a school house at the Point. On January 23, 1867, a 
communication from the Secretary of the Board of Education, representing that the 
sum of five thousand dollars, in addition to the State and County appropriations, was 
needed for the use of the public schools; and on January 30th the Chairman of the 
Committee on Education made a statement to the Council, in relation to the propriety 
of the City purchasing the building known as the "Pavilion," situated on Washing- 
ton Square, for the purpose of converting it into a public school-room; and recom- 
mending the Council to purchase the same. On November 9th the new Grammar- 
school house was handed over to the Board of Education for the use of the public 
schools of the city, who invited the Council to the dedicatory ceremonies on Novem- 
ber 19, 1867. This building is now known as the Lafayette Primary School, and is 
situated at the corner of Twelfth and Jefferson Streets. 

We have seen that steps had been taken to raise funds for purchasing school 
property at Oakland Point. This was added to in June, 1868, by the purchase, for 
thirty-five hundred dollars, of the land adjoining. Here the Prescott School was built, 
and opened January 4, 1869. 

On March 13, 1868, "An Act to provide Funds for the School Department of the 
City of Oakland, and to authorize the payment of certain present indebtedness," was 
approved by the Legislature, by which the Council were authorized to issue and sell 
school bonds to the amount of fifty thousand dollars; while, on March 14, 1868, was 
approved "An Act to establish and define the powers and duties of the Board of 
Education of the City of Oakland." By the provisions of this Act the number of the 
Board was reduced to seven " School Directors" who were given sole power to establish 
and maintain Public Schools in Oakland; employ and dismiss teachers; provide suitable 
rules and regulations for the government of the schools; procure supplies, build, alter, 
repair, and rent school buildings; purchase and sell land for school purposes, with the 
concurrent vote of the Council; maintain actions at law; determine the amount of 
school tax to be levied by the Council. It was given also the exclusive control of the 
School Fund, and ample power to carry into effect all the provisions of the Act. 

No teacher can be employed in the School Department who does not bear a cer- 
tificate issued by the City Board of Examination, and the Board of Education can 
determine upon what qualifications shall be possessed by teachers in its employ. 

A City Superintendent of Schools is chosen at each charter election, who is the 
executive officer, and upon him falls the task of having the immediate care of the 
schools. 

Since the passage of the bill several amendatory Acts have been passed by the 
Legislature but all have left the original provisions fundamentally the same. 




-ii>7^^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 593 

On March 15, 1869, William Harwodd, a member of the Board of Education, 
made the following report to the Mayor, which was embodied in his message of that 
date to the City Council: "The School Department is entirely beyond the control of 
the City Council with but two important exceptions, and the Mayor can exert no 
authority whatever, either directly or indirectly, in his official capacity, in shaping 
the actions of the Board of Education. It is a department in our municipal govern- 
ment organized for the administration of a special trust and in sphere its authority is 
absolute. The annual report of the City Superintendent of Public Instruction will 
soon be laid before the people and it is not essential that on the present occasion the 
minor details of the working of the department should be presented. A general 
reference to the more salient points will in this connection suffice. 

" For many years has the excellence of our private schools and seminaries been 
instrumental in inducing many to become permanent residents of our city, who other- 
wise would have been perfectly indifferent to the place and its interests. Within the 
past two years the Public Schools of Oakland have emerged from a condition dis- 
creditable to the city to a degree of excellence unsurpassed in the State, and promise 
hereafter to benefit Oakland to an extent even greater than our private institutions, 
celebrated as they may be. The knowledge that our public schools are conducted 
with ability; that their accommodations are ample and that their teachers rank 
among the highest in their honorable profession, is a powerful inducement for families 
to locat; in Oakland, it being only seven miles from San Francisco. They can enjoy 
the advantages of metropolitan life with but comparatively few of its corrupting influ- 
ences. Tiie records of the School Department show that since July last there has 
been a very material increase in population, so great in fact, that it has been necessary 
to immediately prepare for the erection of a new school house, and to provide present 
accommodations by renting rooms and hiring additional teachers, a task in which a 
Committee of the Board of Education is now engaged. 

"According to the census taken in July last (1868), there were one thousand and 
thirty-eight school-children, for whom State and County funds could be drawn. 
There were, all told, seventeen hundred and thirty-five children under the age of fif- 
teen years, residing in the city. The actual attendance at the schools at the present 
time is as follows: 

Prescott Grammar School 114 pupils 

Lafayette Grammar School 162 " 

Primary, No. I 157 " 

Primary, No. 2 127 " 

Total 560 pupils. 

"It is estimated that very nearly one hundred more pupils would be in attendance 
were there proper accommodation in the grades already established. The organiza- 
tion of a High School has received the attention of the Board of Education, and 
before the close of the current year it is presumed that the plan will be consummated. 
In that event the number of children and youth educated at the public expense would 
be considerably increased, as many who are qualified for a High School must now 
either attend a private institution or none at all. It is the intention of the Board of 
Education to establish the higher grades as quickly as may be necessary, so that the 



594 HisTORv OF Alameda County, California. 

scholar who graduates from the Public Schools of Oakland will be qualified to enter 
the State University and there pursue the higher branches of knowledge. We have 
four school houses in actual use, and thirteen teachers are employed by the Depart- 
ment, their aggregate salaries amounting to twelve thousand five hundred dollars per 
annum. The direct ,management of the schools devolves upon the Superintendent, 
who has shown himself to be an exceedingly efficient officer. 

"During the past year an eight-room school house has been built at the Point and 
additions and alterations affording increased accommodations have been made to Pri- 
mary No. I and Primary No. 2. The building at the Point was erected at a cost of 
seven thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars, a price remarkably low for so fine an edi- 
fice. Two school lots have also been purchased, one at the Point for thirty-five hundred 
dollars,and the other being the west-third of block number forty-six,* for five thousand 
five hundred dollars, making the total cost' of the land purchased during the past fiscal 
year amount to nine thousand dollars. For the Point school house and additions to 
other school buildings about ten thousand dollars have been expended. In addition 
to this amount ten thousand dollars have been appropriated for the purpose of paying 
for Lafayette school house, erected in 1867, so that the whole sum expended for 
school land and improvements is twenty-nine thousand dollars, obtained by the sale 
of bonds as provided by the Act of the Legislature. It will thus be seen that a con- 
siderable part of our city indebtedness has been incurred in the purchase of school 
property which could now be sold at a great advance upon the original cost. 

"The finances of the Department have been managed with evident prudence 
and ability. "By special Act of the Legislature the City Clerk and Treasurer is 
made Treasurer for the Board of Education (thereby almost doubling the labors of 
that official). From his cash account it appears that from March i, 1868, until Febru- 
ary 28, 1869, the total sum placed to the credit of the School Fund, exclusive of the 
proceeds from the sale of bonds, was twenty-two thousand, eight hundred and sixty- 
four dollars and fifteen cents, of which amount, nine thousand one hundred and fifty- 
eight dollars and ninety-seven cents were received from direct city taxation and the 
remaining thirteen thousand seven hundred and five dollars and eighteen cents, from 
the State and County School Funds. During the same period the expenses of the 
Department payable out of these funds amounted to fourteen thousand six hundred 
and seventy-one dollars, and four cents. The monthly expenses have uniformly 
increased since March, 1868, and the estimate made by the Board for the next year — ■ 
twenty-eight thousand dollars — will certainly not exceed the actual amount necessary, 
for not only must the current expenses be paid from the amount so received, but the 
furniture and apparatus must be paid for from the same source. To the expenses we 
have named for the past year there should be added about three thousand dollars for 
expenses incurred during that year but not credited until alter its close. The school 
funds now on hand will suffice to meet current expenses until the collection of ta.xes 
next Fall. 

"The law under which the Board of Education has its existence was passed at 
the last session of the Legislature, and under its provisions the workings of the School 
Department have been most satisfactory. It is only in the matter of issuing bonds, 

* I'his block is situated between Fotirth, Fifth, Grove, and Jefferson Streets. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 595 

and in the purchase sale, or lease of property that the Council has any concurrent 
action with the Board of Education, and it is gratifying to state that whenever any 
concurrence on the part of the Council has been asked for it has genei'ally been 
promptly granted." 

In August, 1869, the primary school on the east side of Grove Street, between 
Fourth and Fifth Streets, was opened. It will thus be seen that Oakland at that 
date possessed educational advantages of a very high order, while it is gratifying to 
place on record, that her scholars, then as now, were well-conducted within and with- 
out the school, their general demeanor testifying to a high moral training. 

In the year 1871 there was a Cosmopolitan School under Professor Champion, 
situated at the northeast corner of Grove and Eleventh Streets, an experiment that 
was tried with some diffidence by the Board of Education, everything there being 
taught in the French language. We cannot agree with the following remarks of a 
writer treating of this institution : " There ought certainly to be one language familiar 
to all educated persons, and French by its easiness and wide diffusion, has the best 
claim to selection. As we learn the language of foreigners we get into their ways of 
thought, and the way is paved for that universal brotherhood which, we believe, will 
yet reign upon earth." This is a pleasant enough picture, but we rather incline to the 
belief that a good knowledge of our own tongue will carry us as far through the world 
as would any of the languages of continental Europe, and would not militate against 
paving the way for that universal brotherhood so touchingly described above. But 
be that as it may, it is a pity that so excellent a venture should have had to succumb. 

On September 17, 1871, the handsome High School building at the corner of 
Market and Twelfth Streets was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies. 

In the year 1872 there were nearly eighteen hundred pupils attending the public 
schools of Oakland, showing an increase of one thousand si.x hundred in ten years, 
while at that time there were three thousand four hundred and two children fifteen 
years of age and under within the corporate limits of the city. It will also be seen 
that the change in school accommodations had kept pace with the increase of chil- 
dren, while Oakland then boasted, as she does to-day, of as fine school buildings and 
as efficient a corps of teachers as could be found anywhere. 

The school building known as the Lincoln Grammar and Primary School located 
at the corner of Tenth and Alice Streets, was first occupied in this year, while the 
buildings in East Oakland became the property of the Board of Education consequent 
upon the annexation of that district to Oakland in November, 1872. The reader will 
therefore remark, and not without some astonishment, that from 1853 with one build- 
ing and sixteen pupils, the department had increased to buildings comprising thirty- 
six rooms and over fifteen hundred pupils. 

On December 22, 1873, a communication was received from the Committee on 
Legislative action of the Board of Education covering a resolution of the Board ask- 
ing the co-operation of the Council in obtaining authority from the Legislature to 
issue bonds to the amount of one hundred thousand dollars for purchasing lots and 
erecting and furnishing buildings for school purposes; also, a communication from the 
Oakland Citizens' Union asking for the same; also, the draft of an Act authorizing the 
said issue of bonds. A resolution recommending the passage of the Act was there- 
upon offered. 



596 HisTORN' OF Alameda County, California. 

From the foregoing remarks it will be observed that the management and control 
of the public schools of the city of Oakland are vested in the Board of Education. 
In the purchase of lands and the erection of school houses the Council has concurrent 
jurisdiction, while the management of this trust has been, in the main, economical. 
The high character of the schools and their great reputation sufficient!}- attest the 
wisdom of the general polic)- that has been followed and the fidclit_\- of the Board in 
the discharge of its duty. In providing for the maintenance of the schools the policy 
of the city should be just and liberal. It should be its aim to have as good a s}-stem 
as money and skill can create. In common with all citizens we believe that there 
should be the utmost economy in the management of public affairs. The public do 
not expect, however, that school houses shall be built for less than they are worth, or 
that teachers shall be underpaid for their labor. There can never be public complaint 
where a full equivalent is returned for the mone}- expended, and there will be no per- 
manent indorsement of any measures that are parsimonious instead of economical. 
Large as the yearly expenditure is there can be no serious complaint as long as the 
public funds are used to the best possible advantage. Oakland ma\' well be proud of 
her public and private seminaries, and truly should she glory in the name of the 
Athens of the Pacific Coast. 

Another matter of vast importance which took its start in 1853, was the estab- 
lishment of means to prevent conflagrations. The first notice that we find of a Fire 
Department is on August 27, 1853, when an ordinance was passed relative to the pur- 
chase of a fire-engine, to effect which, Mr. Staples and the Clerk of the Board of 
Trustees were appointed a Committee, who, on December 24th, were authorized to 
pay two thousand dollars therefor. On the 8th October, John Scott and others 
petitioned for the organization of a regular Fire Department to comprise the Empire 
and Washington Engine Companies and the Oakland Hook and Ladder Company. 
This organization was effected in 1854; John Scott elected Chief Engineer; and an 
engine-house built. On March 25, 1854, eight hundred dollars was allowed for the 
purchase of hose, necessary fixtures, and painting the engine-house; while, in his first 
message. Mayor Carpentier recommended the organization of a more efficient Fire 
Department. He says; "Notwithstanding the width of her streets and comparative 
isolation of her buildings, Oakland is still exposed to danger from that element 
which has successively visited with ruin ncarh- e\ery other city and town in the .State. 
The building of cisterns at convenient intervals will be necessary, and I recommend 
the purchase by the city, at an early day, of additional fire-engines and also of the 
necessary apparatus for Hook and Ladder Companies. By a judicious use of such 
means as may be in our power, and by encouraging a spirit of emulation among the 
citizens, I hope, at the end of the year, to see the Fire Department of Oakland one 
of the best regulated and most reliable in the State." On June 24, 1854, lunpire 
Engine Company and Oakland Hook and Ladder Company were admitted into the 
Department; and the Chief Engineer recommended the building of four cisterns to be 
placed at the corners of Broadway and First, Second, Third, and Fourth Streets. 
On being referred to the Committee on fire and water, however, on June 24th, they 
advised the construction of only two of these, viz.: at the corner of Broadway and 
Second and Fourth Streets. On August 5, 1854, Washington Fire Company, No. 2> 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 597 

was admitted into the Department; and, on November 4, 1855, the office of Fire 
Warden was created. Unfortunately this organization was short-lived. On January 
16, 1856, we find the Council authorizing" the sale of the fire-engine if it could be done 
with advantage to the city, but on its being ascertained that such must be done by 
auction, in accordance with the charter, its sale was deferred. There is no other record 
in this regard until March 25, 1865, when fire limits were first established by ordinance. 

About this time the Delger Block was destroyed by fire and damage done to the 
e.xtent of fifty thousand dollars. The want of an efficiently equipped Department 
was felt, therefore the military compan}^ known as the Oakland Guard tendered their 
services to the city in the following communication, an act highly creditable to the 
company and the individuals composing it: — 

"To The Honorable, The Common Council of the City of Oakland — 
Gentlemen: The late disastrous and destructive fire which has devastated a large por-" 
tion of our young city certainly shows the urgent necessity that exists for a proper fire 
organization to resist such a dire evil in the future. As citizens of Oakland, and having 
her welfare and safety deeply at heart, we tender the services of the Oakland Guard 
as a fire company, provided your Honorable Body will furnish the necessary apparatus. 
While our services as soldiers are not needed on the battle-field, as firemen we may 
save our fellow-citizens, their lives, and property, from the scourge of fire. 

" Respectfully Yours, Henry N. Morse." 

Consequent upon this public-spirited offer a public meeting of citizens was called 
for April 24, 1865, where the presence of the Guard was earnestly solicited, and a 
Hook and Ladder Company was organized by them. 

On January 18, 1868, it was resolved by the City Council that permits would no 
longer be granted to erect wooden buildings within the fire limits. 

The present Fire Department was organized March 13, 1869, under the provisions 
of an ordinance approved September 21, 1868, by the election of John C. Halley as 
Chief Engineer, and Thomas McGuire and George Taylor, Assistants, who succeeded 
John Scott, Chief, and John C. Halley and W. W. Moore, Assistants, acting under 
authority of a previous organization. The apparatus of the department comprised a 
third-class Amoskeag fire-engine, purchased by the city, and a hose-carriage procured 
with funds temporarily advanced by Colonel John Scott. 

On September 28, 1868, an ordinance extending the fire limits was passed, which 
was repealed, however, on the 28th October. 

The Oakland Daily News of January 15, 1869, says: "There have been passed 
numerous ordinances creating and organizing a Fire Department, almost every 
Council having considered it incumbent to pass some such measure and in due time 
repeal it. The present Council has created a Fire Department, on paper, and destroyed 
it. Another department is about to be created which will be a reality, and we hope 
never to be disorganized. In ordering the transfer of five thousand dollars from the 
Building to the General Fund, the Council signified its intention to pay for the steam 
fire-engine from the first funds that might be received. There is before the Council, 
for its consideration, a very long and elaborate ordinance providing for the organiza- 
tion of a Fire Department, the outlines of which we will briefly state: Section One 



598 History of Alamkda County, California. 



enacts that a Fire D^partmsnt is thereby created, and that all engine, hook and 
ladder, and hose companies havin^j an organization and constitution, after petition to 
the City Council, shall be furnished with apparatus, provided the constitution of such 
company shall be submitted to the Council and approved by that body. Section Two 
provides that the Fire Department shall consist of a Chief Engineer and Assistant 
Engineer, three Trustees, a Foreman and Assistant Foreman for each fire company, 
a Foreman for each hook and ladder company, and such other officers as each com- 
pany may require. Each fire company shall, when full, consist of sixty-five men, 
including officers, and each hook and ladder company shall consist of twenty-four 
men. The hose company shall consist of men detailed from the fire company with 
which it is connected, and the men so detailed shall elect their own officers, and all 
the officers of each fire company, or hook and ladder company, are to be chosen by 
the membersof each company. The Council shall appoint a competent Engineer and 
Assistant Engineer for each steam fire-engine. The Engineer must live at the engine- 
house and give his whole personal care to the trust devolving upon him, always 
responsible to the foreman of his compan\'. In his absence the Assistant Engineer 
will attend to all these duties. The Chief Engineer and the Engineers of each steam 
fire-engine shall be allowed a salary to be fixed by the Council, but no other person 
connected with the department shall be allowed any compensation for his services. 
Section Three provides that the Trustees of the department shall be elected by the 
department, and hold office at their pleasure, but they shall not receive a certificate 
of election unless the City Council shall order the Clerk to issue the same; and by a 
two-thirds vote, with the concurrence of the Mayor, any Trustee can be removed. 
The department cannot remove a Trustee without the consent of the Council. \o 
person removed can again serve as a Trustee in the department. Section Four pro- 
vides that the Board of Trustees shall hold in trust for the city all property of the 
Fire Department, and shall descend to their successors in office without formal con- 
veyance. Each '.^rustee shall take a proper oath before entering upon his duties, but 
no bonds are required. Section Five provides that the fire companies shall, on the 
third Monday of March in each year, hold an election for a Chief Engineer and an 
Assistant Engineer, such election to be held at some engine-house, as the Council 
may order, after ten days' notice. Only those persons who have for thirty days been 
members are entitled to vote, and the officers elected are to be approved by the 
Council before a certificate of election can be granted. Should they refu.se to approve 
of the officer chosen by the department, they are to elect officers themselves. 
Section Six provides that each company shall adopt such rules and regulations as it 
may deem proper, subject to revision by the Council. Section Seven provides the 
duties of the Chief Engineer. He shall in all cases of fire have the sole control over 
all persons connected with the Fire Department. He is to have the arrangement of 
apparatus at fires. He shall examine frequently into the condition and requirements 
of the Department and report the same monthly to the Council, and also the number, 
location, and description of any property that may have been damaged or destroyed 
by fire, and the total loss. He is to superintend the erection of engine-houses, cisterns, 
and any repairs which may be required and ordered by the Council. Section Eight 
provides that the Engineer and his Assistants shall take oath of office. Section Nine 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 599 

provides that the Chief Engineer's office shall be declared vacant by the Council, 
should he for the period of thirty days absent himself from the city. Section Ten 
enacts that the Chief Engineer shall act as Fire Warden and exercise a supervision 
over the construction of flues and chimneys. He is given power to cause the removal 
of hay or other dangerous material not under proper cover. He is given the authority 
to enter any house and inspect the same, and if he should find any explosive or 
combustible material liable to accident by fire, or any unsafe stovepipe or chimney, 
he shall order the owner of the premises, or the occupants of the same, to remove 
such dangerous material or stovepipe, or make the same secure. Persons refusing 
for the space of five days to obey such order shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and on conviction thereof shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hundred 
dollars. The Engineer is to have power to order the immediate removal of any gun- 
powder or explosive material which may be dangerous to life or property. Any fines 
which may be collected under this section shall be paid into a fund to be known as 
the Fire Department Fund. 

" The next section provides that the Foreman of each company shall report to 
the City Clerk each quarter the names of all the members of his company, which shall 
be duly registered. The following section enacts that any insubordinate fireman 
shall be tried by the company to which he belongs, and punished by fine or expulsion 
if found guilty of an offense. The next section provides that at an alarm of fire no 
engine shall be taken from its house unless one of the Foremen or four of its firemen 
be present and consent thereto. The next section vests every Foreman with all the 
powers of a policeman at the time of a fire. The following section makes it unlawful 
to drive a vehicle over the hose of any engine at a fire. The Chief Engineer is, by the 
next section, given power to order the tearing down of any buildings in an emergency 
occurring during a conflagration. Persons called upon by the Mayor, a policeman or 
a fireman, at any fire, for assistance, and refusing, shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 
meanor. No independent fire organizations outside the provisions of this ordinance 
shall be permitted in Oakland." 

These valuable rules are here produced, not especially as a portion of the history 
of the city of Oakland, but as a possible advantage to those other towns where in the 
future it may be necessary to organize a Fire Department. They will be found 
eminently useful as a guide and foundation on which to build up so necessary an 
association. 

On March 3, 1869, the Phoenix Fire Company was admitted into the organiza- 
tion, but her stay in the Department was not of long duration, as the following 
resolutions passed by the Council on October 24, 1870, will exemplify: — 

Whereas, It is evident that Phoenix Engine Company, No. I, after an existence of more than eighteen 
months, has utterly failed to so perfect its organization as to become a well-drilled and efficient fire company, and 

Whereas, Said company shows no signs of improvement, but on the contrary manifested even less effi- 
ciency than usual at the fire which occurred on the i6th instant, and 

Where.\s, The negligence and want of skill of said company have resulted in large losses of property to our 
citizens; therefore 

Resolved, That the honorable, the City Council, be requested to disband said company and take such steps 
as they deem necessary for the election of a new company by the Commissioners, or otherwise. 

Which, on being adopted, twenty-six persons were accepted as a new organization. 



600 History of Alameda County, California. 

On February i", 1869, the Council passed the following resolution: — 

Resolved, That the Committee on Fire and Water be requested to consider the matter of having hydrants 
placed at convenient locations about the city and report to the Council at an early date. 

It is always a pleasing duty for the chronicler to place upon record the public 
acknowledgments of those persons who have earned the good wishes of their fellow- 
citizens. On February 22, 1869, Chief Engineer John Scott and the Oakland Fire 
Department were presented with a beautiful silver trumpet on behalf of the Pacific 
Insurance Company. The presentation was made by R. N. Williams, in a felicitous 
speech before the whole brigade, as follows : "Firemen of Oakland — The anniversary 
of the birth of the Father of our Country has been well chosen to celebrate the suc- 
cessful inauguration of an enterprise which claims the active sympathy and co-opera- 
tion of every citizen of Oakland. Vou have associated yourselves for no selfish pur- 
pose, but for the public good. The parade to-day shows what can be accomplished 
by men, few in numbers, but resolute in purpose, bent upon the acquirement of an 
object in which they believe, and for which they are willing to work. In a short time 
you have stimulated the public into earnest support of an effort to provide some 
means of protection against fires. You have induced by your personal e.Kertions an 
apathetic cit\' government into providing a steam fire-engine, which has no superior 
on this Coast. You have organized a company of active and intelligent members, 
whose very appearance guarantees their efficiency. From among you, a few of the 
more prominent ones have secured an expensive hose-carriage and an ample supply 
of hose, for which they have become personally responsible. So far as you are con- 
cerned the organization is a complete success, and, with the exception of providing a 
'steamer,' you have no one to thank but yourselves. You ma}' well feel proud of your 
organization, for it is the result of your own labor. Only one thing is necessary to 
render your efficiency complete — an ample supply of water, and the public voice 
imperatively demands that this want shall be immediately supplied. You deserve some 
acknowledgment from the people for your services, and as the representative of one of 
the prominent Home Insurance Companies I request }-our acceptance of this trumpet 
for the use of your Chief Engineer and his successors in power." Mr. Williams then 
addressed the Chief Engineer of the Department, Col. John Scott, complimenting 
him upon the energy and perseverance he had exhibited in organizing the Fire Brigade. 
He expressed his belief that the gift would but gain value while in his possession, and, 
looking forward into the future, predicted that in time his little son, who was 
present, would fall heir to his father's tastes, energy, and popularity, and perpetuate the 
name of Scott in connection with the position of Chief of the Oakland Fire Depart- 
ment, to all of which the gallant Chief made a suitable reply. The trumpet bore the 
following inscription: " Presented to the Chief Engineer of the Oakland Fire Depart- 
ment, John Scott, by R. N. Williams, Agent of the Pacific Insurance Company." On 
the inverse side are the words: "To John Scott, by R. N. Williams, Februarv 22, 
1869." 

On April 8, 1872, the West Oakland Hose Company was admitted into the Fire 
DeparLment. 

In his message of April 15, 1S72, Mayor Spaulding speaks as follows of the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 601 

Fire Department: " Now that we are in a position to add to the efficiency of the Fire 
Department, I would suggest that the necessary steps be taken to render this depart- 
ment as efficient as our circumstances will admit, and the necessities of the case require. 
To this end I would recommend at least two cisterns in the most favorable location, 
of sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of possible emergencies, also that those 
already constructed be put in proper condition. 

" An apparatus which served the purpose of a few scattered hamlets in years 
gone hy can no longer be considered sufficient to serve the purpose of a city of the 
proportions we now assume. In procuring new apparatus it should be your purpose 
to procure that which will best serve the requirements both as to utility and economy. 
I consider the Babcock Fire Extinguisher worthy of your special investigation." 

In a report made to the Council on April 15, 1872, by Chief Engineer George 
Taylor, we find that at that date the department was in possession of one steam fire- 
engine; one two-wheel hose-carriage; one Hook and Ladder truck and hooks; twenty- 
one hundred feet of hose; forty-one fire hats and belts; two fire-bells; thirteen 
hydrants, and three cisterns, valued in all at fourteen thousand seven hundred and 
thirteen dollars; while the department consisted of Phcenix Engine Company, No. i, 
with forty-five members, and Relief Hook and Ladder Company, consisting of thirty- 
seven members. 

Under the head of hydrants, Mr. Taylor says: " The hydrants are located as fol- 
lows: Northeast corner of Eighth and Alice Streets, northeast corner of Twelfth and 
Alice Streets, northeast corner of Tenth and Webster Streets, northwest corner of 
Eighth and Broadway, northwest corner of Tenth and Clay Streets, northeast corner 
of Eighth and Grove Streets, northwest corner of Tenth and Brush Streets, northwest 
corner of Fourteenth and Brush Streets, northeast corner of Eighth and Adeline 
Streets, northeast corner Eighth and Center Streets, northeast corner of Seventh and 
Pine Streets; Point, northeast corner of Fifth and Broadway, northwest corner of Twelfth 
and Broadway." He goes on to state: "The mains in the streets are not of sufficient 
size to properly supply the hydrants in case of fires, and I would recommend the lay- 
ing of fourteen-inch mains." In regard to cisterns, the Chief Engineer observes: 
" There are three cisterns. They are located at the corners of Broadway and Second, 
Broadway and Third, and Broadway and Fourth Streets," while he recommends the 
building of a second engine-house in the lower portion of the town, other than the one 
already constructed on the City Hall lot. 

On October 7, 1872, the complement of the Hook and Ladder Company was 
increased to seventy men, while, on November 4th, thirty-five citizens organized into 
the department in place of the "J. B. Felton" Engine Company, No. 2, disbanded; 
and, on December nth, Brooklyn Engine Company, No. 3, was admitted into the 
brigade. 

On August 10, 1874, an ordinance for the re-organization and government of the 
Fire Department was passed; and, in 1876, a fire-alarm telegraph was completed. 
On January 21, 1878, the office of Fire Marshal was created. 

. It is unnecessary further to pursue this theme. " Tall oaks from little acorns 
grow." This has been the history of the Oakland Fire Department, a branch of the 
municipal government of the city that cannot be too carefully fostered. It is not 
39 



602 History of Alameda County, California. 

requisite that we should here enumerate the names of the different fire companies, for 
their histories will be found separately given at the end of this chapter; suffice it to 
say that they all are in a state of high efficiency, and on all occasions when called 
upon render valuable service. 

On the 25th April M. M. Howe, late City Marshal, made his report: — 
"Gentlemen: I have the honor to make the following report: — 

Total amount of ta.Kes collected by me is $'>959 5^ 

F. K. Shattuck & Co., taxes marked paid by order of Council .... 7"^ 5° 

$2,036 oS 
Less my legal fees 305 41 

$1,730 67 
F. K. Shattuck & Co., taxes, etc 76 50 

Total amount due the city $1,654 17 

Annexed is a list of property, the taxes on which remain unpaid. 

Respectfully, etc., M. M. Howe, City Marshal ajid Tax Colkctor. 

Under date April 21, 1855, Marshal Howe communicates the following letter 
to the Council: — 

" Since the making of the above report I have paid back to Dr. de Tavel 
thirteen dollars and forty-five cents, he having presented to me a receipt for the 
same property. There also remains (not yet paid in by Mr. Crocker) thirty-four dol- 
lars and ninety-three cents, making forty-eight dollars and thirty-eight cents, to be 
deducted from one thousand si.x hundred and fifty-four dollars and seventeen cents, 
leaving the sum of one thousand six hundred and five dollars and seventy-nine cents 
to be paid to the city, which amount is in my hands in Fire Department scrip. I 
herewith transmit papers from the Sheriff to me, for your attention and await any 
orders from your Honorable Body." 

Accompanying the above report there were two copies of executions; one issued 
out of the Third Judicial District Court in favor of Hill, Hassington, and others, 
dated February 6, 1855; the other, issued out of a Justice Court, Brooklyn Township, 
dated Clinton, March 3, 1855. 

This report was referred to the Judiciary Committee, who. May 2d, made their 
statement as follows: — 

"The Judiciary Committee to whom was referred the report of M. M. Howe, 
late City Marshal, of April 21st, and received b\' the Council April 28th, beg 
leave to report that they have examined the same, and regret to find it entirely 
unsatisfactory, as to the finances of the city and the money in his hands. 
He does not set forth from whom he has received ta.xes, nor in what sums, in detail, 
nor is the same accompanied with the official books which he is bound to deliver to 
his successor, or surrender them to the Council. It alleges that he has appropriated 
to his own use three hundred and five dollars and forty-one cents of the city's money, 
which he assumes is the amount of his legal fees, whereas it is his duty to pay over 
into the City Treasury the whole money collected, and present his bill for services to 
be properly audited. It alleges that all the money collected by him, and now in his 
hands, is all in city scrip of the Fire Department Fund, without specifying in what 
sums received, or from whom. Your Committee therefore deem the said report 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 603 

entirely unsatisfactory, and they recommend that legal proceedings be instituted 
against Mr. Howe and his sureties on his official bond, to enforce from him a legal 
compliance with his duty as late Marshal." 

On January g, 1856, he, however, paid his balance to the Treasurer, amounting 
to one thousand six hundred and thirteen dollars, being the sum due by him for col- 
lected tdxes during the iiscal year 1854-55. On the i6th of the month last men- 
tioned the City Treasurer reported a balance in money and scrip of two thousand 
nine hundred and eighty-five dollars and forty cents, a decided improvement in the 
state of the city's finances. 

Let us for a moment turn to the defaulting ex-Marshal,_ John Hogan. On Feb- 
ruary 20, 1856, Messrs. Talcott and Durkee and Mr. Webb laid claim to the reward 
of two thousand dollars for his apprehension, but this the Council. declined to enter- 
tain, as they had reason to believe that Hogan had returned to the State with the 
especial intention of surrendering himself to the authorities, and settling his affairs 
This he apparently never did, for it appears on record, under date December 28, 
1859, that the Council resolved "that Malachi Fallon and Michael O'Grady be, and 
are hereby released as sureties on the official bond of John Hogan, late City Marshal 
and Tax Collector of the City of Oakland, on their paying to the Treasurer of said 
city all costs and charges and all expenses incurred by the said city in the prosecution 
of said suit and now pending in the District Court, Third Judicial District, and on the 
payment of such costs and expenses, the said sureties shall be released and the said 
action on behalf of the city be dismissed." On June 27th S. B. McKee presented his 
bill for two hundred dollars legal services rendered at the instance of the city in 
bringing suit upon the bond of Hogan, and attending to the same to the City Coun- 
cil, who thereupon passed the following resolution: — 

Whereas, The City Council of Oakland did, on the 2Sth day of December, 1S59, pass a resolution provid- 
ing for the release of the sureties upon the bond of John Hogan, formerly Marshal of said city, upon certain conditions 
therein set forth, and on the 15th of February, i860, passed another resolution authorizing the City Treasurer to 
receipt for certain costs and charges which accrued in the suit instituted by the city against said Hogan and his 
sureties, and it appearing that the conditions set forth in said first passed resolution have not been complied with, 
therefore. 

Resolved, That the said resolution passed on the 2Sth day of December, 1S59, and the said resolution 
passed on the 15th day of February, i860, be and are hereby repealed. 

On March 19, 1856, the City Treasurer made the following report showing the 
state of the city funds for the year ending March 5, 1856: — 

Total amount of accounts audited, including interest on the Funded Debt of 

the city since the 5th day of March, 1855 $S,475 66 

Total amount of accounts audited by the Council and contracted before the 

5th of March, 1855 $1,151 62 

Total expense of the Funded Debt, including interest, engraving bonds, salary 

of Funding Commissioriers, stationery, etc 3, 016 25 4, 167 87 

$4,307 79 

Leaving the actual expenses of the past year, including salaries of school teach- 
ers at the sum of four thousand three hundred and seven dollars and seventy-nine 
cents. 



604 History of Alameda County, California. 

Receipts. 

Received from J. P. M. Davis, City Marshal and Tax Collector $3, 1 50 oo 

" " M. M. Howe, late Tax Collector, in money 15 00 

In scrip, and interest allowed on the same 1 . 59^ 00 

From Funding Commissioners — Received on bonds 2 62 

Received for License on Dogs 5 OO 

*' from County Treasury for Schools 532 24 

$5,302 86 

K.Xl'F.NDITURES. 

In scrip ordered canceled Feb. 20, 1S56 1.598 00 

Paid to school teachers 532 24 

" on general accounts, appropriated September 17, 1S55 1,408 50 

" interest on §21,200.00, city bonds 742 00 

4,280 74 



Total blance in Traav.iry 1,022 12 

Amount of the above set apart for interest on Funded Debt i,ooS 00 

Leaving a balance of S14 12 



Amount of property assessed the fiscal year 1S55-56 is $426,577 00 

" taxes on the same is $6,390 66 

Money received from T^x Collector on the same is 3,150 00 

Leaving a balance to be collected of $3, 240 66 

Which, if collected, will leave a balance in the Treasury, after paying all 

expenses of the past year, interest, etc., of §216 S6 

On March 12, 1869, in his message to the Council, Doctor Merritt, as Ma\-or, 
made a most exhaustive statement of the financial condition of the city. The amount 
in the Treasury on March i, 1868, was six thousand two hundred and twenty-seven 
dollars and nin2ty-s3ven c;nts, while her total indebtedness reached the sum of si.xty- 
two thousand and seventy-two dollars and ninety-one cents, but which was increased 
until on March i, 1869, it reached the amount of one hundred and ten thousand four 
hundred dollars. 

In the mean time the debt increased, and called forth the following observations 
from a committee appointed to ascertain the amount of such: " It is the unanimous 
opinion of your Committee that means must be adopted to liquidate the city's float- 
ing indebtedness that has been ignominiously brought upon her by those who were too 
sanguine in the rapid development of the future of Oakland, resulting in the lamtntable 
fact that with her annual interest and municipal e.xpenses she finds herself pecuniarily 
embarrassed and wholly beyond the power to honor the bills of her cinployis when 
they are due. Therefore it is the opinion of j^our Committee that immediate meas- 
ures be taken to dispose of some of the city's unproductive property, and the 
proceeds be applied to cancel her present floating indebtedness, and again place her 
in a position of solvency, whereby the bills of her salaried officers would be honored 
and respected when presented for payme Tt. And in order to have our municipal 
government respected at home and abroad, her bills must be honored, and a rigid 
course of econom\' inaugurated by all of her public servants in the future. 

"Your Committee have talcen under careful consideration, and ha\-e advised with 
his Honor, the Mayor, regarding the disposal of one or more of the public plazas, 
but fears are entertamed that the city's power to transfer her title is so vested that it 
may be the entering wedge to future litigation, should the attempt be made to use 
them for any other purpose than that for which they were intended b\- the donor. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 605 

" To increase our Funded Debt seems to be at least an unwise and short-sighted 
policy, as the property-holders are already laboring under the oppressive weight of 
taxation, that no other people are, in the State, save one exception — Sacramento- 
We are already paying interest on one hundred and eighteen thousand seven hun- 
dred dollars, and should it be materially augmented, it is but reasonable to ask, when 
would our taxation be less, and when could we pay the principal unless our percentage 
on taxation was increased? And in view of the many obstacles that have arisen in 
the minds of your Committee to devise some way to pay the floating indebtedness 
of the city — they can see only one satisfactory way by which it may be done, and that is 
to have a Legislative power vested in the guardians of the city, and dispose of the 
City Hall, and with the proceeds pay the bills now knocking at the door of our 
Tre .sury for admittance." 

According to Mayor Spaulding, and the reports of the City Treasurer and 
Assessor, the following will show the financial condition of the city: — 

ASSESSMENT OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND. 



ASS D VALUE. 



k 794. 121 

97°. 125 

1, 107,940 

60 i,434,Soo 

1,832,428 

-■ 3,363.478 

25 ■■•• 4,256,702 

25 4,563,737 

25 , 5,300,000 

25 Subsequent (estimated) 200,000 

1871-72 City Property .$ 33, 120 

Improvements on same 44,000 

Stricken from Roll 77, 120 

Which added to 5,500,000 



1863-64 


$1. 


1864-65 




1865-66 




IS66-67 


. 


I867-6S 




1868-69 


I. 


1869-70 




1870-71 




IS7I-72 




1871-72 





Makes a Sum Total for 1871-72 $5,577,120 

The Treasurer's report shows the total indebtedness of the city September i, 
1 87 1, to be two hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred and thirty dollars and 
forty cents, as follows : — 

Old Funded Debt $ 18,400 00 

City Hall Bonds 50,000 00 

Carpentier's Judgment Bonds l6,ooo 00 

School Bonds of 1868 50,000 00 

New Funded Debt of 1S70 70,000 00 

School Bonds of 1870 50,000 00 

Total amount of Funded Debt $254,400 00 

FLOATING DEBT. 

Warrants f 10,00 000 

Salary Bills unpaid 11, 268 26 

Miscellaneous Bills 5, 974 32 

Gas Bills 8,616 98 

City Hall Bills 1,870 84 

Total $ 37, 730 40 

Making the sum total ^292, 1 30 40 



606 History of Alameda County, California. 

CITV PROPERTY. 

(Taken at its cost, and upon which there cannot he much depreciation in vahie. ) 

City Hall Lot and Buildings §72,000 00 

School Lots 35,406 00 

School Buildings 67,730 00 

Water Front property (estiinated value) 35,000 00 

Fire Department property ■ 2, 73 1 00 

Total (exclusive of school furniture and other personal effects of the city) $222,867 0° 

The value of all the ta.xable property within the limits of the city of Oakland, 
as shown by the assessment for 1875-76, was twenty-two millions two hundred and 
seven thousand four hundred and ninety-nine dollars, the rate of taxation being 
eight^'-eight cents on one hundred dollars' worth of property, giving a gross reve- 
nue of one hundred and ninety-five thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars 
and ninety-nine cents. This tax was collected to within a few hundreds of dollars; 
the penalty of five per cent, being paid by delinquents having more than compensated 
for this deficiency. 

In the beginning of the year 1S76 the funded debt amounted to six hundred and 
sixt)'-four thousand four hundred dollars, on which there was interest amounting to 
fifty-five thousand six hundred and eighty-eight dollars per annum. Of this one hun- 
dred and sixty-si.K thousand dollars was incurred for the construction of the Lake 
sewer. The interest on these bonds was thirteen thousand two hundred dollars per 
annum; but these items should properly be deducted from the sums first stated, which 
would leave the actual debt then existing at four hundred and ninety-nine thousand 
four hundred dollars, on which the annual interest would be fort}'-two thousand four 
hundred and eighty-eight dollars. Thus it will be seen that the debt was but two 
and one quarter per cent, on the assessed value of the property within the limits 
of the city. 

The amount of cash on hand January i, 1875, was one hundred and twenty-seven 
thousand six hundred and five dollars and eleven cents. 

The total amount of cash received by the Treasurer during the calendar year 
1875, including the sale of Sewer Bonds, was four hundred and seventy-nine thousand 
eight hundred and eighteen dollars and ninety-three cents. The total amount of dis- 
bursements was four hundred and fifty-one thousand four hundred and twelve dollars 
and sixty-six cents; the cash on hand January i, 1876, amounted to one hundred and 
fifty-six thousand and fifty-six dollars and thirty-eight cents. Besides the revenue 
from direct taxation, the city received thirty-two thousand nine hundred and fifty-two 
dollars and fifty cents from the sale of licenses; ten thousand and eighty-four dollars 
and fifty-five cents from fines collected in the Police Court; fifty-one thousand two 
hundred and twenty-six dollars and sixteen cents school money from the State and 
County, and for the tuition of non-resident pupils; and five thousand three hundred 
and fifty-two dollars and twenty-seven cents from other sources. 

The current expenses for the year were eighty-five thousand five hundred and 
twenty-eight dollars and fifty cents; while an engine-house was erected at a cost of 
thirteen thousand seven hundred and thirty dollars and twenty cents. Of this state of 
affairs Mayor Webber says: "The existence of a debt is an evil, and can nearly always 
be avoided by the practice of a little self-denial. Many cities would ha\-e been pros- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 607 

perous but for such an incubus, and at this late date it is superfluous to submit the rea- 
sons that have caused so decided a change in public opinion. School houses, engine- 
houses, and other municipal improvements that will be needed almost every year can 
be paid for out of the current revenues without difficulty. There is only one contin- 
gency where the issue of bonds will be necessary. I refer to the purchase of water- 
works. 

"It will hereafter be an easy task for the Council to continue the present healthy 
financial condition of the city, the difficulties that proved so formidable in the past 
having been removed. With no floating indebtedness, and with sufficient funds to 
meet the demands for the year, it would be impossible to present a more satisfactory 
exhibit." 

In concluding the subject of city finances, we will now give a short sketch of the 
different city bonds. 

Bonds of 1868. — This issue was authorized by the Act of the Legislature, 
approved April 26, 1858, which provides for the funding of the legal indebtedness 
outstanding on May i, 1858, not previously funded, and for the exchange of any unre- 
deemed bonds issued under the Act of April, 1855. These bonds had twenty years 
to run, and bore interest at seven per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually in Jan- 
uary and July. Provision was made for the interest by an annual tax on the assess- 
able property of the city; and for the payment of the principal an additional tax, 
equal to one-half of the amount then outstanding, was authorized to be levied in each 
of the years 1876 and 1877. 

School Bonds, 1868. — Amount, $50,000. Authorized by an Act March 13, 
1868. These bonds were made redeemable at any time within ten years, and 
bore interest at ten per cent., payable annually in January. For the payment of 
the interest an annual tax was authorized, and for the redemption of the principal an 
additional tax not to exceed ten cents on each one hundred dollars of the assessable 
property of the city might be levied, the amount derived therefrom to constitute a 
redemption fund. Whenever the fund amounted to one thousand dollars or more, it 
was to be appropriated to the liquidation of the bonds at the lowest rates (not more 
than par value) offered by the holders thereof Should a balance remain, it was to be 
appropriated to the liquidation of bonds in the order of their issue, which, if not pre- 
sented after due notice, the interest thereon should cease. In each of the years 1875 
and 1877 a tax was authorized sufficient to pay one-half of the amount outstanding. 

City Hall Bonds, 1868. — Amount $50,000. Authorized by Act March 19, 
1868. Redeemable at any time within fifteen years, and bore ten per cent, inter- 
est, payable annually in January. For the payment of the interest and prin- 
cipal the same provisions were made as are contained in the School Bond Act of 
March 13, 1868, except the time for levying the tax for the final redemption, which 
was fixed in the years 1880 and 1882 respectively. 

Judgment Bonds, 1868. — Amount, $16,000. Authorized by Act of March 28, 
1868. Issued to E. R. Carpentier in satisfaction of a judgment against the city. 



608 History of Alameda County, California. 

The same provisions and guarantees that are contained in the City Hall Bond Act 
of March 19, 1868, regulates the issue, and payment of the princijjal and interest of 
these bonds. 

School Bonds, 1870. — Amount, $50,000. Authorized by Act March 24, 
1870. Redeemable at any time within ten years, and bearing ten per cent, inter- 
est, payable quarterly in January, April, July, and October. For the payment of 
the principal and interest, the same provisions apply as are contained in the School 
Bond Act of 1868, e.xcept the tax levied for the final redemption of the bonds, which 
were to be made in the years 1877 and 1879 respectively. 

Bonds, 1870. — (To pay certain claims.) Amount, $70,000 Authorized 
by Act of March 24, 1S70. Redeemable in twenty years, and bearing ten per 
cent, interest per annum, payable in January and July. For the payment of 
the interest a property tax is authorized, and for the liquidation of the principal a 
sinking fund is provided for the proceeds of an annual tax (to commence in 1880) 
of ten cents on each one hundred dollars of the assessable property of the city. 
Whenever this fund, after the payment of the annual interest, should amount to two 
thousand dollars, it was to be appropriated to the liquidation of these bonds at the 
lowest rates (not more than par value) offered by the holders thereof In the event of 
this fund not being exhausted after a stated time, the balance shall be appropriated to 
the payment, at par, of the bonds in the order of their issue, which, if not presented at 
due notice, the funds for the payment of the same shall remain in the Treasur\', and 
the interest thereon .cease from that date. 

School Bonds, 1872. — Amount $50,000. Authorized by Act, March 18, 1872. 
Redeemable in twenty years and bearing eight per cent, interest, payable in January, 
April, July, and October. For the payment of the interest a property tax is author- 
ized, and for the liquidation of the principal a ten per cent, tax is provided for, to 
commence ten years from the issuance of the bonds, the amount from which shall 
constitute a Redemption Fund. When this Fund amounts to one thousand dollars 
or more, it shall be appropriated to the liquidation of the bonds at the lowest rates 
offered (not above par). Should there not be a sufficient amount of bonds offered to 
e.xhaust this fund, the Council may again advertise as before. All moneys remaining 
in this fund, together with a property tax to be levied in 1891, sufficient to pay the 
balance of the principal unpaid, shall constitute the final Redemption Fund. 

Bonds, 1872. — (For municipal purposes.) Authorized by Act March 27, 1872, 
(amount $80,000), redeemable in thirty years, and bearing eight per cent, interest, 
payable in January, April, July, and October, commencing with October, 1872. For 
the payment of the interest, an annual property tax is authorized, and, for the pay- 
ment of the principal, an additional property tax, to commence in 1893, is provided 
for, of ten per cent, on each one hundred dollars, to create a fund for the redemption 
thereof On February i, 1893, and annually thereafter, when there are more than two 
thousand dollars over the amount sufficient to pay the interest due on the following 
April and July, it shall be appropriated to the liquidation of the bonds at the lowest 




0(.£(J ^i^c^My<l 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 609 

rates offered (not above par). If the amount be not exhausted after a stated time, 
the balance shall be appropriated to the payment, at par, of the bonds in the order of 
their issue, which if not presented after due notice, interest thereon shall cease. 

Oakland Bar Bonds. — By an Act approved March 28, 1868, an issue of bonds 
of $15,000 is authorized, the proceeds to be applied toward removing obstructions at 
the mouth of the San Antonio Creek, so as to render the same navigable. The 
Council are, in addition, authorized to raise annually, by taxation, a sum not to exceed 
five thousand dollars, to be applied to the same purpose. These have been issued 
and redeemed. 

Main Sewer Bonds. — Authorized by Act of March 23, 1874, payable in ten 
years, and bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent, per annum. 

"Floating Indebtedness" Bonds. — ($100,000.) By the "Act to provide for 
theLiquidation of the floating Indebtedness of the City of Oakland, and to prevent the 
incurring of farther Debts," approved March 30, 1874, the City Council are authorized 
to issue and sell bonds of the city of Oakland to the amount of one hundred thou- 
sand dollars, redeemable July i, 1905, and bearing interest at the rate of eight per 
cent, per annum, payable on the second day of October, January, April, and July. 

School Bonds, 1874. — ($100,000.) Under provisions of the Act passed March 
30, 1874, the City Council of Oakland were authorized to sell and issue bonds to the 
amount of one hundred thousand dollars, payable July i, 1905, and bearing interest 
at eight per cent, per annum, for the purpose of redeeming the bonds issued under the 
Acts of March 13, 1868, and March 18, 1872. 

Water Bonds. — By the Act entitled "An Act to authorize the City of Oakland 
to obtain a supply of Water," approved March 30, 1874, the Board of Public Works 
were empowered to issue bonds of the city of Oakland, payable July i, 1896, to the 
amount of eight hundred thousand dollars. No definite action has as yet been 
taken by the Council to avail itself of these privileges. 

Bonds of 1882.— ($167,000.) On June 19, 1882, the City Council were author- 
ized to issue bonds to the amount of one hundred and sixty-seven thousand dollars^ 
under provisions of Cap. 6, Tit. 3, Ft. 4, of the Political Code, to be redeemed October 
I, 1895. This is the last mention of bonds we have up to the present time in the 
history of the city of Oakland. 

On September 14, 1853, an ordinance was passed establishing a Police Depart- 
ment for the town of Oakland, the first step taken for officially placing the town 
under official care. On the isth October, John McCann appears as Chief of Police 
for the first time, and on the i8th "An Ordinance supplementary to an Ordinance to 
organize a Police Department for the Town of Oakland," was passed. On the 5th 
November provision was made for the erection of a station-house; and, on November 
1 2th, the pay of regular policemen was fixed at one hundred and fifty dollars per 
month, during the time they actually served, while, on December 24th, seventy-five 



610 HisTouv OK Alameda County, California. 

dollars was allowed for policemen's badges, and thus we have the pristine guardians 
of Oakland's peace en grand tenue. 

The next we learn of police matters is from the message of Mayor Carpentier, 
dated April 29, 1854. He says to the Council: "The passage of proper police regula- 
tions and the organization of a proper Police Force, I deem indispensable. Situated 
as is Oakland, within so short a distance, and almost forming a part of, the great 
commercial metropolis, it is to be anticipated that criminals, unless prevented by fear 
of detection, may infest our city." On May 6th of that year, John Hill was elected 
Captain of Police, and R. W. Kellogg and William McCaw, policemen. 

It is to be inferred, for the records show nothing to the contrary, that some kind 
of a police organization existed during the decade between 1854 and 1864. On the 
25th October of that year an ordinance was passed establishing a Police Force which 
had general supervision over all the city. On May 18, 1867, Oakland was divided 
into police districts, however, and a system of routine inaugurated; while, on the 25th 
May, the Police Commissioners, who then had the regulating of the force, were 
authorized to employ special policemen on Sundays, or when required, a measure 
consequent of the number of roistering visitors to the sylvan shades of this side of 
the bay on holidays. 

It was not until October 4, 1869, that the office of Captain of Police was created, 
F. B. Tarbett being appointed thereto on the iith of the same month. The force 
from this time has been in a high state of efficiency and a credit to the city, whose 
highways are as safe during the darkest night as at noonday, a convincing proof that 
the criminals who are so active in the metropolis have a wholesome dread of crossing 
the bay to carry on their nefarious practices in Oakland. 

On May 28, 1877, an ordinance was passed for the uniforming of the Police; 
while, on October 3d, at a special meeting of the Council, consequent upon the death 
of Captain of Police Rand, the following resolutions were unanimously passed: 

Whereas, By the stern decree of Divine Providence, D. H. Rand, late Captain of Police of this city, has 
left for that "bourne from whence no traveler returns," it is due to his memory that this " sprig of green' be 
in mcinoriain. Whatever he did was done well; nothing was left undone that could be consummated; he shirked 
no duty, dared to face danger, and his hand went quickly out to arrest the violator and disturber of the law; in 
every sense of the term he was a true citizen and a bold exponent of the right. In his loss the Police Dei)artmen( 
of this city has been bereft of a competent director; this city an upright official and useful citizen; and his family 
a beloved husband and father. To his widow we offer every consolation which humanity can give, and we would 
extend to her this truth, and that to the memory of her late husband, " Well done, thou good and faithful serv- 
ant." And be it further 

Resolved, That the Council and city officials attend his funeral in a body, together with the Police Depart- 
ment of the city. And be it further 

Resolved, That this preamble and these resolutions be spread upon the Minutes of the Council, and the City 
Clerk transmit a copy thereof, under the seal of- the city, to the widow of the lamented departed. 

His Honor, Mayor Pardee, then addressed the Council as follows: 
Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Council: It is with a feeling of sadness that I rise to speak 
of one whose many virtues you all do know. Captain Rand has been taken from us by the cold, icy hand of 
death, and he now sleeps in the arms of eternal happiness and peace. That majestic form that was so well known, 
and was a harbinger of peace wherever he was, will be seen no more. His voice is hushed, and the eye that 
beamed forth with electrical sparks of good-will toward all mankind is now closed forever. The city of Oakland 
has lost a good and faithful officer, and we, as their representatives, a warm-hearted and genial friend. Captain Rand 
had his peculiar idiosyncrasies of temperament; his heart was illuminated from the lamp of goodne-ss, and the soul 
and pride of his ambition was to do good, always believing that it was better to err on the side of mercy and poor, 
suffering humanity than to have the applause of the whole world and the sting of consciousness of having done a 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



611 



wrong whereby the heart of man would be made heavy and despondent, 
others as you would that they should do unto you." 



His test of Christianity was: " Do unto 



1854. — We have already stated that the native Californian continued his national 
pastimes after the occupation of the country by Americans, and Sunday being the 
day on which they kept their fandango houses open and fought wild bulls in the 
arena, the better thinking of the citizens thought that to carry out their early training 
these amusements should be stopped, therefore they petitioned the Trustees, Febru- 
ary 4, 1854, that these should be suppressed; consequently, ordinances were passed 
for that purpose on that date. 

On February 1 1, 1854, the Board of Trustees employed E. R. Carpentier to defend 
certain injunction suits, brought by John C. Hays and others against John Hogan, 
Town Marshal, to restrain the collection of town taxes, at a price not to exceed one 
thousand dollars. The service was rendered, and a warrant for the payment of the 
stipulated price was issued. Other legal services were performed, and other claims 
accrued; and claims being made which were thought unjust and unfounded, the pay- 
ment was resisted, and litigation continued from 1854 until 1868, when, in the Twelfth 
District Court, judgment was rendered for fifteen thousand two hundred and twenty- 
five dollars and eighty-eight cents, debt and damages, and costs and disbursements, 
and percentage allowed by law; the amount of the judgment to bear interest at the 
rate of ten per cent, per annum. On August 17, 1868, the City Council adopted a 
final resolution authorizing the City Clerk to issue to Edward R. Carpentier, bonds to 
the amount of sixteen thousand dollars, in satisfaction for the judgment held by him 
against the city of Oakland, and thus terminated a series of lawsuits which had been 
maintained for fourteen years. 

On March 25, 1854, the Act giving to Oakland the distinction of a city was 
passed, its government being vested in seven Councilmen to constitute a Board to be 
known as the City Council; a Mayor, an Assessor, a Treasurer tohit ex officio Clerk of 
the City Council, and a Marshal. The Mayor, by the provisions of the bill, was to be 
elected for one year, and the rest of the corporate officers for two years, "provided, 
that at the first election the three Councilmen of the seven elected, having received 
the least number of votes at the election,, shall be elected and hold their office one 
year." Section four of the charter fully enumerated the powers and duties of the 
Council. The election was duly had, and, on April 17, 1854, at a meeting of the 
Council held under the new Charter, Alderman Blake in the chair, the returns of the 
election were canvassed. Let us give the names of the competitors; it may refresh 
the memories of those now remaining: 



MAYOR. 


VOTE 


TREASURER. 


VOTE 


MARSHAL. 


VOTE 
144 

86 

129 

I 
2 
I 


ASSESSOR. 


VOTE 


H. W. Carpentier. . . 
S. J. Clark 


93 

44 

29 

I 

I 

I 


J. R. Dunglison 

T. Gallagher 

W. H. Baxter 

H. Horton 


121 

82 
82 
69 

I 

I 


J. Hogan 


T. S. Tubbs 


iSt 


|. Brown . . . 


H. Douglass 


83 
72 

7 
3 
I 




W. Hillegass 

— Pond 


L. N. Crocker 

W.W. Nicholls 

J. R. Dunglison 

H. Horton 

M. D. Cassin 

Wm. McNair 

— Brown 


B. F. Ferris 


P. Rosasco 


E. Gallagher 

— Donaldson 


— Baar 


S. B. Bell 


J. Hogan _ 




3 
I 
2 






S. B. McKee 

H. W. Carpentier. . . . 


I 
I 



612 



History ok Alamkda County, California. 



ELECTION RETURNS, CONTINUED. 



CITY COUNCIL: 


VOTE 

289 

230 
226 
219 

151 
141 
98 

lOI 
lOI 

38 

75 


CITY COUNCIL. 


VOTE 

33 
19 
■3 
14 
66 

43 

15 

77 

6 

3 


CITY COUNCIL. 


VOTE 


CITY COUNCIL. 


VOTS 


E. Gallagher 

G. M. Blake 


J. E. Whitcher 

A. M. Brocklebank. . . 

Geo. Coffee 

Col. E. Davis 


Wm. Card 


3 
41 

I 

4J 

I 

, 

I 
3 


H. W. Carpentier 

H. .Simon 

S. Bell 


I 


Chas. Stewart 

\Ym. McCann 

T. Conolly 


I 




T. Gallagher 

— Blakesley 


3 


W. C. Josselyn 




\Vm. McNair 

\Vm. Harwood 

A. K. Simons 


T. HoUlen 


A. .Monroe 

\V. R, Rus.sell 

.M. A. Moon 

G. M. Blake. 

E. G. Jacobus 


I 


N. |. Thompson 

F. j. Mette 


j. W. Taylor 

G. Aldrich 

John Woolsey 

A. Durant 


I 
2 


S. B. McKee 


I 


G. H. Monroe 

A. D. McDevitt . ... 


L. N. Crocker 


9 

















The total number of votes cast was thi'ce hutidfed and si.xt\--cight. At the same 
meeting Mr. Gallagher was elected President 6f the Council, and on the 18th 
April the bonds of the officers were fixed as follows: Treasurer, twelve thousand 
dollars; Marshal, twelve thousand dollars; Assessor, three thousand dollars. On the 
same date Samuel J. Clark gave notice that he would contest the election of H. W. 
Carpentier, but nothing would appear to have come of this action, for we know that 
that gentleman remained in possession'of the civic chair. On April 22d \-oluminous 
rules, regulation, and by-laws for the guidance of the City Council were adopted. 

Upon their assumption of office the first Cit>' Council would appeal^ to have 
experjenced considerable difficulty in obtaining the funds of the city in the hands of 
the late Town Marshal amounting to a balance of si.x thousand dollars. On April 
21, 1854, City Treasurer Dunglison addressed a communication to John Hogan, for- 
merly Town Marshal, requesting the payment of all moneys belonging to the town or 
city of Oakland, as well as the delivery of all documents, papers, vouchers, etc., 
belonging to the Treasury of Oakland, to which that official replied: "The money 
realized from the tax sale in question has been attached in my hands by J. C. Hays, 
J. K. Irving, Treasurer, and others, on the ground of fraudulent assessment, and I 
cannot give up the money until I see myself clear." Upon the rccci]5t of this commu- 
nication Treasurer Dunglison reported to the Council for their information, and 
requested them to require the late Marshal to deliver the said funds over to the City 
Treasury, or to require him to give equal bonds (twelve thousand dollars) with the 
Treasurer. He further stated: "The trial has been postponed until some time in May 
next, and without some action on the part of your Honorable Board, it is to be pre- 
sumed that many months will elapse without the city being allowed tT'tV/ the use of 
the public money." 

Considerable discussion thereafter ensued as to if the Marshal had a right to 
retain these funds, while, a Special Committee was appointed to investigate the 
matter and to ascertain the most sure and speedy method of obtaining the money 
from its holder. These gentlemen, under date April 29th, reported that "Marshal 
Hogan refuses to deliver the money in his possession until such time as the City 
Council shall give personal sccurit}- for the amount and costs of suit in the case of J. 
C. Hays ei a/., pending against him." 

In his message of April 29, 1854,. Mayor Carpentier says: "First among the.se 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 613 

[certain interests] is the subject of Finances. The exact financial condition of the 
city as successor to the rights and liabihties of the town of Oakla:id I have not 
ascertained, but to say that the taxes of last year when fully collected, would, if applied 
to that purpose, pay off and discharge the existing indebtedness of the city, will be 
found to be approximately correct. During the two years of doubtful experiment in 
which your predecessors in office so economically administered its municipal affairs, 
Oakland has grown from a mere collection of half a dozen houses to its present pro- 
portions of promise. That they have been able to manage the public business of the 
town during this period with the levy of but a single tax, and that they now trans- 
mit it free from onerous embarrassment is alike complimentary to them and the citi- 
zens at large. Abstractly considered, taxes are an evil; but if it be possible, as is 
sometimes the case, in the early history of municipalities, by the collection and prudent 
expenditure of a tax of even three or four per cent, upon the assessed value of prop- 
erty, to increase its marketable value twenty-five per cent., then taxation becomes a 
benefit and an act of wise legislation. 

".You are limited by the charter to a tax for all purposes of one and a half per 
cent. The valuation of property within the city cannot greatly exceed two millions. 
On this the extreme tax would be but thirty thousand dollars. Add to this the sev- 
eral amounts that will be received from the percentage on wharfage and ferries, from 
license taxes and municipal fines, which are believed to constitute the only sources of 
revenue under the charter, and you will have a sum wholly inadequate to the necessi- 
ties of current expenditure. 

" And in this connection your attention is called to the suits now pending against 
the City Marshal. 

" To avoid the payment of a fair and uniform tax for school purposes, levied by the 
town, under the former charter, and the collection of which the Marshal was proceed- 
ing to enforce, the passage of the present charter was urged upon the Legislature by 
non-resident claimants and their agents; fabricated petitions were presented, purport- 
ing to be signed by a thousand citizens of Oakland, and the feelings and wishes of 
the people grossly misrepresented. Hence that extraordinary provision in the nine- 
teenth section of the charter, which was intended to operate as a legislative injunction, 
and to bar the collection of taxes. Prior to this, two injunctions had been procured 
from two different courts and had been dissolved on application, and the suits dis- 
missed. The greater portion of these taxes, however, has been finally collected and 
the Marshal will be directed to proceed forthwith to collect the balance which remains 
unpaid. These vexatious lawsuits have been brought anew by residents of San 
Francisco who became purchasers at the tax sales, to recover, on the ground of alleged 
irregularities in the assessment, a portion of the moneys collected and which are now 
in the hands of the Marshal, awaiting the disposition of the City Council. 

" As the grounds now taken have already been decided favorably upon to the 
city, in the dissolution of the injunctions above referred to, I recommend that these 
suits be defended by the city, and that counsel be employed for that purpose. These 
difficulties and struggles to resist contributions towards the support of the best 
interests of the city, I am happy to say do not originate with, and are not partici- 
pate.! in, by the people of Oakland, and I rely upon the good sense of our citizens to 



614 History of Ai.amkda Coun'Tv, Calikornia. 

aid b\' an\- means in their power the officers charged with that dut}- in the collection 
of such taxes as may from time to time be imposed, and to resist any and all attempts 
on the part of non-resident adventurers and speculators to embarrass and cripple the 
affairs of the city. 

" It is to the prompt payment of taxes mainly that we must look for the organ- 
ization and support of a Fire Department, of a Detective Police, of Free Schools — 
that institution more promotive of morality and good order than all penal laws com- 
bined — and of the various public improvements which are indispensable to the pros- 
perity of the city. If you would avoid the creation of a public debt, with depreciated 
scrip every cent of which must finally be paid by means of taxes, and which will in 
the mean time rest like an incubus upon the city, \-our only resource is judicious 
taxation. 

"The subject of licensing trades and occupations will come before you. The 
charter provides that 'licenses shall be discriminating and proportionate to the 
amount of business.' I suggest therefore that the various branches of business be 
classified according to the monthly receipts, so as to make the license tax as nearly 
uniform as possible. The system of taxing legitimate business and labor is essentially 
wrong and can be justified only by necessity. I recommend therefore that the city 
licenses be fixed at the lowest rates consistent with the condition of the Treasury. 

" Your power, under the charter, to contract debts and to loan the credit of the 
city is unlimited — a power not a little dangerous to be \estcd in a ^lunicipal Corpo- 
ration, and wholly inconsistent with our State Constitution; but I have no doubt that 
a discriminating regard for the welfare of the city will incline you to caution in its 
exercise." 

On May 6, 1854, the late Marshal requested that he be empowered to employ 
counsel to defend the suits instituted against him on the ground of irregularity in 
asse'ssment, a matter that was referred to a committee, who, Ma\- 10th, recommended 
that the Council should assume the responsibility of paying to him such moneys as it 
shall be absolutely and actuall}- necessary for him to pay out in the carrying on of 
these suits, but subject to the auditing and approval of the Council. On June 17th, 
in accordance with section six of the charter, the City Treasurer presented the follow- 
ing report, which was referred to the Committee on Finance: " The total amount of 
money received by me up to the present time is twelve dollars and seventy-five cents. 
This sum was handed over by L. Coburn, late Town Treasurer on the 27th of Mayi 
as being the balance of the town funds remaining in his hands. The cash expend- 
itures during the same period were nothing, and for the indebtedness incurred I must 
delay mention until the next meeting. The fines levied upon prisoners I have not 
received a cent of as yet, and would request your Honorable Body to pass some reso- 
lution making it incumbent upon the parties concerned to pay the money into the 
Treasury weekly. I would also respectfully state that the police books of the former 
administration have fines recorded to the sum of between two and three thousand 
dollars, paid in to the Justice of the Peace, but which sum has never been paid into the 
Treasury; whether these sums were for city or county crimes I cannot determine, but 
they still remain in the police books." The following will show what the receipts and 
disbursements for the first three months of the city's existence were, from May 21st to 
August 2 1 St. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 615 

Receipts. Expenditures. 

Bal. from L. Coburn, late Town Treasurer. .$ 12 76 Criminal Docket for Mayor's Office $ 2 00 

Tax on dogs, for Quarter ending Sep. 20, 1S54 69 00 Fuel, lights, etc 

Rec'd from J. Hogan, City Marshal, on acc't Capt. Hill, for sustenance of prisoners. . 

of taxes collected on assessment for 1853 Alteration of City Seal 

and 1854 IjS'S 65 Stewart's bill for stove, etc 

Rec'd from H. W. Carpentier, percentage on L. N. Crocker, for furnishing City Hall ig 

wharf receipts 44 44 Carrell, for Spanish translation of assessment 

Fines collected, from Justice Robinson 16 00 list 

License for Dance H ouse on Broadway and Policemen, on acc't of salarj' 

Tenth Streets i 30 00 Printing ordinances in Express^ etc 

Scrip rec'd from John Hogan, City Marshal^ Inspectors, etc., at Charter Election, April, 

on acc't of taxes collected on assessments I 1854 

for 1853 and 1854, issued to Miss Jayne | Stationery, etc 

for School purposes, Jan. 2, 1854 |- 450 00 

Interest on same® 3% from Jan. 1S54 to July | Total Expenditures $687 12 

1854 ••■•J 93 50 

Forfeited bail of M. Wild, from Capt. Hill. . 10 10 



35 


12 


31 


00 


5 


00 


22 


00 


198 


00 


40 


00 


225 


00 


65 


00 


45 


00 


19 


00 



TotalCash $1,495 95 

Recapitulation. 

Total Cash $i,495 95 

Total Expenditures 6S7-12 



Balance $8oS 83 

Total Scrip 543 50 



Balance on hand $265 33 

The following report from the City Treasurer will explain the position between 
that official and the Marshal on October 21, 1854: "To avoid any misunderstanding 
or accident, I respectfully make the following statement: Having occasion to pay 
sundry bills by order of the Council I called on the City Marshal to-day for the 
amount of taxes collected on the present assessment roll. His answer was that he 
should not pay over any of the funds on hand until the entire taxes were collected. I 
would respectfully request that an order be issued to the Marshal directing him to pay 
over without delay all moneys in his hands belonging to the city. The additional 
bond of five thousand dollars, ordered by the ordinance providing for the levy and 
collection of taxes, has not yet been filed, and I regret to say that the original bond 
of the Marshal filed upon his entering upon the duties of his office, in April last, is not 
now in the archives. By an unluckly mistake the bond was some time since given to 
Mr. Hogan in place of his certificate of election. I discovered the mistake on the 
following day and requested its return. This request has been repeated several times, 
but without effect, and a day or two since Mr. Hogan informed me that he had lost 
the bond from his pocket-book, with other papers. This unfortunate mistake and the 
non-fulfillment of the Marshal in filing the additional bond leaves the city without 
any security for the amount collected on the two assessments, and as I have been 
partly at fault in the matter I would request that immediate action be taken in the 
premises. I would also state that as the Marshal has considered it within his province 
to pay out sundry amounts before the money has been placed in the City Treasury, I 
shall be under the necessity of refusing to pay out any funds until it is definitely 
settled who is the City Treasurer and what are the duties of his office, as well as of 
the City Marshal." 

On receipt of this communication the Clerk was directed to write forthwith to 



616 History of Alameda County, California. 

the Marshal and request his presence before the Council, while, a resolution was 
passed instructing that officer to suspend all collection of taxes until such time as a 
new bond should be filed, or until the old bond was produced, together with the addi- 
tional bond referred to above. In addition to these, on November 6th, he was directed 
to make a full report of all moneys belonging to the city received by him; all moneys 
in his possession, and all moneys paid over to the Treasurer. These instructions he 
apparently treated with the supremest indifference. We find, on Nov-ember 9th, the 
following proceedings were had in the Council: Proposed by Alderman Eames, and 

Resolved, That the Clerk be instructed to notify the Marshal that the Council are aware that there are parties 
in this city who have not been assessed, and for that reason they wish the Assessor's books to be forwarded to the 
Council Room immediately, that they may order a supplementary assessment, and the Marshal is hereby instructed 
to appear immediately before the Council with all the books belbnging to his office as Marshal. 

Alderman Kelsey then moved that the Marshal be invited to explain everything 
not appearing satisfactory to the Council, which was carried. Next, on motion of 
Alderman Marier, the Marshal was instructed to procure his books and bring them 
before the Council forthwith. Alderman Eames then moved that the Council appoint 
a Sergeant-at-Arms, pro tempore, to procure and produce the books from the City 
Marshal, which was lost. Considerable discussion thereafter ensued, in the midst of 
which a communication was received from the City Marshal, when it was moved by 
Alderman Eames that "the Council adjourn." Alderman Marier then moved that a 
Constable be appointed this evening to procure the books from the Marshal. This 
resolution being carried, the same gentleman moved that L. N. Crocker be appointed 
Constable, which was, ho>vever, withdrawn. At this stage of the proceedings a com- 
munication was received from the Marsh d, after which the following resolution pro- 
posed by Alderman Marier was carried. 

Whereas, John Hogan, Marshal of the city of Oakland, has refused to obey the order of the City Council 
of Slid city, to produce the books of assessment of property within the corporate limits, which order was made for 
the purpose of correcting said assessment and adiliiig thereto the assessment of property which has been therein 
omitted and neglected. 

Resolved, By the City Council of the city of 0.xkland, that the said John Hogan be suspended from the 
exercise of the functions of Marshal of said city until a further and full investigation of said charge of disobedi- 
ence of orders and neglect of his duties can be had, and further, that the said JoiIN HoiiAN be commanded to 
appear before the City Council of Oakland on Saturday ne.Nt, nth November, at seven o'clock, v. M., and that 
the Clerk be instructed to forward a copy of this resolution to John IIo,;..\\, City Marshal. 

These proceedings had the effect of producing from that contumacious official the 
following terse report: "The amount received b)' m; for city ta.xes is, total, three 
thousand five hundred and twenty-seven dollars and twelve cents. The amount paitl 
over to the City Treasurer, is six hundred dollars." F"rom the foregoing facts it will 
not astonish the reader that on the morning of December 15th, it was officially noti- 
fied to the Council by the Mayor, who inclosed an affidavit of Michael 0'Grad\' to the 
effect that the Marshal had levanted. The Mayor's message reads: "From the 
accoiiipanying affidavit which has been laitl before me, it appears that John Hogan, 
late Marshal and Tax Collector of the city, has absconded, carrying with him the funds 
in his hands belonging to the city. From all the data I ascertain that he had in his 
possession about ten thousand dollars belonging to the corporation. Considerably 
more than half of this amount is in litigation, and was retained by him subject to the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 617 

decision of certain suits brought by Edward and Rodmond Gibbons, John C. Haysi 
and others for the recovery of moneys paid as taxes to the town of Oakland, and 
which are still pending in the Supreme Court. But for these vexatious suits the 
moneys would doubtless have been long since paid over and applied by the city to its 
convenient uses. A portion of the taxes for this year were collected in warrants 
drawn on the City Treasurer, which, as that officer informs me, have been turned over 
to the Treasurer and duly canceled. And I am happy to be able to state that the 
bonds of the defaulting officer are amply sufficient to cover the entire sum embezzled 
and are signed by well-known and responsible citizens. It will be for the City Council 
to take such steps as they may deem prudent in the premises, and I recommend that 
measures be taken without delay to secure the arrest and conviction of the offender." 
Upon learning of the malfeasance, and in accordance with the Mayor's suggestion, 
the' Council then passed the following: — 

Whereas, It has appeared to the Council that John Hogan, City Marshal and Tax Collector, of the city of 
Oakland, has absconded from the city, and it is believed, the State, with funds belonging to the city, therefore, 

Resolved, That the sum of two thousand dollars is offered for the apprehension of the said Hogan and the 
delivery of his body to any Constable or Sheriff in the County of Alameda, State of California. 

This resolution was published in the papers of San Francisco and surrounding 
counties. In the meantime a special Committee of three was appointed to investigate 
his affairs, with power to employ counsel to aid them in endeavoring to recover 
either from his effects, or from his sureties, the amount of their obligations caused by 
his absconding; it was therefore, January lo, 1855, 

Resolved, That S. B. McKee be employed as Counsel for the city of Oakland to confer with the Committee 
appointed to investigate the matters relating to the absconding of the late Marshal, Hogan, and take such steps 
and legal proceedings which said Committee will think proper. 

Here we will let the matter rest for the present. 

On November 11, 1854, Mayor Carpentier vetoes the ordinance entitled, "An 
Ordinance for reducing the Assessment upon the Lots and Blocks owned by John C. 
Hays, John Caperton, Edward Jones, William B. Dameron, the Heirs of J. A. Cost, 
James M. Goggin, J. M. Calleyo, Joseph Black, and Joseph K. Irving, deceased/' and 
gives very lengthy reasons for so doing; while, on December 9th, in accordance with 
a resolution calling upon the City Marshal to make a report on the taxes collected by 
him, the following was presented: — 

Amount of taxes received this fiscal year, 1854-55, amount in full to the sum of $9,430 69 

The amount of scrip received for taxes 3, 307 30 

Cash paid the City Treasurer 600 00 

Paid E. R. Carpentier, by order of Council 200 00 

My legal fees for collecting 843 07 

$4>95o 37 
$4,480 32 
We do not know how these figures were obtained, but the above is a verbatim 
copy of the entry as it appears on the minutes of the Council. The Marshal goes on 
to say: "There now remains in my hands belonging to the city, collected this fiscal 
year, 1854-55, to the amount of four thousand four hundred and eighty dollars and 
eighty-two cents." On January 27, 1855, the City Treasurer makes his report, which 
is referred to the Finance Committee, who, on reporting upon it, together with the 
40 



618 History of Alameda County, California. 

auditing of the account and charges set forth in said report, as well as the financial 
affairs of the city submitted: "That on the 30th da\' of Januarj', a. D. 1855, said 
Committee served a written notice on the Clerk and Treasurer, J. R. Dunglison, 
requesting and requiring him to meet said Committee on the 30th day of January, 
A. D. 1855, at one o'clock, P. M., at the Council Room, for the purpose of investigating 
the financial condition of the city, and the inspection of vouchers (if any) for the 
accounts and charges set forth in said report. 

" Section Two. — That said Dunglison, Treasurer and Clerk, refused to meet 
said Committee, alleging as a cause that he would not meet said Committee if A. D. 
Eames, Chairman of said Committee, should be there, and for further excuse said 
he had business in San Francisco, wherefore your Committee could not make the 
investigation required. Your Committee would further say that they met this after- 
noon for the purpose of making the investigations above mentioned and requested 
said Clerk and Treasurer to rrieet said Committee, but he refused, so that your Com- 
mittee could not inspect the books and record, and consequently are unable to make 
the report desired. The Committee also accompany this report with the amount of 
receipts given by said Treasurer to John Hogan, late City Marshal, for moneys, 
which are said to be in his handwriting." Mr. Dunglison was thereupon suspended 
from office. 

By a singular oversight at Washington, Oakland was excluded from the postal 
routes in California, and although a post-office was early established, the mail service 
was, even in 1854, kept up by private subscription: this mistake, however, was soon 
rectified until now she is well served in that particular. 

On Saturday, September 16, 1854, The Contra Costa, a newspaper published by J. 
R. Dunglison & Co., and edited by Mrs. S. M. Clarke, made its first appearance. 
From its columns we glean that a duel was fought in the environs of Clinton, on the 
morning of September 21, 1854, between Messrs. Dorsey and Bevin, of Los Angeles, 
both of whom were wounded. It would appear that Sheriff Simmons, of Oakland, 
had been informed of the intended meeting but did not arrive in time to prevent the 
exchange of shots. He afterwards arrested some of the parties and took them before 
Justice Ferris of Oakland; but no one appearing against them they were discharged. 
Indeed, this was the day of duels, for not long after the meeting mentioned above an affair 
of honor was had between Achilles Kewen and Colonel Woodlief The weapons used 
were rifles, and the latter was shot through the heart. The origin of the affair was as 
follows: On the evening of Thursdaj-, November 8, 1854, Mr. Kewen, at the time not 
perfectly sober, was engaged in a little war of words with an acquaintance in the 
Blue Wing" saloon. The acquaintance said he was a Know-nothing; Kewen said 
that, for himself, he was the son of an Irishman. The other replied that he was none 
the better for that; to which Kewen replied that his father fought at the battle of 
New Orleans. The other asked, which side ? At this Kewen got angry, and was 
speaking in a violent tone, when Colonel Woodlief came up (they were friends) and 
led him away, saying, he was wrong, to which Kewen retorted that he was not. Wood- 
lief repeated the expression; Kewen said he was not, and he would consider a repeti- 
tion of the assertion an insult; Colonel Woodlief repeated it, and Kewen, raising his 
hand, gave his friend a slight blow upon the mouth. The next morning Woodlief 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 619 

sent a challenge; Kewen sent it back with a straightforward apology upon it Wood- 
lief refused to accept it, saying that the offense was given in public and the' apology-, 
to be satisfactory, must be given in public likewise. Kewen refused to give a public 
apology, and hence the duel. Colonel Woodlief, who came to California in 1849, was 
born in Greenville County, Virginia, from whence he moved to Texas twenty years 
before. He was a Colonel in the Texan army, was subsequently one of the Texan 
Rangers, and during the Mexican War accompanied the American army as a volunteer] 
He had been engaged in many duels, being often desperately wounded. At the time 
of his death, he carried three bullets in his body. He left a wife, who accompanied 
him as far as Oakland on his last and fatal journey. 

In November, 1854, the Right Reverend Bishop Kip made arrangements to have 
Dr. Carter's large and commodious hall fitted up as a temporary Episcopal church, and 
perform the duties of pastor himself The building was located on Broadway. Saint 
John's Episcopal Church, however, was organized in June, 1852, and is the oldest 
church foundation in the city, except the Roman Catholic. Let us briefly tell the 
history of that structure. In 1852, when Oakland was less than a village, having but 
half a dozen houses in it, two Episcopalian families met and worshiped unitedly, and 
thus continued till a member of one of the families fell dangerously ill, when the little 
coterie ceased to meet. About a year later, the Rev: Dr. Ver -Mehr, then Rector of 
Grace Church, San Francisco, visited Oakland, and a meeting of twelve persons was 
with difficulty convened. Towards the close of the year 1853, an; Episcopal clergy- 
man. Rev. Mr. Morgan, appeared on a bright Sunday morning, and read the prayers 
and preached under the branches of one of Oakland's shady trees, with a glad zeal, 
reminding us of apostolic times, when the people of Antioch, in Pisidia, begged Saint 
Paul to preach to them the same words. The next Sabbath-day the little flock in 
Oakland determined to have a covered church of some kind ready for the preacher 
ere the following Sunday. A large tent, twenty-five by seventy feet, was accordingly 
erected, a communion-rail put up, a temporary pulpit contrived, and a few benches 
arranged in the body of the tent. A cross outside designated the object of thebuild- 
ing. But when all things were ready, to the disheartenment of those who thirsted for 
the glad tidings of salvation, through some accident the clergyman came not. " Is 
there no minister present?" was the question asked by all. The Rev. Mr. Walsworth, 
afterwards head of the Pacific Female College, then stood up, and said, " I am a minis- 
ter 'out not an Episcopalian. I am a Presbyterian, and will preach to you if you desire 
me to do so." His offer was joyfully accepted and a collection of nineteen dollars 
taken up. Next day the tent and all the seats were bought by the Presbyterians, 
which was the origin of that branch of Christ's Church in Oakland, who called as 
their first pastor. Rev. Sam. B. Bell. Episcopacy, however, is not easily discomfited, 
for its " foundations are upon the holy hills," and its teachings are broad as the com- 
mandments of God, and are deeply planted in the hearts of its people. Another 
Episcopal minister, Rev. Mr. Reynolds, preached to a feeble congregation for three 
Sundays, and on November 15, 1854, Bishop Kip celebrated Divine service in a room 
provided for the purpose. It is best that Paul should plant before Apollus begins 
to wat^r, and the presence of the Bishop gave at once a reality and an impulse 
to the discouraged work. He preached to a numerous and attentive audience, and 



620 History of Alameda County, California. 

the hopes of Episcopalians took a fresh start. A mi.ssionar)' to the Chinese, Rev. E. 
W. Syle, arrived in January, 1855, and at the request of the residents and upon the 
recommendation of the Bishop, became acting Rector of tiie embryo parish, in combi- 
tion with his special mission.. At the regular service on Sunday morning. January 7, 
1855, fourteen persons were present. The first communion was celebrated on Sunday, 
February 4th, when eleven persons partook of the sacred rite with the Rector. On 
the 1st March, a few of the residents of Oakland, viz.: Messrs. Carter, Daniell, 
Suewrktop, Compton, Washington, and Gallagher met and associated themselves 
together for the purpose of organizing the parish, and on the 5th another meeting was 
held at which Dr. M. Carter, E. A. Suewrktop, and Dr. R. Washington were elected 
Trustees of the same. The necessary papers were then forwarded to the County 
Clerk and the proper record made on March 27, 1855. At the Diocesan Convention 
held in San Francisco in May, 1855, the parish was represented by Dr. Carter and 
Andrew Williams, Esq. It was admitted into converrtion, but owing to various cir- 
cumstances it was not until the 8th of August following that a constitution and by- 
laws were finally adopted. The names of the wardens and vestry, when their full 
number was completed, were as follows: E. A. Suewrktop, Senior Warden; D. Carter, 
Junior Warden, and Clerk of the Vestry; R. Washington, Andrew Williams, and John 
Schander, Vestrymen. A rented room, twenty-five by thirty feet, which had be.n a 
drinking-saloon, on the southwest corner of Seventh Street and Broadway, was fitted 
up with chancel, benches, etc., at an expense of about one hundred and fifty dollars- 
This sum was liquidated by donations and subscriptions, but eighty-five dollars 
remained unpaid at the end of the year, on the score of the first three month's rent. 
The current expenses were met by collections made every Sunday. The cross over 
t'le chancel of St. John's was originally erected over the altar in this room. The Rev. 
Benjamin Akerly, D.D., was called as Rector of St. John's parish, March 1, 1858, since 
when he has ministered to its duties in such a manner as to cause him to be respected 
by all creeds and classes. 

In the month of November, 1854, the foundation of a Baptist Church was laid in 
Oakland under charge and ministerial care of the Rev. Mr. Willis, a highly finished 
scholar and accomplished gentleman. 

1855. — On the night of January 23, 1855, it would appear that an attempt was 
made to destroy the records of the city of Oakland, a proceeding that brought the 
City Council together on the following day, when the accompanying resolution was 
passed, that, 

Whereas, An attempt w.is made on the night of the 23d day of January, 1S55, to destroy and abstract the 
records of the city of Oakland, or a portion thereof, therefore l)e it 

RcsolvcJ, That the Committee of the Whole investigate the matter, and th; cause thereof, if any. That the 
Clerk and Treasurer of said city be instructed to assist the said Committee in all mitters p.-rtaining thereto, in his 
power. That said Committee report at the next meeting of the Council. 

Another session was had on the 27th, when the annexed resolution was carried : — 

Whereas, An attempt has been made to destroy the public archives of the city of Oakland and to burn the 
Hall of said city; therefore be it, . 

Resolved, That the sum of one thousand dollars is hereby offered by the city of Oakland for the arrest and 
conviction of the person or pc-rsons that committed the above offenses. 



Oakland TowNSHrp— City of Oakland. 621; 

It would appear as if the records of the city were a source of great anxiety to the 
Aldermen of the period for, on March 31, 1855, they 

Resolved, That the Clerk of this Council be, and he is hereby instructed to demand from H, W. Carpentier, 
and from any and all persons having possession and control thereof, the book containing the Ordinances and Pro- 
ceedings of the late Trustees of the town of Oakland, the Scrip Book, so called, being the records of scrip and 
warrants issued in behalf of the city of Oakland together with all other books and papers, records and documents, 
belonging to the city of Oakland, and if refused to take all necessary and legal measures for the recovery and 
possession thereof. 

This is certainly a curious motion, for it is hard to conjecture what difficulty there 
should be, and why one should arise, in obtaining official archives from the head of a 
municipal government! On April 25th, Rev. E. J. Willis was granted the use of the 
"Pavilion" for Divine service. Under date April 28, 1855, we find the following 
example of what may be termed an unusual generosity. It would appear that an 
ordinance had been passed calling for tenders to supply the printing for the city, upon 
which H. K. VV. Clarke, proprietor of the Contra Costa newspaper, sent the following 
communication to the Council: "'I will do the advertising of the city of Oakland, 
during the current year, in the columns of the Contra Costa without charge?" On the 
same date, after a short and appropriate address. Alderman Gallagher tendered his 
resignation as President of the Council, when a vote of thanks was passed. The 
Council then proceeded to fill the position, but no choice having been made, after the 
sixth ballot, the election was deferred until the next meeting. On May 2d therefore, 
the matter was once more brought up, when Alderman Williams was declared duly 
elected to the Chair. Mr. Gallagher then resigned from the Council, when he stated 
(by letter) his cause for leaving to be that his business being entirely located in San 
Francisco, and the difficulty of intercommunication being so great, that he could not 
properly attend to his duties on the Council. On his retirement being accepted the 
following resolution was adopted: — 

Whereas, The Hon. Ed. Gallagher, late President of the Council, has tendered his resignation as Member 
of this Council, and. 

Whereas, Said Gallagher, by his efficient services in the Council, has secured the approbation of his fellow. 
Councilmen and of the public; therefore be it 

Resolved, That we only echo the public sentiments of our constituents, when we tender to our late colleague, 
Alderman Gallagher, our cordial and sincere thanks for his able, honest, and faithful services to the public 
while a member of the Board. 

Resolved, That the best wishes of this Council be tendered to Alderman Gallagher for his future health 
and happiness. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the President and Clerk, be transmitted to Alderman 
Gallagher, by the Clerk of this Board. 

On August 8, 185 s, the following salaries and allowances were fixed: Clerk and 
Treasurer, fifty dollars per month; the Assessor, for assessing city of Oakland and 
taking census of children, two hundred and fifty dollars; the Marshal and Collector 
for collecting city taxes, five per cent, on the amount collected and paid into the 
Treasury according to charter; Inspectors, Judges, and Clerks of election, five dol- 
lars per day; Teachers of Public Schools (male department) eighty dollars per month; 
Teachers of Public Schools (female department) eighty dollars per month; while 
November 4th, the salaries of Funded Debt Commissioners were stated at two 
hundred and fifty dollars each. 



622 History of Alameda County, California. 

On January 30, 1855, between the hours of one and three in the morning, George 
W. Sheldon was taken from the hands of the civil authorities in the city of Oakland 
across the bridge into Clinton and there cruelly murdered by an excited and 
outraged multitude. The facts of this disgraceful affair are these: On the night of 
Sunday, January 28th, Edward M. Tuttle had a valuable horse stolen from Kelscy's 
stable in Oakland. Some time during the following day the animal was discovered by 
a milkman looking for some cows that were adrift, concealed and under lock and key 
in a shanty, situated in a secluded and unfrequented place about half a mile distant 
from the stable whence he was stolen. The milkman immediatel\- acquainted the 
owner of the horse of the discovery he had made. Mr. Tuttle with Frank K. 
Mitchell, taking with them Constable Kelsey and three or four neighbors, proceeded 
early in the evening to the shanty, where they found the horse as represented. They 
took the precaution of entering the hovel through an opening which they effected 
in the rear of the building, carefully closing the aperture after them. Between eight 
and nine o'clock they perceived two men approaching the building where they were 
concealed. On reaching the door they stopped for a moment, apparently to see if 
they were unobserved, when Sheldon (who was by his voice immediately recognized 
by those within) remarked to his companion, "It is all right!" He then hastily 
unlocked and opened the door, and, stepping in, saw the figure of a man standing 
before him. At this unexpected apparition, Sheldon started, but recollecting himself, 
he exclaimed, "How are you, Kelsey! I know'd you was here!" Getting no response, 
he continued. "Damn it, why don't you answer? You needn't be afraid." 

Kelsey was not the man addressed. The constable then stepped forward, 
arrested Sheldon, and commanded those with him to take his companion, who proved 
to be one Nathan Parker, familiarly known as Bob Parker. The constable took the 
two prisoners to the office of Justice Ferris, before whom the warrant was returnable. 
Sheldon expressed a wish that the case might be examined before some other Justice 
of the Peace, therefore he was transferred to Justice Marier. The case came on for 
examination before Marier on the following day, the 30th, when the facts as above 
stated were developed by the testimony. The statement of the prisoners themselves, 
as given before the Court, did not materially differ from the evidence on the part of 
the prosecution. Justice Marier thereupon held them to answer to the Court of Ses- 
sions, fixing the bail at three thousand dollars each, in default of which they were 
committed to the "lock-up," until they could be taken to San Francisco Jail — then 
used as the jail of Alameda County. The prisoners were returned to the calaboose 
at one o'clock. 

Soon an excitement began to be noticeable, and summary punishment was pub- 
licly talked of Towards evening the indignation had great!)- increased, and threats 
were openly made that the prisoners should be "strung up." Some citizens advised 
the immediate removal of the prisoners to San Francisco, and the Marshal went so 
far as to unmoor his boat and station it off the wharf in order to facilitate the removal, 
but Constable Kelsey was so confident that no attempt would be made to rescue the 
prisoners, or, if there was such, it could be successfully resisted, that he declined 
assistance and decided to keep the men under his charge until the morning. To one 
of the prisoners the promised morning never dawned! The constable kept a small 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 623 

body of citizens about the "lock-up." There was a good deal of excitement through 
the city during the evening, but no large assembling of people was visible, and the 
impression becoming quite general that no rescue would be attempted, the lieges 
generally retired to rest. Those who resided in the vicinity of the prison were, about 
two o'clock, startled by the horrible cry of "Murder! Murder!" issuing from the vicinity of 
the "lock-up." The prisoners were in the hands of the mob, who, numbering from fifty 
to seventy-five men, all armed with revolvers, came upon and overpowered the guard, 
beat in the door, seized the prisoners, and, almost as quick as thought, were moving 
in order towards the bridge connecting Oakland with Clinton. The mob took the 
prisoners across the bridge into Clinton, and, selecting one of the finest oaks, 
prepared to suspend Sheldon from its branches. He was called upon to confess, 
but declined. The rope was drawn up, so that his feet just touched the ground, when 
he was again called upon to make a confession. He again declined. Again the 
mob drew him up, so that his toes barely touched the ground. He refused to say 
anything that would tend to implicate either himself or others. The mob becoming 
tired of these experiments finally, with a sharp tug, drew him up about three feet from 
the ground, and in a few minutes he was a corpse. » 

Sheldon, after recovering from the effects of his first seizure, was cool and collected to 
the last. He had, once before, been in the hands of the same mob, and was let off on his 
promise of future good behavior. After he was thus summarily executed, the other 
prisoner, Parker, was led up in front of him, and asked to make confession, which, to 
some extent, he did, implicating strongly several parties before suspected. The mob 
becoming satisfied that Parker had been the tool of others in the business of stealing, 
and more fool than rogue, admonished him to leave the county forthwith, and made 
him the bearer of a " notice to quit" to several others by him implicated. The mob 
having accomplished what they deemed their part of the business, dispersed and dis- 
appeared as suddenly as they came, leaving the civil authorities to go through the 
farce of holding an inquest, and finding a verdict of " Death by hanging." 

Among the noticeable improvements in the city of Oakland, in the year 1855, 
was the opening of a drygoods store, with a city-like aspect, in the same building 
with Dr. Washington's apothecary shop; at the corner of Broadway and Second 
Street, by Mr. Gallagher, who was also Postmaster. This store, we are informed, was 
looked upon with wonder by an amazed and admiring population. It was a veritable 
piece of a city; it had none of the old curiosity-shop appearance about it, such 
as prints with wonderfully gay colors and immense straggling patterns on one 
shelf; crockeryware on another; antediluvian hats and ready-made clothing on a 
third; rat-traps, fiddles, drums for boys, and sugar-plums for crying babies, on a fourth; 
with all sorts of cooking and farming implements in corners; and a stone jar of snuff 
standing on the counter, by the side of a little dusty show-case filled with all sorts of 
nick-nacks — everything under the sun, and nothing new. Nothing of the kind, but 
a drygoods store fitted up with taste, and stored with articles sufficient to gratify the 
most ultra-aestheticism. 

1856. — At the election for Corporation officers held March 3, 1856, the office of 
Mayor, to which S. H. Robinson had been elected, was contested by C. Campbell, his 



624 History of Alameda County, California. 

predecessor, and that of Councilman Shattuck, by William Harwood, but, on exami- 
nation of the merits of the case, the original candidates were, March loth, declared 
duly elected. Of the other matters of interest occurring in this year, we have already 
spoken in connection with other subjects of special moment. The march of improve- 
ment, as regards the city, made rapid strides, and all was quiet with its citizens. 

1857. — On June 24, 1857, Dr. de Tavel offered to the Council ten acres for a 
cemetery, situated at the "back of Mr. Fountain's" on the Peralta Road, while 
another offer, of block number two hundred, of the same nature, was made by W. 
H. Bovee; and on July 1st the cemetery ordinance was passed, accepting the first of 
these offers. Subsequently the property passed into the hands of Isaac H. Brayton 
and Edward Tompkins, the latter of whom, under date June 23, 1863, petitioned the 
City Council to the effect that the time had arrived when interments should no longer 
be permitted within the city limits; they therefore requested that the cemetery should 
be closed, and the owners thereof released from all obligations to keep the same open 
as a public burial-ground. The matter was referred to a Committee, who, June 27th, 
reported th^t since the passing of the ordinance the place had been used as originally 
intended, and as no other place within or adjoining the city had been dedicated as a 
burial-ground, and unless provision in some other locality for that purpose were made, 
great inconvenience would result to the citizens; they therefore recommended that the 
contracting parties be not released from their obligation to keep the cemetery open to 
the public until another suitable locality should be appropriated to that purpose 
within a reasonable distance from town. 

This cemetery was situated on Webster Street, whence nearl)- all the bodies have 
been removed. A considerable portion of the property is now in the possession of 
Peter Thomson, a member of the City Council. 

The present beautiful Mountain View Cemetery, a historj' of which will be found 
elsewhere, was selected and purchased in the latter part of the year 1863; it consists of 
some two hundred acres and comprises a vale among the foot-hills. It is situated 
about a mile and a half east of Oakland, while the following named gentlemen consti- 
tuted the first Board of Directors: Hiram Tubbs, Dr. Samuel Merritt, J. A. Emery, Rev. 
I. H. Brayton, William Faulkner, S. E. Alden, Rev. T. S. Wells, G. E. Grant, J. E. 
Whitcher, Major R. \\^ Kirkham, W. H. Bovee, Henry Robinson. 

The first mention we have of railroads is in 1857. On the 15th July of that 
year was adopted, entitled, "An Ordinance granting to Joseph Black, John Caper- 
ton, and their associates the privilege of constructing a railroad from a point beginning 
at high-water mark of the San Antonio Creek at the point of the intersection of 
Seventh Street therewith at the east; then north sixty-four and a half degrees west 
along the end of Seventh Street the distance of seven thousand two hundred feet to a 
stake directly in front of the center of J. D. Brower's house; thence north seventy- 
seven and a half degrees west, si.x thousand two hundred and forty feet to the easterly 
end of Bay Street was adopted, with certain slight emendations, which privileges were 
accepted by Messrs. Black and Caperton on August 7th. Of this franchise, and of the 
subject of railroads generally, Mayor Williams, in his message to the Council of Sep- 
tember 10, 1857, says: "The ordinance granting to Messrs. Black and Caperton and 





i^^^^. 




Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 625 

their associates, certain railroad privileges through the city from Gibbon's Point to the 
site of a contemplated new bridge on Seventh Street was a source of greater solicitude 
than any, or indeed all, the other ordinances of the past six months. I am in the 
abstract opposed to monopolies, but when a great and incalculably important benefit 
to our entire city is proposed to be accomplished by associated enterprise and wealth 
to which individual means are entirely inadequate, all experience in government has 
demonstrated the wisdom and policy of granting to chartered companies a temporary 
monopoly to secure for the public the accomplishment of an otherwise impracticable 
benefit. What though the grantors do make large profit by the operation, so long as 
the whole public is largely benefited, their business promoted, their property enhanced 
in value, their profits increased, population multiplied, and every facility for public and 
individual prosperity surely promoted and encouraged, I consider the project emi- 
nently deserving of the public approbation. It is not to be expected of individuals to 
peril their pecuniary means in a great enterprise which is to shed its blessings like the 
dews of heaven upon all alike, without some prospect of an adequate return. Nor do 
the public desire it. Only convince them that the project is for the general good, 
and it meets at once with the public approbation. And the public approbation of any 
project is all that is needed to insure its triumphant and complete success. The char- 
acter and standing of the applicants for that charter, and their associates, and their 
peculiar situation as resident citizens among us, afford, in my estimation, a sufficient 
guarantee of the bona fides oi X^?: project, and their present prosecution of the objects 
of the grant afford full proof, if any were wanting, of their intention to complete this 
project and their well-founded confidence in its ultimate and successful accomplish- 
ment. 

" For years had our poor, hide-bound city been groaning under the nightmare of the 
most bold and unmasked imposition embargoed at both ends by odious and monstrous 
monopolies,illegaI,oppressive,andiniquitous; her circumference manacled by unfounded 
claims, concocted by fraud and consummated by swiudiling, and her interior foully dis- 
emboweled by ruthless harpies preying on her vitals. It seems as if it would puzzle 
human ingenuity, or even fiendish malevolence, to contrive a system, like the virus of 
the tarantula, more iniquitously calculated to poison the life-springs of our prosperity, 
to reduce the value of our city property, prostrate credit, debar intercourse with our 
neighbors, divert business, choke up every avenue to progress, strangle every effort to 
prosper, ruin the industrious citizen and desolate our beautiful city, the fairest and 
brightest gem in California's diadein, than to shut off at one end of the city business 
intercourse with the traveling public and the whole surrounding country by the 
exaction of illegal tolls,* and on the other, under an unfounded and false pretense of 
an exclusive ferry monopoly, where there can be no ferry monopoly,, bar a healthful 
intercommunication with San Francisco by exorbitant charges for transportation and 
the collection of illegal wharfage in direct violation and open defiance of a city ordi- 
nance; wrongs and outrages hitherto submitted to by a most patient public and long- 
suffering community. 

"The remedy which it is our duty to see applied is plain^ feasible, and easy; it is 
on the one hand to cause all persons exacting or collecting illegal tolls for crossing 

* The Twelfth-Street Bridge, then in the hands of H. W. Carpentier. 



62U History of Alameda County, California. 

the bridge to be prosecuted and punished and, by legal proceedings, cause the toll- 
gate which is an obstruction upon a public highway, to be removed as a nuisance, and 
on the other, to prosecute all persons, whether principals or agents, who exact, collect 
or receive, or cause to be collected illegal rates of wharfage, as is daily done in direct 
and palpable violation of a city ordinance, and encourage a healthful coinpetition in 
steam conveyance between this city and San Francisco. * * * Xhe establishment 
of a free bridge, a railroad and steam competition would soon roll back the black cloud 
that has so long hung like a pestilence over us and pour a flood of life-giving business 
through every vein and artery of our beautiful but prostrate city." 

On May 20, 1861, there passed the Legislature "An Act granting to certain Per- 
sons the right to Construct and Maintain a Railroad through certain Streets in the City 
of Oakland." The description of the line being from a point at or near the westerly 
end of the bridge leading from the city of Oakland to the town of Clinton to a point 
on the bay of San Francisco, where the Alameda County shore approaches nearest to 
Yerba Buena Island, or at such a point as a railroad may be built from to said island, 
under, and by virtue of an Act entitled, " An Act granting to certain persons the 
right to establish and run a ferry between the Island of Yerba Buena and the City of 
San Francisco, and to construct a railroad from said island to the Alameda County 
shore, the right to so construct, maintain, and operate being granted to Rodmond 
Gibbons, William Hillegass, R. E. Cole, Samuel Wood, Joseph Black, and George 
Goss, their associates, successors or assigns, for a period of fifty years. Thus was the 
present local line started. On November 20, 1861, the following ordinance was 
passed : — 
The Council of the City of Oakland do Ordain as Follows: — 

Section One. — The right of way along Seventh Street from its easterly limits, to or near its junction with 
Market Street; and from thence in a straight line to the western boundary of the city, which line is represented 
on a map filed with the Clerk of the Council, and marked "San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, 
Exhibit B," is hereby granted and released to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, for the pur- 
pose of laying a single or double railroad track, and the necessary side-tracks, along said street and line, and 
running cars and carrying passengers and freight thereon; said main track or tracks shall not be laid nearer than 
fifteen feet to the line of the sidewalk, on either side, and shall be made to conform to the grade of the street, and 
to present a level surface with the street at each street-crossing. 

Section Two. — The said company shall have the privilege of erecting upon Seventh .Street, at or near its 
intersection with Broadway, a platform or depot foi the shelter of passengers and baggage, according to the 
dimensions and on a location, designated upon a map, filed with the Clerk of the Council and marked "San 
Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, Exhibit A." 

Section Three. — For and in consideration of promoting the construction of said railroad, and the advan- 
tages accruing to the city of Oakland therefrom, and in consideration of one dollar, and upon the condition that the 
said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company shall, within three years from this date, complete said road 
and bridge upon the line designated on the aforesaid map, marked Exhibit B., the use of that portion of the over- 
flowed land situated at the western terminus of said projected road, and bounded by the mainland on the east, 
and on the north and south by two parallel lines, each two hundred and fifty feet distant from the center line of 
said bridge, and extending from the mainland to the western limits of the city, is hereby granted and released 
to said company for the term of fifty years, and for such further time as the corporate franchise of said company 
shall be extended, and the Mayor of the city is hereby authorized to make, execute, and deliver to said company a 
conveyance, on the conditions aforesaid, of the same: provided, that if at any future time the city of Oakland shall 
lay out and establish a public street within the limits of said tract, and parallel with and adjoining said bridge, or 
crossing the said road at any point not occupied by the buildings of said company, said company shall claim no 
damages therefor. Passed November 14, 1S61. 

[Signed] E. ("iIBBONS, Pn-sidciil of Council. 

Approved November 20, 186 1. 

[Signed] J. P. M. Davis, Mayor of the city of Oakland. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 627 

. . : , f 

And Whereas, In pursuance of the aforesaid ordinance, the Mayor of the said city of Oakland did, on the 
twenty-fifth day of November, A. D. iS6i, execute a deed, which said deed is in the words and figures following, 
to wit: 

Whereas, On the 14th day of November, A. D. 1861, the City Council of the city of Oakland passed an 
ordinance entitled "An Ordinance concerning the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad," which was afterwards 
duly approved by the Mayor of said city on the 20th day of November, A. D. 1861, which said ordinance is in the 
words and figures following, to wit; "An Ordinance concerning the S^n Francisco and Oakland Railroad," which 
is quoted above, and therefore need not be reproduced; so we go on with the deed. 

And Whereas, By the said ordinance the Mayor of the said city is authorized to make, execute, and 
deliver to said Railroad Company a conveyance of the tract of land mentioned in said ordinance, on the conditions 
therein set forth. 

Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said ordinance, for and in behalf of said city of 
Oakland, in consideration of promoting the construction of said railroad, and the advantages to accrue to said city 
of Oakland therefrom, and in the further consideration of one dollar, and upon the conditions that said Rail- 
road Company shall within three years from this date complete said railroad and bridge, upon the line designated 
upon a certain map, copies of which are on file in the archives of said city, and in the office of the County Recorder 
of Alameda County, marked San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, Exhibit B, I, J. P. M. Davis, the 
Mayor of said city, do grant and release to the said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company the use o 
all that portion of the overflowed land situated at the western tenninus of said projected road, and bounded by the 
mainland on the east, and on the north and south by two parallel lines each two hundred and fifty feet distant from 
the center line of said bridge, and extending from the mainland to the western limits of said city, as will more par- 
ticularly appear by reference to said map marked B, as aforesaid. 

To have and to hold the above described premises unto the said San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Com- 
pany, for the use of said railroad for the term of fifty years from the date hereof, and for such further time as the 
corporate franchise of said company shall be extended. Together with all and singular, the tenements, heredita- 
irients, and appurtenances thereunto belonging, or in any way appertaining. 

But if at any time the city of Oakland shall lay out and establish a public street within the limits of said tract 
and parallel to and adjoining said bridge, or crossing said road at any point not occupied by the building of said 
company, said company claim no damage therefor. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the corporate seal of said city to be affixed, this 
25th day of November, A. D. 1861. 

[Signed] J. P. M. Davis, [Seal.] 

Mayor of the city of Oakland. 



Seal of the 
City of Oakland. 



Be it therefore enacted that the said ordinance and deed executed in pursuance thereof, above named and 
recited, be and the same are hereby ratified and confirmed, and declared legal and valid according to the terms 
and conditions therein named, and that the said deed shall be prima facie evidence in all Courts of law, of the 
right of possession in and to the land therein described. 

We have elsewhere shown that the construction of this road received, both here 
and in Sacramento, strong opposition at the hands of the so-called owners of the 
water front, on the strength that a concession of the right of way would be the estab- 
lishment of a monopoly; but the Council thought differently, and in meeting assem- 
bled resolved that such a road was of vital importance to the interests of the commu- 
nity, and was calculated to destroy rather than foster a monopoly. Meanwhile the 
building of the road, with its wharf, went on apace, and on September 2, 1863, the 
first train of cars passed over the line, the track being completed from the end of the 
wharf to Broadway. After that date the cars made regular trips, in connection with 
the Cojitra Costa ferry-boat. It is also a matter worthy of record that the first engine 
and first three cars used on the line were all built at Oakland Point by a Mr. Young, 
while the second engine run was manufactured in Schenectady, New York. The 
honor of driving the first engine along the route belongs to James Bachelder. 



628 History of Alamkda County, California. 

In the meantime the San Francisco and Alameda Railroad was being pushed 
vigorously forward, c.nd its junction with the Oakland line was seriously contemplated, 
a scheme which was perfected on all the lines falling into the hands of the Central 
Pacific Railroad Company. 

Then came the difficulty in regard to the granting of a site for a wharf at the foot 
of Franklin Street, already treated on in the portion of this chapter delegated to a 
consideration of the water-front question, and which it will be unnecessary for us to 
dwell upon here. 

On April i, 1865, the "local line" was extended to Larue's wharf, at San Antonio 
(Brooklyn), beyond which it did not extend until purchased by the Central Pacific, 
while, on March 2Sth, a fire broke out in the railroad station and destroyed property 
to the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars. Early in the month of August, of 
this year ("1865), the report became current that the California Steam Navigation 
Company — then the great monopoly of the State — had purchased the Oakland Ferry 
and Railroad, but the rumor was set at rest by the assumption of its management by 
A. A. Cohen, the Superintendent and chief stockholder in the Alameda line, a move 
that was at the time considered as inimical to the future prosperity of Oakland. 

Among the many railroad enterprises afloat at this time was one for the con- 
struction of a road from Oakland to Goat Island, the proposed line of which was filed 
in the office of the County Recorder, on January 22, 1866, certified by Charles Main, 
President; Peregrine Fitzhugh, Secretary; and L. H. Short, Engineer. The distance 
over which it was proposed to construct the road was, in a direct line from the outer 
end of the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company's wharf to the island, 
nearly two miles, and the greatest depth of water to be passed over, about sixt5' feet, 
and by it would railroad communication be brought to within one and five-eighths 
miles of San Francisco. All efforts, however, to place Goat Island in the possession 
of a railroad company have been defeated by Congress, the island being the property 
of the United States. 

On August 24, 1867, the Council granted permission to the San Francisco and 
Oakland Railroad Company to erect a station at the Point. 

In 1863, the Western Pacific Railroad Company was- formed, its route being from 
Sacramento z'ia Stockton and Livermore to Oakland, while in the same year was 
launched the gigantic Central Pacific Railroad Company. In 1867 it became rumored 
that the last-named corporation had acquired by purchase the franchises granted to 
the first named, a report which subsequently proved well founded ; but we must not 
anticipate. On August 24, 1868, an ordinance granting to the Western Pacific the 
right of way through certain streets in the city of Oakland, was passed; and on Sep- 
tember 25, 1869, Leland Stanford, President of that company, petitioned the City 
Council to the effect that it would be more convenient for the Company, and beneficial 
to the public interests if the Council would amend the ordinance granting the right of 
way through Fifth Street, so that the same should read Third and West Third Streets; 
therefore, section one of the ordinance entitled " An Ordinance granting to the 
Western Pacific Railroad Company the Right of Way and certain Privileges in the 
City of Oakland," approved August, 24, 1868, was amended in accordance with the 
desire therein set forth. On October 4th, the Mayor returned the ordinance granting 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 629 

the privilege, with his reasons therefor, and on the question, " Shall the ordinance 
stand notwithstanding the veto of the Mayor?" being put to the Council, it was lost, 
there being no votes in favor of its passage, and five against it. On October 28, 1869, 
it was announced that the Western Pacific and San Francisco Bay Railroad Compa- 
nies had amalgamated and consolidated into a new company, with Leland Stanford, 
C. P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, E. B. Crocker, E. H. Miller, Jr., 
and A. P. Stanford as Directors, 'the capital being ten millions of dollars. 

Subsequently the Western Pacific Railroad Company took formal possession of the 
"local line" and ferry; by these movements it is shown how the Central Pacific Rail- 
road first reached the bay of San Francisco, and the consolidation with the San Fran- 
francisco and Oakland and San Francisco and Alameda Railroads effected. 

The wharves in use by those roads had been built with a view to the accommo- 
dation of the Oakland and Alameda ferry business, and were extended only to a depth 
of water sufficient to meet the requirements of the boats used upon those lines. 
Extensive additions were at once made to the Alameda Wharf for the temporary 
accommodation of the overland and interior freight, which was discharged there upon 
lighters, towed across the bay, and delivered to consignees at the Second and King- 
street Wharf, at which point freight for shipment on the road was also received, thus 
making San Francisco, practically, the terminus of the overland road as soon as the 
rails were laid to the eastern shore of the bay. 

With the constantly increasing overland, as well as local freight, the necessity for 
some more expeditious method of handling it soon became apparent, and the steamer 
Oakland was accordingly fitted up as the first car ferry-boat, carrying five loaded cars; 
and suitable slips being provided at Alameda and Second-street Wharves, freight was 
thus landed in San Francisco with but little delay and without breaking bulk. 

Meantime, work had been commenced at Oakland Wharf with the view of 
extending it to ships' channel, and providing suitable slips for the reception of the 
largest sea-going vessels, as well as for the boats in the regular passenger and freight 
ferry services. 

The length of this wharf when it came into the possession of the Central Pacific 
Railroad Company was about six thousand nine hundred feet, with a width sufficient 
for a railroad track and a roadway for teams, having at the terminus a single slip for 
the ferry-boat El Capitan. 

The plan adopted for its extension consisted of a new track for the main over- 
land line, connecting with the old wharf about four thousand feet from the Oakland 
shore and running parallel with the same to its terminus; and thence the extension of 
the wharf for a distance of about four thousand two hundred feet, with a width suffi- 
cient for three parallel tracks and a roadway for teams; the construction of three slips, 
one for the passenger-boat El Capitan, one for a new car ferry-boat (the Thoroughfare), 
and one of sufficient capacity to hold four large ships, with warehouses alongside for the 
temporary storage of grain when vessels were not at hand to receive it. Outside of 
these slips there was left an available frontage on either side of more than four thou- 
sand feet, where vessels lie with convenience and safety. Extensive passenger-depots 
>were also provided for, and every arrangement made for the rapid transhipment of 
passengers and freight. 



630 History of Alameda Countv, California. ' 

A new freight ferry-boat, with a capacity for eighteen loaded cars, and additional 
room for sixteen car-loads of loose stock, was built and ready for use as soon as the 
new wharf was completed, in January, 1871, when the freight and passenger business 
of the company's roads was concentrated at that point. It is curious to observe the 
amount and nature of the material used in the construction of the wharf Of timber 
and plank there were, seven millions and si.x thousand eight hundred and seventy-five 
feet, broad measure; eight hundred and forty-eight thousand si.x hundred and fifty- 
eight lineal feet of round piles; and two hundred and fifteen tons of iron. 

On March 24, 1870, an ordinance to authorize the San Francisco and Oakland 
Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad Companies to erect and jnaintain bridges 
across the estuary between the city of Oakland and Brooklyn was passed. 

In 1873 an addition of three and seventy-nine hundredths miles to the Oakland and 
Alameda branch, consisting of a second tract through Railroad Avenue and Seventh 
Street, Oakland, from Bay Street to Harrison Street, and a branch thence to Mastick 
Station, Alameda, was built. This branch crossed the main line at the intersection of 
First and Alice Streets, and crosses San Antonio Creek on a bridge consisting of 
twelve spans of si.xty feet each, and a swing-bridge with two clear openings of eighty 
feet each. The construction of this new line was necessary to enable the local trains 
and ferry to make half-hourly trips, which the rapidly increasing travel seemed to 
require, while, in consummating this arrangement, the Alameda ferry was abandoned, 
and the steamer Alameda, formerly run on that route, placed on the Oakland line, and 
making alternate trips with the ii/ Capilan. The new track was completed and boats 
and trains commenced making half-hourly trips on September 29, 1873, an arrange- 
ment which proved eminently satisfactory to the patrons of the line. 

During the year 1874, sliding ways were con.structed at Oakland Point and the 
work of construction and repairs of steamers, etc., transferred to -that place. Two 
new steamers designed for the ferry line — one for passenger and one for freight 
service — -were built in this year, the Oakland ht.m^ launched in 1874, and the Transit 
in July, 1875. These are the largest boats placed on the line, the latter being able to 
accommodate twenty loaded cars, or four more than the Thoroughfare. In this yean 
too, the construction of new ferry-slips was undertaken by the Harbor Commissioners 
of San Francisco, on East Street, between Marketand Clay Streets. In 1875, a new 
wharf and slip for the ferry-boat running between San Francisco and Oakland' tvV? 
San Antonio Creek (the Creek Route) was commenced, and completed in July of the 
following year, the steamer Capital being entirely refitted for service on the line. In 
1878 a new wharf and slip for the car ferry-steamers were constructed near the mouth 
of the estuary of San Antonio, a work which rendered necessary the removal and 
rebuilding of one thousand feet in length of the north training-wall constructed by the 
United States Government for the improvement of Oakland Harbor, which was done 
w ith the concurrence of Col. George H. Mendell, United States Engineer in charge, 
and without detriment to his proposed plan of the harbor. 

In June, 1879, was commenced, and in 1881 was completed the Oakland Pier, or 
Mole. It is one and twenty-si.xth hundredths miles in length, and two hundred and 
eighty feet in width at the western end. It is largely constructed of rock brought from 
Alameda Caiion, a distance of twenty-six and one-half miles, and the earth used for fill- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 631 

ing the interior portion was also transported by trains a distance of six and three-fourths 
miles. Four parallel tracks extend from the Oakland shore, a distance of four thou- 
sand eight hundred feet, and thence to the terminus, additional tracks (twelve in 
all) are laid, ten of which pass through the depot building. From the western end of 
the rock-pier extends the pile-work forming the ferry-slip, and foundation for a por- 
tion of the main wings of the depot building. This slip is six hundred feet in length 
by one hundred and seventy-seven feet in width at its entrance, and has a sufficient 
depth of water for the largest ferry-steamers at the lowest tides. 

' The depot building, which was also completed in 1881, was designed by Arthur 
Brown, Superintendent of Bridges and Buildings, and with the wharf and slip was 
erected under his supervision. It is constructed in three main divisions longitudinally. 
The main or central part is one hundred and twenty feet wide and sixty feet high, 
and is used mainly for overland and interior local trains. The side divisions, which 
are used by the Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley local trains—connecting half-hourly 
with the ferry-steamers — are each sixty feet wide and forty feet high, and extend as 
wings on either side of the ferry-slips. There are two commodious waiting-rooms for 
passengers. The upper one is one hundred and twenty by one hundred and twenty 
feet, and connects by side aprons with the saloon-deck, while the lower waiting-room 
connects with the main deck of the steamers. Spacious offices for the Divison Super- 
intendent and his assistants, as well as various apartments for the use of employe's mid 
the general accomrnodation of business are conveniently arranged. The structure has 
a total length of one thousand and fifty feet, and covers an area of more than four 
acres. The roof is covered with corrugated iron and glass, and iron is largely used in 
the roof trusses and throughout the whole building. Water-tanks are placed in the 
towers on either side of the slip at a height sufficient to throw water to any part of 
the building in case of fire. Ample provision has been made for all the requirements 
of the business that could be foreseen, and the, facility with which the large passenger 
movement is effected fully attests the efficiency and convenience of the general plari. 
The building is amply lighted, glass being largely used in the sides as well as in the 
roof. It is lighted at night by electricity; and electric lights are also placed at con- 
venient intervals through the yard, so that trains may be moved with as much safety 
by night as by day. This noble depot, the terminal point of a noble enterprise, was 
opened with a grand ball in February, 1881, and is a "red-letter day" in the 
annals of Oakland. 

We will now draw the reader's attention to the following facts and figures, as 
exemplifying the increase in the operations of the Central Pacific Railroad in its 
especial alliance appertaining to the city of Oakland: 

Length of Oakland and Alameda Branches, Central IPacific Railroad. 

1872. 18S1. " 

Oakland Wharf to East Oakland 6 miles. 5 .67 miles. ., 

Oakland Point to IVIastick — 3. 82 •' ■ , " 

Alameda Wharf to Melrose (Haywards) 17 " 5.19 " 

Fruit Vale Connection. .. .^ ■ — 2.01 " 

The second table to which we would, refer is the list of Ferry Steamers belong- 
ing to the Central Pacific Railway: 



632 



History of Alameda County, California. 



1872. Tons. 

El Capitan 982 

Alameda 813 

Oakland 285 

Washoe 580 

Thoroughfare 1,012 

Louise 386 

Flora Temple 334 



1 88 1. Tons. 

Alameda S13 

Amador 896 

Amelia 386 

Capital 1,989 

El Capitan 982 

Oakland 1,672 

Transit 1,566 

Thoroughfare 1,012 

Solano (at Carquinez Straits) 3i549 



The last table is a general statement of the number of passengers passing the 
Central Pacific Railroad and Leased Lines, and necessarily through T:he city of Oak- 
land, during the year ending December 31, 1881, and for comparison the years from 
1872 to 1880 are also shown: — 

Number of Passengers Passed over Central rAciFic Railroad Lines, 1872 to 1881. 



1872- 

1873- 

1874- 

1875- 

1876 — 

1877- 

187S— 

1879- 

1880- 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



' Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



( Eastward 

- Westward 

(^ Eastward and W'estward. 



Eastward 

Westward 

Eastward and Westward. 



t Eastward 

~! Westward 

( Eastward and \\'estward. 



THROUGH. 



21,645 
34>040 

55.685 

23,486 

44.370 
67,856 

24,782 
55.509 
80,291 

30,422 
74,919 
105.341 

37,855 
60,565 
98,420 

31,247 

47,435 
78,682 

25.938 
37.556 
63-494 

25,268 
36,788 
62,056 

30,367 
34,280 
64,647 

30,891 
47,107 
77,998 



265,247 1,203,628 

267,901 1,211,513 

533.148 2,415,141 

296,988 1,310,327 

293.351 1, 3", 649 

590.339 2,621,976 

269,733 ■.573.989 

274,425 1,664,291 

544,158 3,238,280 

288.149 1,935,661 
285,413 2,147,750 
573,562 4,083,411 

352,753 2,379,566 

338,529 2,603,391 
691,282 ! 4,982,957 



537,350 

542,903 

1,080,253 

572,106 

588,986 

1,161,092 

595.903 

621,459 

1,217,362 

674,024 

698,756 

1.372,780 

748,440 

75S.87S 

1, 507,31s 



2,690,527 
2,971,094 
5,661,621 

2,768,053 
2,986,549 
5,754,602 

2,697,090 
2,865,799 
5,562,889 

2,546,192 
2.723,726 
5,269,918 

2,631,627 

2,815,423 
5.447.050 



1,490,520 
1. 513.454 
3.003,947 

1,630,801 
1,649,370 
3,280,171 

1,868,504 
1,994,225 
3.862,729 

2,254,232 
2,508,082 
4,762,314 

2,770,174 
3,002,485 
5,772,659 

3,259.124 
3.561.432 
6,820.556 

3,366.097 
3,613,091 
6,979,188 

3,318,261 
3,524,046 
6,842,307 

3,250.583 
3,456,762 

6,707.345 

3,410,958 
3,621,408 

7,032.366 



It will be unnecessary for us to dwell here upon the South Pacific Coast Rail- 
road. We have put before the reader, in the history of Alameda Township, the offi- 
cial action taken whereby it obtained a footing on the south side of the San Antonio 






cx^-^e^i^ %/^^^^^e</ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 633 

Creek, afterwards crossing it by Webster-street Bridge and locating its terminus at 
the corner of Twelftli and Webster Streets, in the city of Oakland. It is believed 
that it is contemplated to extend the road into East Oakland and its environs, while 
it is possible that eventually it will connect with a direct line from Stockton, coming 
into the valley at Haywards. It is also thought that this road will ere long be 
extended to meet an eastern line at the Colorado River. 

The company is now building a depot extending into the bay as far as that of 
the Central Pacific Railroad Company's terminus, which, with the fast steamers, Bay 
City, Nezvark, and Garden City now on the route, and others, the building of which 
will soon be commenced, will bring passengers to Oakland in half an hour, while 
should the time of starting be changed to every quarter of an hour, as is believed 
will be the case, Oakland will have communication with San Francisco every fifteen 
minutes — but all this is in the womb of futurity. 

On March 25, 1881, a line was organized by the California and Nevada Rail- 
road Company to operate a narrow-guage line from Oakland, and, passing through 
Alameda, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne Counties, scaling the Sierra Nevada, 
reaching the State line near the flourishing mining-camp of Bodie, Mono County. 

After grading a considerable portion of the line in Alameda and Contra Costa 
Counties work was suddenly brought to a stop, and has not since been proceeded with. 

1858. — In our chapter on the legislative history of Alameda County we have 
fully related the adventures of the county's capital; let us now touch upon Oak- 
land as bidding for that of the State. As early as April 29, 1854, we hear of it. In 
his message of that date Mayor Carpentier says: "Frequent reference has been made 
of late by State officers and Members of the Legislature to the subject of locating 
the capital of the State at Oakland; and all who are acquainted with the geography 
and natural advantages of the place must agree that such a location would be a'ju.li- 
cious one, alike calculated to facilitate the labors of legislation and of the public 
services, and to promote the convenience of citizens who may be led, either from 
motives of business or pastime, to visit the capital. If you should be of opinion that 
such a result is likely, and that it would conduce to the permanent welfare of the 
city, I recommend that such steps be taken as will prove your friendliness to the 
proposition." We have already shown how the State capital was located at Sacra- 
mento, but even then there was no despair in Oakland. On March 15, 1858, we find 
the Hon. J. A. Hobart writing to the then Mayor that he had that day given notice 
in the Legislature that he would introduce a bill with concurrent resolutions to remove 
the seat of government to Oakland, and wishing to ascertain from the City Council 
what inducements he could offer from Oakland and San Francisco so that they could 
gain favorable consideration. Mr. Hobart also stated that if there were suitable 
accommodations already prepared, or a sure guarantee that they would be ready by 
New Year, 1859, he could gain a majority for the removal. On receipt of a com- 
munication from the Mayor informing them of the purport of Mr. Hobart's letter, the 
Council resolved that that official be requested to call a meeting of the citizens to 
take into consideration the subject of memorializing the Legislature to locate the 
capitol of the State at Oakland. The next we learn of this matter is that a meet- 
41 



634 History of Alameda County, California. 

ing of the City Council was had, February 20, i860, having for its object the adop- 
tion of measures appropriate for the reception and entertainment of a Legislative 
Committee expected to visit Oakland for the purpose of reporting upon a suitable 
location for the State capital. It was therefore resolved that a committee of three 
members of the Council be appointed for the purpose of making all necessary arrange- 
ments for the reception and entertainment of the visitors. The Chair then appointed 
Aldermen Rogers, Warner, and McDevitt such committee. But nothing came of the 
visit; fifty-three dollars and fifty cents was paid out of the public funds for refresh- 
ments, and Oakland remains without the prize! 

Consequent upon the absence of Alderman McCann, a new election was called 
for September 4, 1858, for a Councilman in his place. F. Warner received the highest 
number of votes. This election was contested by R. Lockwood on behalf of J. 
Dieves, and it was resolved by the Council to call a new election, as there was a dis- 
crepancy of one vote existing between the poll-list and the tall)'-list, while it appeared 
that a difference of but one vote existed between the two highest candidates voted 
for, therefore a special committee was ordered by ordinance, when Mr. Dieves was 
elected by a majority of eighteen. 

1859. — Upon the election of the new corporation officers on March 7, 1859, it 
was resolved by the outgoing Council "That the thanks of this Bod)' be extended to 
F. K. Shattuck, for the able and impartial manner in which he has discharged his 
duties, and that our congratulations be proffered him upon his unsought elevation to 
the Mayoralty of this city." It may be remembered that Mr. Shattuck was the first 
Town Clerk of Oakland, and had, step by step, risen to the highest civic honor in 
the gift of the citizens. On the 6th April, of this year, J. E. Whitcher was authorized 
to make a map of the city, which, September 3d, was completed and accepted by the 
Council. On the 14th November, upon the resignation of Alderman Marier, the fol- 
lowing resolution was adopted : — 

Whereas, A. Marier, late a member of this Board, being about to take his departure from the State, therefore 
Resolved, That the thanks of the Council are hereby tendered him for the faithful manner in which he has 

discharged his duties as a public officer, and that our best wishes for his welfare and success attend him in his new 

and distant home. 

It is said that this gentleman did not return to France, but died in the southjrn 
part of California some years after. 

i860. — In his message of March 28, i860. Mayor Davis states: The city is slowly 
but surely advancing in prosperity. The unsettled condition of title to real 
estate within her limits, and the delay of dredging the sand-bar at the mouth of 
San Antonio Creek, which, if completed, might facilitate and render certain commu- 
nication between here and San Francisco, still operate as drawbacks upon our prog- 
ress. But notwithstanding these drawbacks, improvements of a permanent nature, 
although of a limited extent, are continually going on; society is steadily increasing 
in numbers and intelligence; her churches are well attended every Sabbath, with 
attentive and respectful congregations; her common school is crowded with children 
who are receiving the rudiments of a public education; her seminaries of learning are 
well patronized; these, together with other contemplated institutions of a kindred 



Oakland Township — City- of Oakland. 635 

character whose foundations are about to be laid, are her surest guarantees of pros- 
perity in the future. They, with the influences of her position, her cUmate, and her 
scenery, will in due time attract the attention of the State and draw to her innumer- 
able families to realize their benefits and make her what nature has intended her to 
be, one of the largest and most beautiful cities of the State." The Mayor, however, 
still finds some things extant that might be bettered. He suggests that " Some meas- 
ures of a stringent nature ought to be adopted for the suppression and prohibiting, 
within the city limits, fandango and dance houses." Says he, " These are generally 
kept in our most public streets by the lowest classes of our Mexican and Chilenean 
population. They are the resort of the idle, the polluted, and the vagabond of both 
sexes, who, when any of their numbers are arrested for disturbing the peace or other- 
wise violating the law, stand by and protect each other, even to the extent of perjury, 
so that Courts of justice are generally unable to convict. They, are of no possible 
benefit to a community, but are a positive injury from their baneful influences upon 
the morals and good order of the city. Their presence prevents respectable families 
from occupying houses in their neighborhood. I therefore recommend you to pass 
such ordinances as may be most effectual to enable the city to rid herself of these 
altogether." On March 28th F. F. Fargo, proprietor of the Alameda County Herald^ 
states his willingness to publish the back ordinances enacted by the Council free of 
cost to the city, he deeming them of sufficient importance to his Oakland readers as 
to insure an increased interest in his paper, a proposition that was accepted by the 
Council with thanks. On May 30th the office of City Attorney was created; while, 
on November 28th, the Ordinance Committee was instructed to report an amendment 
restricting the fire limits to the lots on Broadway, seventy-five feet deep, and prohib- 
iting the erection of frame buildings on the remainder over fifteen feet in height. 

1861. — On February 13, 1861, a bill amendatory of the city charter was 
approved by the City Council, and, together with that to provide for the collection of 
delinquent taxes, were ordered to be forwarded to the Representatives from Alameda 
County by the City Attorney. 

The year 1861 is perhaps the most important in, the annals of the country, for it 
saw the commencement of the great rebellion. Military enthusiasm was the order of 
the day, and Oakland was not behind in the arming and equipment of companies for 
military service if need be. On August 31, 1861, the " Home Guard " was organized 
with the following officers: James Brown, Captain; John Potter, First Lieutenant; W. 
H. Puffer, Second Lieutenant; J. H. Hobert, Brevet Lieutenant; H. H. Crocker, 
Orderly Sergeant; T. W. Newcomb, Second Sergeant; W. Woolsey, Third Sergeant; 
Charles McKay, Fourth Sergeant; H. A. Morse, First Corporal; Henry Sommers, 
Second Corporal; C. Stewart, Third Corporal; James Travis, Fourth Corporal. 

1862. — February 5, 1862, there was passed by the Council an ordinance granting 
the right to erect gas-works in the city of Oakland. A duel was fought on the 1st 
June of this year, between Frank Turk and O. C. Hall of San Francisco, but no blood 
was spilled. On October 7, 1862, the Bay District Fair was commenced in Oakland, 
and was well attended, the exhibit of animals of all kinds, as well as of produce, being 



636 ITisTORv OF Ala.mkda County, California. 

highly creditable. Among the articles on exhibition were a squash weighing ninety 
pounds; a cabbage, fifty-one pounds; and a sweet-potato, nine pounds. The celebrated 
horses " Comet," " Hunter," " Kentuck," and " Owen Dale" were shown at the stock 
parade in the evening, as were also certain Clydesdale horses recently imported by 
J. VV. Dougherty and Mr. Martin, of the Amador Valley. J. D. Patterson also pro- 
duced five specimens of celebrated Alderne)' cow,s. At the election of officers the 
following gentlemen were chosen to serve for the ensuing year: J. J. McEwen, Presi- 
dent; S. J Tennent, J. Bowles, Vice-Presidents; William Reynolds, Santa Clara; S. 
W. Johnson, Contra Costa; R. Blacow, Alameda; D. S. Cook, San Mateo; J. A. 
McClelland, San Francisco, Vice-Presidents for counties at large; G. P. Loucks, Piatt 
Gregory, R. G. Davis, Directors; K. W. Taylor, Treasurer; O. Palley, Secretary. The 
annual address was delivered by Rev. Starr King, to a large audience; indeed, there 
was nothing to mar the entire programme but the presence of all manner of gam- 
bling, then but too common at such meetings. On the night of November ii, 1S62, 
Becht's Brewery, situated at the corner of Broadway and Ninth Streets was consumed 
by fire, the loss amounting to six thousand dollars and two thousand gallons of beer. 
During this year an act entitled " An Act to Incorporate the City of Oakland, passed 
March 25, 1854, and repealing certain other Acts in relation to said City" was 
approved, its provisions restating the boundaries of the city, regulating officers, defin- 
ing the duties of the City Council, and fixing the time and method of levying taxes 
1863. — Mayor Bovee, in his message ot March 12, 1863, remarks, in reference to 
the city of Oakland; "The Founded Debt of the city now amounts to the sum of 
thirty-nine thousand one hundred dollars, bearing an interest of seven per cent., which 
is classified as follows: — 

Balance of outstanding debt funded under tlie Act of 1S55, and payable in 1S65 $20,700 00 

Amount funded under Act of 1S58 1 1.200 00 

Amount under Amendatory Act of 1861 7.200 00 



Making the total of $J9, 100 00 

I'he last two named amounts being payable in 187S. 

"The city is therefore required to pay in 1865 the bonds issued in 1855, and by 
section nine of the Funding Act of 1855, it is made your duty in each of the years 
1863 and 1864 to raise by tax upon the property within the cit_\' a sum equal to one- 
half of the amotmt of the debt about falling due. It appears to me that \\ ith the 
prospect before us of an excess in revenue beyond our current expenses, but a small 
tax will be necessary. Our bonds are now selling in the market at about sixty-five 
cents on the dollar, which would make the amount required for the redemption of the 
issue of 1855, equal to thirteen thousand four hundred and fift\'-five dollars. 

"The assessment of 1862-63 shows the taxable property of thecitj- to have been 
about six hundred thousand dollars. The indications now are the roll of 1863-64 
will not be less than seven hundred thousand dollars, on which there is already levieil 
for the present fiscal year a tax of one per cent. 

This will produce $7,000 00 

Add estimated revenue from licenses 2,000 00 



Makes the gross income of the year $9,000 00 

From this there will be required to pay interest on the Funded Debt $2,Soo 00 

Estimated expenses of present year 2.000 00 



$4,800 00 
Leaving to be applied to payment of bonds $4,200 00 



Oakland Township — City o*- Oaicland. 637 

" The prospect before us of a like, or larger, excess in the next year's receipts will 
probably induce you to fix the rate of tax to be levied as low as may in your judg- 
ment be consistent with the object to be attained. I am pleased to be enabled to 
inform you that the city has no obligation beyond her Funded Debt, and that there 
appears from the report of the Treasurer, made to our predecessors, to be in hand in 
the Treasury, nineteen hundred and eighty-seven dollars to the credit of the Interest 
Fund, and a sufficient balance in the General Fund to defray the ordinary expenses 
of the Government until the next taxes are payable." He further states in regard to 
other matters: " The mode pointed out by the charter for the collection of taxes has 
had the result of involving the city in some litigation as to the manner in which the 
assessment was made. I am informed that the collection of the last year's tax has 
been in two instances enjoined by the Judge of the District, and that in one of the 
cases where an injunction issued, suits by the city had been commenced against the 
plaintiff", to the numjier of forty-.eight, to recover the taxes on a tract of unimproved 
property, the whole embracing less than two blocks, the costs of which suits exceed 
many times the amount of the tax sought to be collected, and also, as I am informed, 
the value of the property. I am not prepared to say that the action of our late 
officials in the premises was without authority of law. This is a question that can 
better be determined by the eminent legal gentlemen we have the good fortune to 
number in your Body, but it does appear to me that if such a mode of harassing a 
citizen has legal sanction, it would be no less creditable than just to seek an amend- 
ment removing the objection. The object of such laws should be to enforce the pay- 
ment of taxes, and whilst this may be rigidly done, without injustice, no law of the 
King should receive such construction as operates to confiscate the property taxed, 
more particularly when such result is attained by the accumulation of fees of the 
officers charged with its collection. 

" As the plaintiffs in the injunction suits referred to have proposed to pay the tax 
due to the city, I would recommend that the same be received and that the actions 
commenced against them on the part of the city be discontinued. 

"The duty of appointing a City Attorney devolves upon you, and I would sug- 
gest t'aat such appointment be made as soon as possible. The charter seems to con- 
template that the Mayor shall be, ex officio, City Attorney, but as this provision was 
made in contemplation of the former office being filled by a person of the degree of 
Attorney-at-Law, it cannot be made operative in the present case. 

"The city is at present involved in litigation of much moment, suits being now 
pending involving the right to her water front, and many others respecting streets and 
the collection of taxes of more or less magnitude. It appears to me there has been 
much delay in prosecuting the rights of the city in the suits referred to and that the 
Attorney to be appointed now ought to be a gentleman, not only of experience but of 
sufficient energy to prosecute the litigation in which the city is interested to an imme- 
diate conclusion. I would suggest that the officers to be appointed be instructed to 
report to your Body as soon as practicable, a full statement of the condition of the 
legal business of the city. 

"Another subject to which your attention is asked in connection with the services 
of your legal adviser is the condition of the City Ordinances. I am informed that 



638 ■ History o» Alameda County, California. 

many of them are inefficient to obtain the objects designed by their passage, and that 
there are but few laws on the Ordinance Book that are not subject, more or less, to 
legal criticism. The present time seems to me to be peculiarly appropriate for the 
task, it being one requiring much judgment and experience, and should be accom- 
plished whilst you can obtain the benefit of the more than ordinary' talent of the legal 
gentlemen among you. 

" There has been for some time past much conflict and jealousy between our city 
officers and the officials of the county respecting the charge and subsistence of pris- 
oners. It is contended on the part of the county, that, inasmuch as the city receives 
and appropriates to her own use all the moneys collected for licenses within her limits 
that she should be at the sole expense of the custody and care of her prisoners. To 
some extent this position is well taken. I think the city ought to bear the expense of 
the trial of all persons convicted by her Magistrates of such offenses as may by law be 
punished by Justices of the Peace, but that persons accused of crimes of a higher 
grade, which are triable before a Court of Record, ought to be taken care of at the 
expense of the county. All cities have much transient population, and a large pro- 
portion of offenses are committed by persons of this description, and whilst the 
municipal government may with propriety be asked to bear the expense of preserving 
the peace within its limits as to a' 1 minor offenses, there would be no propriety in 
fixing on the city the expense of a trial for murder merely because the crime happened 
to be perpetrated within her boundaries. 

" A proper chamber for the meeting of the Council together with an office for the 
Mayor and a suitable place in which the records of the city may be kept are urgently 
needed. The damage to the city that would ensue by the loss or destruction of her 
files and records cannot well be estimated. I would recommend an appropriation for 
the purchase of a suitable iron safe in which they may be placed. The services of the 
gentlemen composing your Body are rendered without reward and are the more 
onerous from the fact that they are required at such times as to withdraw you from 
the comforts of your homes and firesides. Whilst I should be much averse to any 
extravagant expenditure for such purposes I deem it only proper that a comfortable 
apartment for your meetings should be provided. It is unfortunate that with the debt 
contracted by our predecessors they were not sufficiently provident to secure to the 
city a suitable building for the transaction of her business." 

On November 22, 1863, Edward Hoskins offered the pavilion on Washington 
Square, formerly occupied by the Alameda Agricultural Society, for sale to the city at 
twelve hundred dollars, who, on December 22d tendered one thousand dollars for the 
same, subject to a good and sufficient deed being given. 

January i, 1863, a Democratic newspaper named T/if Press was started in Oak- 
land by S. B. English, a gentleman who had previously been associated with James F. 
Kapp in the publication of the San Leandro Gazette. It lasted only three months, 
the materialjbeing subsequently purchased by Mr. Gagan when he started the Oakland 
News, in the month of September. 

At this time Oakland was, and with perfect right, proud of the number and 
excellence of her literary institutes. Here was located the only unsectarian college in 
the State, or indeed on the Pacific Coast, to which were attached professors of 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 639 

acknowledged ability and talent. It afforded every facility for acquiring a classical 
education, and erected an ornamental frame building for its purposes. The Oakland 
Female College was in course of construction at this time; while the College School, 
offering all the advantages of a first-class High School, was in full swing. Besides 
there was Mrs. Blake's Seminary, considered the most fashionable institution in this 
portion of the State, and there were the free and several private schools as well. In 
addition to her schools Oakland was beginning to show activity in her industries. 
The News of November 19, 1863, has the following: " Few of our citizens are aware 
of the amount of work turned out by Messrs. Barnes & Palmer at their planing-mill 
on the corner of Second and Washington Streets, in our city, or of the magnitude and 
capacity of that establishment. This firm commenced an humble business one short 
year ago, doing within themselves almost all of their own work, but, by their prompt- 
ness, energy, and strict attention to business, soon became the' leading contractors in this 
place. Since their start they have turned out and are now turning out nearly all the 
moldings and scroll-work used on this side of the bay, their machinery being suitable 
for this work, as well as for doors, sash blinds, window and door frames, finish for 
buildings, and every article usually manufactured in an ordinary planing-mill. By 
the use of the latest and most improved machinery they are enabled to compete 
successfully with San Francisco firms, or, in ' fact, any firm in the State, so far as the 
cheapness and quality of their work is concerned, and we are glad to know that our 
citizens are becoming fully aware of this fact, as a rapid increase of business amply 
testifies. Pass when you will and the hum of busy industry is heard in the locality of 
this shop, its capacity being tested to its utmost extent from early morning until the 
late hours of night. Twenty-five mechanics are now regularly employed, and even 
this large force is being added to weekly. The heavy contracts for the various build- 
ings which are now in progress of construction here, have been awarded to this firm, 
their superior facilities giving them great advantages over many other competitors. 
Nor is the reputation of this firm confined to Oakland; other cities are fast becoming 
acquainted with the merits of the Oakland Planing-Mills. Messrs. Barnes & Palmer 
have been lately receiving plans and specifications of public buildings and private 
residences from San Mateo and San Francisco, and the contractors of the latter will 
have to figure pretty close if they would prevent our Oakland mechanics from getting 
the inside track. And whatever work they agree to do will be done promptly and 
well, their employes being all firss-class mechanics, while their foreman, Mr. Willet, as 
an outside workman, has very few equals in the State." 

In the month of December, 1863, Archbishop Alemany, assisted by Revs. 
Messrs. Harrington, Quinn, and Gabriel, performed the interesting and impressive 
ceremonies of consecrating the new Roman Catholic Cemetery, about four miles from 
Oakland. It was named St. Mary's Cemetery, and contained thirty-six acres, six of 
which were in the first instance inclosed. The ground was formerly known as the 
Mahoney Ranch, and was purchased from Thomas Mahoney. The first person to be 
buried in it was a Mr. Murphy, who was interred on the afternoon of the day of con- 
secration. 

1864. — The Street Railroad system of Oakland, which had its birth in this year, 



640 History of Alameda County, California. 



is very comprehensive, all of the streets of present or prosjjcctive importance being 
covered by a franchise. On June 25, 1864, E. B. Walsworth petitioned the City Coun- 
cil to the effect that he, with others, at great cost and expense, had erected just outside 
the northerly limits of the city, a building devoted to the purposes of learning, 
known as the "Pacific Female College," which at that time was somewhat inaccessible 
to strangers and persons residing in other parts of the State and from whom the said 
Institute expected to derive its chief support, while there being no regular means of 
communication or transportation between the ferries and railroads of the city and the 
college, the petitioner prayed that he should be granted the privilege of constructing 
and maintaining a railroad from the southerly limits of the town, running through 
Broadway, or some other parallel street, to the thoroughfare known as the Telegraph 
Road, and extending to the northerly limits of the city, and asking that he may be 
permitted to use either steam or horse power on it when completed. On December 
27, 1854, a petition was received from Messrs. Weston, Fogg, and Goss, a committee 
on behalf of the Oakland Railroad Compan}-, for permission to lay a double track on 
Broadway, below Fourteenth Street, and a single track from Fourteenth Street to the 
corporation line, with the other necessary improvements. The prayer was delegated 
to a committee to report, and stated that the Oakland Railroad Company is a cor- 
poration duly incorporated for the purpose of constructing, owning, and maintaining, 
a railroad from a point in Broadway, at or near the wharf in the city of Oakland, to a 
point in Oakland Township at or near the lands belonging to the "College of Califor- 
nia," the road being located through Broadwa}- and Telegraph Road. On February 
21, 1865, the Council — 

Resolved, That the Oakland Railroad Compan)', previous to obtaining any rif^ht to lay tracks in the city, 
shDuld agree to the following propositions: First, that the Company shall not ask the Legislature for any exten- 
sion of the term of twenty-five years without previous authorization of the Council, nor the right to use steam 
within the city limits without such previous authorization. Second, that the company shall petition and if possi- 
ble obtain from the Legislature the right to collect fare within the city limits. 

The term of franchise was, however, changed to twenty years, on the 10th of 
March. 

On March 28, 1865, a petition was received from the Contra Costa Railroad 
Company, to construct a line in the city of Oakland, from the \\ater front of the said 
citv, where the same is intersected by Broadway, and over and along said Broadway 
to its intersection with the roads know^n as the Telegraph and San Pablo Roads, or 
from said water front at its intersection with Washington Street, and over and along 
said Washington Street to its intersection with the said San Pablo Road, and thence 
along said road to the northerly boundary of the city. 

In respect to the Oakland Railroad Company, the committee to whom was 
referred the draft of an ordinance granting to them the right of way to lay down a 
track in the city of Oakland, reported, August 15, 1865, that in their opinion the 
Council had no authority to pass the ordinance making the grant. They further 
stated: "The city is a municipal corporation existing and acting only b\- virtue of its 
organic law. It possesses no power not expressly given by its charter, except inci- 
dental powers which are necessary to the e.xercise of the powers expressly granted — 
or authorized by the general laws of the State; and we have only to look first to the 
charter, and second to the general laws to determine the question. 





?r 




'04/ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 641 

"First. — An examination of the charter fails to disclose any authority given 
directly or indirectly to divert a public street from its ordinary use. Streets are 
public property, dedicated to ordinary public uses, and no power is given to the cor- 
poration to permit them to be used for other than ordinary purposes — much less 
to give one man, or set of men, any exclusive right to use the same for any purpose. 
The Legislature has always regarded the exercise of such a power as dangerous to the 
public interests, and hence no municipal charter, it is believed, in the land, delegates 
such power to a city government. The right to control a public easement to the 
extent under consideration remains with 'the Legislature, and it is only granted in 
special cases by special Acts. But it is sufficient to say that the charter of Oakland 
does not, in terms or by implication, authorize the grant. 

"Second. — No general law of the State authorizes it, but, on the contrary, all 
the laws on the subject directly imply the reverse. 

"By Section twenty-one of the General Railroad Law (Acts of 1861, page 618) 
it is provided that a city may grant to a railroad company the use of any street which 
may be absolutely necessary to enable such company to reach an accessible point for 
a depot in such city, or to pass through the same on as direct a route as possible; but 
it expressly excepts street railroads from the benefits conferred by the section. Here 
then is something more than a denial by implication; but the section goes further 
and provides that no railroad company shall use their railroad for street railroad pur- 
poses, or for the purpose of carrying passengers for a consideration, from one point to 
another in the same city. 

"Section fifty-eight provides that corporations may be formed under the Act, for 
the purpose of constructing, running, and maintaining a street railroad, being wholly 
within the limits of a city, etc., under a franchise granted to such ccrporation or its 
assignors, by the Legislature of the State. By tliis section the principle is clearly 
recognized that the power to grant such franchises is in the State, and what follows in 
the same section makes the matter still more clear, for it provides that such corpora- 
tions — i. e., street railroad companies — shall have all the rights, powers, and privileges 
conferred by the Act granting the franchise. By a fair construction of the section we 
conclude that the Legislature intended first, that street railroad companies should 
not operate except by virtue of a special Act; and second, that such companies should 
not have or exercise rights, powers, or privileges not conferred by such special Act. 

" But it may be answered that the Oakland Railroad Company is not a strict 
railroad corporation; perhaps it is not, strictly speaking, a street railroad company, 
yet it is such for all purposes contemplated by the restrictive clauses of the Act 
referred to, and would be so regarded by a court of equity. The fact that the road is 
intended, at some definite time, to be extended considerably beyond the northern 
limits of the city, does not at present make it the less a street railroad; for, were it 
otherwise, the express provision of the law could be evaded by continuing the track 
one foot or one inch beyond the northern limits of the city. But, admit that the 
proposed road would not be a street railroad in the sense used by the statute, and we 
still meet with difficulties in the sections of the Act before referred to; for there a city 
is only allowed to grant the right of way through on as direct a route as possible, or to 
grant the use of a street which may be absolutely necessary to enable the company to 



(342 History of Alameda County, California. 

reach an accessible point for a depot. It does not appear necessary to go to the foot 
of Broadway to reach an accessible point for a depot. 

"But the inhibition against using the proposed road for 'street railroad purposes' 
or for the purpose of carrying passengers, for a consideration, from one point to another 
in the same city (see Section twenty-one, above referred to) would seem to be suffi- 
cient to satisfy the company a.s to the unprofitable nature of their enterprise. They 
may be, and doubtless are, acting under advice as to their legal rights. 

" In the case of The State of New York vs. The Mayor and Aldermen of the 
City of New York [3 Duer's Rep. p. 1 19, cited in Redfield's Railroad Law, p. 616], 
the powers of municipal corporations in like cases are thoroughly discussed, and the 
conclusion of the court is that such corporations do not possess the power to make 
grants like the one petitioned for by the Oakland Railroad Company. 

" D. P. Barstow." 

This report was referred to a Special Committee composed of Alderman Jayne, 
Shattuck, and Faulkner, who, August 22d, reported an ordinance granting the right 
of way as prayed for, to which several amendments were offered, the whole matter 
being subsequently referred to Messrs. Jayne, Miner, and Barstow, as a special 
committee, whereupon Mr. Barstow offered the following resolution, which was 
adopted: — 

Resolved, That the Council will cooperate with the Oakland Railroad Company in procuring from the Leg- 
islature at its next session a franchise in conformity with the accompanying general form of an ordinance, provided 
that said Oakland Railroad Com])any shall notify the Council of their acceptance of the same on or before the first 
day of December next. 

On January 30, 1866, a copy of the bill was transmitted to the Legislature, with 
the amendments proposed by the Council. The compan\- obtained its franchise from 
the Legislature, May 3, 1866. This special Act granted to the Company the right to 
lay a track from Broadway Wharf to the University Grounds, the track within the 
city to be a double one, should the company so desire. Along the Telegraph Road 
only a single track could be laid. The fare for a single passenger was limited to ten 
cents, and sixteen tickets must be sold for one dollar. The franchise was to last 
thirty years; the speed was not to exceed eight miles an hour; and at the expiration 
of ten years the rates of fare were to be again fixed by the Legislature. The names 
of the original incorporators of the company are: F. Delger, E. B. VValsworth, 
Israel W. Knox, A. Hersey, S. E. Alden, I. H. Brayton, F. E. Weston, F. K. Shat- 
tuck, B. F. Ferris, S. H. Willey, George Goss, George H. Fogg. 

On March 12, 1866, Mr. Jayne presented a petition of property-holders and • 
residents on Fourth, Eighth, Twelfth, Broadway, and Market Streets in favor of a 
charter being granted by the Legislature for the building of a horse railroad on said 
streets. Also a bill granting to R. J. Vanderwater and his associates the right to 
construct said railroad, and a petition from that gentleman soliciting the Council to 
recommend to the Legislature the passage of said bill. 

On January 18, 1868, in the matter of the Oakland Railroad Company, the 
Council passed the following resolutions: — 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 643 

Resolved, That the Council of the city of Oakland are opposed to the attempt to revive the Oakland Railroad 
franchise b)' an extension of time for commencement of the same. 

Resolved, That we are in favor of granting a new franchise under proper limitations. 

Resolved, As the sense of the Council, that any grant for a horse railroad should compel the company asking 
for a franchise to complete the same within one year from the time of the grant, and to commence the same within 
six months. 

Resolved, That the Clerk forward to our Senator and Assemblymen a copy of these resolutions. 

This bill was duly approved February 4, 1868, and the time for completing the 
road so extended that, under the law, one track should be laid within the limits of 
the city within three years and six months from the date of the passage of the first 
Act, and the whole road completed within five years from that time. 

On May 2, 1870, the right of way was granted to F. K. Shattuck and others for 
a street railway to commence at the charter line on the east of the city on Twelfth 
Street; thence upon and along said line of Twelfth Street to Broadway; thence down 
Broadway to Eighth Street; thence westerly along Eighth Street to Wood Street; 
thence southerly along Wood and Pine Streets to Railroad Avenue; another franchise 
being at the same time granted to said parties for a line commencing at the water 
front on Adeline Street and running thence along that thoroughfare northerly to the 
charter line. On May 24th a petition was received by the Council from B. F. Mann 
and others for the right to lay and operate an iron railroad commencing at Broadway, 
at its intersection with San Pablo Road, along that thoroughfare to the charter line. 
On August 29th an ordinance granting to certain persons the right and franchise for 
constructing, building, and operating and maintaining a street railroad from San 
Antonio Creek along the center of Market Street to the northern charter line of the 
city, was passed. On May 22, 1871, an ordinance granting to Edward Tompkins, 
Thomas J. Murphy, and others the right to lay down and maintain an iron railway 
in certain streets, and, June 2d, another giving a like privilege to J. S. Emery and 
others for a steam railroad through Peralta Street, were passed. This latter was 
again granted a franchise in 1872. June 24, 1872, an ordinance granting to the Oak- 
land Central Railroad Company a franchise to lay a track and operate a line on 
Second and Franklin Streets was passed, and, on December 9th, a like privilege for 
certain other streets was granted to H. F. Shepardson, Theodore Meetz, H. S. Sheer, 
and J. E. Whitcher. This last is the Alameda Road. On March 10, 1873, certain 
privileges were granted to the Oakland, Alameda & Piedmont Railroad Company. 
On December 8, 1873, an ordinance was passed consenting to the abandonment of the 
portion of the franchise, so far as regards Eighth Street, to the Oakland, Brooklyn & 
Fruit Vale Railroad. On March 9, 1874, the Oakland Railroad Company were 
authorized to lay down an additional track from Fourteenth to Durant Streets. 
On September 21, 1874, an ordinance granting to the Alameda, Oakland & Piedmont 
Railroad Company the right to lay down an iron railroad on certain streets was passed. 
On April 12, 1875, the right to lay a track in certain streets was granted to C. T. 
Hopkins and others. On February 7, 1S76, the same privilege was granted to the 
Northern Railroad Company as far as regards Cedar Street. On March, 13, 1876, the 
right to construct a street railroad for horse-cars was granted to the East Oakland, 
Fruit Vale, and Mills' Seminary Railroad Company. On March 20, 1876, the same 
right was given to Grant I. Taggart and others for a line extending from West Oak- 



044 History of Alameda Countv, Cai.ikornia. 

lanJ to the eastern limits of the city. On April 24, 1876, the right to construct a 
raih- )ad on Market Street was granted to the Oakland, Berkeley, and Contra Costa 
Raihoad Company, and, on June 26th, a franchise was given to the Broadway and 
Piedmont Railroad Company. On November 12, 1S77, 1"„ C. Sessions and others 
were granted like privileges on East Eleventh Street. On February 17, 1 S79, an 
ordinance granting to A. C. Dietz and associates the right to la)- a steam railroad in 
the city was passed, the " Elsey Ordinance" being lost at th j same meeting, and, A[)ril 3, 
1882, an ordinance was passed granting to the California and Nevada Railroad Com- 
pany the like privileges. 

In the year 1864 the glory and promise of the Alameda Agricultural Ass(3ciation 
was dimmed by the selling of their buildings on Washington Square by E. Hoskins, 
who held a mortgage over the property, while a similar fate subsequenth- befell the 
Agricultural Pavilion. In this year (1864) there were passed by the Legislature, "An 
Act to authorize the Cit)- Council of Oakland to improve streets, lanes, alle)'s, courts, 
and places. To have power to lay out new streets; to grade and improve; notice to 
be given of intention to improve; remedy of persons aggrieved; to file a remonstrance; 
owners of property to petition for improvements; how contracts are to be made; duty 
of Marshals; assessment for expenses; city to pay for improvements on its own prop- 
erty; when done on one side of the street, the lots on that side only to be assessed; 
City Marshal to make assessments; warrants to be attached to the assessments; asses.s- 
ments to be a lien on the property; contractors to collect; appeal to counsel; contrac- 
tors may bring suit;" and, "An Act supplementary to an Act entitled, 'An Act to 
Incorporate the city of Oakland, pas.sed March 26, 1854. Abating nuisances within 
ci.ty limits; providing building for municipal purposes; licenses; election ol Justice of 
the Peace.' " 

In April, 1864, a Methodist church was commenced on the corner of Ninth and 
Washington Streets, the building to be sixty feet long and thirt\'-eight in width, and 
to cost five thousand dollars; the architects being Hagland & Newsom. The build- 
ing was dedicated in August, 1864. On June i ith, the George Goss, afterwards named 
the Louise, a new steam ferry-boat, was launched in San Francisco; she being intended 
to replace the Contra Costa. In the same month, Messrs. Lcland & Harwood opened 
a lumber-yard at the foot of Broadway. In August, 1864, the North Oakland Home- 
stead Association filed its articles of incorporation, having as its object the purchase 
of large tracts of land in Oakland Township, and the subdivison of them into lots for 
the members. Capital stock, twenty thousand dollars, divided into one hundred dol- 
lar shares: Trustees, J. S. Emery, Thomas Bass, D. N. Hawle\-, T. B. Bigelow, Elijah 
Bigelow, J. G. Darves, W. W. Crane, Jr.: while, on the 2Sth of the same month, the 
College Homestead Association filed its articles, capital stock, sixty-two thousand 
five hundred dollars, divided into shares of five hundred dollars each. Trustees: 
William Sherwan, E. B. Walsworth, Ira P. Rankin, L. B. Benchly, Cyrus Palmer, John 
W. Dwindle, J. B. Bigelow. On August 22, 1864, A. Mullcr, opened a hotel at the 
corner of Broadway and Second Streets; while we learn that in the month of Septem- 
ber, the Oakland Flouring Mill was doing a large and profitable busine.s.s, under the 
direction of Potter & Co. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 645 

1865. — On January 25, 1S65, the Oakland Nezvs passed into the hands of Gagan 
& Watson, by whom the paper was continued to the full standard of its former excel- 
lence. O: January 27th, the Oakland Union Homestead Association filed its certifi- 
cate of incorporation, the capital stock of the comp my being twelve thousand five 
hundred dollars, divided into fifty shares of two hundred and fifty dollars each, its 
Trustees being, Thomas Bass, G. McAmes, W. W. Crane, Jr., VV. Leonard, and E. 
Bigelow. In this year the Pacific Novelty Iron Works were fully established. This 
company located themselves at Oakland Point in the month of April of the previous 
year under the superintendence of J. M. Wooster, the other olificers of the company 
being, B. D. T. Clough, President, and William McDonald, Secretary. On February 
25, 1865, there died one of Oakland's most respected citizens. John McCann, by his 
social qualities, generous disposition, and upright bearing, had won for himself the 
good-will and sincere friendship of all win knew him. One of the earliest pioneers 
and residents of the city, he was widely known. He received a military funeral at 
the hands of the Oakland Guard, of which he was a member. 

On the morning of Saturday, March 25, 1865, one of the- most destructive fires 
that ever visited the city of Oakland, broke out about two o'clock in a restaurant front- 
ing on Seventh Street, immediately in the rear of a saloon kept by N. S. Knowlton, 
an J owned by a Frenchman named M. Normandin. Of this disaster the News says: 
" The wind was blowing hard at the time from the northv.^est, sweeping the flames and 
burning cinders on the ro )f and rear windows of the Delger Block, enveloping them 
in the devouring element. The furniture store of Myer, on the east, was soon involved 
in the flames, as were the dwelling-house and baksry of D. L. Smith, the undertaking 
establishment of W. W. McKenzie, and also the residence fronting on Sixth Street, 
owned by Mrs. Davis, and occupied by Mr. Watson, publisher of the Nezvs. In half 
an hour, perhaps, the flames had communicateJ to all the buildings on the entire 
block, save a little isolated one on the northwest corner, which alone of all the struc- 
tures in the whole block, was saved. The people turned out en masse to render what 
service th°y could in saving the buildings. The enterprising and comprehensive 
statesmen who have had the control of our municipal affairs, and have thus far set 
their faces like flint against the useless extravagance of purchasing a few hundred dol- 
lars' worth of fire apparatus, relieved all efforts for the salvation of the buildings, and, 
as a matter of course, every one tried to save whatever merchandise and furniture he 
possibly could. What causes peculiar chagrin and mortification is the fact that a 
hook and ladder company of even twenty men, properly organized, could have saved 
five-sixths of all the property destroyed. The Common Council, notwithstanding 
repeated calls have been made for fire apparatus of some kind, have steadfastly ignored 
the palpable necessity, and to-day we regard them as being mainly responsible for the 
loss of property suffered on that occasion. Their vaunted economy has proved to be 
of the 'penny wise pound foolish' order. The financial acumen displayed by the 
Common Council in saving one thousand dollars to the city at an expense of fifty 
thousand dollars' worth of property, should raise them wonderfully in the public estima- 
tion and entitles each individual member to a mausoleum when he ' shuffles off this mor- 
tal coil.' The amount of the matter is, the peqple of Oakland — the property-holders — 
pay their taxes in order that they may have protection for their lives and property; 



646 



History of Alameda County, California. 



and the Common Council is expected to furnish such protection promptly and effect- 
ively. The paltry excuse that the old debt should first be liquidated before any new 
one is incurred, so far as it relates to the trifling outlay for a fire-engine or hook and 
ladder apparatus, will not be tolerated hereafter. The people are willing to be taxed 
for this purpose and have always been willing; the very knowledge spread abroad by 
the San Francisco papers that the city of Oakland has not even a solitary bucket to 
be used in case of fire, is calculated to retard the progress and advancement of our 
town by discouraging people from purchasing and improving property in our midst. 
This fact alone will do us more damage than even the destructive fire of last Satur- 
day. It is really a disgrace to us as a city, but the shame rests entirely on the heads 
of the Common Council. We trust that this lesson so dearly purchased will not be 
entirely lost, and that measures will be taken, even at this late date, to organize a fire 
department that will secure us somewhat from a repetition of the late conflagration." 

In the month of April, 1865, the post-office was located in the V^aldez Block with 
Doctor Yard as Postmaster, a position that was felt to be most convenient. 

The event of greatest moment that occurred in the year 1865 was, unquestionably, 
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theater, Washington, District of Colum- 
bia, by John Wilkes Booth, on the evening of the 14th April. Sixteen years later, 
July 2, 1 88 1, another and more atrocious deed of the blackened hand of the assassin 
called one more President of the Union to cross the dark river. In Abraham Lincoln 
and James A. Garfield civilization lost two of its chiefest ornaments. Perhaps no 
such dual calamity had ever occurred before to any nation; is it a wonder then that 
the whole land was twice flooded with tears, and each mourned as if for a father? In 
Alameda the intelligence of these deeds was received with every public demon- 
stration of grief, while appropriate resolutions were passed, and ceremonies observed. 

The following beautiful lines on the death of President Lincoln from the gifted 
pen of Sister Annie Fitzgerald, of the Convent of Notre Dame, San Josd, would appear 
to be equally fitted to that other dastardly deed, and may appropriately find a place 
here: — 



Has he fallen, our Country's Ruler ? 

Has he fallen, our Country's Chief ? 
'.Mid the gloom of a Nation's mourning. 

And the wail of a Nation's grief. 

Has he fallen, our Country's Ruler? 

O hearts that have bled and must bleed, 
Has he fallen in the hour of his triumph, 

And the hour of our sorest need ? 

Has he fallen, whose hand hath guided 
Our ship through the raging waves. 

Till the roar of the battle's tempest 
Die;d low o'er its mound of graves; 

Till the clouds from our skies seemed sweeping. 
And the seething billows to cease, 

And the light of a happier future 

Dawned bright on the shores of peace ? 



Shame, shame on the soul and manhood 

Of even his veriest foe, 
That grudges his deadliest scorning 

To the dastard that dealt the blow. 

Aye, the wrath of a widowed Nation 

Be poured on the guilty head; 
But shame not the name of the millions 

With the blot of a crime st) dread. 

With ihe blot of so dark a nuirder, 
With the curse of the hearts that bleed. 

Nay, even the cheek of treason 
Must blush at so foul a deed. 

Droop lower, O sacred banner! 

Droop lower thy folds to-day; 
For the crimson blood of our Chieftain 

Hath hidden thy stars away. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



647 



Has he fallen, our Country's Chieftain ? 

Aye, Patriot souls, to-day 
The heart in his generous bosom 

Lies cold as the pulseless clay. . 

Oh! the ban of a Nation's hatred, 
And the blight of a Nation's woe, 

And the curse of a Nation's vengeance 
On the hand that has laid him low. 

On the hand with its fiend-like malice, 
On the heart that the crime hath nursed. 

On the life of the base assassin, 
Let the lowering tempest burst. 

For never a kindlier foeman. 

And never a truer chief. 
Hath passed from a Nation's anguish 
''JMid the wails of a Nation's grief 



Droop lower, O mourning banner! 

Droop low o'er our Country's breast; 
O'er the North in its widowed glory, 

And the orphaned East and West. 

Droop low o'er the wrongs and sorrows, 
And the hopes that are passing away; 

Toll drearily, bells, your sad dirges. 
Toll drearily, bells, to-day. 

Pour out the deep voice of your tidings, 
O sonorous cannon's deep mouth! 

Weep, weep o'er our loss and thy future. 
Thy bitterest tears, O South. 

Weep, North, in thy widowed glory, 
For the heart that hath loved thee best. 

And wail o'er your martyred father, 
O orphaned East and West. 



Wail, wail for the clouds that gather 

So dark o'er our stormy way; 
He has fallen, our Country's Kuler, 

He has fallen, our Country's Stay. 

At the meeting of the Council held April i8, 1865, consequent upon the news of 
President Lincoln's death, Mr. Shattuck offered the following resolution, which was 
unanimously adopted : — 

Resolved, That the untimely death of the Chief Magistrate of the Nation at this particular crisis, is a calamity 
that must be deplored by every good citizen, coming as it does at the very commencement of the fruition of the 
great and patriotic measures which he virtuously maintained and vigorously upheld during the long and trying 
period of his public career. We confess that our grief is mingled with the fear that no living man can accomplish 
all that his patriotic devotion could have achieved. In view of the great loss which the people of the American 
Continent, and of the whole civilized world, have sustained in the catastrophe, we recommend that all places of 
business be closed on the 19th day of April, 1865, and that our citizens generally participate with the people of the 
United States on that day in rendering homage to the history and memory of the Great Departed. 

In Oakland the signs of mourning were general, the newspapers turning their 
column rules, and the public and many private buildings being draped in black. 

On October 24, 1865, petitions were received from W. W. Beggs & Co. and P. 
B. Brumer, praying for permission to erect gas-works in the city of Oakland, which, 
November 21st, were handed over to a special committee for a report. Another 
petition was received for a like purpose on November 28th, from A. C. Dietz and E. 
W. Travers. On December 8th, Joseph G. Eastland and W. W. Beggs were granted 
the privilege sought, by ordinance, but they were succeeded by the Oakland Gas 
Light Company, who, July 3, 1866, were granted permission to erect their works on 
Block No. 6, bounded by First, Second, Washington, and Broadway Streets, further 
time being also given for the completion of the building. On December 4th a 
committee of the Council was appointed to ascertain upon what terms the company 
would light the city with gas, and report a contract, which they did on the 19th of 
the same month, stating that the Oakland Gas Light Company had covenanted to 
erect lamp-posts in accordance therewith. As these were the first gas-lamps in the 
city let us state where they were placed: one on the southerly end of Broadway; one 
on the southeast corner of Broadway and Water Street; one on the southwest corner 



C-tS History of Alameda County, California. 

of Broadway and First Street; one on the southwest corner of Broadway and Second 
Street; one on the southeast corner of Broadway and Third Street; one at the south- 
west corner of Broadway and Fourth Street; one at the southeast corner of Broad- 
way and Fifth Street; one at the southwest corner of Broadway and Sixth Street; 
one at the southeast corner of Broadway and Seventh Street; one at the southwest 
corner of Broadway and Fighth Street; one at the southeast corner of Broadway and 
Ninth Street; one at the southwest corner of Broadway and Tenth Street; one at the 
southeast corner of Broadway and Eleventh Street; one at the southwest corner of 
Broadway and Twelfth Street; one at the southeast corner of Broadway and Thirteenth 
Street; one at the junction of Broadway and San Pablo Road. 

On Eighth Street: one on the northeast corner of Washington and Fighth 
Streets; one on the southeast corner of Clay and Eighth Streets; one on the northeast 
corner of Jefferson and Fighth Streets; one on the southeast corner of Grove and 
Fighth Streets. 

On Twelfth Street: one on the northeast corner of Franklin and Twelfth Streets; 
one on the southeast corner of Webster and Twelfth Streets; one on the northeast 
corner of Harrison and Twelfth Streets; one on the southeast corner of Alice and 
Twelfth Streets; one on the northeast corner of Jackson and Twelfth Streets. 

On Seventh Street: one on the northwest corner of Washington and Seventh 
Streets. 

The contract referred to above stipulates that for the period of ten \-ears, from 
July I, 1868, the gas-lamps to be used in the streets of Oakland shall be erected and 
maintained by the Oakland Gas Light Company. For the first five j'ears, the com- 
pany shall receive twenty-two and a half cents per night per lamp, until the number 
may exceed two hundred and fifty, when the price shall be twenty cents per night for 
each lamp used. At the expiration of five }'cars, the price is to be fi.xcd by a com- 
mission of three persons, one of them to be named by the company, one by the City 
Council, and the third to be elected by the two thus chosen. 

On January 9, 187 1, J. W. Stow, A. P. Brayton, Ira P. Rankin, P. P. Felt, Josiah 
Belden, E. J. Pringle, C. T. Hopkins, and W. W. Montague petitioned for the right 
to lay down pipes for distributing coal-gas through the city, which was referred to the 
Committee on Street Lights and Lamp-posts. In the mean time the Oakland Gas Light 
Company becoming aware of this petition, communicated with the City Council, .set- 
ting forth certain, to them, good reasons why an opposition company should not be 
permitted to locate in Oakland. On January 23d another petition for the erection of 
gas-works, signed by Philip Cadoc, Henry F. Williams, and William H. Devalin, was 
received, while, on the same day a petition with the names of one hundred and eighty- 
two of the citizens of Oakland was presented to the Council, praying that the franchise 
asked for by J. W. Stow and his associates be granted. The committee sent in their 
report in due course of time, and on the iith February Mr. Stow and his partners 
withdrew their application, stating, "they have observed the report of \-our commit- 
tee, touching the franchise applied for, and the conditions recommended in the ordi- 
nance reported. These conditions seem to us to discriminate injuriously against us 
in the contest and competition sure to arise, and could hardly fail to discourage the 
investment of capital in a new enterprise, and one, too, which is always unremunera- 




//^^^^ cy^^^^^^^t^^L^^^^-^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 649 

tive at the commencement," therefore, February 13th, they were granted the desired 
permission. On the same date the Council received a petition for the like privileges 
from Charles Webb Howard, Sextus Shearer, C. T. N. Palmer, F. K. Shattuck, A. C. 
Henry, and J. West Martin, under the style of the Home Gas Light Company, who 
were granted a franchise after considerable discussion in the Council. Meanwhile, 
Messrs. Caduc and Williams desired that their petition should be attended to, and on 
May isth they, too, were granted a franchise to erect gas-works and lay pipes within 
the city limits. 

In the month of March, 1865, the Contra Costa, or Minturn, ferry line of steam- 
ers was sold to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Company, and on April 
1st that line was extended to the Brooklyn station of to-day. In the month of Sep- 
tember the Oakland and Alameda Water Company, the immediate object of which 
was to bring the water of Temescal Creek into Oakland, was formed, and on Novem- 
ber 28th the office of City Surveyor was created. 

1866. — Up till January, 1866, no community in California had progressed so 
rapidly as Oakland, while in the preceding four years its population had doubled. 
The improvements that were made within that time, as well as those then making, 
were of a substantial and permanent character. Elegant and commodious resi- 
dences were erected in all parts of the city, while there had been gathered within 
her borders a circle of society distinguished for its intelligence and refinement. As a 
general rule her people owned the property they lived upon, and considered them- 
selves fortunate in possessing homes surrounded by so many advantages. The beautv 
and fertility of the adjacent country, the excellence of the roads diverging in all 
directions from the city, the delightful drives, the healthful invigorating atmosphere, 
and, withal, its proximity to San Francisco, proved sufficient guarantees not only of 
the stability of Oakland, but also of its rapid growth. The city by this time had 
become a perfect Arcadia. The oaks had doffed their old foliage and donned a new 
coat of verdant leaves, so green that the eye and mind is lost in admiration of nature's 
favorite tints. The carpet beneath the stately limbs of those primeval monarchs, 
although similar in color to the foliage above, is nevertheless so diversified by the 
many wild flowers of spring, studding the moss-like gems in an artificial scene, that 
the relief from a universal sameness is most complete. The homes of the people 
showed the luxuriant blossoms of the peach and the pear, while their well-kept flower- 
gardens gave character to the surrounding scenery: they furnish the idea that civili- 
zation is around ready to mitigate any sameness incidental to nature's efforts. 

On January 23, 1866, Joseph B. Biddleman, President of the Oakland and Ala- 
meda Water Company, petitioned the City Council to the following effect: "That 
they propose conducting the waters of Temescal Creek to the city of Oakland, for 
the purpose of supplying the said city and the inhabitants thereof with pure fresh 
water. That to accomplish such an object they have already constructed reservoirs 
near the head-waters of said creek, and have expended large sums of money in 
furtherance of their designs," etc. This subject was referred to the Committee 
on Streets and Buildings, and was consigned to the purgatory of further action. 
Indeed the formation of water companies for the supply of the citizens of San Fran- 
42 



650 History of Alameda County, California. 

CISCO and Alameda Counties with water would appear to have been a popular amuse- 
ment in the year 1876. Besides the one mentioned above, we have the Amador 
Water Company: Certificate filed March 15, 1866; Incorporators: F. K. Shattuck, J. 
West Martin, J. S. Emery, J. W. Dwinelle; Capital stock, one million dollars; Object: 
To supply the city of Oakland and towns of Alameda Count}- with fresh water from 
springs, wells, the Laguna in the valley of Amador, and the Laguna Creek, from Las 
Pocitas in Livermore Valley, and from all other available sources. Contra Costa 
Water Company: Filed June 26, 1866; Incorporators: A. Chabot, Rein Chabot, and 
Henry Pierce; Capital stock, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars; Object: To sup- 
ply the cities and towns in the county of Alameda, and the inhabitants thereof with pure 
water; Place of business, Oakland, California. College W^ater Company: Filed June 
27, 1866; Incorporators, William Sherman, John W. Dwinelle, J. A. Benton, S. H. 
Willey, and Robert B. Swain; Capital stock, one hundred thousand dollars; Object: 
To furnish fresh water to the city of Oakland and the to\\ns in the county of Ala- 
meda and the inhabitants thereof, from springs, wells, and other available sources; 
Place of business, Oakland. 

On July 3, 1866, A. Chabot, President of the Contra Costa Water Company, pre- 
sented a petition to the Council to procure the right to lay down pipes in the streets, 
alleys, and lanes of the city of Oakland for the purpose of supplying its inhabitants 
with pure fresh water, and referred to a Committee composed of Messrs. Shattuck, 
Anderson, and Barstow, and upon their recommendation, on Jul}- 18th, an ordinance 
was passed granting them the privilege prayed for. On the same date like privileges 
were granted to the Oakland and Alameda Water Company. 

In his message of March 15, 1869, Mayor Merritt says, in respect to the intro- 
duction of water into the city of .Oakland: "The water of the Temescal Creek has 
been recently introduced into this city by the Contra Costa Water Compan}-, which 
is composed of gentlemen of energy and ability. 

" The water is brought from the creek to a reservoir on College Hill — one hundred 
feet above the base line of the city — a distance of four miles, through iron pipes. 
From the reservoir the main pipe extends along Telegraph Road through Broadway to 
Broadway Wharf, a distance of about two miles. From the main pipe branches are 
being extended along various streets as the demand requires. Thirty-nine thousand 
seven hundred and fifty-eight feet of pipe are now laid. During eight or nine months 
of the year the natural flow of water in the Temescal Creek is sufficient to supply the 
requirements of this city, and in order to afford an abundant supply during the three 
or four months of dry season, the company is constructing a large reservoir in the 
Coast Range of Mountains about four miles from this city, which, when finished, will 
hold not less than two hundred million gallons. More reservoirs can be made as the 
demand increases, by which means the city can be furnished with a constant and 
abundant supply of pure mountain water." 

It may be well here to give a complete description of the works of the Contra 
Costa Water Company, for we believe that but few people appreciate their magnitude 
and realize the immense expense with which the enterprise has been conducted. 

It is known to every one that an abundant supply of w-ater can be obtained from 
wells anywhere in Oakland, at a depth varying from thirty to forty feet. About four 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 651 

feet from the surface of the ground there commences a stratum of hard-pan almost as 
solid as the Hghtest formations of sandstone. When this has been penetrated to a 
point which is a httle below the tide level, there is found an abundance of fresh water 
rather hard, but very clear and pure. A large number of people still obtain water 
from these sources, but some of the wells have become foul, and in a few instances 
the supply has altogether failed. Wells in thickly settled neighborhoods are looked 
upon with distrust, and there have been instances where abandoned wells have been 
turned into cesspools. This would tend to poison every well in the vicinity, for the 
water evidently circulates freely beneath the hard-pan. 

The Contra Costa Water Company was organized in June, 1866, as we have 
already remarked, and commenced supplying customers in 1867. It had a capital of 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Water was temporarily obtained from 
Temescal Creek. There are now (in 1883) laid in all one hundred and thirty-three 
miles of pipe, running through Oakland, East Oakland, and part of the Oakland Valley. 
It is estimated that five thousand six hujidred and thirty-eight persons are supplied, 
using about seven million gallons daily, the maximum rate of consumption occurring 
in the hot weather, when hundreds of gardens and lawns are irrigated. We have 
shown that a number of companies had been incorporated, but none of these, with 
but a single instance, have displayed any signs of vitality. That exception was the 
company owning the water rights in Fruit Vale, and its franchise was purchased by 
the Contra Costa Water Company. 

The water is obtained from the higher hills in the rear of Oakland, distant about 
five miles. In the vicinage of the main reservoir, which we shall notice presently, the 
company owns all the land draining into it, consisting of several thousand acres, or 
rather has an interest in this domain that is sufficient to prevent its use for any 
improper purpose. The mountain streams at the head of Temescal Creek are of 
extreme purity. Only a limited number of cattle are allowed to graze on the hills, 
and there is no drainage from them during the long summer months, the water coming 
from within the mountains into reservoirs provided by nature. In the winter one of 
these rivulets furnishes all the water that is required, running a clear stream, and the 
surface drainage from the hills passes over nothing but grassy earth. Besides the 
brooks tributary to the Temescal Creek, the waters of Fruit Vale are utilized. The 
latter stream rises in the rugged hills above the valley bearing its name, and is as pure 
as any water in the world. In addition to what can be obtained from the hills, water 
is taken from artesian wells at Brooklyn, of which we will speak farther on. 

What is now called Lake Chabot was constructed about 1868-69, two years hav- 
ing been consumed in building the series of dams that back up the waters and create 
the lake. The eastern branch of Temescal Creek, for a mile or more, ran between 
two steep hills about seven hundred feet apart. Instead of forming a gorge, as in 
most cafions, there was a valley some thirty or forty acres in extent. An honest 
farmer had there his vegetable garden and potato-patch, and doubtless little dreamed 
that at some future time what was then his premises would be covered by sixty feet 
of water. Unless one has been in the California mines he cannot well appreciate the 
amount of work requisite to dam up a valley like this. The first step was to remove 
all the soil from what was to be the bottom of the lake. The rock on each side 



652 History of Alameda County, California. 

where the dam was to adjoin, was scraped clean and smooth. A crevice bi_t4 enough 
to admit a needle would soon lead to the destruction of the work. The little stream 
of water that would pass through would become larger and larger, and, in the course 
of a fewda\'s or weeks, the heaviest embankment would be swept away by the waters 
that it had imprisoned, with a force that would be irresistible. There was tamped 
upon the solid, rocky bottom, and the rock walls on either side, tenacious clay, and clay 
and earth mixed and laid upon it. The dam consists of three terraces or, it would be cor- 
rect to say, it was built in three sections. For a distance of si.x hundred feet there 
was placed a solid bed of earth; upon this, another layer of earth four hundred feet 
wide, and then the third and last, tapering to the top, now thirt\- feet wide. A large 
quantity of this earth was placed in position by slicing from the hillsiiles, but the bulk 
of the work was done with horses and carts. From the bed-rock, on which building 
was commenced, to the top of the dam, in a perpendicular line, the distance is eighty- 
six feet. The inner side of the dam is covered with broken rock, to prevent any 
washing away of the earth. To provide ffir the surplus water, in winter, there is at 
one end, a raceway about twenty feet square, and when the water is rising rapidh- the 
gate is raised and danger of overflow averted. Lake Chabot is about four hundred 
feet wide and three-quarters of a mile in length. The capacity is estimated at two 
hundred million gallons. The outlet is controlled by a vat near the dam, connected 
with the valve on the discharge-pipe. The water is clear, but of a deep greenish tint; 
the banks are clear, and no animals are allowed to pasture in its immediate vicinity. 

Until June i, 1872, all the water used in Oakland came from below Lake Ciiabnt 
and from Fruit Vale. From the lake the water flows through the original bed of 
Temescal Creek for a mile and a half The earth through which it pas.ses acts as a 
filter, and the water is pure as-the clearest crystal when it enters the mains leading to 
the reservoir on Academ}- Hill, between McClure's Academy and the Theological 
Seminary. Near the former residence of the late J. Ross Browne, a mile above the 
village of Temescal, there is a small dam, and into this is the main of which we 
speak. The elevation of Lake Chabot is four hundred feet above Broadway W'liarf; 
the dam last mentioned is two hundred feet above that level, and the reservoir 
on Academy Hill is one hundred and one feet abo\e it. Hence, the water 
in usein Oakland has a head of a hundred feet, or a pressure of about fifty pounds to 
the inch. Friction greatly reduces this, but, when the water is still, a gauge will show 
the pressure we have named. This reservoir is one hundred and four feet square on 
the top, and the sides slope inwards, so that at the bottom it is thirty feet deep and 
about forty feet square; its capacity is one million gallons. As it is built of brick ,.nd 
lined with cement, there is not a single drop of leakage. Near the surface there 
is an escape pipe, so that the water cannot overflow. Water is brought into the cit\- 
by two mains. There is a pipe from the bottom of the reservoir, for working out the 
mud that might accumulate, and when occasion requires the reservoir is carefully 
cleaned. 

The East Oakland and Fruit Vale supply ma}- thus be described: On an 
elevated locality near the head of Fruit Vale, there is a distributing-reservoir similar 
to that on Academy Hill, and of the same capacity. From that there is a main lead- 
ing directly into Brooklyn (East Oakland). In Brooklyn two artesian wells have 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 653 

been used, which are bored through the tide-lands, notwithstanding which the water 
is clear, soft, and pure. It is forced by steam-pumps into the mains, but is only 
drawn upon when extreme necessity exists. 

While on the subject of water companies, it may be stated that, on February 12, 
1872, the Lake Tahoe and San Francisco Water Works Company were granted the 
right to lay pipes through the streets of Oakland, while, on October 15, 1877, like 
privileges were granted to the Oakland and Alameda Water Company. 

As long ago as April 29, 1854, the subject of City Water Works was mooted. 
In his message to the Council of that date. Mayor Carpentier regrets that the charter 
confers no power upon the City Council to authorize the construction of water-works 
by which some of the mountain streams might be brought into the city at a compar- 
atively small expense, thereby affording an abundant supply of water both for com- 
mon uses and for the e.Ktinguishment of fires. It was left for the Contra Costa 
Water Company to confer this boon. Suddenly it entered the heads of the City 
Fathers that Oakland should own its water-supply; therefore at a meeting held 
December 22, 1873, Mr. Spaulding called the attention of the Council to the matter, 
and moved that a committee be appointed to investigate the subject and report. 
Messrs. Spaulding, Knox, and Larue were nominated, and on January 19, 1874, made 
the following report: — 

" Your Committee to whom was referred the matter relating to supplying 
the city with water, also the feasibility of the city owning its own water-works, 
have carefully examined the various sources from which a sufficient supply can 
be obtained, interviewed the owners of the different water rights for whatever infor- 
mation could be gained from them; examined the reports of Water Boards of Eastern 
cities who own their own water-works, and now beg leave to report the following 
as the result of their labors. 

" In examining the source of the supply of the proposed works of the San Fran- 
cisco and Oakland Water Company situated on the Calaveras Creek, thirty-eight 
miles from Oakland, we find an abundant supply of good water at an elevation of 
five hundred and sixty-three feet above low-water mark. Oakland can be supplied 
with an abundance of good water from this source through a twenty-two-inch main 
at a cost, say: — 

"Dam and reservoir $ 98,473 00 

Thirty-eight miles, twenty-two-inch pipe 797, 500 00 

" The above is exclusive of the right of way, franchises, distributing-reservoirs 
and distributing-pipes. When the proposed dam at this place is constructed at a 
height of one hundred and twenty-four feet, the reservoir is estimated to contain 
eight thousand six hundred and forty-seven millions seven hundred and forty-four 
thousand one hundred and seventy-one gallons. 

" About eight miles below the above-mentioned locality, at a place called Sufiol, 
we find a location made by Charles Felton and others, who are making preparations 
to construct a dam, which, when completed, will be thirty feet in height and about 
six hundred feet in length, and will flow the water to the railroad track. The bed of 
the creek at this point is about two hundred feet above low-water mark. Owing to 



054 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

the peculiarities of the location, the dam will be required to be constructed of solid 
masonry, the cost of which has been variously estimated at from two hundred to two 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. We understand the reservoir is to be constructed 
in another locality, of what capacity, or at what cost we have no definite information. 
The cost of thirty miles of twenty-two-inch main will be about six hundred and 
thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars. To these amounts are to be added the 
cost of reservoirs, distributing-pipes, street-mains, connections, distributing-reservoirs, 
water rights, etc. 

" Your Committee have also visited the Contra Costa Water Works, and were 
kindly allowed to examine the books and plans belonging thereto. W'e find that this 
company owns and controls the right to the waters of Temescal, Sausal, and San 
Leandro Creeks. The drainage area of the Temescal Creek is equal to six square 
miles; that of Sausal Creek, about six square miles; that of San Leandro Creek, and 
its tributaries, at about seventy square miles, which, together, is capable of furnishing 
a daily supply of thirty-five to forty millions of gallons, and which, according to the 
reports of other water companies, will supply a population of over five hundred 
thousand people. This company have constructed a reservoir at Temescal, Sausal, 
and College Hill. The Temescal has an elevation of four hundred and twenty-five 
feet; Sausal of three hundred feet; and College Hill of one hundred feet above the city 
base. These reservoirs have a united capacity of two hundred and one millions five 
hundred thousand gallons. The company have only recently acquired the right to 
the water of the San Leandro Creek. The distance from the city of Oakland is eight 
miles. They have about si.xteen hundred acres of land, which will be flowed at an 
average depth of one hundred feet, and are preparing for the construction of a dam 
which is to be one hundred and fifty feet in height. The dam is to be tapped for the 
supply-pipe at an elevation of one hundred and fifty feet above city base, which, when 
added to the height of the dam, will give a pressure equal to three hundred feet in the 
city, less the friction. The following is the estimated cost of this part of their works: — 

' ' Dam-gates, waste-ways, etc $ 1 50,000 00 

Land for Reservoirs 50,000 00 

Constructing new roads, Ijridges, etc 25,000 00 

Clearing lands 5,000 00 

Distributing-reservoirs 10,000 00 

Eight miles of twenty-two-inch pipe 170,000 00 

Street-mains and connections in addition to those now laid 75.000 00 

Incidental Expenses i 5.000 00 

Total $500,000 00 

"The cost of the present works of the compan\' now in operation, including the 
San Leandro purchase, amounts to fi\e hundred and eighty-one thousand dollars- 
The total number of water-takers is twelve hundred and ninety. The average 
monthly receipts of the company are about five thousand dollars. The approximate 
receipts for the ensuing year is seventy-two thousand dollars. The annual increase 
of the receipts, as appears from the company's books, has been about thirt>--five per 
cent., and, with a further outlay for mains and distributing-pipes of from fifteen to 
twenty thousand dollars, the receipts would be increased considerabh- above those 
figures. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 655 

" Your Committee have also examined the reports of Engineers and Water 
Boards of several Eastern cities, and submit them for your consideration and benefi} 
such information as may tend to enlighten the Council upon the subject under con- 
sideration. It must be borne in mind that there are necessarily many items of 
expense incidental to maintaining water-works where they are subject to the damao-- 
aging effects of freezing and thawing for several months in the year, which do not 
follow in a climate like ours!* 

" Your Committee trust that it ma.y not be considered as digressing too far from 
the subject-matter of their report to present in connection therewith a few facts touch- 
ing the character of the materials of which the water-pipes of this city are now 
composed. 

"We feel warranted in making this digression because the public faith in the 
virtue of said pipes has been through ignorance, we think, and which false represen- 
tations have seriously impaired. 

" We find that the water-pipes of the Contra Costa Water Company, now laid in 
this city, are even superior in many respects to those laid in those cities (at the East) 
above cited. The pipes of this company are constructed of the best materials, well 
riveted, and lined with cement, and coated with asphaltum, and before being used are 
subjected to a hydraulic pressure equal to a pressure of four hundred feet head. In 
the annual report of 1873 of the City Government of New Jersey we find the follow- 
ing remarks and quotations on the use of cast-iron and wrought-iron cement-lined 
pipes, made by an engineer appointed to investigate this subject. 'The action of 
Passaic water on cast-iron as shown in existing conduits and distribution-pipes 
develops the formation of accretions which in their early stage are small in size and 
hemispherical in shape, covered with a thin scale and filled with a substance resem- 
bling black mold slightl}' moist, and of an offensive odor. They appear to increase 
rapidly in bulk and numbers until the entire inner surface of the pipe is covered with 
them. Their growth not only diminishes the diameter of the pipe but affects its 
stability, as they destroy the metal beneath them, changing its characteristics and 
tending to render it unequal to the strain of even light hydraulic pressure. They also 
taint the water, imparting to it a discernible flavor. 

" ' The city of Portland has a large main of over sixteen miles long of iron and 
cement pipe. In our present thirty-six-inch conduit there were two thousand feet of 
such pipe laid, however, before the improvements in jointing and lining were made, 
which rendered the pipe of the American Water and Gas Pipe Company so superior 
to others of the kind.' 

" Your Committee have corresponded and had personal interview with the officials 
of Water Boards of various cities where cement-lined pipe has been laid, and in refer- 
ence to our inquiries they have not only indorsed such pipe but praised it in terms 
of the highest commendation. 

"We find by referring to a report of the Water Company of Saratoga that over 
twenty thousand feet of cement-lined pipe were laid in 1846 under an eighty foot head, 
and that it has cost comparatively nothing for repairs. 



*It is not necessary to produce those statements compiled from the reports of . Water Boards of Eastern cities. 



656 History of Alameda County, California. 

" The following is an extract from the report of W. S. Whitwell, Esq., former Chief 
Engineer of the Cochituate Water Works of Boston, Massachusetts, and also Chief 
Engineer of the Jersey City Water Works, to the Board of Water Commissioners of 
Plymouth: ' The next question was the kind of pipe to be used. Two kinds of pipe 
were proposed; the cast-iron pipe and the iron-cement pipe known as "Ball's Patent." 
With the latter I had been acquainted for several years, and from its cleanliness- 
cheapness, and durability I was much inclined to advise its adoption without any 
qualification. As a precautionary measure I proposed that a Committee of )-our 
Board shou.d visit Rockland in Maine, where these pipes had been in use for nearly 
two years, to learn there if any objections existed in their use, and if they had 
answered the expectations that had been formed of them. Your Committee returned 
so well satisfied with the report received of them that they were adopted without 
further hesitation. The great objection to the iron pipe is found in the rapid incrus- 
tation which takes place inside of the pipe and very soon seriously diminishes its 
capacity; this becomes a matter of much more consequence with small pipes than 
with those of larger size, and while in a thirty-inch pipe the diminution of capacity 
would be scarcely perceptible for seven or eight years, in a pipe of ten inches diameter 
the incrustation of four years would probably reduce the capacity one-fifth. 

"'The iron and cement pipe is free from the objection; the bore remains always 
of the same diameter; always clean, and becomes harder and more durable by age. 
With proper care in selecting the best quality of cement in the manufacture of the 
pipes and in making the joints I consider this as the best water-pipe now in use for 
the supply of towns and villages.' [Here follows a list of twent\--four of the principal 
cities and .towns that have used and are using the wrought-iron and cement pipe in 
the distribution of water.] 

" From the above facts and figures your Committee in conclusion would most 
respectfully submit that, in their opinion, the time has now fully come that the city of 
Oakland, as a matter of economy and self-protection, should take the necessary steps 
to secure for itself a supply of water which will not only meet the demands of the 
present but the future. It seems to us that in view of the facts already set forth, it is 
the only course which we can in any justice to ourselves and our posterity pursue. 
When this very desirable acquisition shall have been attained our city may challenge 
compari-son with any other on the Pacific Coast for its felicitous attractions to the 
outside world to come with its wealth and population and make it what it should be, 
the Star City of the Pacific." 

On January 19, 1874, the Council passed a resolution directing the President to 
appDint a Committee to prepare, in conjunction with the City Engineer and City 
Attorney, a bill to be presented to the Legislature, authorizing the city to issue bonds 
for the purpose of acquiring water-works, Messrs. Spaulding, Knox, and Warner 
being so named; while, on the same date, Messrs. Knox, Warner, and .Snook were 
appointed to ascertain the best terms upon which water-works and franchises can be 
purchased by the city. On March 2d Mr. Chabot, President of the Contra Costa 
Water Company, communicated to the Council the following propositions in regard to 
selling their works and property to the city: First — The Company will sell its works 
and property at a valuation to be determined by C:immissioners, two to be chosen by 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 657 

the Council and two by the company, and in case the four cannot agree upon a 
valuation the}- shall choose a fifth and the decision of a majority of the five shall be 
final upon the question of valuation. The company will receive in part payment the 
bonds of the city bearing interest at the rate of eight per cent, per annum. Second — 
The second proposition is that the city lend its credit to the company, in bonds or 
otherwise, to an amount sufficient to complete the works on the San Leandro Creek 
and connect the same by pipes with the city so as to make the water available for the 
use of the city as soon as possible: a Committee of the Council to see that the loan is 
properly applied to the construction of the works, and the loan to be secured on the 
property of the company; the company agreeing to pay the principal and interest of 
the loan as they fall due: the city to have the option to purchase the works at the end 
of ten years from the date of the loan at a valuation made as aforesaid, and the 
amount so loaned to the company shall be a part payment of the valuation so ascer- 
tained; the balance to be paid by the city on receiving possession. This communica- 
tion was referred to the Auditing and Finance Committee, who on March 9th reported 
" An Act to authorize the City of Oakland to aid the Contra Costa Water Company 
to complete its Works." On being referred to the Legislature, on March 30th, " An 
Act to authorize the City of Oakland to obtain a Supply of Water was approved." By 
this Act, the city of Oakland might exercise the right of eminent domain, by taking 
for public use, in order to supply herself and the adjacent towns, and the people 
therein, with water, any flowing stream, lake, or artificial reservoir, or places for the 
construction of the same within the county of Alameda. To conduct these affairs a 
Board of Puolic Works was to be appointed by the Governor for a term of four years, 
while the Act especially defined their various duties. 

In his message of February 28, 1876, Mayor Webber says, under the head of the 
water-supply: "The Board of Public Works appointed by the Governor of the State, 
in accordance with law, has accomplished nothing decisive, and I do not think that 
anything will result from the continuation of this body under the present law. An 
effort has been made to ascertain the price at which the Contra Costa Water Company 
would sell its property and franchises, but no price has ever been stated. This com- 
pany can now supply Oakland with an abundance of water from the San Leandro 
Creek, an expensive dam having been built and an artificial lake of a large area 
created. I am not aware of any specific cause of complaint on the part of the public 
as to the policy of the company, but I believe it to be a sound principle in municipal 
government that every city shall own the water-supply upon which the people depend. 

"During the last year the water question has been fully discussed in San Fran- 
cisco, and the Calaveras scheme (the most important debated) bears a striking simi- 
larity to the plan followed here. In both cases reliance is had upon catchment water, 
and the arguments for and against the plan are as pertinent here as they were in our 
sister city. 

"It may be wise to delay public action on the water question for several years. 
The supply on the peninsula of San Francisco will soon prove inadequate, and it 
seems probable that recourse will be had to the lakes and streams of the Sierras. 
Sacramento, Stockton, and Oakland are in the line of the grand acqueduct that would 
be constructed, and it might be advantageous for these cities to share the expense 



658 History of Alameua County, Cai.ikhrnia. 

with San Francisco, and participate in the benefits. The suppl)- will be practically 
inexhaustible, and, though the population around the bay of San Francisco maj^ be 
enumerated by millions, there never need be scarcity of this necessary article." 

In concluding this subject it may be stated that the water-works of the city of 
Oakland are still in the womb of futurity. 

But to return to the doings of the year 1866. On April 25th privilege was 
granted to W. S. Learing & Co. to erect a soap factor)' within the city limits. On 
the 8th August we find the Police Judge complaining of the smallness of the emolu- 
ments of his office. The \-ield for the first three months was but two hundred and 
three dollars, or about sixty-eight dollars per month. The Judge in his report says: 
"No one can complain of the amount of labor the duties require, but the office, in con- 
templation of law, having always to be open, necessarily confines the Judge so closely 
that to do any other business is out of the question, unless he employs a clerk to take 
care of the office in his absence. * * * You will at once perceive that the emolu- 
ments of this office are wholly insufficient to cover one's actual expenses." This sub- 
ject ha\'ing been referred to a committee consisting of Messrs. Barstow, Wilcox, and 
Shattuck, they reported August 22d, that the Act establishing the Police Court contem- 
plated the allowance, by the Council, of a sufficient sum out of the city Treasury to 
make (added to the receipts of the office) a reasonable salary. That it is in the power 
of the Council to fix such sum as may be thought proper, as a monthly salary for that 
officer, but the salary of the Police Judge should depend in no way u])on the fees of 
his office. On August 29th his salary was fixed at a hundred dollars per month. On 
the 17th of October Mayor Dwindle and Aldermen Gibbons and Shattuck were 
appointed a committee to receive and entertain the Directors of the Agricultural, 
Mining, and Mechanical Arts College of California, while on their tour in quest of a 
location for the same. 

In the latter end of March, 1866, the Jackson Guards of Oakland were organized; 
while in the Legislature in that year there were passed, in connection with the city of 
Oakland, the following bills: An Act to establish a Police Court in the city of Oak- 
land and define its jurisdiction; duties and fees of Court and its officers. To have a 
Judge, Clerk, seal; to have jurisdiction in petit larceny, assault and battery, breaches 
of the peace, violation of city ordinances, city taxes, sums of money less than three 
hundred dollars, bonds, recovery of city property, license, etc. An Act in relation to 
the city Courts of Oakland; Mayor no longer to exercise power of justice. The 
Police Judge shall have power to hear cases for examination and may commit and 
hold offenders to bail. An Act granting to R. J. Vandewater, his associates, their 
successors or assigns the right to construct, maintain, and operate a railroad in certain 
streets of the city of Oakland. On Second, Fourth, Eighth, Twelfth, and Market 
Streets, including Twenty-eighth to the San Pablo Road, to the city limits. An Act 
to grant the Oakland Railroad Company the right of wa)' for a railroad track in the 
city of Oakland and Alameda County, and to run horse-cars thereon. The Oakland 
Railroad Company, a corporation incorporated in 1 861, to have right of way to run 
horse-cars from end of Broadway to Temescal Creek, and thence to the grounds of 
the College of California, for thirt}- years. 

The improvements made during the first si.K months of the year 1866, in the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 659 

northern portion of Oakland, far exceeded that of any other part of the city during 
the same period. Between Market and Clay, and between Twelfth and Sixteenth 
Streets, a village had sprung up, streets opened, and shade-trees planted along the 
sidewalks, where twelve months before naught was but a strawberry-patch. The north 
side of Fourteenth Street had been built upon pretty extensively by this time, while 
a proper spirit moved the citizens everywhere to improve thoroughfares and surround- 
ings. There was one drawback, however, which was keenly felt, and that the want of 
proper communication between Oakland and the County Seat at San Leandro, the 
means of reaching that point then being, as described by a writer of that period, as 
follows: "Starting from Broadway on the Oakland Ferry Railroad and thence to the 
Point: stepping on board the JVas/ioe,- the traveler is soon landed at the wharf at 
San Francisco, where he changes cars, or boats, transferring himself and other bag- 
gage CO the steamer Alameda. At the expiration of another voyage on the briny 
deep, subjected to all the dangers of storm and sea-sickness, the pilgrim is heaved 
ashore at Alameda Wharf where he tumbles himself into a train waiting his arrival. 
Another journey by rail and he finally arrives at the Land of Promise, after using up 
three or four valuable hours of time." 

At this time Oakland was coming into note as a ship-building port. In July 
Captain Birdsall had a one hundred and fifty ton schooner on the stocks, at the foot 
of Franklin Street, with another vessel contracted for. In this year, too, the wooden 
building belonging to F. K. Shattuck that stood at the corner of Broadway and 
Eighth Street, was removed, and a new brick block, fitted up with capacious stores, 
built; so many were the improvements in this year that it is utterly impossible for us 
to enumerate them all, but it may be mentioned that their cost is estimated at the 
sum of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1866 the Oakland Mills com- 
menced running; and on September 5th the Oakland Homestead Association had 
started with a capital stock of fourteen thousand dollars, and Elijah Bigelow, T. B. 
Bigelow, and W. W. Crane as Trustees. In this year, too, a steamboat, one hundred 
and sixty feet in length, thirty-three in breadth, and six feet depth of hold, was built 
by Small & Spier, at the foot of Franklin Street, which would appear to have been 
the building-yard for vessels, about twenty years ago. 

On the evening of November i, 1866, the Empire Brewery, owned by John Gil- 
more, was destroyed by fire, while the house of Mr. Ironmonger, situated near the 
brewery also caught. The News says: "This house was the first house ever built in 
Oakland. It originally stood on Broadway, near the wharf Mr. Carpentier built it 
when he first settled here. 

The year 1866 may be summed up as an eminently prosperous one for Oakland, 
and onein which she established herself beyond a peradventure in the upward march 
of progress. 

1867. — From the official records we learn that on March 23, 1867, the appropria- 
tion of one hundred dollars per year for reporting the proceedings of the Council 
was withdrawn from the Oakland N'ezvs. On the 27th April the following salaries 
were fixed: Marshal, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month; Clerk and 
Treasurer, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month; City Attorney, fifty 



(J60 liiSTORY OF Alameda County, California. 

dollars per month, v\hich was raised to one hundred dollars on May 25th. On May 
I ith an ordinance, having for its object the protection of birds, was passed; and on 
June 22d subscription to the Oakland' Daily A'e^cs was authorized for the purpose of 
filing.* 

Upon the death of Police Judge Watson, July 18, 1867, the following resolutions 
were unanimously adopted by the City Council : — 

Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God in His wisdom to remove by death .\ok.\ian Watson, the late 
Police Judge of this city. 

Resolved, 'I'hat in the death of Judge Watson his family have lost a kind and affectionate husband and father, 
the city a faithful and efficient officer, and society an upright citizen and an honest man. 

Resolved, That the members of the Council attend in a body the funeral of the deceased, and that the other 
officers of the city government be invited to join them in manifesting their respect to his memory. 

Resolved, 'I'hat the Clerk deliver to the family of the deceased a copy of these resolutions. 

On October 19, 18G7, an ordinance regulating hacks was passed; while, November 
2d, the following proceedings were had: — 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Council are due to the Hon. W. W. Crane, Jr., whose resignation of the 
office of Mayor of the city of Oakland has just been received, for the faiihful manner in which he has discharged 
the duties of his office, and especially for the assistance he has rendered the Council in the management of the 
aflairs of the city ever since his election to said office. That our best wishes will follow him wherever he may 
go, and wu shall heartily welcome his return among us. 

On the same date Doctor Samuel Merritt was elected to the Mayor's chair in 
place of Mr. Crane. 

Once more in the _\'ear 1867 have we to record the death of one of Oakland's 
public servants, in the person of Alderman Anderson. At a special meeting of the 
bod\- of which he was a member, convened on the iith November, the following 
appropriate resolutions of condolence were unanimously passed: — 

Whereas, By the dispensation of Divine Providence one of the members of this Council, .\.NDRE\v ANDER- 
SON, has been removed from our midst. 

Resolved, That by the sudden death of our brother we are remindeil uf the uncertainty t>f life, and are admon- 
ished to a faithful and conscientious performance of our duties as members of this Hoard, that our record may 
be as fair as his whose loss we deplore. 

Resolved, That the members of the Council attend the funeral of the deceased in a body, and that the other 
officers of the city government be invited to join us, as a mark of respect to his memory. 

Resolved, That the Clerk be re(iuested to present to the widow of deceased a copy of these resolutions. 

On November 16, 1867, Mr. Mood)' offered a resolution to the following effect: 
That a committee of three be appointed to consider the propriety of a consolidation 
of our city and count)-, and that said committee be empowered to consult with citizens 
in such manner as they ma)- deem proper. The object of this movement was to 
embody the cit)- of Oakland and such other territory as i-night be fi.xed upon into a 
consolidated city and county of Oakland, similar to that which obtains of San Fran- 
cisco, but the matter rested until 1874, when the scheme once more commenced to 
attiact attention, but nothing would appear to have come of the proceedings. 

In the )-ear 1867 the propriety of erecting a City Hall first was brought to the 
notice of the public b)' Mr. Hobart, at a meeting of the corporation held December 
2 1st, when the following resolution was offered: — 

* These files were lost in the fire which destroyed the City Hall in August, 1877. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 661 

Resolved, By the City Council of the city of Oakland, that it is the sense and judgment of the people of this 
city that a suitable site be immediately secured for the erection of a City Hall. 

The ayes and noes being called on the passage thereof were as follows : Ayes — 
Messrs. Moody, Miller, Hobart, Wilcox, Campbell, and President Pendleton; Noes — 
None; so the resolution was adopted. Mr. Wilcox then offered the following resolu- 
tion : — 

Resolved, That in the judgment of the City Council of the city of Oakland the time has arrived when the city 
should have a lot on which to build a City Hall. Would recommend that a committee of three be appointed to 
select a lot and ascertain the cost and report at our ne.xt meeting. 

Which was adopted. The chair then appointed Messrs. Wilcox, Hobart, and Miller 
as such committee, and on motion of Mr. Mood}- they were instructed to look for a 
site north of Twelfth Street and west of Broadway. This committee on December 
28th presented "An Ordinance for the Purchase of Land for a City Hall and to pro- 
vide for the Payment thereof,'- which, on being put to the vote, was lost. Mr. Moody 
then offered the following resolution : — 

Resolved, That Captain Wilcox is hereby requested to purchase the lot of land offered by E. Bigelow, Esq., 
and hold the same in his own name, with the privilege to the Council to purchase the same for a City Hall 
at any time before April I, 1869, at the price of seven thousand five hundred dollars, at one and one-quarter 
per cent, interest per month, with incidental expenses added thereto." 

Which was adopted. Then, on January 4, 1868, at another meeting of the Common 
Council, Mr. Moody stated that Mr. Potter had offered to the city a piece of land for 
a City Hall, at the head of Broadway, for the same price per square foot as was asked 
by Mr. Bigelow for his tract. He therefore moved that the resolution passed at a 
preceding meeting in regard to purchase of Bigelovv's tract be rescinded, which was 
carried. Mr. Hobart then offered the following resolution: — 

Resolved, That Captain P. S. Wil:ox be invited to purchase the land bounded on the southwest by the San 
Pablo Roail and on the east by a continuation of the west line of Broadway, measuring on the said eastern line 
three hundred and fifty feet; and thence at right angles from the same to the San Pablo Road, and hold the same 
until the fifteenth day of April next, subject till that time to the refusal of the city, interest to be reckoned at one 
and one-quarter per cent, per month. 

This did not meet the views of some of the Council, therefore the following was 
offered by Mr. Moody as a substitute: — 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to examine and ascertain what amount of property will be required 
from Mr. Potter's lot for City Hall purposes, and_ report at a future meeting of the Council. 

The ayes and noes, being demanded on the adoption of this substitute, were as 
follows: Ayes — Messrs. Moody and Miller; Noes — Messrs. Hobart, Wilcox, Campbell, 
and President Pendleton; so the substitute was lost. Mr. Moody then moved that 
the whole matter be laid over. The ayes and noes being called on the adoption 
thereof were as follows: Ayes — Messrs. Moody and Miller; Noes — Messrs. Hobart, 
Wilcox, Campbell, and President Pendleton; therefore the motion was lost. The 
question of the adoption of the original resolution offered by Mr. Hobart was then 
put, and said resolution adopted. On January loth the following resolution was 
adopted by a vote of seven to none : — 



662 History of Alameda County, California. 

Whereas, The City Council of the city of Oakland, believing that the interests of the city and the voice of 
a majority of the voters thereof demand the erection of a City Hall and the purchase of a suitable site therefor, 
have selected the point of land in said city bounded as follows: Beginning at the junction of Fourteenth Street 
and the San Pablo Road in said city, and measuring on said Fourteenth Street, westward, four hundred and 
twenty-two feet, one and one-quarter inches; thence northerly, parallel with Clay Street, two hundred and seven 
feet six inches; thence following the south line of Fifteenth Street two hundreil and forty-three feet, nine inches, to 
said San Pablo Road; thence along said San Pablo Road two hundred and seventy-three feet, six and one-half 
inches, to the place of beginning; containing about seventy-eight thousand, six hundred and two square feet, at a 
cost of seventeen 'thousand dollars, as the most eligible and central point, and have made arrangements to have 
the same conveyed to certain parties in trust for the city, provided, the same be paid for on or before the 15th day 
of April next, and 

Whereas, It is inexpedient and oppressive, at the present time, to raise the necessar)' amount by a tax for 
that purpose; therefore 

Resolved, That our Senator and Assemblymen be requested to use their influence in passing a proper Fund- 
ing Act at the present session of the Legislature, to enable said City Council to erect a City Hall and to purchase 
the aforesaid land. 

On March 19, 1868, an Act authorizing the City Council to purchase land and 
erect a Cit}^ Hall was passed by the Legislature, and directed the issuance of bonds 
therefor, and on March 30th Captain Wilcox presented the Deed of Conveyance for 
the land, when a committee was appointed to prepare plans and specifications. Not 
much would appear to have been done in the matter for the first two or three months. 
However, on August 3, 1868, the following preamble and resolutions were offered by 
Alderman Miller and adopted by the Council. 

Whereas, It being desirable that the best possible plan for a City Hall should be adopted; one that would 
enable us to expend the small amount we now have in hand — thirty thousand dollars — for this purpose in such a 
'manner as will give us a good and complete building for our present necessities: one that should be a credit to the 
city in finish and convenience, complete in itself, and yet shall be so designed as to be but part of a building that 
shall be the pride of a great city and an enduring monument of the foresight bf our government; and 

Where.'^s, It is only by public competition that the best designs can be obtained, and by an intelligent com- 
mission that the best selections can be made from the designs; therefore 

Resolved, That one thousand dollars be and is hereby offered for plans and designs for a City Hall; that is, five 
hundred dollars for the first best plan, three hundred for the second, and two hundred for the third best plan, 
said City Hall to be erected upon the City Hall lot, at the junction of Fourteenth Street and San Pablo Road, 
said plans and designs to be for the best building that can be erected for thirty thousand dollars, with a view to 
future enlargements, either in parts or as a whole, so as when completed to be a City Hall at once thoroughly 
convenient and an ornament to our city, that shall cost not more than two hundred thousand dollars, and that 
the part now first to be built shall be sufficient for present necessities and to be complete in itself, and each 
design and plan shall be accompanied by specifications and estimate of cost; the successful bidder shall make 
such changes in his plans as may be required, without cost and above his percentage of five per cent. The 
successful bidder shall be the architect, and the premium for his plans be deducted from his percentage of 
five per cent. 

Resolved, That a commission composed of Messrs. Ed. Tompkins, Ed. Gibbons, J. B. Felton, D. H. Bacon, 
S. B. McKee, George C. Potter, and the Mayor, be appointed to receive and examine such plans, .specifica- 
tions, and estimates, and to report to the Council that which in their judgment is the best for adoption. 

On August 24th the plans of Olney & Barnes were chosen; while, on the 5th 
October, James N. Olney, Jr., was employed as architect and superintendent of the 
building. Some hitch now followed in the perfecting of arrangeinents, for, it appear- 
ing that the total cost of the building would be much higher than anticipated, an 
attempt was made to postpone indefinitely its commencement. This movement, 
however, failed, and finally resulted in the rescinding of nearly all propositions hitherto 
passed on the subject. On the 19th October a communication was received from the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 663 

committee named above, recommending the adoption of the plan of Bugbee & Son, 
which, on being placed in the form of a resolution, was carried, and all bids that had 
hitherto been received for building being rejected, Mr.Olney was retained as architect 
and superintendent. On October 31st the contract for the mason work was awarded 
to J. S. Emery, at eleven thousand seven hundred and eighty-four dollars, and that 
for joiners' work to F. L. Taylor and J. V. B. Goodrich, at twenty-three thousand 
nine hundred and sixty-five dollars. Meanwhile the erection progressed, and direc- 
tions were given for its occupation after January i, 1871. 

In connection with the subject of the City Hall we may here mention that death 
had carried off the architect, and superintendent, therefore, at a regular meeting of 
the City Council, held April 3, 1871, the following resolutions were introduced by 
.Mr. Havens: — 

Whereas, It hath pleased Almighty God, in his good providence, to remove from our midst by death 
James N. Olney, Jr., who had been intimately connected with the Council of the city of Oakland in the con- 
duct of its public affairs, therefore be it 

Resolved, That we mourn the loss of our departed friend as one who had endeared himself to us as a gentle, 
man in the truest sense of the word, a man ever considerate of the feelings and rights of others. 

Resolved, That in the discharge of his duties to this city in his official capacity, his earnestness and honesty 
were conspicuously apparent, and often was his zealous faithfulness evinced at the e.xpense of his failing health. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Council, published in all the new.spapers 
of the city of Oakland, and a copy of the same sent to the family of the deceased. 

On the evening of Saturday, August 25, 1877, ere the debts had been paid upon 
It, the City Hall fell a prey to the devouring element. In little more than an hour 
the entire building was laid in ashes. On the 27th the City Council met at Armory 
Hall, and passed resolutions respecting the obtaining of suitable rooms for holding 
their meetings; the procuring of the bell of the Presbyterian Church to strike the fire 
alarm; the adjusting of the insurance on the building; thanking the citizens of Oak- 
land for their exertions in saving the public archives; and offering a reward of one 
thousand dollars for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the incendiary 
or guilty parties who fired the building. The Council thenceforward met at No. 12 17 
Broadway, in a rented room, while steps were at once taken for rebuilding. Plans 
were adopted; the construction was put under the superintendence of Eli Strong, 
while Doctor Merritt tendered a clock to be placed in the tower, and the result has 
been the present elegant structure, of which the city may well be proud. 

On August 19, 1867, the Oakland Bank of Savings filed its articles of incorpora- 
tion, the first directors being W. W. Crane, Jr., A. C. Henry, E. M. Hall, Samuel 
Merritt, and P. S. Wilcox. The capital stock was set down at one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars, divided into fifteen hundred shares of one hundred dollars each. 
On the 2d of October, the Daily Morning Herald, published by W. D. Harwood^ 
made its appearance; its career was short; it died on December 15th; while, on the 
22d of the same month, much excitement was created by the murder of Officer Rich- 
ardson while in the execution of his duty. 

On December 22d, 1867, Oakland and its vicinity was visited by a severe storm, 
that did considerable damage, uprooting trees, and creating sad havoc among the 
craft anchored in the San Antonio Creek. 

1868. — The first item that we find in the records for the year 1868, is the resolu- 



664 History of Alameda County, California. 

tion of the Council not to grant permits for the erection of wooden buildings within 
the fire limits, passed January i8th, and, on the 25th, we have the following minute, 
which explains itself: " Mr. Hobart rose to a question of privilege in regard to a 
certain article published in the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, and presented an 
affidavit, setting forth that Mr. W. G. Moody was the author of said article, where- 
upon Mr. Campbell offered the following resolution : — 

Whereas, A communication was published on the l6th day of January, instant, in the San Francisco 
Evening Bulletin, and headed "Oakland Ta.xation," charging upon a member of this Council dishonest, selfish, 
and reprehensible conduct in his official capacity, and 

Whereas, It is proved to the satisfaction of this Council that the said communication was written by W. G. 
Moody, a member of the Council; therefore. 

Resolved, By the City Council of the city of Oakland, that the conduct of the said W. G. Moody in 
publishing the aforesaid communication is deserving of censure and rebuke. 

On February 17th his Honor, the Mayor, stated that the meeting had been called 
at his request, that an invitation be extended to the Governor and Legislature to visit 
Oakland and view the different State institutions located here, whereupon Mr. Moody 
offered the following resolution: — 

Resolved, By the Council of the city of Oakland, the Mayor concurring, that the Governor, State officers, 
members of the Senate and Assembly, and the officers and attaches of the Legislature, are cordially invited to 
visit the city of Oakland on the anniversary of Washington's Birthday, .Saturday, February 22, 1868, to exam- 
ine the site selected for the State Agricultural and Mining College, for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum, 
and the site and surroundings of the proposed State University, and to partake of the hospitalities of the city.. 

Resolved, That the City Clerk be and is hereby instructed to make certified copies of this resolution and 
transmit the same to the Capital to be presented to the two houses of the Legislature on the morning of Tuesday, 
February iSth. 

These being unanimously carried, Mr. Hobart then made the following proposi- 
tion: — 

Resolved, By the Council of the city of Oakland that the Mayor of the city be requested to invite the 
officers and persons indicated in a resolution passed this day (except the Legislature) and such other guests as he 
may desire to attend. 

Resolved, 'I'hat the citizens of Oakland be invited to co-operate with the Mayor in placing their horses and 
carriages at his disposal, and otherwise rendering every assistance in their power, that the visit of our guests 
may be creditable to the people of the city. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be ordered printed in the Oakland Neias, when it is ascertained that the 
Legislature accept our invitation. Carried nem. eon. 

Mr. Campbell, on behalf of I. H. Brayton, offered the use of the College School 
hall on the occasion; while, Doctor Merritt and Messrs. Hobart and Wilcox were 
appointed a Committee of Arrangements. On September 14, 1868, permission was 
granted to the Democratic club to erect a liberty-pole on Washington Square. 

On March 10, 1868, a large and enthusiastic meeting was held in Shattuck & 
Hillegass' Hall, for the purpose of ratifying a proposition to grant a portion of the 
water front of the city to the Central Pacific Railroad for terminal purposes. While 
the Fourth of July was being celebrated in Oakland in this year, the festivities were 
much marred by a distressing accident at the ferry-landing, when twcnt}' people were 
drowned. 

Who among the old residents is there that does not remember the 21st of Octo- 
ber, 1868, the morning of the great earthquake, the tales of which are rife even to this 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 665 

day. '^he shocks occurred as follows: 7:54 A. M. very heavy — direction, northeast, 
east and southwest, a rolling motion. Almost like a continuation of this came a 
whirling motion; 8:26, slight shock; 8:44, heavy shock, with rolling motion; 8:47, slight 
shock; 9:11 slight shock; 10:15, heavy shock, with rolling motion, and up and down 
movement; 3:12, slight shock; 3:17, slight shock; 4:08, double shock, up and down. It 
is said there were thirty-two shocks in all during that day, but these mentioned above 
were especially noted. 

In comparison to the desolation sustained in the neighboring towns Oakland did 
not suffer much damage. The casualties in crockery and glass ware 'were very great, 
and many chimneys were laid low. Portions of the wharves were carried away in 
some instances, while walls were cracked in almost every house, and deep excitement 
reigned supreme in every household. 

Among the Legislative Acts connected with the city of Oakland, passed in the 
year 1868, were: An Act to enable the city of Oakland to issue bonds to purchase 
lands and erect a City Hall. An Act to enable the city of Oakland to settle its land 
controversies. An Act constituting the Mayor of Oakland a Commissioner for 
appraising land granted to Terminal Pacific Railroad — one hundred and fifty acres. 
An Act concerning the Oakland Railroad. An Act authorizing bonds to pay judgments 
against the city of Oakland. An Act to change the name of the Congregational 
Church to the First Congregational Religious Society of Oakland. 

1869. — In his message of March 15, [869, Doctor Merritt says: "In November, 
1867, I was elected Mayor b}' the City Council to fill the vacanc}' created by the res- 
ignation of Mayor Crane. In the following May I was re-elected Mayor for the 
municipal year just closed. During this time events have transpired of vital interest 
to the future welfare of Oakland. The water-front controversy — of sixteen years 
duration — has been satisfactorily adjusted and the terminus of the Western Pacific 
Railroad has been secured. The market value of real estate within the city limits has 
advanced more than one hundred per cent.; many substantial brick buildings have 
been erected to accommodate increased business, and the rapid ingress of population 
has resulted in the construction of many elegant mansions and tasty villas in various 
parts of the city. Water has been introduced from the Coast Range of mountains; 
streets have been graded and macadamized; wharves have been built and the general 
appearance of the whole city has been vastly improved. 

"The advantages which Oakland possesses in geographical position, salubrity of 
climate, fertility of soil, and beauty of scenery are beginning to be appreciated. The 
natural grade is so level that broad streets and avenues can be constructed and a per- 
fect system of sewerage established at the smallest possible expense. Being within 
seven miles, or thirty minutes, of San Francisco — the great commercial metropolis of 
the Pacific Coast — gentlemen are enabled to attend to business in that city, at the 
same time reside in Oakland, where their families "can enjoy a climate mild and salu- 
brious at all seasons of the year, with scenery unsurpassed in beauty and variety. The 
climate of Oakland is not only healthy but exhilarating. The Coast Range of mount- 
ains, so formed that the cold northwest winds which prevail during the summer 
months, draw in through a tunnel-shaped opening upon the city of San Francisco, 
43 



666 History of Alameda County, California. 

with great force, but as soon as this strong sea-breeze strikes the bay it spreads out 
lik2 a fan and loses its strength and chilly coldness. At the same time the warm rays 
of the sun falling upon the sandy soil of Oakland, rarefies the atmosphere and lifts these 
summer winds from the earth's surface, thus, these strong winds and dense fogs that 
prevail in San Francisco at certain seasons of the year, seldom reach Oakland; they 
are either killed or much modified by the same natural causes. The statistics of the 
Health Officer relating to the recent epidemic of small-pox, show conclusively that 
there is nothing in the climate or soil of Oakland to feed an epidemic. The soil is 
sandy and there Ts but little or no vegetable decomposition in the vicinity to generate 
malaria. 

" For many years Oakland has taken the lead on the Pacific Coast in the number 
and rank of educational institutions, and within the past year the State University 
has been located at Berkeley, a suburb of this city, which establishes her position per- 
manently as the educational center of the State. The securing of the terminus of the 
Western Pacific Railroad promises to result in the dredging of the bar and converting 
the San Antonio Creek into a basin five miles in extent, capable of receiving ships of 
ordinary draught, at any stage of tide, which, in my judgment, is all that is required to 
elevate Oakland to a prominent commercial position. 

" At the time of the settlement of the water-front controvers}-, two reservations 
were secured. 

" The arm of the San Antonio Creek north of the Oakland Bridge was dedicated 
perpetually for a public lake. Since then a dam has been constructed near the 
bridge at a cost of at least twenty thousand dollars, converting this branch of the 
creek into a beautiful lake. A road si.xty feet in width and four miles in extent is 
now being built around the border of the lake, which, when completed, will be one of 
the most inviting drives in California. Not less than half a million of dollars has been 
added to the value of property by this limited expenditure of money, and at no dis- 
tant day this lake and road will become one of the most attractive features of Oak- 
land. 

" The second reservation is for a public landing, and embraces that part of the 
water front lying between the middle of Webster and the middle of Franklin Streets, 
and extending southerly to a line parallel with Front Street, and two hundred feet 
southerly from the present wharf according to the official map of the cit\-, with the 
rights of dockage, wharfage, and tolls. Soon after it became known that the above 
described property had been reserved for the city, certain parties attempted to take 
possession under a pretended lease to the San Francisco and Oakland Railroad Com- 
pany. ' I at once caused their arrest and had the lot inclosed for the city. Subse- 
quently the railroad company instituted suit to quiet title to the propert}- in question, 
claiming that the City Council had granted this property to the said company for a 
' marine railway and wharf The City Attorney set up in answer to said claim that 
the city had no authority under the charter to lease, sell, or in any manner dispose of 
city property except by public auction to the highest bidder; that said pretended lease 
was conditional, and that none of the conditions had been complied with. 

"On the first day of the present term of the Third Judicial District Court, Judge 
McKee rendered his decision against the said railroad company and in favor of the 
city of Oakland." 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 667 

In the month of July, 1868, small-pox made its appearance in Oakland as an 
epidemic. For some time prior to this it had been spreading in San Francisco with 
fearful results. The Council at once passed an ordinance creating a Board of Health 
and vested the same with full powers to do everything possible to prevent the spread 
of this loathsome malady. The Board worked wonders. Under an arrangement with 
Alameda County, represented by F. K. Shattuck, Supervisor from Oakland Town- 
ship, the cost of procuring a pest-house was to be equally divided between the city 
and the county, and the expense of maintaining the same was to be paid in propor- 
tion to the number of patients, the pest-house being purchased and maintained for 
city and county purposes. This department is one of the most useful in the city gov- 
ernment. 

At a special meeting of the City Council held April 13, 1869, for the purpose of 
expressing their sentiments at the loss of so prominent and esteemed a citizen as the 
Rev. I. H. Brayton, a Committee consisting of Messrs. Campbell, Little, and Spauld- 
ing was appointed to draft the following resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted : — 

.Whereas, Our Heavenly Father in his all-wise but inscrutable providence, has seen fit to call from among 
us one of the most prominent and most useful citizens of Oakland, Rev. I. H. Brayton, therefore 

Resolved, That this Council deems it fit to give expression to the public grief at the death of Professor Brayton, 
by bearing testimony to his upright Christian character, his pure life, his admirable courtesy, his untiring energy, 
his fine public spirit, his rare wisdom, and his self-sacrificing devotion to the great interests of education. 

Resolved, That this Council attend in a body the funeral of our lamented friend and fellow-citizen. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the .daily papers, and that a copy of them be presented 
to the bereaved family, to whom, in their sore affliction, we tender our heartfelt sympathy. 

In the year 1869 there was formed the Oakland and Encinal Turnpike and 
Ferry Company, an association of residents in what is now the town of Alameda, who 
were desirous of some cheap and expeditious communication with Oakland, so that they 
could make their purchases there instead of in San Francisco, and in order that they 
could have the benefit of the Oakland day and night boats. They proposed a turnpike 
to the edge of the creek and a ferry across, using during the pleasure of the Council a 
space for a landing at the foot of Franklin Street, not exceeding forty feet in width, sub- 
ject to such conditions of avoiding any obstruction to the navigation as might be proper. 
The design was, in short, to make the communication as cheap and expeditious as prac- 
ticable so as to be for the mutual benefit of the merchants and business men of Oak- 
land and the residents on the Encinal. The stockholders of the company did not 
anticipate any profit upon the money expended except as it might promote their con- 
venience and indirectly benefit their property. They were willing to raise the money 
if the Council would allow them a place for the landing. The names of the gentlemen 
who were interested in the scheme were, E. B. Mastick, Charles Baum, Thomas 
Davenport, H. H. Haight, Charles Meinecke, Charles Minturn, B. H. Ramsdell, Henry 
Vrooman, and C. H. King. Their prayer was granted, May 24th, and on the same date 
an ordinance was passed in accordance therewith, but it was afterwards vetoed by the 
Mayor and sustained by the Council, referred back to the Ordinance and Judiciary 
Committee, and, on their recommendation, finally became law June 21, 1869. 

In the year 1869 the great Overland Railroad had joined the Atlantic and Pacific 



668 History of Alameda County, California. 



Oceans, and all rejoiced in the accomjjlishmcnt of so t,n-eat a feat, but scarce had the 
echo of the reverberating cannon announcing the fact died away amid the canons of 
the Contra Costa Range than the entire community was cast into gloomy grief by one 
of the saddest railroad accidents that ever has occurred on this coast. The sad event 
is thus graphicall}' portrayed by the Alameda County Gazette: " The most frightful 
railroad accident that has e\er occurred in California was that of Sunday morning last 
(November 14, 1S69), between the Alameda-bound train on the Alameda Railroad 
and the Eastern-bound train on the Western Pacific Railroad, about three miles below 
San Leandro. About half an hour after the train left the place (San Lcandro) a 
young man named Spear, came dashing into town on horseback and announced the 
catastrophe. A freight train with two locomotives attached was standing on the side- 
track at this station, awaiting the arrival of the Eastward-bound train. The Conduc- 
tor of this train was immediately informed of the disaster, and the telegraph operator 
sent the news to head-quarters. The engineers did not dare to leave the station w ith- 
out orders. The news had spread like wild-fire through the town, and but a few- 
moments elapsed ere every conveyance, public and pri\ate, was engaged to con\c\- 
the anxious inhabitants of San Leandro to the scene of the accident; and the railroad 
track was lined with pedestrians who were unable to get conveyances. The scene 
presented upon our arrival beggars description. The wrecked trains, with their 
engines and cars smashed and shivered, the groans and shrieks of the wounded, the 
mutilated remains of the dead, the tumult and confusion of tho.se who were endeavor- 
ing to render assistance, combined to make the picture horrible in the extreme, and 
indelibly impress it upon the memor}' of every beholder. The Alameda train con- 
sisted of the locomotive F. D. Atherton, one bo.x-car, three passenger-cars, smoking- 
car, and one express and baggage car. The Western Pacific train consisted of tlie 
locomotive Sonoma, two express and baggage cars, smoking-car, two passcngcr-cars, 
and one sleeping-car. The Alameda train passed San Lcandro Station nearlj* on 
time (8:45), and was due at Simpson's, the junction of the two roads, at 8:55. The 
Eastward-bound train of the Western Pacific Railroad left Oakland Wharf at '&:y:>, 
and was also due at Simpson's at 8:55. 

" At the time of the accident the sun was shining brightly at San Leandro, but in 
the direction of Alameda could be seen a heavy bank of fog, which, at the scene of 
the accident, was said to be so dense that objects could not be distinguished at fifty 
yards. The Engineer of the Alameda train, the only living witness who can speak 
understandingly of the subject, saw the Western Pacific train approaching. To pull 
the whistle, shut down breaks, was the work of an instant, and having done so, he 
shouted' to the fireman to jump for his life, and then leaped from the engine. He 
struck the ground, rolled over two or three times and then heard a terrible crash; the 
two engines had smashed into atoms and for a moment he was enveloped in the 
scalding, escaping steam. Then came the groans and shrieks of the wounded, the 
agonized cries of the mangled and torn sufferers, and hasty e.xodus of the affrighted 
who were uninjured. Two cars were 'telescoped ' on each train ; one run into and through 
the other like the shutting of a spy-glass, or telescope. The telescoped cars of the 
Western Pacific train exhibited a more terrible sight. In one end of the car were 
some sixteen men, most of them dead — all of them injured — ;jammcd and tangled 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 669 

with a mass of sticks, splinters, and iron. The work of breaking away the outer shell 
of the car seemed teri-ibly slow to the sympathizing laborers, and doubly so to the 
poor sufferers within, to whom the interval between the rapid blows of the deliverers' 
axes seemed as an age to their moments of agony. But two persons were killed on 
the Alameda train — the fireman, Martin, and one passenger. The noise of the crash 
attracted people to the spot from the neighboring farms and dwellings, couriers were 
dispatched for axes and other implements to clear away the wreck, and telegrams 
were sent to the nearest stations: Those who were present immediately set to work 
with all their might and energies to extricate the passengers from the ruins." Those 
who were thus suddenly launched into eternity were: John D. McDonald, Roadmaster 
on the California Pacific (Vallejo) Railroad; Max Ehrman, a merchant at the Mission 
San Jose; George Thompson, fireman on the Western Pacific train; Charles Martin 
fireman on the Alameda train; Jame.s Conley, a farmer residing at Corral Station, 
Livermore Valley; Ritchison Peterson, identified by papers in his pockets. Identified 
as a member of Wildey Encampment, No. 22, I. O. O. F., San Francisco; David 
Wand, dry-goods merchant, San Francisco, and brother-in-law of Ehrman; Judge 
Alexander W. Baldwin, known to his friends as " Sandy" Baldwin, Judge of the 
United States District Court of Nevada; Edward Anderson, engineer on the Western 
Pacific train; Arsene Boulet, French Private School, corner of Fifth and Franklin 
streets, Oakland; Bunce H. Fox, identified by his ticket; Frank B. Millikin, brake- 
man on the Western Pacific trg.in; J. P. Lowell, of Sacramento, cattle-dealer; taken 
from the wreck alive, but died of his injuries; Thomas F. Sandoz, a native of Natchez, 
Mississippi, aged forty-eight years. Of the wounded, most of whom were taken to 
Doctor Trenor's hospital in Alameda, there were: Seth Bromley, pilot of the Stockton 
boat, right ankle terribly shattered, rendering amputation necessary below the knee; J., 
R. Helens, of San Francisco, left leg, hand, and foot bruised; James F. Kapp, for- 
merly proprietor of the Gazette, head and right leg bruised; Simon Meloche, of San 
Francisco, hip dislocated, with a number of contusions; Thomas McNulty, San Fran- 
cisco, fracture of the fibula and bruises, able to be sent to his residence; G. Leighton, 
Rocklin, Placer County, leg broken; Philip Ruby, Stockton, shoulder dislocated and 
severely bruised; Noel Langton, an employe on the Western Pacific Road, both legs 
broken; Patrick Mehan, San Francisco, leg bruised and severe internal injuries; E. 
F. Fitch, Cosumnes, school-teacher, leg broken; Joseph L. Perkins, employe on the 
Western Pacific Road, badly injured internally; C. E. Needham, of Banta's Station, 
leg broken; S. M. B. Haly, San Francisco, injured internally; Judge William Camp- 
bell, of Nevada, leg broken; Robert McLaughlin, brakeman on the Alameda train, 
seriously injured; Robert Owens, conductor on the Alameda train, seriously injured; 
John L. Beard, Mission San Jose, foot badly injured; T. W. Finlayson, teacher at 
Washington Corners, leg badly injured and face cut; J. J. Hill, of San Francisco, 
injured in one of hips, and hands, having been thrown up into the car at a distance 
extending over five seats; J. H. Downer, wounded in the head; Wells, Fargo & Go's, 
messenger, badly hurt; M. L. Taylor, of Chicago, bruised. Two Chinamen were badly 
bruised. 

" It is a pleasing duty to record the noble and heroic conduct of the women 
residing in the vicinity of the accident in assisting to alleviate the sufferings of the 



670 History of Alameda County, California. 

wounded and in rendering those delicate attentions that woman's hand alone can 
render. They contributed liberally of linen, lint, and bandages, assisted the surgeons 
in their nerve-trying duties, and their noble efforts relieved many a sufferer who will 
forever remember them with gratitude and thanks. One lady, a passenger on the 
Western Pacific train (whose name we did not learn), rendered signal assistance in 
attending to the wounded. As soon as they were taken out, she tore up her linen 
skirts to make bandages and was unremitting in her attentions, accompanying the 
wounded to Alameda." 

But why pursue the heart-rending theme; suffice it to say, a Coroner's inquest 
was held upon the bodies of the deceased and a verdict was rendered in accordance 
with the evidence which went to prove that the main cause of the catastrophe was the 
ignorance and incompetency of Bernard Kane, the switchman employed at Simp- 
son's Station, a man that could neither read nor write. 

On receipt of the intelligence Oakland was thrown into a state of the most 
intense excitement, and the dire calamity was canvassed on every side. On Tuesday, 
the i6th, several of the dead were buried in Oakland. The funeral of Judge Baldwin 
took place from the residence of his brother-in-law, the Hon. J. B. Felton, and was 
attended by the Masonic Fraternity and members of the Bar, while, on the 15th, the 
City Council passed the following resolution of condolence: — 

Whereas, In view of the great calamity which occurred yesterday, the 14th instant, in the collision of pas- 
senger trains on the railroad a few miles south of the city, involving death and injury to many persons, which has 
brought mourning to the Iiomes of several of our own citizens, includin'g that of his Honor, the Mayor, therefore 
be it 

Resolved, That this Council do adjourn in token of respect to the sufl'erers. 

The remains of Monsieur Boulet were temporarily placed in the old cemetery on 
'Webster Street; while those of Bronson H. Fox, of Illinois, were buried in Mountain 
View Cemetery by the Masonic Fraternity. 

Among the events of general interest that occurred in the city of Oakland dur- 
ing the year 1869, was the opening of the Union Savings Bank, with A. C. Henry as 
President, on July 1st, while, about the same time, the Mutual Provident Association 
of Oakland was organized, N. W. Spaulding being its President. In this year the 
Oakland Transcript was purchased by Col. John Scott and converted into a Demo- 
cratic organ; and on the 29th of October the last rail of the Pacific Railroad was laid 
in Oakland, and the first locomotive of the line, the Reindee)^, entered the city at five 
minutes after ten o'clock, A. M., and passed down, with the construction train attached 
to it, to the Point. The first passenger through train started at half past eight o'clock, 
from Oakland Point, on the morning of November 8, 1869, and at a quarter before 
twelve o'clock two large trains from the East arrived, and at two o'clock, P. JL, a long 
construction train passed through to the Point. The first through overland train 
arrived in Oakland at five minutes past five o'clock in the evening, and halting only 
a minute at Broadway, went rushing and shrieking onwards to the Point, amid gen- 
eral rejoicing. 

Early in the year 1869, the Toland Tract Association with a capital stock of 
twenty-two thousand five hundred dollars, di\-idcd into one hundred dollar shares, was 
organized, the Trustees being Henry Durant, Edward McLean, and Jacob Hardy, its 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland, 671 

object being the purchase of land to be divided into lots suitable for homesteads. In 
the month of January, Shattuck & Hillegass' Hall was converted into a theater, and 
opened as such on the evening of January 25, 1869; meanwhile the enterprise of ship- 
building was still being kept up, there being at that time a two hundred ton schooner 
on the stocks at Allen's Yard at Oakland Point. In this year the Mission Church, on 
Second Street, was built. 

To give some idea of the increase of population in Oakland we can draw some 
facts from the Post-office returns of the year 186S. During the last week of the 
month of December, 1868, the number of letters received was one thousand three hun- 
dred and forty, while the receipts from the sale of postal money orders during that 
year were fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty-eight dollars and ten cents, while 
those cashed at the office nearly equaled that amount. It will thus be seen that to 
transact that amount of business and to engage in the large quantity of correspond- 
ence reverted to above, a large population was necessary, and that Oakland was then 
fast acquiring. It was a year of great prosperity. 

In the year 1869, the splendid Roman Catholic Church on Jefferson Street was 
commenced, but ere going into detail in respect to the building we will place before 
the reader a short sketch of the establishment of this denomination in this city. 

Thirty years ago a room in a private house served as a place of worship for the 
Roman Catholics of Oakland and nearly the whole of the present county of Alameda, 
a priest from the Mission San Jose occasionally making a visit to celebrate mass and 
administer the sacraments, and even these occasional visits had to be omitted during 
the rainy season, owing to bad roads. The first church, a building of the most mod- 
est description, was erected in 1853, through the exertions of a few of the congrega- 
ition, and for some time was the only Roman Catholic place of worship, save the Mis- 
sion of San Jose, in the whole of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. We doubt 
not for the ten years and more which this little building stood, many submissive 
hearts have knelt in deep devotion before its primitive altar, and many rebellious 
spirits been soothed within its sacred walls. We can almost now hear the impressive 
service commenced, the praises chanted, the benediction pronounced, and see the 
happy few return to their homes, relieved in mind, and for the present with all feuds for- 
gotten; indeed, it is a pleasant solace to conjecture the earlier citizens of this lovely 
city, though rough in exterior, still child-like in spirit, fearing the Lord, for if there is 
ever one time when prayer may be more beneficially asked than at another, it is when 
deep solitude surrounds us, when the dark future appears to be yet more dark, when 
thankfulness is to be divided among a small community, and when deep love binds 
man and woman, youth and maiden, old and young — then, and then only, do the 
hardened pray with fervor and the wicked seek to be reclaimed. 

There was no settled pastor in Oakland until Father King was appointed to the 
parish, which then included San Pablo, San Leandro, and the Amador Valley, as well 
as Oakland, in February, 1865. Aided by Father Croke, the original building was 
enlarged by subsequent additions until it was capable of holding a congregation of 
several hundreds, but this, too, became inadequate to the needs of the population of 
Oakland, although several new parishes were formed in the county. In 1869 Father 
King determined to erect a church on a scale commensurate with the promised impor- 



672 History of Alameda County, California. 

tance of the city; accordin;4l\- plans were prepared for a buildinj; surpassint^ in dimen- 
sions anything in the State, though only with the intention of erecting a part of it at 
first, a design which has been carried out in the present structure. The foundations 
were laid in that year, but various causes retarded an_\- further progress until May, 
1871, when the superstructure was commenced and pushed vigorously forward. 
Although not completed, the church was consecrated on June 23, 1872, the dedicatory 
services being conducted by the Most Reverend Archbishop Alemany, attended by 
the Reverends Fathers Croke, Gibney, and Casedra. Let us here describe this 
impressive ceremonial. At eleven o'clock the Archbishop, attended by the Fathers 
mentioned, the last of whom bore a silver cross, all in full canonicals, proceeded 
through the center aisle to the entrance of the church, where a procession was formed 
in the following order: Archbishop Alemany, preceded by Father Casedra, who was 
supported on his right and left by boys in gowns and Fathers Gibney and Croke. 
Next came two Sisters in black, twelve Misses, in couples, dressed in white, fifty 
young Misses attired alike in buff-colored dresses and black aprons, twelve girls al.so 
in white, and the Saint Joseph's Benevolent Society of Oakland, in regalia, and with 
the elegant banner of their Society, bringing up the rear of the cortege. The cere- 
mony of consecration commenced by the dedication of the church with holy water by 
the Archbishop, the procession slowly marching around the edifice and through the 
entrance to the sanctuary. The same rites were observed inside, the Archbishop, 
accompanied by the attendant priests, passing through the side aisles, around the 
church. The dedication sermon was preached by Father Hugh Gallagher, of St. 
Joseph's Church, San Francisco, to whom, two decades before, the Roman Catholics of 
Oakland were in a great measure indebted for their first place of worship. A history 
and description of the Church of the Immaculate Conception will be found elsewhere 
in this work. 

In this connection it should be said that mainly through the exertions of Father 
King the Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, located on Webster Street, near 
the head of Lake Merritt, was dedicated in 186S. It is conducted by the Sisters of 
the Sacred Names of Jesus and Mary, and is for the education of young ladies. Sev- 
eral of the pupils are Protestants, nor is there any interference with their religious 
belief Should a girl desire instruction in the principles of Catholicity, permission 
must first be obtained from her parents. Parents of other modes of faith are glad to 
avail themselves in this country of the educational advantages offered by the Sisters, 
who are all ladies of the highest refinement and culture. At the academy at San 
Jose, and at other institutions on this Coast, many Hebrew as well as Christian }'oung 
ladies receive their education. Although, like ourself, unable to accept the peculiar 
dogmas of this Church, Protestants are wise enough to recognize the great moral safe- 
guards afforded by the watchful supervision of devout and earnest ladies over the 
mental and moral habits of their children. We have always thought with Professor 
Seelcy, in Ecee Homo, that the great object for which a Christian Church exists is 
the cultivation of virtue, and it is in the consistency of their lives that Catholics win 
our admiration. Good works have been the germ of life and the energizing cause 
of progress in this Church. Where virtues have given place to passions in its his- 
tory, it has fallen, rising again when gospel morality resumed its sway. "Never," 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 673 

says James Anthony Froude, among the most reUable of modern historians, "never," 
so far as we know, have mankind put forth from themselves any thing so grand, 
so useful, 90 beautiful, so beneficent as the Catholic Church once was." The two 
great causes of this were, we believe, its practical philanthropy and its mental 
cultivation. Prophecies may fail, and dogmas of infallibility shall vanish away, but 
"the inward adorning of the meek and quiet spirit," the graces of heart and mind, and 
all the sacred results of Christian discipline and education, will win men's homage so 
long as there is any virtue and any praise, and will shed their light and fragrance 
beyond the grav&. 

The work of Christian education, with all the neatness and gayety, the happiness 
and order that attend it, is, we should imagine, a blessed and grateful w6rk, both to 
the Sisters and to the pastor. While the heart is yet unspotted from the world, while 
the life is unsullied, while the innocent little ones need only to be guided in order to 
choose the good and cling to it and love it forever, while the habits are yet unformed 
and the mind, like a white, unwritten page, needs only the autograph of Christ and 
the impression of Heaven, the pastor steps in with his school and foils the tempter and 
infuses moral strength to resist evil in the future. While he educates the mind he 
barricades the soul. While he equips the children for time, he is shielding as well as 
training them for eternity. How noble a sight is such a school under such guardian- 
ship! Surely the angels must love to look at it! Unruly tempers gently led into 
captivity to Christ. The child taught, almost before "the dawn of reason's awful 
power," to shrink from vice as from poison. What respectful silence greets the pastor 
as he enters the school; what radiant looks and merry laughter when he speaks his 
kindly criticisms to one and then another. And what are they taught? Not bigotry; 
not harsh judgment of others; but something higher, better, and more positive — to 
love the Saviour, his Mother, and his Saints; to follow their example here and walk- 
where their light falls, that they may meet them amid other scenes, and dwell -with 
them forever. Here, surely, is the pastor's noblest work. Not on the platform, 
though he thunder forth platitudes with a fifty Boanerges power; not in angry 
polemics, though he were ever so victorious; not even scattering the flowers of rhet- 
oric upon the heads of a fashionable audience, who cry that they are "miserable sin- 
ners," but act as though they were saints in lavender. No; but at the bedside of the 
sick and dying, caring for Christ's poor, and obeying his command to Peter, given as 
a test of love, "Feed my lambs." The religious influences that fall upon the Protest- 
ant as well as Catholic pupils, at such schools as the Convent, are not, as we have 
seen, theoretical or dogmatic, but that imperceptible molding of the character and 
chastening of the thoughts for good, as bring forth fruit in the self-control and 
patience of a Christian life. 

Trusting that we may be pardoned this lengthy digression we now return to our 
running chronology of events. On February 5, 1869, the first number of the Alameda 
Democrat made its appearance and was said by one of its contemporaries to have " a 
countrified appearance." At this time Oakland boasted three daily papers, and in 
that respect took third rank in the State. In the month of February, 1869, the city 
was visited by heavy rain-storms that did considerable damage. In this year, during 
the month of February, Alameda Degree Lodge, No. S, I. O. O. R, was instituted by 



G74 History of Alameda County, California. 

Past Grand Representative Nathan Porter, when the following officers were installed: 
J. C. Holland, N. G.; J. Barnett, V. G.; W. J. Gurnett, Secretary; George H. Fogg, 
Treasurer; J. Callagan, Guardian. 

The plumed hat, crooked walking-cane, and hea\'_\- sabre of " Emperor Norton" 
are well remembered by those of Oakland's residents of to-day. To those who come 
after us we may say that Norton was a pioneer merchant of San Francisco who, 
through fortune's rebuffs, lost his mind, and among his aberrations thought himself 
invested with sovereign power over the United States and Mexico. His end was a 
sad one. He dropped dead in one of the streets of San Francisco without warning of 
the coming of the Grim Monster. All in all he was regretted, for he was utterly 
harmless. In one of his visits to this side of the bay, as was his wont, he issued the 
following proclamations, which go to show that his weakness was not of an obtrusive 
nature. 

Norton, Dei Gratia, Empkror of the United States and Protector of Mexico: Beinf; anxious 
that the physicians should continue unabated in their zeal for the total obliteration of the small-pox, do hereby 
command the City Authorities, in all places where the disease has been or may continue, to make compensation in 
honor or money to all physicians who may make the most effective cures in case of small-pox. 

Oakland, Fchrtiary fj, r86g. Norton I. 

We, Norton t. Emperor of th; U.vit.'.d States and Protector of Mexico: Do hereby protest 
against any action of Congress depreciating National Bonds as a disgrace to the Nation; being convinced that our 
integrity is our only Salvation, and all foreigners whom it may concern are hereby advised of our determination. 
Oakland, February /j, iS6g. ' Norton I. 

Among the improvements made in the year 1869 was the erection by Captain 
Wilco.x of a building on Ninth Street, ne.xt to his three-story brick building. 

About this tipie certain portions of the community were much exercised against 
the Rev. L. Hamilton who had established an Independent Presbyterian Church. 
Charges of a comparative heterodoxy were made against him, and he was summoned 
to appear before the Presbytery, but, refusing to do so, he was suspended from his 
duties. The feeling on the subject was thus expressed: " Mr. Hamilton has withdrawn 
from a body where he could have no possible influence and whose verdict was known 
before ever the charges had been preferred and hearing granted. Any act that the 
Presbytery can take will carry with it simply the weight of the moral influence and 
opinions of its members. A higher tribunal than Presbytery or Synod has rendered 
its decision. The Christian men and women who have for years listened with [irofit 
to the preachings of Mr. Hamilton, the whole community, have concurred in the 
sentiment that freedom of conscience shall not be crushed and that however much 
men may differ with them upon abstract theories, when they are the same in feeling 
and in heart, the bonds shall not be dissolved." Upon the organization of the Inde- 
pendent Presbyterian Church the following trustees were appointed: Professor H. 
Durant, Rev. David McClure, C. W. Howard, Judge S. B. McKee, George C. Potten 
J. S. Emery, Col. A. J. Coffee, W. C. Tompkins, and J. R. Glascock. 

1870. — In the month of January, 1870, an attempt was made to get an Act passed 
through the Legislature having for its object the division of the city into wards and 
districts, but the City Council, on January 3d, carried a resolution that the passage of 
such a bill would be detrimental to the interests of the city, therefore the matter 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. G75 

dropped for the time. On the loth January a bid was made for having the State 
Normal School located in Oakland, and to attract the committee having. this settle- 
ment of the matter they were tendered the hospitalities of the city. In the mean time 
the City Hall was offered for the purpose, and on January 24th, Mr. Spaulding 
offered a resolution recommending the offer of ten acres of land and fifty thousand 
dollars in bonds of Oakland Township to the State for Normal School purposes, 
which was adopted, and the City Attorney was directed to draw up an enabling Act 
in accordance therewith. The following short sketch of this institution may prove of 
interest to the reader. Early in the history of the State a few gentlemen of San 
Francisco who had the educational interests of California at heart, among them being 
State Superintendent Andrew J. Moulder, John Swett, and City Superintendent 
Henry B. James, mooted the idea of a State Normal School. By the earnest efforts 
of these gentlemen, a City Normal School was established in San Francisco in 1857, 
with George W. Minns as Principal, and John Swett, Ellis H. Holmes, and Thomas 
S. Myrick, assistants. This school was continued until 1862. In the years 1859 and 
i860, Mr. Moulder urged the establishment of a State Normal School, but no action 
was then taken in the matter. Subsequently, however, a committee was appointed to 
examine into the feasibility of the scheme, which they favored in an elaborate report 
dated January 2, 1862. It was embodied by the State Superintendent in a communi- 
cation to the Legislature of 1862, and May 2d of that year an Act providing for the 
establishment of such an institution was passed. Three thousand dollars was appro- 
priated by the Legislature for carrying out the design, and Ahira Holmes appointed 
Principal by a Board of Trustees consisting of Superintendent Moulder, George Tait, 
Superintendent of San Francisco, and Dr. Taylor, Superintendent of Sacramento. 
The school was opened in one of the vacant rooms of the San Francisco High School, 
July 21, 1862, with thirty-one pupils, but was soon removed to rented rooms on Post 
Street, the teachers being Henry P. Carlton, Vice Principal, with Helen M. Clark and 
Kate Sullivan in the Training Department. In 1864 it was transferred to the rear of 
the Lincoln Grammar School. 

In the month of April 1870, a bill was passed by the Legislature directing the 
levy of a tax to provide a State Normal School Building Fund. We have seen how 
Oakland .made an attempt to gain the location of it there, but San Jose received the 
boon, and in 1870 the building was commenced. On February 11, 1880, the hand- 
some structure was destroyed by fire, but a new Normal School was erected on its 
site and first opened to its proper uses in 1881. 

On January 10, 1870, T. J. Arnold was appointed City Engineer; on August 1st 
an ordinance prohibiting the soliciting of custom for hotels and carriages in railroad- 
cars and steamboats within the limits of the city was passed, and, on November 7th, 
an ordinance concerning a record of births in the city of Oakland was passed. 

In the year 1870, the subject of a bridge across San Antonio Creek between 
Oakland and Alameda was placed before the Legislature, and was bitterly opposed 
by the residents of Brooklyn, on the ground that it would obstruct navigation and 
thus interfere with the prospects of their town, but without avail, for the bill became 
law and the Webster-street Bridge an accomplished fact. Another matter that 
received considerable attention about this time was the removal of the county seat 



67tJ HlST(iK\- OF Al.AMKDA CoUXTV, CaI.I F( )R\ I A. 

from San Leandro to Oakland. It was the initial step to a very bitter contest, which, 
huAever, vyas won by the city. On July i, 1870, the San Francisco and Oakland, 
and San Francisco, Alameda, and Haywards Railroad Com])anies were consolidated 
under the name of the San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda Raili-oad Com[)an\', to 
form a continuous line from San Francisco to Haywards. Directors: Faxon D. 
Atherton, D. O. Mills, \\'m. C. Ralston, Alfred A. Cohen, and David P. Barstow. 

Concerning the cit\- of Oakland, the following Acts of the Legislature were 
passed, in the j'ear 1S70. An Act to provide for building bridge across the Estuary 
of San iVntonio. Tax for payment of bridge bonds; To issue bonds for bridge pur- 
poses; An Act to prevent the destruction of fish and game in and around Lake 
Merritt; An Act providing for a bridge across S.m Antonio Creek; Mayor of Oakland 
to appoint bridge committee; City of Oakland to levy special bridge tax; An Act to 
lay out and improve streets of Oakland; An Act authorizing contract for lighting 
cit}- of Oakland with gas; An Act authorizing tax for redemption of School Bonds in 
Oakland; An Act amending an Act of 1864, to improve streets in Oakland; An Act 
to authorize a tax for interest on bonds issued for funding certain claims on Oakland; 
An Act authorizing the Mayor to appoint Commissioners for a bridge across San 
Antonio Creek; An Act authorizing a special tax for bridge across San Antonio 
Creek; An Act concerning wharves, not to apply to Oakland; and An Act establish- 
ing boundary between Brooklyn and Oakknd. 

In March, 1870, the Oakland Musical Society was started with the following lady 
and gentlemen as a committee of organization: Mrs. W. C. Little, Jacob Bacon. W. 
K. Flint, E. J. Passmore, W. B. Treadwell. In this year building was almost a mania 
in Oakland; new residences could be counted by the score, while business blocks and 
general improvements were under wa\' all along Broadwa\'. The want of hotel accom- 
modation was much felt, but practical schemes in that direction were being then 
devised, b\' the Newland Brothers, at the corner of Seventh and \\'ashington Streets. 

1 87 1. — On March 20, 1871, Oakland was divided into two election precincts for 
voting purposes, Adeline Street being the partition line between the two, a division 
which obtained until Januar\- 13, 1873, when the city was redistributed. On the 1 ith 
October the Council passed a resolution that the pastors of the several churches in the 
city be requested to take up collections among their congregations for the relief of the 
sufferers from the Chicago fire. 

In March of this year the Post-office was mo\ed to the office formerK- occupied 
by W, K. Rowcll, on Broadway between Ninth and Tenth Streets, it ha\-ing changed 
its location several times since its establishment, in the first instance, on the corner of 
Broadway and Second Street. On March 2, i87i,the new building of the L'nion 
Savings Bank, on the corner of Broadway and Ninth Street, was ready for occupation. 

In the year 1871 there took place the heaviest real estate transaction that had 
hitherto been known in the city of Oakland. It was the selling by Elijah Bigelow to 
the San Francisco Land and Loan Association, for one hundred and two thousand 
dollars, two-thirds of Broadway Block, excepting a piece one hundred b\- sevent)--five 
feet, on the corner of Broadwa)' and Twelfth Street, the property of T. J. Murph)-. 
The march of improvement still pushed onward in this year, Broadwa\- being the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 677 

scene of much activitv' in building, where the owners seemed to have settled upon the 
policy of erecting only the very first-class structures. The fact was recognized that Oak- 
land was fast becoming a city capable of sustaining" the very best class of stores, and 
that unless that street furnished the proper accommodations, other and more enter- 
prising capitalists would turn their attention to some other locality, and there erect the 
improvements demanded b\- the enlarged condition of the city. Their policy was a 
vise one, and, by carrying it out, they secured for all time the prestige of Broadway as 
the most important thoroughfare in Oakland. In May, the Hurlburt Block, bounded 
by Broadway, Washington, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Streets, was sold to Armes & 
Dallam for seventy-five thousand dollars, making the third heavy land sale within the 
cit}', and all aggregating two hundred and thirty-seven thousand dollars. It should 
be mentioned that heavier sales than these had taken place; for instance, the railroad 
company purchased sixty-six acres of land at the Point for three hundred and 
thirt}' thousand dollars; the Casserly Tract was sold for one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand dollars, and the Lake Side Tract for one hundred thousand dollars; but in 
each of these cases the area of the property sold was extensive, while in the transac- 
tions noted it is very small. In this month James Canning commenced the erection 
of his building on the corner of Broadway and Thirteenth Street, while, on the 24th 
May, the dilapidated platform that stood on the south side of Seventh Street near 
Broadway, and sei-ved as a passenger landing for the trains, was removed; and, in June 
E. C. Sessions commenced a handsome building at the corner of Broadway and 
Twelfth Street. 

1 8/ 2, — Having so fully gone into the matter of the removal of the county seat in 
ancther place, it will be unnecessary here to dwell upon the subject; all that we shall 
do is to follow the official action so far as it regards the part taken by the Cit)' 
Council. On January i, 1872, Hiram Tubbs, of Brooklyn, addressed the Council to 
the effect that as petitions were in circulation praying for the removal of the county 
seat to Oakland from San Leandro with the implied understanding that the unoccupied 
parts of the City Hall would be tendered to the county for the use of its officers, and - 
as a doubt existed in the minds of many residents of the town of Brooklyn (who were 
favorably inclined to the removal under such condition) arising from the fact that 
there had been no authoritative expression from the Council on the subject, he inquired 
if such should be made in that event, to which he received a reply in the shape of the 
following resolutions, passed on the 9th January: — 

Whereas, It is contemplated by the people of the county of Alameda to change the county seat from San 
Leandro in said county to the city of Oakland, and 

Whereas, It is deemed expedient that the city of Oakland should give some public expression in relation 
thereto, therefore be it 

Resolved, That the unoccupied apartments in the new City Hall in the city of Oakland are hereby tendered 
to the county of Alameda for its use for the purposes of county offices as long as desirable; and sufficient ground 
upon the City Hall Plat to erect a Recorder's Office; and at such time as the county shall see fit or desire to con- 
struct county buildings, it is the intention of the city of Oakland to furnish to the county, land sufficient and proper 
therefor. 

Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolutions be published in full in all the papers in the county of 
Alameda. 

Immediately following this action the City Council had a meeting, and on Jan- 
nary 15th passed the following resolution: — 



678 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

Resolved, That a public meeting of the citizens of the city of Oakland and to« nship of Oakland and vicinity 
should be held immediately, to take into consideration the subject of a removal of the county seal and recommend 
that such a mesting be called immediately for the purpose of discussing the merits of such removal and that Samuel 
Merritt, A. C. Henry, and Rodmond Gibbons are hereby requested to call such meeting and publish notice of the 
same, and to invite and select speakers to speak upon the subject at said meeting. 

A meeting was accordingh- held on Januar)- 24th, and the annexed resolutions 
unanimously adopted: — 

Wherkas, It has become necessary for the accommodation of a large majority of the citizens of Alameda 
County that the county seat of said county should be removed to the city of Oakland, and a petition of the voters 
of said county has been presented to the Legislature of the .State, asking for the passage of a law authorizing such 
removal, and 

Whereas, Objections to said removal are being made by some, on the ground that a heavy debt would be 
incurred by such removal, in the purchase of land, and the erection of the necessary buildings for county purposes, 
it is therefore 

Resolved, By the citizens of Oakland in mass-meeting assembled, that the second story of the City Hall shall 
be finished at the expense of the city, and partitioned into suitable rooms for the District Court, the County and 
Probate Courts, the Sheriff, the District Attorney, the Grand Jury, the Petit Jury, the County Surveyor, and the 
Judge's chambers; and that rooms shall be provided on the first floor of said hall for the Board of Supervisors and 
the Superintendent of Public Schools; and in the basement of said hall, if required, rooms sufficient for a jail. 
And that the city will also dedicate to the county a lot of land, parcel of the City Hall lot, situated in the southwest 
corner of the same, fifty feet wide on Fourteenth Street and one hundred feet in depth, for the purpose of erecting 
a Hall of Records for the use of the County Recorder, County Clerk, and County Treasurer. And that the use 
and control of said rooms and said land shall be vested in the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, for so 
long a time as said Board may use and occupy them for the purposes aforesaid. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting transmit to our Senator and Representatives and to the City 
Council a co]:)y of these resolutions. 

Thi.s action was fully indorsed by the City Council at a special meeting held on 
the 29th of January, while a draft of a bill providing for an election by the people to 
decide the question, and approved by resolution, was sent to Hon. E. Tompkins and 
E. H. Pardee, at Sacramento, to be by them submitted to the Legislature. In the 
mean time the Council approved the action of the citizens in offering Washington and 
Franklin Squares, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, on Broadway, to the count)- 
whereon to erect count)' buildings, this being again indorsed on the 10th of March- 
The further proceedings in this regard will be found in the chapter on Legislative 
history, the culminating act of the Cit\- Council being on Februar)- 9, 1874, when Mr. 
Warner presented a certified copy of an Act approved Februar)- 4, 1874, "to enable 
the Board of Super\-isors of Alameda Count)- to erect the count)- buildings of said 
county on Washington and Franklin Plazas in the city of Oakland," and offered a 
resolution, which was adopted, that the President and Clerk of the Council be directed 
to execute and acknowledge the grant of said plazas from the cit)- to the county. 

Early in the year 1872 there appears to have been a little unpleasantness existing 
between the town of Brooklyn and its greater neighbor of Oakland, which called forth 
the following action on the part of the Cit)- Council of the latter place. On January 
29th the accompanying resolutions were passed: — 

Whereas, The Trustees of the town of Brooklyn have proposed certain amendments to their town charter, 
including one giving said town and its officers jurisdiction to low-water mark on their side of San Antonio Creek 
or Estuary, in order to remove any question of their power to enforce the ordinances of said town in certain ca.ses 
without infringing at all on the rights of the city of Oakland, and 

Whereas, The said amendments have been submitted to the Alameda Delegation in the Legislature with 
the view of securing their passage, and saiil d.-leg.uion rj(|iiire first the assent of the Council in the premises. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. ' 679 

Resolved, Therefore, that the assent of the city of Oakland is hereby given to said proposed amendment, 
provided, that the boundary line in other respects shall remain the same as at present, and that no rights of prop- 
erty shall be affected thereby. 

Notwithstanding this, however, it would appear that the Brooklyn authorities 
transgressed their limits and called from the Oakland Council the following resolutions 
the 19th February: — 

Whereas, This Council by Resolution No. 10S3, gave its consent to the passage of an Act, granting to the 
town of Brooklyn jurisdiction to low-water mark on the eastern shore of San Antonio Creek, in which resolution 
there is contained a provision that the boundary lines of the city of Oakland should not in any manner be changed, 
nor the rights of property be interfered with, and 

Whereas, Said resolution was adopted by this Council at the urgent request of the town of Brooklyn, and 
in good faith, as that town desired the right to enforce its ordinances pertaining to police regulations to low water, 
and done simply as a friendly act towards said town, and 

Whereas, This Council have become convinced that the town of Brooklyn is not acting in the premises in 
an open and fair manner, but on the contrary are seeking by subterfuge to change the boundary line of the city of 
Oakland, therefore be it 

Resolved, That Resolution No. 10S3 be and the same is hereby in all things rescinded. 

Resolved, That this Council most emphatically protest and object to any change of the boundary of the city of 
Oakland whereby its present territory will be decreased, or in any manner limiting or diminishing its present terri- 
torial or police jurisdiction, and to the passage of any bill granting any jurisdiction or police regulations to the 
town of Brooklyn within the present charter line or corporate limits of tlie city of Oakland. 

Resolved, That this Council hereby condemns the action of the town of Bi^ooklyn and its agents in the prem- 
ises as attempting, under cover of extending its police regulations upon the water front of said city, to change 
the well-settled charter line of the city of Oakland without even its knowledge or consent. 

Resolved, That Hon. Edward Tompkins and Hon. E. H. Pardee, are hereby respectfully requested to oppose 
the passage of any bill changing in any manner the charter line of said city, or rendering the same questionable or 
uncertain, or limiting in any manner its territorial or police jurisdiction, or granting police jurisdiction, or any 
other jurisdiction to any other town or corporation within its territorial or corporate limits. 

Resolved, That the City Clerk be, and he is hereby instructed to forthwith transmit a certified copy of the 
foregoing .preamble and resolutions under the seal of the city to Hon. Edward Tompkins, Senator of Alameda 
County, and Hon. E. H. Pardee, and E. T. Crane, Members of Assembly of Alameda County. 

On the 26th February Mr. Van Dyke addressed the Council in behalf of Brook- 
lyn, disclaiming any intention on the part of that town to change the boundaries of the 
city of Oakland; but the matter was eventually settled by the absorption of Brooklyn 
into the city of Oakland. 

April I, 1872, a certified cop)^ of an order of the Board of Supervisors of Alameda 
County declaring the result of an election held in the township of Oakland on March 
30, 1872, for the purpose of deciding the question of annexation of certain contiguous 
territory to the city of Oakland, was read and filed, when, A. L. Warner then presented 
an ordinance entitled " An Ordinanceto Approvethe Annexation of certain Territory to 
the City of Oakland" which was duly passed. The land so desired to be added to the 
city is described as follows: — 

On the north by the line of division between the plots ten and eleven on Julius Kellersberger's map of the 
rancho of Vincente and Domingo Peralta, filed in the office of the Recorder of Alameda County, January 21, 
A.D. 1857, said line being produced in a straight line with itself westerly till it intersects the westerly boundaiy of 
the county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco and produced in like manner easterly beyond the easterly line 
of Webster Avenue until it intersects the small creek known as Cemetery Creek, which rises in the grounds of the 
Mountain View Cemetery Association and flows southwesterly to its junction with another creek rising east of 
said Webster Avenue; on the east by said Cemetery Creek and the other creek aforesaid below their junction until 
they empty into Lake Merritt or Peralta, and then southerly along the west shore line of the northwestern arm of 



680 History of Alameda County, Caliioknia. 

said lake until the same intersects the northerly line of the city of Oakland; on the south by the said north line of 
said city; and on the west by the <vesterly line of said county of Alameda in the bay of San Francisco to its point 
of intersection with the north line already described as the line of division between Kellersberger's plots, numbers 

ten and eleven. 

On the 15th of April the City Surveyor was directed to devise and present a 
plan of streets for this newly acquired territory; and on October 21, 1872, the knell 
of the town of Brooklyn was sounded, his Honor, the Ma\-or, announcing, November 
4th, that he had received from the Coimty Clerk a certified copy of the minutes of 
the Board of Supervisors of Alameda CV.unt}-, in relation to the official canvass of the 
returns of an election held in the town of Brooklyn on the 21st October to decide the 
question of annexing said tow n to the cit)' of Oakland, said canvass showing a major- 
ity in favor of annexation; whereupon an ordinance was introduced by Mr. Warner, 
entitled "An Ordinance Approving the Annexation of certain Territory to the City of 
Oakland in pursuance of an Act entitled 'An Act to enable the Inhabitants of Terri- 
tory adjacent to any City in this State to annex the same thereto, approved February 
I, 1872,'" which was unanimously passed, thus absorbing the town of Brooklyn into 
the city of Oakland. 

San Pablo Avenue within the city limits was declared a public thoroughfare on 
the 28th October of this )ear. 

or matters of general interest occurring during the year 1872, ue find that in the 
month of February articles of incorporation of the Oakland Paving Companv were 
filed in the office of the Secretary of State, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dol- 
lars, divided into three hundred shares, the Trustees being Theodore L. W'alkcr, C. T. 
Palmer, and W. H. Eastman. 

In glancing over the books of the Tax Collector for the year, we find that in the 
earl)- part of 1872 the lollowing branches of business and the number of each in the 
city of Oakland were: Auctioneers, 3; !iqu )i- ialoons, 84; barber shops, 8; boarding- 
houses (licensed) 10; billiard saloons, 6; bakeries, 11; breweries, 3; bath-houses, 2; 
bill-posters, 2; cigar manufactories, 3; cigar stores, 6; clothing stores, 3; carpet stores, 
2; confectionaries, 4; drygoods, 3; drug stores, 6; express agents, 2; fruit store.s, 8; 
furnishing goods, 4; furniture stores, 2; feed and produce, 3; flour-mill, i; game 
market, i; groceries, 15; glaziers, 2; general mercliandise, 2; hardware, 4; harness- 
makers, 3; insurance agents, 12; ice depot, 1; jewelcrs'and watchmakers, 5; livery- 
stables, 8; laundry,!; lodging-houses, 12; lumber-yards, 4; locksmiths, 1 ; markets, 14; 
marble works, '2; milliners, 4; music stores, i; paint shops, 5; pawnbroker, 1; plumb- 
ers, 7; planing-mills, 3; restaurants, 20; real estate agents, y; roofing agency, 1; sew- 
ing-machine agents, 3; stationers, 4; shoe and boot stores, 7; stove stores, 3 ; merchant 
tailors, 3; tinsmiths, 6; toy stores, 4; undertakers, 2; upholsterers, 2; vegetable stores, 
4; variety stores, 3; wood and coal yards, 5. Besides the above there were numerous 
branches of trade for which no licenses were required, while there were two banks, 
one corn-starch factory, one brass and one iron foundry, etc. 

Dining the month of April 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad seems to have had 
a run of ill-luck. On the 14th an old gentleman, eighty-four years of age, named 
Levi Heinebcrg, an esteemed resident of Oakland, was injured by the local train at 
the Seventh-street Depot, while, on the 20th, the locomotive So/atio burst her boiler 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 681 



while on duty at the wharf, but, singular to relate, without injuring any one. On the 
1 6th May the Oakland Flouring Mill at the junction of Broadway and Telegraph 
Avenue was destroyed by fire, the loss being about seven thousand dollars, on which 
there was no insurance. The establishment was owned by Pendleton & Learned and 
was erected by Blanchard & Plummer in 1861. 

In the columns of the Nezvs of June 12, 1872, we find the following plea for the 
the preservation of the oaks: " The oak-trees which suggested the name of our city 
have made it what it is. At an early day they attracted people hither, and weary San 
Franciscans sought the comforts of a country home in our evergreen groves. If the 
peninsula had been a barren plain it would not to-day contain the residences of fifteen 
thousand people. The public schools have lately been developed and are of inesti- 
mable importance, but the original and most powerful cause of the city's growth has 
been the trees. As the population increases and the streets are needed for business 
these grand old oaks must disappear. They must also be removed from every block 
in the city and to make room for improvements. The number of trees has of necessity 
greatly diminished, and we therefore set a higher value on those still remaining. If a 
street is used to any great extent, trees must be removed from near its center. But let 
us keep them until the space they occupy is wanted. There has been too much nicety 
about removing trees, numerous handsome oaks have been felled because they were a 
few inches from the line of the sidewalk. The walks have purposely been made of an 
unusual width so as to permit as many trees as possible to remain. It looks like 
vandalism to cut down a tree because it is a foot or so outside the edge of a sidewalk. 
Such trees are ornamental and should be forever retained. The appearance of the 
city is rendered handsome and picturesque, and the comfort of the people is also pro- 
moted, for the trees are a useful barrier against the winds, as any one can ascertain by 
visiting the treeless localities above and below the main portion of the city. At 
almost every meeting of the Council there are petitions for the removal of trees, and 
if all these requests were complied with, Oakland would very soon be as windy and 
disagreeable as San Francisco. There is nothing that requires closer attention on the 
part of our City Fathers than this subject, and we hope that no request for the 
removal of a tree will be complied with without first a careful examination." 

It may be mentioned that on August 8, 1872, occurred the eleventh anniversary 
of the breaking of the first ground at the Point for the local railway, which has since 
been so greatly extended. The contractors and builders of the road were Goss & 
Stevens, both active, energetic, enterprising men. The first spadeful of earth was 
thrown up by M. T. Dusenbury, then an employe oi the company, and afterwards Teller 
of the Oakland Savings Bank. A stump of a tree was extracted from the extreme 
outer terminus of the road. Immediately thereafter a wharf was built three-quarters 
of a mile long, to and from which the San Francisco steamers landed and took aboard 
passengers and freight. The road was fully completed in one year, and the same station- 
houses erected along the line at which the cars now stop. But in those pristine times 
for Oakland — it was only now and then that a passenger was picked up or set down at 
Adeline, Market, or Oak Streets — the original owners, Charles Main being President, 
sold the road to A. A. Cohen, who, in turn disposed of his interest to the Central 
Pacific. The fare at this time was twenty-five cents for a single adult passenger. 
44 



682 History of Alameda County, California. 

John Scott, architect and builder, and about the most venerable of the pioneers 
on this side of the bay then, contributed no little to the comfort of the employes at 
the Point by putting doors and windows in their humble tenement and making their 
casa as cheerful as possible. This " shebang" stood on the margin of the bay, but 
to-day, if in existence, would be over its roof in water, the bank having crumbled 
away for many yards landward of the spot where it was erected. At the period when 
this railway was built the late James B. Larue, as we have said, had two steamers 
called the Oakland ■a.nA Sail Antonio, running on the creek route, the fare also being 
twenty-five cents. 

On completion of the line a stiff opposition sprang up and the price of passage 
was reduced to five cents. This state of things could not last forever, and although it 
was fine for travelers, it was death to the companies. Before two years had elapsed 
the great railroad Kings had bought off the creek boats and what followed all of our 
readers are fully advised. 

On July I, 1872, the total population of the city of Oakland was: — 

Males over twenty-one year.s 3. 35° 

Females over eighteen years 2,950 

Males between sixteen and twenty-one years 525 

Males between five and fifteen years 1, 163 

Females between si.xteen and eighteen years 200 

Females between five and fifteen years 1,344 

Colored, Indians, etc. , of all ages 70 

Floating, not obtained in the canvass 275 

Chinese, male and female 90(> 

On November 14, 1872, Oakland was called upon to mourn the demise of one of 
her most faithful and beloved citizens. The Hon. Edward Tompkins expired on 
that date at his residence on Alice Street. His place of nativity was the charming 
and romantic village of Paris Hill, Oneida County, New York. The year of his birth 
was 181 5. In his childhood he had only the advantages of an education which at 
that early day, and in the uttermost settlements of civilization in New York, could 
only be acquired in the log-cabin or at the humble fireside of the rustic cottage. But 
our youthful hero, industrious, plodding, and determined to win a name and fame for 
himself, stuck to his books atid finally succeeded in preparing himself for college. 
He entered Union University at Schenectady, in the class of 1S31, that being the 
only college in the State of New York, in those days, except Columbia, in the city of 
New York, while in college and shortly after its foundation he connected himself with 
the " Sigma-Phi Society," and up to the year of his death always kept up his interest 
in its welfare and prosperity. He frequently met with the brethren at their annual 
reunions in San Francisco. The late Hon. Edward Norton of the Supreme Court of 
this State was a college-mate of Mr. Tompkins. Shortly after graduation, he went to 
the city of New York, where he studied and subsequently practiced law. His health 
failing him, he removed to Binghampton,''Broome County, where he at once entered on 
an extensive practice, and it was not long before Hon. Daniel S. Dickenson, one of 
the brightest luminaries of Southern New York, honored the young Blackstone with 
a full partnership. The firm did a prosperous business, and in 1837 the young lawyer 
took to wife Miss Mary Cook of Bridgeport, Connecticut. After years of incessant 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 683 

toil at the Bar, he had to seek again a change of climate, and so in the Fall of 1859 
he came to California. 

He was then comparatively poor, having lost seriously from his hard won earnings 
by unfortunate investments. On a beautiful November morning, shortly after his 
arrival, he climbed Telegraph Hill with a friend, and all exhausted stood panting on its 
summit. Regaining breath and strengtli he feasted on the gorgeous panorama around 
him, the Golden Gate, the distant hills of Marin and Contra Costa just donning their 
winter garb after the first autumnal rains, and the bustling, thriving city at his feet. 
Reclining on a step of the old telegraph station, he exclaimed, " This shall be my 
home!" He took in the situation at a glance. On that same day he made the 
acquaintance of the eminent law firm of Halleck, Peacy & Billings, and shortly there- 
after formed a partnership with Mr. Barstow. Some years before coming out to Cal- 
ifornia Mr. Tompkins lost his wife. In December 1861, he married Sarah, half-sister 
of the late ex-Governor Haight. About' this time he formed a co-partnership with 
Haven-s & Belknap, a leading law firm of San Francisco. After dissolving his busi- 
ness relations with them he took his eldest son in as a partner. 

Mr. Tompkins came to Oakland to reside in 1863, and after living a short time 
at the residence of Rev. Mr. Willey, erected a cozy homestead on the banks of Lake 
Merritt. Here he lived and died. 

Whether in the halls of Legislation, in remote parts of the Commonwealth, or in 
distant States, his thoughts and whole existence were centered in Oakland. He ever 
rejoiced with her in her prosperity and sympathized with her in her adversity, of 
her, he never tired to speak, and when away up in the far-off mountains, he would 
exclaim, 

'\My heart untrammel'd, fondly turns to thee." 

During his residence in Oakland, what had he not done to advance it in all the ele- 
ments of material progress ? To recapitulate only all that he did would far exceed 
the limits prescribed to us in this imperfect notice. In Church, in State, in University, 
in Municipal affairs, Edward Tompkins' influence was felt, and only for the good and 
right and just. No panegyric can overestimate his services in behalf of Church, City, 
and State; none but appreciate the invaluable services rendered to the cause of 
Religion, the cause of Morality, the cause of Education, the cause of Progress and 
General Enlightenment. 

Mr. Tompkins never held, only because he would never accept, a municipal office 
in Oakland; but that he faithfully represented the interests of the city let his record 
in the last and previous Legislatures in which he served attest, and bear all potent 
witness. His efforts to secure the removal of the county seat; his exertions in get- 
ting the splendid appropriations, after months of labor and struggle, for the University; 
his advocacy of material interests, which, directly or indirectly, might benefit the 
county and the city of his adoption; lo! are they not written in the chronicles of the 
city of Oakland and county of Alameda. 

But his last great generous crowning act of his life was that munificent donation 
to the LTniversity of the State of California. He was proud to see the foundation laid 
at Berkeley; he lived to usher its President into office, but he died before witnessing 
the full realization of his high hopes and fond anticipations. He died in middle man- 
hood, in the very zenith of his fame and usefulness. 



684 History of Alameda County, California. 

Eulogistic tributes poured in from all quarters, the Bar; the students of the Uni- 
versity; the Firemen; the Board of Regents; the Faculty of the State University; all 
sent their meed of praise in the shape of resolutions, and all concurred in what Sir 
Walter Scott said of Fox: — 

" He had genius high, and lore profound. 
And wit that loves to play, not wound." 

The last item we have to notice in 1872, is the death of Colonel Watkins at the 
end of the year. He was a native of Kentucky, and at the time of his death was fifty- 
three years of age. He had been for a long time in the practice of law at Mar\-sville, 
and was the first Police Judge of the city of Oakland. 

1873. — Early in this year a company was started having for its purpose the 
establishment of railroad communication between the interior valleys and tide-water 
at Oakland, a matter that received the atfention of the City Council, who, in further- 
ance of the scheme, on January 27th, passed the following resolutions: — 

\Vhereas, Recent history has shown the great advantage that locations have received from the outreaching 
arms of railroads, and 

Whereas, Oakland is the natural tide-water terminus of the required railroads of California; and 

Whereas, A company is now being organized to connect the rich valleys of Contra Costa County with the 
city of Oakland by a narrow-gauge railroad, therefore be it 

Resolved, Through its City Council assembled, that the city of Oakland will render such aid in the construc- 
tion of such road as the interests of the city and the powers of the Council thereof may warrant. 

One of the valuable achievements of the year 1873 was the construction of 
what may be properly termed the city wharf, being built at the city's expense, and 
upon the only space of water front which the cit}- has a right to call her own. The 
wharf at once proved itself a success beyond which its most earnest advocates had 
anticipated. It was completed August 5, 1872, at a cost of nineteen thousand si.x 
hundred and thirty-fiv-e dollars and ninety cents. From that date to February 25, 
1S73, its gross earnings amounted to one thousand nine hundred and sixty-four dol- 
lars and sixty-nine cents, which sum more than paid all expenses besides the interest 
on investment. The rates of wharfage were reduced thirty per cent, from former 
charges, a most satisfactory change to patrons, and which produced its benefits. 

On April 7th a petition was presented to the Council, signed by three hundred 
and fifty citizens of Oakland, to the following effect: — 

Your petitioners respectfully request and represent that it has become n^c»isary for th.- convenience of the 
traveling public to increase the facilities for transporting passengers from the city of San Francisco to Oakland 
and Alameda, to increase the number of tri|js daily so that a train of cars can run each way every half hour from 
and to Alameda and San Francisco, and through the city of Oakland. To this end your petitioners respectfully 
ask your Honorable Body to grant to the Central Pacific Railroad Company the right to lay down and operate a 
double track railroad from its connection with the present road on .Seventh Street, between Webster and Harrison 
Streets, and running thence on a curve across Harrison Square and cutting a snuall corner o!T the .school lot to 
Alice Street; thence on .\lice .Street to and across the San Antonio Creek to Alameda with the right to erect a 
draw-bridge across said creek to accommodate the railroad and vessel interest, for all of which the undersigned 
will ever pray, etc. 

A resolution was passed on the 8th, granting the right of wa\- sought, it being at 
the same time directed that both it and the ordinance should be published in the 
1; orning papers; a substitute ordinance was adopted on the 21st, but it did not mate- 
rially differ from the original enactment. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 685 

On October (3th the Oakland Farming, Industrial, and Horticultural Club was 
granted the use of the Council Chamber wherein to hold their meetings; while, 
December 13th, a resolution was passed, tendering suitable rooms to the Supreme 
Court on behalf of the city of Oakland, in the event of its being removed thither. 

Under the head of general matters we may state that in the month of March, 
1873, an old landmark in the shape of a house that stood on the north side of Eighth 
Street, in the rear of where the City of Paris drygoods store was located, the site 
being now occupied by the property of Mrs. Steele, was moved. This building was 
erected in 1853 by Eli Alexander, in the lower story of which he kept a store, occu- 
pying the upper story as a residence. At that time there was but one other building 
upon the entire block, and not a great many in the whole city. The other building 
in the block was built and occupied by an old German named Dombroske, who tuned 
pianos for a living. As thei-e were but two or three of those instruments in the 
place in those early days, the piano-tuner obtained the greater part of his business by 
traveling about the country. In 1855 Alexander sold the building to one Augustus 
Hellwig. Judge Blake moved into it in 1857, and occupied it about two years. Mrs. 
Blake's well-known seminary, then in its infancy, was carried on there at an early 
day. Previous to this, however, it had been occupied for a time as a lodging-house 
by a member of the Smith family, and it was some time during that period that Judge 
A. M. Brocklebank, a well-known lawyer and brother-in-law to the late ex-Governor 
Weller, died there. The building was purchased by Dr. Sanford, a druggist, in May, 
1862, and was shortly afterwards moved to the rear lot, where it was fitted up as a 
dwelling, and stood until the final moving. The brick building now occupying the 
northeast corner of Broadway and Eighth Street was then built. The old wooden 
pioneer was occupied by Sanford from August, 1862, to August, 1868. A former 
Councilman, I. W. Knox, then lived in the northern part of the city, and happening 
to lose his house by fire, moved into Dr. Sanford's building, where he remained some 
months. Up to the date of which we write, it was used as a lodging-house, while the 
place to which it was taken was the corner of Market and Nineteenth Streets. 

In the month of June, 1873, the famous Grand Central Hotel was completed, it 
having been built by "day work" under the constant supervision of Doctor Merritt, 
from whose fertile brain also came the design of the immense and handsome struct- 
ure. It was four stories in height with a mansard roof and brick basement, the 
■ whole surmounted by three immense towers. There were three front entrances on 
Twelfth Street, while the building occupied the block bounded by Webster, Harrison, 
Eleventh, and Twelfth Streets. It was destroyed by fire March 2, 1881. 

Doubtless every man and woman who has resided ten years and upwards in the 
city of Oakland, will remember the rusty old six-pounder which lay for years within 
twenty or thirty feet of the sidewalk on Washington Square; but there are very few 
probably now remaining in Oakland who know of its early history. There is not 
much to be said of it, but the little there is, is 'worth repeating. The gun was known 
by the older inhabitants as the " Squatter Gun." The land 6n which Oakland is 
located, and the country for miles to the north, was in possession of squatters, and 
warm times were anticipated by them in their determination to hold their ground. 
The gun in question was purchased by the squatters from the captain of a vessel 



686 History of Alameda County, California. 

which came around the Horn, and was brought over to Oakland in 1852, to be used 
for giving an alarm to the occupants of the entire valley in the event of an attempt 
to forcibly eject any of the possessors of the land. It was at first proposed to pro- 
cure a bell for that purpose, but the advocates of that means of signaling succumbed 
to the argument that the sound of a bell could not be heard as far as the report of a 
cannon, and so the Squatter Gun was procured. Fortunately it was never required 
for the purpose for which it was brought to Oakland, but it frequently performed good 
service in after years in giving loud expression of the patriotism of the inhabitants on 
each national anniversary. And yet another landmark disappeared in the year 1873. 
The ticket and passenger depot of the local ferry, which had occupied the middle of 
the thoroughfare at the corner of Broadway and Seventh Streets, for nine years pre- 
viously, was lifted upon a couple of platform cars on the 23d July, and at four o'clock 
precisely was hauled away from that locality to fulfill the remainder of its destiny 
elsewhere. 

■ On the night of September 20th McClure's Military Academy was destroyed by 
fire, the handsome residence of the Principal being saved only by the most strenuous 
efforts of the department. During the season 1873, we find that forty vessels were 
loaded with wheat and six with barley, between July ist and the end of the year, 
the quantity of wheat taken being one million five thousand four hundred and 
twenty-five centals, besides eight-one thousand five hundred and forty-nine csntals of 
barley. 

On December 3, 1873, Oakland was treated to quite a respectable fall of snow — 
not so heavy, however, as that which occurred on December 31, 1882 — and as such 
meteorological luxuries do not come around very often, Oakland made the most of 
it. The ground on the lee side of buildings and clear open spaces was covered with 
the flaky visitant of sufficient depth to enable an industrious person to scrape enough 
together to form snow-balls, and snow-balling was indulged in by all so long as the 
material lasted. Youngsters who had never seen so much snow in all their lives, took 
to the sport as naturally as though they had been born and reared in a snow-bank, 
and men who remembered the sleigh-rides they used to take "back in the States," 
became quite gleeful over the old familiar sight, while its presence developed a num- 
ber of jokes and much pleasantry. 

Towards the end of the year a silk manufactory was started under the superin- 
tendence of John Green, who had two looms at work turning out beautiful ribbons of 
all colors, but the affair did not take sufficient hold of Oakland's capitalists, therefore 
it died, notwithstanding Mr. Green carried off the State Agricultural Society's gold 
medal for his exhibition of home manufactured silk. 

1874. — On June 8, 1874, permission was granted to erect a drinking-fountain on 
Tenth Street, to the Land and Loan Company; and, on the 29th, the office of City 
Physician was created; while, on November 9th, an ordinance regulating the hours of 
keeping open bars, liquor saloons, and all places within the city where spirituous, 
malt, or fermented liquors or wines arc sold in less quantities than one quart, was 
passed. 

In the month of February articles of incorporation of the Oakland Gold and Sil- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 687 

ver Mill and Mining Company were filed, the object of the association being to 
acquire and work mines in Humboldt County, Nevada. The directors were: A. L. 
Page, G. A. Miller, W. Graham, B. F. Broiers, L Ames, E. W. Woodward, and P. 
Johnson, all of Oakland. Capital stock, four millions of dollars, divided into forty 
thousand shares of one hundred dollars each. On the 24th February articles of incor- 
poration of the Oakland Harbor Improvement Company were filed, its object being 
to dredge and open a ship-channel across the bar at San Antonio Creek, and protect 
the same by suitable means; to improve and make navigable the waters of said creek 
and estuary, and to connect by a canal the bay of San Leandro with said creek or 
estuary, and to construct along the line of and adjacent to said creek and canal, suita- 
ble wharves and warehouses, for the accommodation of trade and commerce, and to 
construct across the mouth of San Leandro Bay a suitable dam, with flood-gates suffi- 
cient to turn the waters of said bay through San Antonio Creek; also to pur- 
chase and acquire all necessary property, franchises, rights, and privileges for the 
carrying out of these objects. The principal place of business was declared to be 
at Oakland; the time of existence fifty years; the capital stock two millions of dollars, 
divided into one hundred thousand shares of twenty dollars each; the directors, G. W. 
Bowie, William Graham, F. Chappellet, G. M. Fisher, W. H. Gorill, Elijah Case, Z. 
Montgomery, E. W. Woodward, John Doherty, R. C. Gaskell, and C. H. Twombly, all 
of Oakland. 

On March i, 1874, the Plymouth Avenue Congregational Church was dedicated, 
the trustees for the first term being W. K. Rowell, W. M. Boyd, A. Pratt, W. H. Jor- 
dan, and W. H. Love; and in the following month the Odd Fellows' Cemetery Asso- 
ciation was formed, a board of directors of two delegates from each lodge, one from 
the Encampment, and two at large being elected. On May 12th the Alameda County 
Savings and Loan Society filed their certificate of incorporation with the County 
Clerk, having a fully guaranteed capital of five hundred thousand dollars, and a list 
of directors and stockholders embracing fifty of the best citizens in Oakland and the 
county. On August i, 1874 the Alameda County Savings and Loan Society opened 
their bank at No. 969 Broadway, near Tenth Street, the officers being: B. F. Ferris, 
President; Israel W. Knox, Vice-President; L. W. Kennedy, Secretary; B. F. Ferris, 
Treasurer; Galen M. Fisher, Cashier; Hon. Zach. Montgomery, Counsel; Theo. A. 
Mudge, Surveyor; Directors: B. F. Ferris, Henry Durant, Elijah Case, George G" 
Berry, Zach. Montgomery, Israel W. Knox, John Curry, W. Newcomb, George Tait' 
Charles H. Twombly, L. W. Kennedy. 

1875. — The first item for the year is on the 23d of January, when the City Coun- 
cil and Board of Education took official cognizance of the death of Mayor Durant, 
in the following resolutions: — 

Our honored Mayor, Dr. Henry Durant, has been called away from us by death. We bow down in sorrow 
under the blow. We are at a loss to express the emotions in us to which this sad event gives rise. There was 
that in the man which drew forth towards him more than a cold respect, more than perfect confidence in him as a 
public officer. His qualities made his relations to us seem nearer and warmer than one of mere official position; 
we felt towards him rather as towards a venerated and beloved father and friend. We knew him to be the very 
soul of truth and honor; warm in his friendship, wise in his councils, unselfish in all his impulses; having the best 
interests of our city at heart, even as his own. 

He has long stood among us as the foremost promoter of public education in all its branches, a guide and an 
example to the young. 



688 History of Alameda County, Calii-ornia. 

His broad charity was such that all, of whatever class or opinion, counted him their friend. 

His long residence in this city, dating back almost to its first settlement, and the numerous positions of trust 
which he has been called to fill, have but deepened the universal confidence and esteem in which he was held; 
and as we look back upon the many stations of responsibility in which his truly great abilities, as well as his vir- 
tues, caused him to be placed, we can but wonder at the power f6r good that went forth from all his life. And 
now that he has gone from us, we appreciate more fully than ever before the greatness of his worth and services. 

In view of these facts, We, the Council of the Board of Education of the city of Oakland, feel impelled to give 
this just expression, inadequate as it is, to our deep sense of his virtues and to our sorrow at his death; therefore 
be it— 

Resolved, That in the death of Mayor FXirant, the honored head of our city government, we mourn the loss 
of a wise leader, and a true friend, and that this community and the State at large sustain a great public bereave- 
ment. 

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the stricken widow in her loneliness, feeling in our own sorrow 
how great hers must be who stood in so much nearer relation to the deceased. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the Council be instructed to forward to her a copy of these expressions of our 
respect and sympathy, that they be spread upon the minutes of both the Council and the Board of Education, and 
that copies be furnished for publication to the daily papers of Oakland and San Francisco. 

It may be remarked that during the funeral of the deceased Ma\'or, busine.ss was 
entirely suspended, all the public schools closed, and the Council attended the obsc- 
qtiies in a body. 

The next official act perfonned b\' the Council in the \-ear 1S75, of which wc 
shall take cognizance in this place, was on the 25th October, when the following 
resolutions were passed, on the demise of George W. Blake, a gentleman who had 
been prominently identified with the cit\' for many years, and had been some time 
one of its officials : — 

Whereas, By the grim fiat of the inexorable foe our frieml and predecessor George M. Blake, who once 
graced a seat in the Council of this city and by the vigor and force of his intellect materially assisted in the con- 
duct of its affairs for a term of years with a degree of high honor to himself and universal satisfaction to the peo- 
ple, but in accordance with a universal law he has yielded to the common fate of man and passed away from 
earth amid the full luster of his years, his virtues and his usefulness; and 

Whereas, In his social and personal character he was ever conspicuous as the kind and devoted husband, 
faithful friend, exemplary citizen and honorable gentleman, associating himself with every benevolent and chari. 
table enterprise, standing forth prominent among men as Saul stood among the Prophets, as a man whose philan- 
throphy was co-extensive with the spontaneous emotions of his noble and generous heart, a inan who studied 
diligently in the aggregate the greatest welfare of his own race, and in the detail the greatest comfort of those in 
his immediate surrounding; who to his friends and such were all with whom he came in contact, never ceased to 
make himself a source of cheerfulness and joy, imparting to them his magnetic influence, his genial spirit, his 
grateful pleasantness and warm emotions; therefore be it 

• Resolved, That in his departure the City Council and the whole community in which we live have sustained a 
common loss, at a time too when Oakland can illy afford to part with any of her venerable pioneers who one by 
one are receding from our midst and whose places it is most difficult for the survivor to fill. 

Resolved, That while conscious of the vanity of human solace in the midst of their profound bereavement, , 
this Council but deem it proper to tender to the surviving wife and relatives of the departed our deep heartfelt 
sympathies, knowing that He who tempers the wind to the shorn lamb will give them strength, fortitude, and 
solace in this apparent dark and dismal hour. 

Resolved. That the above be placed on the records of this Council and a copy be sent to the bereaved widow 
with the seal of the city attached. 

It may be remarked that the widow of Judge Blake was one of the original 
educators of the city of Oakland, and had a seminary at the Blake House on Wash- 
ington Street. 

In the month of April, 1875, the corner-stone of the Presbyterian Church was laid, 
the pastor Rev. Doctor Eells, being assisted in the ceremony by Revs, Messrs. Ham- 



Oakland Township — Citv of Oakland. 689 

mond, Anthony, McLafferty, Hamilton, and McLean, while, in the month of October, 
the News-rk Land Association was incorporated, with a capital of seven hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, the Directors being C. Mitchell Grant, J. Cochran, J. Barr 
Robertson, Stewart Menzies, and D. A. McDonald, and the objects being to purchase, 
sell, and lease real estate in Alameda County; to lay and maintain streets, roads, and 
avenues through the same; to erect hotels and buildings of all kinds; to lay out town 
sites and to dispose of the lots thereon and generally engage in a real estate business; 
and, in the same month, the articles of incorporation of the Santa Clara Valley Rail- 
road Company were filed in the office of the County Clerk of Santa Clara County, 
the object of this enterprise being to build a railroad from Dumbarton Point, Alameda 
County, lia Alviso to Santa Clara, San Jose, and Santa Cruz, the following named 
gentlemen being Directors: H. Bartling, R. D. Coldren, E. L. Derby, San Jose; N. 
B. Perrin, San Francisco; John Lowrie, Alameda. Capital stock, one million dollars 
in ten thousand shares of one hundred dollars each. This road has since been amal- 
gamated with the South Pacific Coast Railroad. 

1S76. — In his message of February 28, 1876, the Mayor remarks: — 

"Duringthe official year just closing it has not devolved upon the Council to 
act upon any important or decisive question of public policy. Your principal labor 
has been the consideration of the thousands of minor affairs connected with the city 
government. Mistake or neglect in the discharge of any of these would speedily pro- 
duce confusion and injury. At the beginning of the year the general condition of 
our affairs was eminently satisfactory and by your careful attention to duty the 
Council which will succeed you will labor under no embarrassment of any nature. 

" Each department has been managed with economy and ability. All connected 
with the city government seem to have taken pride in attending to their duties well 
and thoroughly. 

" Our population consists of those who have come here on account of the many 
opportunities for establishing a profitable business in every department of trade; the 
mechanic, for whose skilled hands there is a never-failing supply of remunerative 
employment, and those who have been attracted by our climate, the beauties of the 
city, and the excellence of our system of free schools, and by the moderate cost of pro- 
curing comfortable and elegant homes which could only be obtained by the expendi- 
ture of a fortune in the Metropolis. It is the policy of the city to aid in all proper 
ways the further development of those influences which have brought Oakland to its 
present gratifying condition. 

" Dropping from sight for a moment the fact that it is the duty of the community 
to provide ample educational facilities for the young, it can readily be shown that such 
a cause is highly profitable, judged from a standpoint of individual interest. If an 
elegible town site were owned by some one person it would be a profitable investment 
for him to provide at his own cost the best possible system of public instruction. It 
is fortunate for us that at an early day there was adopted a policy alike liberal, 
humane, and profitable. Many thousands have been influenced in favor of Oakland 
wholly by the fame of our schools; they have purchased land, built houses, and by 
their business patronage constantly contributed toward the common prosperity. 



690 History of Alameda County, California. 

" The low death-rate, the remarkably small degree of mortality among young 
children; the many things that have aided in the beautifying and adorning of the 
city have also been potent influences. 

"We should be an.Kious to carry out all measures that will promote the health of 
the people and to assist in the ornamentation of the city by such legislation as comes 
within the power of the Council. Reasonable e.xpenditures in that direction will prove 
to be good investments. 

' It was estimated in June last that the population of Oakland was twenty-five 
thousand, and with all the information attainable I am of the opinion that the calcu- 
lation is correct. Since that time there has been a continuous increase, so that in all 
probability a census taken in June 1876 would show a population in excess of thirty 
thousand persons. A census of the children in the city is taken annuall)' by an 
appointee of the Board of Education, so that we have partial data for an estimate. 

" I regard it as very important that there should be a correct enumeration of our 
whole population every year. A knowledge of that fact is desirable for several pur- 
poses. It would be valuable for the Council in legislation; it would be of ver>- great 
service to the Health Departrr\ent, and of importance in all cases where it is necessary 
to pass upon measures affecting the interests of the people as a whole. 

"A thorou;^h census can be taken through the Police Department at a nominal 
cost. Every section of the city patrolled by a regular or a special policeman and 
the occupants of every house are, or should be, known to some of them. To avoid 
any interference with their routine duties a month might be allotted as the time in 
which the enumeration should be taken. The blanks should be prepared by the 
Health Officer, who should also prepare suitable instructions. The work should be 
apportioned and the men detailed by the Captain of the Police so that there could be 
no possible clashing of duties. I believe that a census taken in this manner would 
possess more than ordinary accuracy and that the only expense attending it would 
be the cost of stationery and the wages of a clerk for not more than two weeks in a 
year. 

" As ex officio President of the Board of Health, I ha\'e attended its sessions, and 
have been well pleased with the care and attention which the members have given to 
the discharge of the important duties devolving upon them. The report of the 
Health Officer is a document of very great value, and is replete with information that 
is of practical worth. Within the last two years the labor devolving upon that 
official has vastly increased. The records of the office are becoming somewhat 
voluminous, the issuance of burial certificates, the recording of births, and the 
inspection of nuisances demand much time and attention. These services are per- 
formed without charge to the city, and in a ver\- able and faithful manner. By a 
careful study of the data collected and arranged b}- him, it becomes possible to ascer- 
tain some of the preventable causes of disease and death in our city, and to take 
suitable precautions. The Health Officer is ex officio City Physician. In that 
capacity it is his duty to inspect the prison not less than three times per week; have 
control of the regimen of the prisoners; examine all supplies furnished, and .see that 
they are wholesome and sufficient; and he is the medical attendant of such prisoners 
as may need his services, for which he is entitled to the usual fee. He reports having 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 691 

made one hundred and fifty-three visits last year, so that his compensation has been 
quite moderate for the various duties performed. It is essential that there should be 
a medical visitor to a prison as large as this. It might be a salutary check upon 
officials who were disposed to be cruel, and it is a guarantee that the food of the 
inmates shall be wholesome and delivered in suitable quantities. Under the dietary 
table prepared by him, the daily cost of the maintenance of each prisoner is sixteen 
and one-quarter cents per day. Attention has been given to the cleanliness of the 
prison, and there seems to be no opportunity for improvement in its management. 

" The Captain of Police and the City Physician are equally entitled to credit in 
this matter. 

"A few months ago the small frame building near the mouth of the San Antonio 
Creek, used as a pest-house, was destroyed by fire. It would be no more than com- 
mon prudence for the Council to authorize the Board of Health to lease a piece of 
ground for a term of years, and erect a suitable buifding which need not cost more 
than five hundred dollars. 

" The city has long been free from the small-pox, but it is well to be prepared so 
that there will be no delay when action is necessary. 

" Needless trouble may be experienced in prosecutions for the abatement of 
nuisances. It may be necessary to prove, for instance, that certain houses are not 
connected with the sewers in the adjoining streets. The burden of proof should be 
changed; it should be presumed in such prosecutions that there is no sewer connec- 
tion. In hundreds of cases it would be impossible to prove this negative proposition, 
and it is highly proper to relieve the officers of the law from such an embarrassing 
position." 

In respect to the city wharf and city front, the Mayor continues: — 

" The only frontage on the San Antonio Creek owned by the city is upon its 
northern side, and between the middle line of Franklin Street and the easterly line of 
Webster Street. A wharf is built upon this property in the form of a hollow square, 
and bonds to the amount of twenty thousand dollars were issued to provide funds to 
pay for its construction. It was completed in August, 1873, and the rates of wharf- 
age and dockage established were expected to more than pay the interest and its run- 
ning expenses. 

" The business has of late increased beyond all contemplation, the receipts for 
1875 amounting to seven thousand three hundred and two dollars and ninety-eight 
cents. During the same time the number of vessels arriving was eight hundred and 
ninety-three. The principal commodities received were wood, coal, lumber, and 
brick, all bulky articles which cannot be removed as speedily as landed. In large 
cities wharves are specially designated for this kind of business. It is indispensable 
that the area of such a wharf should be greater in proportion to its frontage than a 
wharf used for the landing of merchandise in boxes and bales, and its revenues can 
not be as great. Three sloops may occupy as much frontage as a large clipper, and 
the amount of dockage they would pay would be absolutely insignificant in compari- 
son with what would be received from the larger vessel during the same length of 
time. Thus far there have been adequate accommodations; but if the , business 
increases as rapidly during the current year as it did last year, an enlargement will be 



692 History ok Ala.mkda County, California. 

necessary. It is not improbable tliat before the close of the year there will be 
such an improvement, for I think that in its present shape it will by that time be 
worked up to its fullest capacity. This wharf is a source of considerable profit to the 
city, but that consideration is of minor importance when contrasted with its great 
utility to the public. It has been managed with prudence and economy. In this 
connection I would suggest the propriety of api)ointing a Standing Committee to 
have general supervision over the wharf and other water-front matters. There is 
now need of a few simple regulations, for I presume that very nearly two thousand 
small vessels enter the creek annually. Numerous steamers and other water craft are 
also laid up, and there should be some authority to regulate the positions they should 
occupy so as not to interfere with navigation. 

" I would also recommend that the ordinance prohibiting the discharge of fire- 
arms within the limits of the city be so amended as to exempt those portions of the 
water front and marsh land which are remote from an\- highway or building, as the 
ordinance seems to be a needless restraint upon persons desirous of hunting wild 
game during the winter months." 

Consequent on the death of William Hillegass, a much respected pioneer citizen 
of Oakland, the city authorities under date March 20, 1876, passed the following res- 
olutions of condolence: — 

KcsolvcJ, That we, in Council assembled, deeply deplore the sudden demise of our friend Willian) Hille- 
gass, whose death took place this day, March 20, 1876, at his residence at Berkeley, and have always found in 
him one of the truest friends of our city, always ready to do his duty fearlessly, and for the past quarter of a 
century spent his life in doing all that could be done to promote the cause of justice and humanity; kind, affable, 
and generous to a fault, like the departed J. Ross Browne, takes his flight to the world of peace without one in 
all the many with whom he became acquainted to say other than: " We mourn our honest friend, most worthy 
citizen, and most e.\emplary man." 

On June 19, 1876, an ordinance granting to the American District Telegraph 
Company of Oakland the right to construct and maintain telegraph lines in the cit\-, 
was passed; while, August 7th, there also became law the ordinance for securing the 
health of the city and regulating the amount of air in each room used for lodging 
purposes. 

On June 28th of this year the articles of incorporation of the West Oakland 
Masonic Hall and Building Association were filed, the Trustees being George W. 
Drake, Natale Gamboni, Louis Hufschmidt, Gugjeishlmo Beretta, Joseph Hollywood, 
Edward T. Taylor, Henry Hufschmidt, William Wagner, Fred. Gamboni, Fred. T- 
Houghton, of Oakland, and Andrew Sharboro, of San Francisco; capital stock, fifty 
thousand dollars. 

On August 9, 1876, his pseudo-Majesty Emperor Norton visited Oakland, and 
issued the following Imperial edict, which, had it been carried out to the letter, would 
have put an effectual stopper on many matters that have since. made many sore- 
heads : — 

Whereas, The action of the United Slates Senate in the lielknap affair proves the total depravity of the 
present system and Constitution of the United States, being unable to punish crime, now, therefore, We, Norton 
I. Die Gratia, Emperor, in ord^r to save th.- nation from uttir ruin anl disgrace, do hereby abolish the entire 
Washington system, and declare the laws of Norton I. paramount, for the present. 

In the month of August of this year the submarine cable across the the bay. 



Oakland Township — Citv of Oakland. 693 

putting Oakland and San Francisco in direct telegraph communication, was laid by 
the Western Union Tclegrap'i Company. 

1877. — Under date, May 3, 1877, we find the following minute on the records: — 
"At a special meeting of the Council, held this date at one o'clock p. M,, were 
present: Messrs. Fish, Sohst, Grinnell, Miller, Fonda, Miner, and President Walter. 

' President Walter stated the object of the meeting; that the same was convened 
to make definite arrrangements to attend the funeral of ex-Mayor John B. Felton. 
Suitable resolutions had been prepared, and he called upon Hon. F. M. Campbell, 
City Superintendent of Schools, to read the same, who rose and pronounced the fol- 
lowing eloquent and fervent eulogistic resolutions: — 

Whereas, By the stern decree of the inexorable foe, our community is phinged in deep grief by the passing 
forever from us, in the rtieridian of his years and in the fullness of his great renown, our loved and venerated fellow- 
citizen; and 

Whereas, During his residence among us he has ever, as Chief E.\-ecutive Officer or private citizen, stood 
forth strong, reliant, and true, as the champion of our city's interests whenever and wherever they have been 
assailed or threatened, bringing to that service all those rich and rare accomplishments of his great intellect, ripe 
scholarship, untiring energ}', and cool judgment; and 

Whereas, Theunequaled growth and material prosperity of our city, in which he loved to live and was will- 
ing to die, are largely and chiefly the result of plans conceived, matured, and executed by him; and 

Whereas, For our splendid educational facilities, by the creation and founding in our midst of the University 
of California, so much is due to his wise counsel and unceasing labors, prompted and stimulated by his loyal love 
for learning, and the noble desire to place them fully, freely, and without discrimination, within the reach of all; 
therefore, be it, by the Mayor and City Council, of the city of Oakland, 

Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. John B. Felton, Oakland has lost one of her most distinguished and 
valued citizens and wisest counselors; the State and county the eclipse of one of its most brilliant intellects; the 
community of letters a loyal and devoted member; the cause of free, universal education an earnest and self- ■ 
sacrificing supporter; the law a profound exponent and a shining ornament; and society its model of the true and 
courteous gentleman —one whoss charity was as broad as the frailties of men, and whose ready hand ever 
responded to the promptings of his unbounded generosity, and who, with a heart as great as his brain, could, in 
the unceasing pressure of the most important business, always find time and inclination to listen to and advise each 
and all of the many w'ho were wont to go to him in their dark hours of adversity. 

Resolved, That the public business of the city be suspended on Friday, May 4th, from and after 11 A. M., and 
that the municipal officers attend the funeral of our loved friend in a body. 

A'esohed, That, with a due sense of how unavailing are all expressions of human sympathy and consolation 
in the shadow of so great an affliction, we nevertheless reverently extend to the bereaved family our sincere and 
heartfelt sympathy and that of the entire community. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be entered in full upon the minutes of the Council, and a copy, under the 
seal of the city, be transmitted to the widow of our departed friend. 

"The resolutions were adopted on motion of Mr. Miner, by the following vote: 
Ayes, Messrs. Fish, Sohst, Grinnell, Miller, Fonda, Miner, and President Walter — 7. 
Noes, none. 

"His Honor Mayor E. H. Pardee then rose and delivered the following elegant 
and feeling tribute: — 

Mr. President and Gentlemen ofthe Council: Gratitude for the kindness o{&f7-iend, as well as rev- 
erence for the greatness of a man, admonishes me to unite my voice with yours on this sad and mournful occasion, 
for our departed friend and esteemed citizen. And if an apology be needed that thus early I claim your time and 
attention, allow me to say that from the lips now closed and fixed, and the voice now hushed in death, came first 
the encouraging words of deep sympathy, in tones of heartfelt gentleness, when I lay prostrate from sickness, two 
years ago. 

And I am glad to know that in every mountain, and in every valley and ravine of California, dear and cher- 
ished friends join us to-day, with wounded hearts, over the untimely death of this good man. 



694 History of Alameda County, California. 



John B. Felton was a man free from artifice and disguise. His every thought and instinct were chivalric. 
Not to adventitious circumstances, not to the chances of birth or fortune, not to the society in which he was 
thrown, was he indebted either for the distinction to which he rose in life, or to the grace that adorned his private 
character. He never borrowed the thoughts or sentiments of others. His great mind and noble heart were of 
American growth, while his manly and eminent virtues served to illustrttte our high national character. He had 
nothing to disguise, nothing to withhold, and nothing to ask for that was not just; and I once heard him remark 
that he had rather be right and alone, than to be wrong with the whole world. 

Amid all the fluctuations of public sentiment and all the mutations of party, he pursued the path of duly by 
the light of principle, and dying, leaves behind him an e.xample of consistency and public virtue upon which the 
patriot may ponder with pleasure, and from which the mere aspirant for worldly honor may draw an instructive 
lesson; and his life is a beautiful illustration of the truth that the line of duty is alike the path of safety and the 
way to honor. 

"His life was gentle, and the elements so mixed in him 
That Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world: This was a manl" 

"On motion of Mr. Fonda the above remarks 'were ordered spread upon the min- 
utes, which was carried nem. coti." 

The following minutes entered upon the official record July 25, 1877, will show 
to the reader the steps taken by the authorities of the city of Oakland to prevent 
such disgraceful scenes occurring in their town as had taken place in San Francisco. 
These are popularly known as the "July Riots." 

"At a special meeting of the City Council held this date at 9:30 o'clock .\. M., 
were present Messrs. Fish, Sohst, Grinnell, Miller, Fonda, Miner, and President Wal- 
ter. The city clerk read the notice of the call, and the President explained more fully 
the object of convening the Council — in the main to prevent any insurrection or riots 
similar to those at the East, and under the present excitement to allay any lawless- 
ness which might arise, and enact prompt and decisive measures to arrest the same. 
He called upon his Honor, the Mayor, to address the Council; who stated that he had 
supposed that Oakland would be free from any lawlessness, but became convinced 
that decisive ineasures should be taken. After listening to a speech by Mr. Redstone, 
on the evening previous, he had therefore requested the President of the Council to. 
call the same together, in order that the legislative bod\- of the city might cooperate 
and assist the Executive. He had ordered Captain Rand to enroll five hundred spe- 
cial policemen, to be ready if such emergency existed. Doctor Merritt and Hon. A. 
C. Henry then addressed the Council, concurring fully in what had been expressed by 
his Honor, the Mayor. Captain Rand stated that in accordance with an order he 
had issued from the Mayor, many had made application to become specials, and he 
had ordered them to report at one o'clock P. M. to-day. 

"President Walter called upon A. A. Moore, Esq., for legal advice, and that gen- 
tleman stated that he appeared in behalf of City Attorney Vrooman, who was ill; he 
read the law, and that portion from the Code to govern the Council. 

"Mr. Burnham, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, being called upon, stated 
that he had called upon the Messrs. Redstone, relative to Franklin Square being 
chosen for a mass-meeting this evening, and they stated that the}- would use Jefferson 
Square for that purpose, and any attempt to incite an insurrection they would sup- 
press, as they were law-abiding citizens and should respect the laws. 

"Mr. F. M.Campbell moved that in view of the present e.xcitement Mr. Burnham 
be requested to wait upon the Messrs. Redstone and get them to desist from holding 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 695 

a mass-meeting this evening. Mr. Campbell spoke at length upon the necessity of 
preventing assemblies of people being congregated and listening to speeches citing 
grievances and wrongs which would inflame and be destructive in its consequences. 
His remarks were incorporated in a motion, and upon Messrs. Miller and Merritt being 
added as the Committee were adopted viva voce. 

" Mr. Campbell suggested that the Council issue an address calling upon the 
citizens of the city of Oakland to abstain from acts of violence, or meeting together 
for any purposes unlawful, and that the proclamation embody the law upon the subject. 
The President entertained a motion to that effect made by Mr. Sohst, and it was 
adopted viva voce. The President appointed Messrs. Fish, Grinnell, and Fonda of the 
Council, and citizens Campbell, Houghton, Wheaton, and Walker. 

"Mr. Sohst stated, in view of the public feeling he considered that the Council 
should pass a resolution or ordinance not to accept a bid from any paving company or 
grant franchises to any corporation who employed Chinamen — it would do more good 
than five hundred policemen or an address. 

"A resolution indorsing the action of his Honor, the Mayor, in calling for five 
hundred special policemen was then introduced and unanimously carried, after which 
the Council took a recess. On re-assembling, Gen. J. F. Houghton read the following 
address as the report of the Committee: — 

To THE Law-abiding Citizens of the City of Oakland: The Mayor and Council of your good city, 
in view of the unusual excite.ment prevailing in many Eastern cities, and in the city of San Francisco, and desiring 
to avoid similar occurrences within our limits, do most earnestly request that all good citizens shall refrain from 
holding or attending any public assemblies held for the purpose of discussing any grievances or topics of a public 
nature during the present week, and particularly any public gatherings which may be held to-night, and that all 
good citizens will avoid joining at this time any public procession, believing that such assemblies can be productive 
of no good, and that any real wrongs or grievances can be better and more satisfactorily rectified, without the 
danger attendant upon such public meetings at this time. 

We have great confidence in our own people, but the gatherings referred to may attract from our sister city, 
persons who, baffled in their attempts at mischief, incendiarism, murder, and plunder, may visit us in such num- 
bers as entirely to change the character and intent of the organizers of the proposed meeting. 

We therefore request — earnestly request — that all good citizens, except those whose duty it is to preserve the 
peace, repair to their homes at an early hour every evening until the quiet, which at the second sober thought 
always follows these excitements, prevails in our midst. 

" Mr. Fish then moved that the address be published in all the daily papers of 
Oakland, and that ten thousand copies of the same be struck off and distributed by 
the police authorities, which was adopted. 

"Mr. Burnham, from the Committee appointed to confer with the Messrs. Red- 
stone, announced that those gentlemen would confer with their Committee and give 
an answer to the Council in half an hour; if they decided to forego the meeting he did 
not see the necessity of issuing the address. Doctor Merritt here detailed the subject- 
matter of the Conference to the effect that the Messrs. Redstone would cheerfully 
comply with what was right. 

" Mr. Miller considered that the address was opportune and should not be 
rescinded, which was concurred in by others who spoke on the subject. 

" Mr. Sohst moved that the address be signed by the Mayor and Council, and 
.attested by the City Clerk, and so published and issued, which was adopted. 

" The following resolution was then presented and adopted : — 



696 HisroRV of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

Resolved, That Dr. S. Merritt, L. G. Cole, A. C. Henry, J. M. Walker, Georg; H. WhLMton, and J. F. 
Houghton, be and are hereby authori/,ed to have enrolled upon a Committee of Safety, all good citizens of each 
ward t6 assist the City Authorities in preserving the peace and good namt of our city. 

"Mayor Pardee suggested that when the City Council adjourn the\' repair to 
the Union Ckib Rooms and enroll their names as members of the Union Protection 
Association. 

"The Messrs. Redstone here entered the Council Room and J. H. Redstone, in 
behalf of the Committee, reported that thi Committee of Workingmen had agreed not 
to hold a mass-meeting; but would have one one week from to-night to discuss the 
Coolie Question and its bearings, and desired the co-operation of the Council; they 
had been to some expense in postponing the mass-meeting, which he thought should 
be defra\'£d b\' the Council. Mr. Miller here interposed and stated the Council had 
no legal right to use its funds for that purpose. The meeting then adjourned." 

On the 3d of August the Committee of Safety made a report to the City Council : 
let us see what they did towards a system of protection. They say: "Immediately 
upon receiving such authority (that conferred by the resolution quoted above) we 
appointed a sub-committee of three in each ward to canvass and enroll for active duty 
the citizens of their several wards in such numbers as would insure the effectual sup- 
pression of any breach of the peace within our city. The result of this canvass was 
the enrollment of nine hundred and fifty-two names from among our best citizens, 
divided into seven separate organizations, one for each ward, each under the command 
of a captain, two lieutenants and other officers, all duly elected by their respective 
organizations and the whole placed under the command of Col. William C. Little, who 
was appointed by us the Executive Officer of the whole organization to act under 
orders of the City Authorities. 

"The several companies have met at their respective headquarters every night 
since their organization for drill and instruction, and have attained a proficiency which 
will render them of great assistance to the authorities in case their services should be 
hereafter required; and, although the immediate cause which called it into existence 
seems to have passed and active drill and regular meetings will from this time be dis- 
pensed with, the organization will be kept up ready to respond to your call whenever 
occasion may require." 

President Walter then stated that some expression should be gi\-en by the Council 
and thanks tendered to the community for their indefatigable exertions in maintain- 
ing order and preserving the peace of the city, and called upon his Honor, Mayor 
Pardee, who eloquently responded, alluding to the labors of the Committee, and con- 
cluded by thanking them and those who had enrolled to prevent insurrection and riot 
in the city. Mr. Miner ne.xt moved that the thanks of the Council be tendered to the 
E.xecutive Committee of the Committee of Safety, which was unanimously adopted 
vira voce. 

Consequent on the death of Police Judge Jayne, on July 27, 1S77, the following 
preamble and resolutions were passed : — 

Whereas, Through the interposition of Divine Providence we have sufiered the loss of an excellent citizen, 
and the city of Oakland an honest and capable judicial, one who was ever foremost in the maintenance of the right, 
and the true vindication of the law, therefore be it 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 697 

Resolved, That in the death of the Hon. A. H. Jayne, Police Judge of the city of Oakland, this city has sus- 
tained an irreparable loss. He was free from the taint of corruption; a man whose character and reputation were 
both commendable and respected; a strict observer of the law in all respects, and dealing with evil-doers to the 
fullest extent, it can be said of him that he leaves behind a record spotless as a bright and shining example to those 
w^ho desire to live uprightly and profit thereby. 

Resolved, That this preamble and these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the City Council and a 
copy of the same be transmitted to the relatives of deceased. 

1878. — On May 6th an ordinance levying a Library Tax was passed, and on the 
27th the Oakland Library Association and Union Reading-room Association handed 
over their property to the city, and on the same date Messrs. A.P.Flint, O. H. Burnham, 
W. W. Crane, Jr., G. M.- Fisher, and J. P. Moore, were elected Trustees thereof; and, on 
June 3d, an ordinance calling for the numbering of public vehicles was passed; while 
on July 1st, an ordinance to establish and regulate a street market, was promulgated 
and A. M. Church appointed Superintendent thereof On August 5th a memorial 
was received from E. J. Kelly and others praying the City Council to abolish the col- 
lecting of licenses, and employ idle citizens to make bricks and construct the Main- 
lake Sewer; and, August 5th, the Golden Gate District Agricultural Fair Association 
was granted a lease for five years of Lafayette Square to erect buildings thereon. 

On December 2, 1878, the Council ordered the sum of fifty dollars per month 
each to be paid to the Oakland Ladies' Relief Society and Orphans' Home, and Oak- 
land Benevolent Society, such amounts to be paid out of the fines collected in the 
Police Court. On January 20, 1879, however, the Mayor vetoed the ordinance grant- 
ing monthly stipends, which was sustained by the Council, but afterwards passed with 
certain modifications. It was again vetoed by the Mayor, but on the 3d February 
passed over his veto. 

1879. — On January 6th, the names of West Twelfth, Twelfth, and East Twelfth 
Streets were changed so that the whole should in future be known as Central Avenue 

In his able and exhaustive message of the 3d of February of this year, in speak- 
ing of city finances. Mayor Andrus remarks: — 

" The interest-bearing debt of the city amounts to six hundred and fifty-four 
thousand ($654,000) dollars. Of this amount one hundred and seventy-three thousand 
($173,000) dollars are for the Main-lake Sewer, which will ultimately be refunded to 
the city, the Supreme Court having decided that such bonds must be paid b)- the 
owners of the property benefited by the improvement. This reduces the actual furded 
debt of the city to four hundred and eighty-one thousand ($481,000) dollars, or one 
•and seven-tenths (i " ) of one per cent, on the amount of the city assessment-roll. 
There are certainly but very few American cities as large as this that can show as 
good a financial condition. To offset this debt of less than half a million dollars, the 
city is the owner of property valued at seven hundred and seventy-five thousand two 
hundred and twenty ($775,220) dollars, consisting of City Hall, engine and school 
houses; so that Oakland is practically out of debt, according to the rules that any 
individual would apply to his own business. The condition of the city's General 
Expense Fund is not so flattering. On the ist of January, the Treasurer reports that 
the bills payable from the general fund, and not paid for want of money, amounted to 
twenty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty-four and eighty one-hundredths ($29,- 
45 



698 History of Alameda County, California. 

454.80) dollars. This is the floating debt of the city. Instead of beginning the \-ear 
with all debts paid and cash enough to meet expenses for the next ten months, we 
commence with this deficit in one of its funds. 

"The following statement shows the probable condition of the city finances next 
November, when the proceeds of the ne.xt tax levy will be realized: — 

Cash on hand Jan. I, 1879, less deficit in general fund $74,660 70 

Receipts from Wharf Licenses, Police Court, etc., for 10 mo. 47, 000 00 

Total available for 10 months $121,660 70 

Ten-twelfths of last year's expenditures 401,203 91 

Apparent deficit $279. 543 2 1 

Deduct extraordinary expenses 41,300 00 

Estimated deficiency November i, 1S79 $238,243 21 

"I have based this estimate entirely upon various official reports, and I am con- 
fident that it is within the limit. There must be very close economy or the figures 
will be a good deal larger. This floating debt has been accumulating for a long time. 
For several years the rate of ta.xation was not high enough to give the needed revenue. 
There have been large expenditures incidental to the City Hall fire; man}' thousands 
of dollars were wasted in military demonstrations and needless preparations, at the 
time of the eastern riots in 1877; and the building of the roadway, to take the place 
of the Twelfth-street Bridge, has been one incessant drain upon the public treasury, 
having absorbed $17,000 last }'ear. These unusual expenditures are thus itemized: — 

Hook and Ladder apparatus $ 4,000 00 

Hose. ... 2,000 00 

City Hall Furniture 15,00000 

Dredging in front of City Wharf 3,369 50 

Twelfth-street Roadway and Dam 17,004 00 

Total $41,373 50 

"But when these things are taken into account, the finances of the city will be 
found to be in a deranged condition. The practice of using the funds of one fiscal 
year to pay the debts of a previous year has been most pernicious. It has drawn 
away scrutiny from financial matters, and extravagance or carelessness became casv- 
About four years ago, bonds were issued to pay off just such a debt as we are rolling up 
now, and a fresh start was made, with money enough to meet all requirements. The 
several Councils that have had control ought to have kept the city in the same 
respectable financial position. If the floating debt is to go on accumulating, as it has 
been, we shall not long have occasion to boast of our freedom from a vast issue of 
bonds. The great depression in every branch of industry prevailing throughout the 
year, and continually growing more severe, could not help but affect, unfavorabl)-, the 
city finances, and in many ways diminish the income of the treasury. 

"The School Department should have limited its expenses to its probable revenue. 
Neither the Board of Education nor the City Council has the right to contract bills 
when there is no legal mode of raising money to meet them. No matter what possible 
results may have been predicted, the city officials should have laid their plans in strict 
accordance with the amount of money placed at their disposal. If, as ma}- be claiined, 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 699 

the Legislature has placed too many restrictions upon local authorities, relief should 
have been sought at the State capitol, not by disregarding what were intended to be 
safeguards. 

"This deficiency must come, for the machinery of the City Government cannot be 
stopped. The pressure of public opinion and the dictates of common-sense require 
the Council to maintain the means of preserving the peace and security of the city, 
and the safety of the property of the people. The Council cannot now be expected 
to suspend the affairs of the city, as of a broken bank, nor do I know of any legal 
requirement that makes it necessary for them to do more than limit their contracts to 
what would have been under their control had the debts of previous years been paid. 

"The amount is not enormous when the wealth of the city is considered, but there 
should have been a funding bill, or the power to levy an extra tax, a year ago, when 
these facts were almost as evident as they are now. It will be necessary to seek 
Legislative relief next winter." 

In speaking of public property he says: — 

" Annexed are reports showing the nature and value of real estate, buildings, and 
personal property belonging to the city. I summarize these statements as follows: — 

School lots $ 1 25, 500 00 

School buildings 160,000 00 

School furniture 30,000 00 

Engine-house lots 7,600 00 

Engine-houses 9,000 00 

City Hall lot 250,000 00 

City Hall and prison 30,000 00 

City furniture, ti.xtures, etc iS,ooo 00 

Library building 3, 000 00 

Other buildings on same lot 500 00 

City Wharf and water front 75,000 00 

Fire Department apparatus, etc 54,620 00 

Telegraph and fire alarm 16,000 00 

Total value of city property, $779,220 00 

" In addition, there are several public squares. If private property, and placed 
upon the market, they would probably bring half a million dollars. I think that the 
city has not duly considered the importance of retaining and ornamenting these 
grounds. They should be held sacred for the use of the people. As soon as the city 
is densely built, they will be regarded as priceless. The work of beautifying them 
should be commenced at once, and be carried on as unremittingly as the finances of 
the city may permit." 

On public schools he observes: — 

"Doubtless every citizen of Oakland feels a pride in our system of public schools 
which is here carried to an unusual degree of perfection. The annual report of Super- 
intendent Campbell is a complete showing of the present condition of the schools, and 
facts and figures will give the answer to almost any question that can be possibly 
asked. I will not attempt a summary of its figures, but would direct careful attention 
to them. The connection between the School Department and the Mayor and Council 
is not close enough. Though required to pass upon appropriations, there are not 



700 History of Alameda Countv, Calikornia. 

adequate means for coming to a correct judgment. The Department is a government 
within itself, and it might be managed very badly for some time before the Council 
could become aware of it. The repairing of buildings that arc almost new; the 
repainting of the Cole School House, so soon after its erection, are facts which indicate 
carelessness, neglect, or dishonesty somewhere. I cannot specify or charge anj'thing 
wrong, but I allude to these appearances for the purpose of stimulating inquir)' b}' the 
proper parties. Education is the foundation of our social and political system. It is 
essential to the well-being and e.xistence of our free republic, and b\' generously 
devoting to it a proper share of our resources, we perform a high and patriotic duty- 
The high regard we all have for works of patriotism, education, religion, or charity 
often leads us to overlook defects through the too common fallacy that criticism must 
be hostile. The professed friends of an institution may sometimes place it in greater 
peril than could result from the active opposition of its enemies. This thought is sug- 
gested by the scandals which now fill the air relative to the sale of examination 
questions. As yet, the reputations of those connected with the schools of Oakland 
have not been injured, and we should all feel gratified that our city has been free from 
e.xposures that have carried consternation to so many other places. Here is an 
instance where the friends of the schools have, in some respects, been causing them 
harm. Perhaps our own citizens have not been sufficiently close in the investigation 
of the financial affairs of the department. We all want tlie best educational facilities 
that can be obtained; but it is also expected that the_\- shall cost no more than they 
are reasonably and properly worth. We can approximate to that by instituting com- 
parisons with other cities where the schools are as nearl}" perfect as they can be made. 
The average cost per pupil for one \'ear, including interest on permanent improve- 
ments, was $45.33; without interest, it was $29.82. This is less than in San Fran- 
cisco, where expenditures arc supposed to be on e\en a more liberal scale than in 
Oakland, but higher than in nearly all other cities in America. Pride in the schools 
should not blind the judgment. When there is a fixed sum placed at the disposal of 
our Board of Education, however, it is a wrong upon the communit\- to exceed it. 
The officers arc under the most solemn instructions that can be given to make use of 
just so much monc}- to the best possible advantage, and all their plans must be shaped 
accordingly. If the present schedule of salaries cannot be maintained, stern necessity 
should compel revision. There should not be a continued adherence to any policy 
which is known to be too expensive for the funds that are a\ailable. I believe that 
the general management of the schools has been efficient, and that there has been 
competent and intelligent super\ision." 

In treating of the Police Department his remarks arc to the following effect: — 
" W. F. P"letcher, Captain of Police, has prepared a very complete report of the 
workings of his department during the year. The standing of the department has 
been improved, its discipline is better, and there seems to be no reasonable cause 
for complaint as to its efficiency. The statistics have alread}' been submitted to 
your honorable body. The reputation of a Police Department has great efiect 
upon the order and quietness of any cit\-. It is cheaper and easier to prevent 
crime than to detect it. The knowledge that policen.en are vigilant and intelli- 
gent, and are present in the places where required, exerts a powerful influence in 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 701 

preventing the commission of crime. Temperate habits, cool and deliberate judg- 
ment, tact and shrewdness, combined with firmness and decision of character, are 
among the requirements of a police officer. Gentlemanly deportment, coupled with 
the ability to cope with unruly characters, are required. The number of arrests is not 
a test of efficiency, for that must, to a great extent, depend upon the respectability of 
the neighborhood in which an officer is stationed for duty. They should be chosen 
solely with reference to their fitness for the position. Appointments should not be a 
reward for political service, nor should they be conferred upon persons through con- 
siderations of family connection, or sympathy for those who may have failed in other 
pursuits. There should be a standard of health, age, and stature, to be applied to all 
new appointees. If unworthy men have been placed in positions, if there has been 
dishonesty, those who are guilty should be promptly removed; but their misdeeds 
should not be the occasion for the condemnation of men who are above such unworthy 
practices. 

"There have been rumors that some of the laws governing the department have 
not been strictly enforced, but no definite charges have been brought to my attention. 
Thorough discipline is essential to efficiency, and the power of my office will be exerted 
to enforce it. 

"Captain Fletcher recommends that the number of officers be increased from 
twenty-two to forty. I think that there should be, on an average, one policeman for 
each fifteen hundred of population, which would give us thirty men. This seems to 
be the ratio most commonly found in other cities. Every policeman should be, also, 
a detective. He should be charged with the investigation of crime occurring in his 
beat, which would increase his vigilance and be a scimulus to his ambition. It would 
develop the faculties of the men, and indicate those who, at the proper time, should 
be promoted to the highest department of police service. 

" Tenure of office should be secure. Officers who have long been in service, and 
who have made honorable records, should not be harassed by the fear that they may 
at any time be displaced by men who have not shown any merits superior to their 
own. 

"The Captain of Police calls attention to the necessity of enlarging the City Prison. 
The basement of the City Hall should be filled with cells, built of brick and iron, 
instead of building only two iron ones. It might cost about three thousand dollars. 
Prisoners could be kept separate; boys and petty offenders would not be brought into 
contact with hardened criminals, an evil which is of enormous proportions in most 
cities. The overcrowding of jails is a too common act of inhumanity. Such an 
enlargement of the present prison will suffice for a number of years; but the time will 
come when a separate building will become necessary. 

"There are objections to the special police system, but it is difficult to see why 
there should be any opposition to giving police authority to private watchmen whom 
the people may desire to employ. It would be unwise to entirely abolish the system, 
but there must be great care and discrimination in regulating it, on account of the 
liability to abuse. I have no doubt that there are times when the influence of the 
special police counteracts the efforts of our regular officers in ferreting out crime, but 
such cases are the exceptions, not the rule." 



702 HisTuRY OF Alameda County, California. 

He observes of the Fire Department, that most useful and efficient branch ctf the 
city government: — 

"The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department has already submitted to you his 
annual report, which is a very complete and exhaustive document. He recommends 
the placing of hydrants in certain localities. It is the result of my observation that it 
is cheaper to erect hydrants near together than to buy hose; and that these sources of 
water for our engines should be so near to each other that in any possible case one 
reel of hose would be sufficient to reach the fire. In neighborhoods remote from 
engine-houses, it would be possible to extinguish incipient fires before the arrival of 
engines. Property-owners might procure hose of their own, to be used in such emer- 
gencies. 

" The old Hook and Ladder apparatus in East Oakland would be of great use 
if a horse were purchased and a driver hired. The expense would not be much, and 
in a few minutes it might save thousands of dollars worth of property. East Oakland 
covers a large area; it has but one fire-engine, and it seems to me that it should have 
better means for extinguishing conflagrations. 

" The house of Phoenix Engine Company, No. i, is not fit for the purpose for which 
it is used, and, instead of being located on a side street, it should be on some one of our 
prominent thoroughfares, and I would suggest San Pablo Avenue. A commodious 
structure should be erected so that ordinarily decent quarters may be provided, not 
only for the firemen, but for the horses. This improvement ought to be made at once. 
In this connection, I desire to make a suggestion in reference to salaries paid to fire- 
men. By comparison I find that they are forty per cent, lower in Oakland than in 
other cities on the Pacific Coast. In Oakland the engineers receive $60 per month; 
in San Francisco, $140; Sacramento and Virginia City, $100; and the same disparity 
e.xists as to the other employes. I think that the pa\- of our firemen is too small. 
They have to be ready for duty at all times, and I do not think that the compensation 
is fair. I would suggest a remodeling of the schedule of salaries so that the men may 
be paid what their services are reasonably worth. The fire-alarm apparatus, etc., in 
Oakland is probably more complete than in any other cit)' in the United States. This 
is a very broad statement, but is fulh' justified by the municipal reports that come 
from all quarters. The automatic .system is most complete, and the planning and 
operation of the fire-alarm telegraph reflects great credit upon Mr. Carleton, the 
Superintendent. It has been erected at a cost that seems nominal when compared 
with what is expended for similar purposes elsewhere. The efficiency of the Fire 
Department is largely due to the promptness with which the alarms are gi\-en." 

On the subject of public improvements Mayor Andrus says; — 

" In the opening portion of my message I intimated the great value of ha\ing a 
system for our street grades and sewers. Large numbers of lateral sewers have been 
constructed, and Lake Merritt has been connected with the bay by a main sewer. To 
preserve the high level of water in the lake, the construction of a permanent dam was 
necessary, and some seventeen thousand dollars have been expended during the last 
year. The building of a roadway was incidental to this. For years public money 
has been expended upon this work, and the results do not promise to be commensu- 
ate with the expenditures. In attempting to do this work cheaply, there has been a 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 703 

considerable waste of funds. Had this Council, in the beginning, projected an 
improvement that would have lasted for all time, it would have been the most 
economical course. Temporary work is rarely cheap or profitable. 

"The City Hall has been rebuilt at a cost of about $22,000. It affords ample 
accommodations for the various city offices and is creditable to the city. It has been 
appropriately furnished, and there are suitable safeguards against future conflagra- 
tions. A convenient office has been fitted up for the Mayor, and I may here observe 
that I have kept ordinary office hours except when called to other parts of the city 
by public business. The necessity for this has been made evident by the great num- 
ber of persons who call to lodge information upon various matters of general interest, 
and also to ascertain points in which citizens are interested. I find that there is quite 
enough business to occupy the time of the Mayor for several hours each day in his 
office. 

" The report of the City Engineer shows that there are thirty-eight miles of sewers 
in the streets of Oakland, excepting main lake sewer, which is two and one half 
miles long, and that there are fifty-one and one-half miles of macadamized streets. Last 
year the property-owners paid for sewers and grading and macadamizing $254,140, 
which itemized, shows that twenty-four thousand feet of sewer-pipe was laid, or about 
four and one-half miles, costing $24,140. 

"The length of streets macadamized, thirty-six thousand feet, or seven miles, 
costing $180,000; length of streets graded, forty thousand four hundred and forty- 
seven feet, or about eight miles, which cost $50,000; all of which speaks well for our 
property-owners, who are so liberal to improve our city. There is a resolution of the 
Council against macadamizing streets until sewer, gas, and water pipes are laid. This 
rule ought to be adhered to most rigidly; the damage caused by tearing up improved 
streets is very great; and it is a burden which should not be imposed upon property- 
holders. 

" Plans and specifications for the main creek sewer have been submitted to the 
City Council. The work, if done, will be under an Act of the Legislature passed 
April 3, 1876. The cost is to be assessed upon property according to area, and is to 
be paid when the work is completed. This cost is not likely to be less than $300,- 
000, and it is estimated that the charge upon a twenty-five foot lot will be something 
more than $31.00. The sewer will be three and one-third miles long, and it is 
designed to carry into the bay of San Francisco the sewerage of the part of Oakland 
capable of being drained into it. At present this sewerage is taken away by the 
tidal flow of the San Antonio Creek. The necessity for building the sewer now may 
be questioned, but I do not propose to discuss the reasons that may be given for or 
against it. I think that the improvement should not be made under such a law as 
we now have. The work ought to be done in small sections, so that there can be full 
competition among the great body of contractors, and property-holders should not be 
expected to pay so heavy an amount at one time. It would be almost ruin to hun- 
dreds of people who own property that does not yield large rents. The lake sewer 
was paid for by the proceeds of the sale of bonds, though its cost is only a trifle over 
half of the estimated cost of the present work. Besides the contractors would have 
to be kept out of their money for a long time, as it would take many months to do 



704 History of Alameda County, California. 

the work. They will be obhgcd to increase the amount of their bids so as to cover 
interest and contingencies. At the next session of the Legislature, there may be 
obtained a law more simple in its workings, and one which will provide for an easier 
mode of payment. If this work can be given out in sections, paid for as it progresses, 
the total cost will probably be less by forty or fifty thousand dollars, and tli€ people 
can well afford to wait for a year to save that amount of money. 

" There have been many complaints about the leakage froin the main lake 
sewer at the bay end. I have examined into the matter, and am satisfied that the 
only remedy is to ceil it on the inside with tongue and groove lumber, covering the 
bottom and sides only. It would require about forty-two thousand feet of lumber, and, 
with the needed labor, would cost about $2,100. The street might be filled in, which 
would cost about $6,000, This would not, of course, prevent the leakage, but might 
counteract its effects. The health and comfort of a large community require that this 
should receive early attention. 

"The Eighth-street Bridge has proven to be an important work. The streets 
connecting with it have been graded and macadamized, and a large amount of tra\el 
passes daily. It has exerted an appreciable effect upon real estate values." 

In dealing with the Free Library his Honor states: — 

"The Free Library is a new institution, and it is only becoming known that it is 
open to every resident of Oakland. The Secretar}' submits a report that shows the 
history and present condition of the library and reading-rooms. It will strike every 
one that the number of volumes is insignificant. Only four thousand books and a 
population of forty thousand people ! There ought to be a large surplus over the 
amount needed for current expenses, to be used for the purchase of books. The 
Library is sadly deficient in works of a scientific nature, books pertaining to agricult- 
ure, and to mechanic arts. The Secretary does not report it, but it is understood 
that seventy or eighty per cent, of the circulation consists of works of fiction. As 
the collection becomes more comprehensive, this proportion will be reduced. There 
has been much complaint because tax-payers who live beyond the city limits are not 
allowed to draw books. It is but common justice that this rule should be reversed. 
I cannot too strongly commend the idea upon which our Library is based. The dif- 
fusion of intelligence among the people is an object of the highest importance. The 
benefits of free books and periodicals cannot be estimated in money. The city is 
wise in giving encouragement to the project, and if the management is discreet and 
economical, their institution will, in a few years, be Oakland's pride. Appropriations 
have been liberal, and we have the right to anticipate a grand success and to be an 
exemplar for other cities." 

He treats of the all-absorbing topic of the Chinese population as follows: — 

" No greater calamity ever befell the property-holders of San Francisco than the 
locating of the Chinese quarters in the very heart of the city. The district inhabited 
by Asiatics has been steadily increasing its boundaries, and a blight has fallen upon 
real estate, in what might have been a center of business. It is time that the author- 
ities of this city should take proper precautions, if possible, to prevent such a misfor- 
tune from occurring here. If the measures pending in Congress become enacted into 
laws, there will be a cessation of Chinese emigration; but our past experience leads us 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 705 

to be slow in building up expectations of this kind. We should proceed as if we knew 
that the Chinese were to continue coming, and do what we can to mitigate the evils 
that are threatening. The Council has the power to regulate such trades or occupa- 
tions as may be nuisances, and under its general police powers, it could regulate 
the location of laundries or wash-houses. In some neighborhoods they are nui- 
sances, while in others the people have no objection to them. It has often hap- 
pened that one of these establishments would be started in quiet neighborhoods, given 
up to residence purposes, which would seriously detract from the value of surrounding 
property. One individual should not have it in his power to depreciate the value of 
the real estate of others. The consent of at least a majority of the persons owning 
property in a block ought to be obtained before a license should be given for carrying 
on a laundry. I believe that the Council has the undoubted right to do this. It con- 
cerns the welfare of real estate owners, and would be a very great protection. As the 
wash-houses here are centers from which Chinese quarters are likely to e.xtend, such 
a regulation as proposed would drive the Mongolian population to portions of the 
city where their presence would not depreciate the value of property. As a strictly 
sanitary regulation, all prisoners in the City Jail undergoing sentences should have 
their hair cut short. It is a rule dictated by constitutions of cleanliness, and one that 
has been enforced in many American prisons from time out of mind. It should not 
be violated through any plea of religion or superstition. Its result might be the pay- 
ment of fines by Chinese criminals, which is preferable to keeping them at public cost, 
and would be regarded by them as a more severe punishment. The presence of these 
people is m every way undesirable, and should be discouraged by every legal method, 
direct or indirect. Our own citizens cannot compete with them as laborers, because 
people who are American citizens are usually burdened with the responsibility of pro- 
viding for a wife and children, while the Chinese are not. Not only the more humble 
laborers, but the whole body of mechanics are theatened with pauperization. The 
fears of most of the capitalists are becoming aroused, because they see that the life 
and energy of the country depend upon the prosperity of the masses, who must meet 
the wants and gratify some of the tastes of civilized life. The hordes of Asiatics ha\e 
not these wants and tastes. They are an incubus upon our development, and the 
public opinion of the nation is fast recognizing this fact. 

"The pure air ordinance, it is believed, is not enforced in many cases to which it 
is intended to apply. The law is a good one, whether applied to Chinese or to white 
men, and I hope that greaterattention will be given to it. The Chinese, it is notori- 
ous, are almost the only offenders, Caucasians not needing such law to compel them 
to observe one of the fundamental rules of health." 

Of affairs on the water front he speaks in the following strain: — 
" The City Wharfinger has submitted a report showing the amount of business 
transacted since it was built, in 1873. The steady increase in the amount of business 
is noteworthy as, lately, there have been built other wharves at which equally large 
quantities of merchandise are landed. The city wharf was first used in August, 1873, 
and its gross earnings have been $47,944.67. Its cost was $20,000. The losses have 
aggregated only $270.20 for the entire period. A credit of thirty days is authorized, 
and certainly this number of bad bills has been astonishingly small. During the last 



70(5 History of Alameda County, California. 

year, a deep channel was dredged around it in response to a petition by merchants, 
fortified by the action of the Merchants' Exchange. Any ship that can cross the bar 
can now lay at the wharf without grounding during low tide. The rates of wharfage 
and dockage have been reduced, but are not yet on a level with tho.se in San Fran- 
cisco. The charges for large vessels are about the same, the reduction effecting prin- 
cipally the small crafts. I do not think that harbor charges in Oakland should be 
greater than in San Francisco, for it is proverbial that the course of commerce may 
be changed by the scale of port charges. 

" The city has power to regulate the anchorage of vessels and other matters, and 
I think that our local commerce is extensive enough to warrant the Council in taking 
some action in this matter. It need entail no e.xtra e.xpense, and would lessen the 
danger of collision and damage to public and private property. It might be proper 
to confer upon the Wharfinger the powers usually exercised by a Harbor Master. 

"The improvement of the Oakland Harbor is a subject of paramount importance 
to our city. Officially, the Mayor has no connection with this matter, and possesses 
no information which is not common to the people. It is a matter of deep regret that 
parties owning the tide lands have not come to an agreement with the United States 
Government and executed an abandonment of the property needed. I believe that 
an adjustment of the controversy is near at hand, and that the city will suffer no longer 
from the delay. If it be not settled, the contest must be taken by the Government to 
the courts, and there would be long and vexatious delays. The value of the work 
already accomplished is very great, as ships of twelve and fifteen hundred tons now 
come into the harbor, saving the cost of rehandling freight in the bay. It Vill be a 
great step in advance when ships can be laden with wheat in the estuary, and will 
give a powerful impulse to the development of home business. This portion of the 
city fi.xes it as the railway terminus of the Pacific Coast, and it must, ultimately, have 
a large share of the general commerce of the State. Wondertul advances have been 
made and still greater changes are sure to come. We do not e.xpect to take anything 
from the prosperity of San Francisco, but we do have faith in the future of Oakland 
as a place of equal importance with the present metropolis. The aid of the Govern- 
ment is invaluable, and whenever it may suggest any practical measure to the Council 
to help along the project, it will be most heartily seconded. An imperfect knowledge 
of the plans of action, necessarily withheld by the Chief of Engineers, renders it 
impossible to make more e.xtended reference to what is our most important interest." 

Mr. Andrus then winds up his message with the following very apposite remarks 
on retrenchment, public economy, and concludes with a laudatory peroration on the 
Workingmen's Party of which he was the choice for the high ofifice of Mayor of the 
city of Oakland. 

" There is no patent remedy for municipal e.xtravagances. There is not any one 
measure that will produce such a change as may be needed. Every officer, in all 
departments, must devote his attention to the smallest details, and see where it is pos- 
sible to retrench. There can be some retrenchment in the Police Department. The 
salaries received by officers exceed those paid to mechanics or men in quite responsi- 
ble clerical pursuits. I have already expressed my opinion of the high standard that 
should be required, but it is no higher than is expected of a master mechanic or the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 707 

leading book-keeper in a mercantile house. Unlike a mechanic the pay is continuous; • 
sick, or well, it g'oes on, and very properly. In rnost of the Eastern cities, the cost of 
living is much higher, while the pay of officers will not average more than one thou- 
sand dollars per annum. I do not see the necessity for two detectives, always dressed 
in citizens' clothes. The designation of officers as Sergeants, etc., necessarily takes 
some from the number of active policemen, but there is not enough crime committed, 
or possible of detection, to require the services of two men continuously. There 
might be greater economy in procuring supplies for the Fire Department and a closer 
system of checks in making repairs. I am of this opinion because of the rather large 
reported expenditures for this purpose and not specifically accounted for. A few 
years ago, a Council proceeded systematically to investigate every city office, and as 
a result of its work, minor changes were made, which saved many thousands of dol- 
lars in the current expense account. It seems to be a proper time to have another 
such overhauling. The importance of a low rate of taxation, a light debt, and a repu- 
tation for careful municipal management, are powerful influences in determining real 
estate values. If there were recklessness in incurring debt it would deter thousands 
of people from taking up residences in our city. The growth and prosperity of Oak- 
land cannot be promoted more effectively than by maintaining a cheap government 
and conducting its affairs upon a sound basis. 

"When the Workingmen of Oakland elected their candidate for Mayor, there 
were many reckless and unfair statements, to the effect that property would decline in 
value; that communism would prevail, and woes unutterable overtake our fair and 
prosperous city. The false statements made as to the objects and aims of the party, 
may have induced some to believe these sweeping assertions; but their incorrectness 
has long since been shown. The Workingmen have wanted nothing but exact and 
equal justice in the administration of public affairs. They want to protect their own 
homes from the needless burdens of taxation, and to make it easier for those who are 
fighting the battle of life to obtain homes for themselves. Honest men have nothing 
to fear from the success of this party. Its mission is to protect and save; not to tear 
down and destroy. It is to prevent legislation that gives privileges to the few at the 
expense of the many; to prevent public robbery under any and every name. It is 
also devoted to the prevention of Chinese immigration and the freeing of the country 
from the presence of a class of people who are paralyzing our industries and driving 
our laboring classes to the verge of want. Faith in it by the masses is shown in this 
city by its progress last year. The number of houses erected, and their value, is but 
a trifle less than during our most prosperous year, yet the season has been one of 
unprecedented financial stringency. The people have long ago learned that the cries 
of communism, and many other isms, are false alarms raised to prevent the success of 
great reforms. The discourteous treatment at first shown to officials selected by this 
party has almost disappeared. It is recognized as having great and important objects, 
which will promote the welfare of the whole people, and will remain in power as long 
as it is faithful to its high and important duties. 

"The effect upon national legislation is becoming evident. Public men and public 
journals no longer favor the presence of Chinese. It is admitted now that the con- 
siderations of the loftiest statesmanship require restrictions to be placed upon their 



70.S History of Alamkua County, California. 

coming. So gratifying a result i.s due wholly to the uprising of the masses in thi.s 
State, their success at the ballot-bo.x, their determination to rely no longer upon 
promises by politicians of the older parties. As a successful candidate of that party, 
I have done the very best I could to fulfill the duties of my office j^iroperl}-. Others 
who have held the ofifice have been conspicuous for their learning, their attainments in 
the professions, their wealth, or high influences. I have had none of the advantages 
that may come from such sources, and if I have at any time erred, I hope that critics 
will not be harsh in their censure. I have given my strictest personal attention to all 
questions upon which I ha\ c the right to act, and in some cases I have come in con- 
flict with the City Council. It is natural that men of different political parties should 
think differently upon public questions, and, in the interposition of vetoes, I have 
been governed by my own sense of what was right or politic. I can forget the little 
acts of unpleasantness that might be recalled, and endeavor to remember only the 
pleasant things of my official term. I feel that a more thorough acquaintance of the 
Councilmen with the VVorkingmen's Mayor has by degrees increased their regard, and 
dispelled some of the unpleasant anticipations that may have been formed. 

"If the city of Oakland comes under the government of men of this party, some 
of the errors of the past will not be repeated. There will be a substantial promise 
and an economical administration. Tax-payers will feel that their burdens arc as 
light as possible, and that their monej' is applied with care, fidclit}-, and honesty. 
The name and fame of Oakland will increase in brightness with another political vic- 
tory. Its reputation for good government, for safety of life and property; its success 
in the race for municipal renown, will be promoted if its destinies are committed to 
the Workingmcn's Party." 

On August lo, 1879, an ordinance releasing to the United States certain portions 
of the water front of the city of Oakland was passed. 

Perhaps the most noteworthy event of the year was the visit to Oakland of 
General Grant, the hero of the War of the Rebellion, and twice President of the 
United States. Every city, town, village, and hamlet that he visited were unani- 
mously demonstrative in their efforts to do him honor; and the citizens of Oakland 
were not behindhand in the heartiness of their welcome to him, after a "ro\-al progress" 
around the world. It was a spontaneous greeting to his native shores, from a people 
who acknowledged all that he had done towards keeping the integrity and honor of 
the nation. 

At a meeting of the City Council held on the 15th September, the following pre- 
ambles and resolutions were passed, showing the steps intended to be taken by the 
authorities on his arrival on this side of San Franci.sco Bay: — 

Where-^s, Information lias ix-ached the City Cmuicil tliat his Excellency Uly.sses S. CIrant, cx-l'resident of 
the United States, is on his way from Japan, and will probably arrive in the city of San Francisco within a few 
days, and -that it is his intention to remain in California some time before proceeding to his home; and 

Whereas, The people of this city, as well as those of the State of California and of the whole country, with- 
out regard to party or section, profoundly esteem his many distinguished services as soldier, statesman, and private 
citizen. 

Now, Therekore, The .Mayor and City Council of the city of Oakland do hereby, in behalf of the citizens 
of said city, and of the municipal government thereof, tender and present to General Grant the freedom of 
the city of Oakland, and request that he will visit the same at such time as he may name for that purpose; and 

Whereas, At a public meeting of citizens held in this city, to take preliminary action to tender to General 
Grant a public reception, a committee was appointed by that body, c >nsisting of nin? p-:stns; therefore 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 709 

Resolved, That the Mayor and members of this Coimcil will cooperate with said committee of citizens in 
making necessary arrangements for the purpose above indicated. 

Resolved, That upon receiving telegraphic notice of the signaling of the steamship City of Tokio ofif the 
"Heads," the Mayor be requested to cause the American Flag to be hoisted on the City Hall, and the Superin- 
tendent of Fire Alarm be and he is hereby authorized and directed to cause the fire-alarm bell to be sounded for 
five consecutive minutes, to give notice of the return to his country of America's most distinguished citizen. 

The President of the Council then appointed Messrs. Babcock, Hewes, and Cole 
a committee to cooperate with the committee of citizens, to act as a business com- 
mittee for the purpose of carrying into effect any arrangements which may be 
made in relation to the proposed visit. 

As we have said, the reception tendered to the famous General by Oakland and 
her citizens was a perfect ovation. So soon as he touched the soil of Alameda 
County, he was met by Mayor Andrus and the City Council of Oakland, when his 
Honor, stepping forward, said : — 

General Grant: Your merited ovations have encircled the world. They have been as grand and as varied 
as the nations who have offered them. And, yet, among them all, there has not been a more earnest, sincere, and 
cordial welcome than that which the city of Oakland now extends to you. This is preeminently a city of homes 
and of families; of husbands and of wives; of parents and of children; of churches and of schools. There is no 
earthly tie more sacred and lasting than that of the family. At the family altar the fires of liberty, are first 
enkindled, and tliere patriotism is born. The love of home, of kindred, and of country, is one. This is the source 
and the fountain of our welcome to you, the defender of our country, our firesides, and our families. I am author- 
ized to further present to you this official expression of good-will from our city authorities. 

The freedom of the city, with the resolutions quoted above, were then tendered to 
and accepted by General Grant, who thereupon grasped the hand of the Mayor, and 
gave expression to the following characteristic speech: — 

Mr. Mayor: I thank you. 

At a meeting of the Board of Supervisors held December 8, 1879, the District Attor- 
ney presented a written opinion that the Board had no power to grant the right of 
way over the Webster-street Bridge, arguing that the Board can only act within its 
delegated powers; that the bridge is a public highway; and that the Board holds the 
bridge in trust to maintain, repair, and renew the same in the manne;r provided origi- 
nally to be done by the town of Alameda and the city of Oakland. It was a question 
whether the Supervisors had any right vested in them, specially, to grant such a priv- 
ilege. It was asserted that, by statute, any steam railroad has the right to run upon, 
along, and across any navigable stream, watercourse, street, avenue, and highway, 
without asking for such privilege from the Supervisors, although any person or corpo- 
ration might not attempt to exercise such a right without making a respectful request 
to the Supervisors. At the instance of Theodore Meetz, the President of the Ala- 
meda and Oakland Horse Railroad, Judge Daingerfield, of the Twelfth District Court, 
in and for the city and county of San F'rancisco, granted a temporary injunction, 
commanding the Supervisors of Alameda County to desist from granting any fran- 
chise to A. E. Davis (President of the South Pacific Coast Railroad Company) or any- 
body else, to use Webster-street Bridge for railroad purposes. 

It will thus be seen that there were a few persons making extraordinary efforts 
to head off the narrow-gauge railroad from entering the city. It may be remembered 
that Mr. Meetz enjoyed,?and still enjoys, a portion of the bridge for his horse rail- 



'10 History of Alameda Countv, California. 



road, and it is not unforgotten, perhaps, how his rails were laid over the bridge 
between a Saturday night and a Monday morning, while it can be readily understood 
that a question would arise naturally enough in Mr. Meetz' mind as to the probable 
effect the construction of the narrow-gauge railroad into Oakland would have upon 
the profits of his line. But that benefit would undoubtedly result was certain, for it 
was absolutely necessary that means of communication with the northern portion of 
the city should be opened. To this end the right was ultimately very properly 
granted, and after considerable opposition, power was given to lay their track along 
Webster Street, March 6, 1880, after a very stormy discussion. 

1880. — On January 5th, a resolution indorsing the new charter was passed. 
This document was a tolerably faithful copy of the existing laws, as far as they did 
not conflict with the new Constitution. The portions which related to street work 
were radically changed. It abolished the office of City Marshal and substituted a Tax- 
Collector and a Superintendent of Streets. It required the funds for a year to be 
divided into four equal parts, while many other changes were made calculated to facili- 
tate the working of the various departments of the city government. On February 2, 
1880, an ordinance repealing certain other ordinances passed b\- the Trustees of the 
town of Oakland was passed. There were: 1st. "An Ordinance for the disposal of 
the Water Front belonging to the Town of Oakland," passed finally, Ma>' 18, 1852; 
2d. " An Ordinance to approve the Wharf at the foot of Main Street, and to extend the 
time for constructing the other Wharves," passed December 30, 1852; 3d. "An Ordi- 
nance concerning Wharves and the Water Front" passed August 2j, 1853. 

In his message of February 2, 1880, Mayor Andrus remarks on the city's rail- 
road policy in the following terms: — 

" The last year has been characterized by an unusual activity in railroad enter- 
prises, and there is a prospect that at no distant day the Southern Road, projected by 
Boston capitalists, will connect the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. A railway company 
which already has extensive connections is asking for admission to our city. We 
should cherish the hope that in due time an independent transcontinental railroad 
would seek Oakland as its western terminus. The great prosperity that has resulted 
from the location of the terminus of the Central Pacific in this city, is a proper guide 
for estimating the benefits that may follow the construction of other railroads. The 
city must have open gates for all railway companies that are willing and able to 
extend to us their lines. The interests of the city will be best promoted by the loca- 
tion of depots and stations in a central part, and it is a proper time now for the Coun- 
cil to outline a railroad policy that will serve in future contingencies. The Central 
Pacific extends through the city from east to west. It is proposed that another road 
shall pass through the city from north to south. Such seems to be a necessity that 
results from our geographical situation. Whenever the property-holders who are 
immediately concerned give their consent to the use of a street, it will doubtless be 
designated as a thoroughfare for the railway that will connect us with a part of the 
State which has not heretofore been tributary. It will double our ferry facilities, and 
t'lus greatly increase the desirability of Oakland as a place of residence for persons 
whose business is in San Francisco. It will give to Oakland merchants the trade and 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 711 

traffic of an extensive territory not otherwise reached by rail. It is of prime impor- 
tance to the people of Oakland that some strong corporation should have an apparent 
and powerful interest in the improvement of the Oakland harbor. A railway company 
whose road terminates at docks inside of the estuary could not fail to be a powerful 
ally of the city in securing from the Federal Government the aid that is needed for 
the improvement of navigation. It is presumed that the influence of one corporation 
has checked the progress of this work. It will be fortunate if more corporations of 
equal strength are just as much interested in having the work carried on. It should 
jae the policy of Oakland to extend a welcome to any railroad corporation that wishes 
to gain an entrance into the city. It is not enough that we are connected with one 
system of California roads; we should have connections with others that now exist, 
or which may hereafter be built. The property rights of every citizen should be most 
thoroughly guarded, but care should be taken that the plea for property rights is not 
an argument in a disguised form for the prevention of railway competition. Any 
applications for franchises should be viewed in a liberal and far-seeing way. It should 
never be a matter of doubt abroad whether the people of Oakland will permit the 
extension of another railroad into their city. It should be heralded far and wide that 
our citizens realize that they occupy the terminal city, as designated by mountain 
chains, rivers, and arms of the ocean, and are opening wide doors to all who can bring 
business and prosperity." 

He also says of the water-front suits: — 

" Early in the history of the city the entire water front was conveyed to private 
parties for a consideration that seems frivolous, and it has been the prevailing opinion 
that the transaction was illegal, and probably fraudulent. In the year 1868 there was 
a compromise by which the title was conveyed to the Water Front Company, as far 
as it was in the power of the Council to make such a transfer. The city obtained 
nothing from the compromise, except the small area of overflowed land now occupied 
by the city wharf Subsequently Congress authorized various appropriations for the 
improvement of the Oakland harbor, and considerable sums of money have been 
expended, so that vessels having a thousand tons of freight can now be brought to 
our wharves. The last Congressional appropriation was coupled with the condition 
that it should not be used unless the claimants to the bed of the estuary and the 
water frontage, on which the training-walls are constructed, should abandon whatever 
title they may have asserted to that property. The United States engineer's lines 
were located so that the harbor would come up to the demands of an extensive com- 
merce, and be accessible from many points on the mainland without passing over any 
intervening strip of private property. The Water Front Company has not abandoned 
its claim to the arm of the Bay which is included within the Government lines, and in 
consequence there has been no further expenditure of money to carry on the improve- 
ment. This refusal on the part of the Water Front Company has brought the whole 
question very prominently before the people of this city. The work that was thus 
summarily checked was universally regarded as of prime importance to Oakland, and 
its completion as an event that would bring with it a new era of commercial prosper- 
ity. The legality of the private claims that had been asserted with such damaging 
effect was disputed, much legal authority concurring in the opinion that the title to 



History of Alameda County, California. 



the whole water front still remains in the city. The right to fi.x and collect dockage 
and tolls is considered to be one of the attributes of government which cannot be 
alienated. If the Water Front Company's ownership of the bed of the estuary could 
be disproved, there would be nothing to prevent the Federal Government from resum- 
ing work, and man)' citizens advised the commencing of suits to that end. In the 
mean time the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and one of its Directors, individually, 
brought suits against the city to quiet the title to certain property held under convey- 
ances from the Water Front Company, Carpentier, and other claimants. If a default 
were permitted in these cases, it would cut off any hope of relief to the city, and your 
honorable body determined to retain counsel and thoroughly test the rights of the city. 
I have approved the ordinances which were necessary for the proper commencement 
of proceedings. 

" The great object which I hope to see accomplished is the defeat of all private 
claims of ownership to property needed for the construction of the harbor. If these 
claims can be declared void, Oakland will become an open port. No man or corpora- 
tion can have a monopoly of water-front privileges, with the power to take what toll 
they may choose from every person or pound of merchandise coming into or going 
from the city. I cannot believe that it is possible for individuals to become legally 
possessed of the title to .m arm of the bay navigable for large vessels. The recogni- 
tion of such a right would place the fortunes of the city entirely at the mercy of a few 
men, which could not fail to be perilous in the extreme. There must be free access 
to the city for all the shipping that may seek our port, and easy facilities for all ferry 
companies that may seek for business. The benefits to them and to the people of 
Oakland will be mutual. It is unfortunate that this citv must wait the tedious routine 
of litigation before it will be in her power to adopt a liberal commercial policy. But 
nothing will be accomplished until the rights of the public and of the water-front claim- 
ants are definitely settled by the decree of a cou;t of competent jurisdiction. It is to be 
regretted that there should ever have been the shadow of a private claim to what is 
really a part of the Pacific Ocean. It has brought into controversy other matters that 
would have remained undisturbed, had such a course been possible. The one thing 
that is desired, and for which the people of Oakland will contend with all their energy, 
is the prosecution and completion of the public work which has been planned by the 
engineers according to their original designs. I do not believe that it is for the pub- 
lic welfare to molest the Central Pacific Railroad Company in the use and enjoyment 
of the property it needs for its terminal improvements. That is not the aim and 
object of the present litigation, as I understand it. Oakland seeks for no controversy 
with that company, nor does she desire to do it any injury or harm; but it is only a 
measure of self-defense to contend for the free navigation of the estuary and for unre- 
stricted communication between the mainland and the harbor for freight and passen- 
gers. The only regulations that should ever be enacted, or the only charges that 
should ever be imposed, should be such as ordained by the cit)- go\ernmcnt. Pro- ' 
longed litigation should be avoided if possible. If the concessions demanded by the 
United States Government were allowed by the claimants to the water front, with a 
fair compliance with what is demanded in the public interest, I do not think that there 
is a person in Oakland who would desire the continuation of suits that involve the 




''I^^^^M"^ 



u 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 713 

title to property used and needed for railroad improvements. The real cause of the 
present controversy is the claim of private ownership in the estuary, and whenever 
that may be abandoned I should hope for the termination of litigation." 

And of the Chinese Question, that problem so difficult of solution, he says: — 

" The almost unanimous vote of the people against Chinese immigration has had a 
moral effect abroad far greater than the speeches of our representatives in Congress, 
the platforms of our political parties, or the utterances of the press. 

" The idea that only the laboring classes in this State were opposed to the further 
coming of Asiatics has been dispelled. The humble toilers have long since ceased to 
be the only ones who suffered by an unnatural competition between civilization and 
barbarism. Unfortunately there were many who remained indifferent as long as the 
presence of Chinese only caused privation and hardship to those who earn their sub- 
sistence by toil, but when the value of rentals, the rate of interest, the worth of real 
estate, the profits of professional men, and the earnings of the merchant became 
affected, everybody united in an appeal for relief. Modern civilization has never 
before had to contend with such an element, and for that reason there has been but 
little sympathy for us in this remote part of the Union. The changes in Eastern 
sentiment are now quite perceptible. 

" The masses are becoming aware that the many arguments made thus on high 
moral and religious grounds, were prompted by grasping and greedy men, who 
thought that they saw in Chinese immigration the means of still further reducing the 
wages of labor. 

" The intelligence and the religious sentiments of the people of California are as 
general and as advanced as prevail in any other community in America, and a protest 
has been uttered that has been heard throughout the nation, 

" It is reported that negotiations have for some time been conducted with the 
Chinese Empire to secure a modification of the Burlingame Treaty, so that it shall 
become strictly commercial. But it is the evident policy of China to send away its 
surplus subjects, and in that manner pat an end to a famine that has prevailed in that 
overcrowded country ever since its history has been known to us. The prospect of 
any relief from that source is very slight. Legislation by Congress can keep on, and 
in the absence of that, there is considerable that we may do to help ourselves. Our 
Legislature might follow the example of some of the British Colonies similarly • 
afflicted, and impose heavy licenses on aliens incapable of becoming citizens, as an 
offset to the charges that must be borne by the public for the support of the Chinese 
paupers and criminals. 

"Great benefit will result from the passage of a law prohibiting the issuance of a 
business license to aliens of this class. It should also be provided that any citizen 
who wishes to employ these aliens should procure a license for doing so. Goods 
manufactured in this State should bear a stamp indicating whether or not Chinese 
labor had been used. This would enable the public to carry out their desire to employ 
only the labor of people who may legally become citizens. Of course the use of a 
false label should be severely punished. 

" The City Council, by its authority to enact sanitary regulations, and by its 
power over the municipal license system, is in a position to do much for the people 
46 



714 History of Alameda County, Gali1''ornia. 

in this matter. Under existing laws it can suppress many places maintained by 
Chinese, because they are actual nuisances. The buildings occupied by many of 
them, in the central part of the city, are reeking with filth, and vile orders permeate 
the air in their immediate neighborhood, depreciating the value of property. If 
laundries were allowed only in some designated part of the city, it would be a great 
benefit to many localities that are now undesirable. 

"Another nuisance is the presence of Chinese with their baskets on the sidewalks 
of crowded thoroughfares. This should be stopped, for it would be just as proper to 
allow the sidewalks to be used by hand-carts or drays. 

" I do not suggest these things through a desire to persecute these people, nor to 
subject them to any grievance, but because they will not stop coming here until they 
see that the general spirit of our law is against them. They will continue to immigrate 
here as long as they can enter into full and free competition with Americans, but the 
influx of Asiatics will cease when it is a certaint)- that our people are doing every- 
thing in their power to keep them away. 

" We have protection for our commercial interests. It has been the traditional 
policy of Congress to maintain a high protective tariff to shut off goods manufactured 
by pauper labor elsewhere. There are still stronger reasons for preventing the land- 
ing of men who are paupers, who can never become citizens, and whose presence 
defeats the whole aim and object of the protective system that has been established 
for the benefit of American industries." 

It will be remembered that California was honored by a visit from Rutherford B. 
Hayes, President of the United States, and though his reception was not characterized 
by the demonstrative joy with which General Grant was received, still Mr. Hayes was 
cordially welcomed with the patriotism which the traditions of his office demanded- 
On the 6th September, the Cit\' Council passed the following preamble and resolu- 
tion in this regard: — 

Whereas, The people of the State of California are upon the eve of celebrating the thirtieth anniversary 
of its birth into the American Union, and 

Whereas, The citizens of Oakland have manifested their intention to celebrate the day in a manner worthy 
of an event so grand as the coming of a new and bright star into the constellation of .States, and that will bear 
witness of their profound satisfaction at the proud eminence their young State has won, of their confidence in the 
brighter future which lies open before its boundless natural resources, and its vigorous and patriotic citizens, and of 
their reverent gratitude to the Divine Ruler of the Universe, whose beneficent grace has showered unnumbered 
blessings over mountain and valley, from the sierras to the sea; and 

Whereas, Our people are about to be honored by a visit from his Excellency, the President of the United 
States — the first time in the history of the State, that a Chief Executive of the nation has crossed its boundaries; 
and 

Whereas, His Excellency has kindly consented to visit our city and participate in the festivities in commem- 
oration of our natal day, and we are desirous of showing in a fitting manner our regard for him as a man and our 
respect for the high office which he holds; now therefore 

Resolved, That the people of the city of Oakland, through its Mayor and Council, tender to his Excellency, 
the President, the hospitalities and freedom of the city. 

1881. — The first item to notice is the passing of the following resolutions on the 
death of Hon. J. W. Dwinelle: — 

Whereas, It hath pleased Divine Providence to remove from our midst one whose influence and deeds have 
ever been given to the advancement of the material interests of Alameda County, and prominent in the establish- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 715 

ment of our State University, the boast and pride of this city, and as an ex-Mayor of Oakland, it is befitting that 
the Council should take some action and pay a proper tribute to the memory of Hon. John W. Dwinelle; 
therefore be it 

Resolved, That this Council will attend his obsequies in a body, and it is ordered that the Council Chamber be 
draped in mourning for thirty days; and be it further 

Resolved, That a certified copy of this preamble and resolutions be transmitted to the family of the deceased, 
and be under the seal of the city spread upon the minutes by the City Clerk. 

Like in every cluster of houses throughout the Union, in the city of Oakland the 
grief that marked the death of General Garfield was intense. It partook of deep 
sorrow, more like the mourning for a lost relative than for the untimely death of the 
Chief Executive of a great nation. For a month the prominent buildings and many 
private establishments were draped with the insignia of woe, while the fervor of sor- 
row was intense. On September 20th the following resolutions were unanimously 
adopted by a standing vote of the City Council: — 

Whereas, In the midst of our deliberations, while seeking in our own small sphere to do for the public wel- 
fare, at a time when, though deeply and anxiously solicitous for the ultimate, complete, and entire recovery of the 
victim of the assassin's bullet, the man who was the pride and glory of the nation, the man of all men best fitted 
by his spotless public and private character, his experience, his ability, learning, and wisdom, and his unswerving 
devotion to the best interests of our whole country, and by the confidence reposed in him by the people of all 
classes and of every political complexion throughout the length and breadth of the land, to fill with honor and 
glory to himself and the American people, that office, than which there is nor has been no greater or nobler 
in the history of nations at a time, after months of anxiety and suspense, we yet cherished a hope and a faith — 
almost hoping against hope — that the Divine Ruler of the universe. He who marks the sparrow's fall, would 
finally restore to us the man on whose life or death depended more than in all the history of the world ever 
depended on the life of one man — midst hoping and fearing, lightning has borne to us the crushing and dishearten- 
ing message, " President Garfield is dead;" and 

Whereas, We realize in the death of James A. Garfield, the late President of the United States, not only 
we, but our country and the whole world, have lost that which cannot be replaced, we have lost, than which there 
is no nobler work of God — a man without fear and without reproach, a man whose interest and desire was the 
good of our entire people, a man who knew what was the best and right to be done, and who dared to do what 
he believed to be right and just, to all men and before all men — a nian who was at all times and in all places 
the brave, true, and untiring friend of his brother man, and the devoted servant of his country; now, therefore, by 
the Council of the city of Oakland, be it 

Resolved, That we feel most deeply and sincerely the loss to the people of the United States in the death ol 
our late President; that we believe that James A. Garfield, had he lived, with his ability, his opportunity, and his 
disposition, would have continued to be the grandest and brightest figure in the history of mankind, and that in 
his death, our people, and the people of all nations of the earth have lost a friend than whom no better or more 
powerful friend of mankind has been in the past, or will be for generations yet to come; and be it further 

Resolved, That for the people of our city we most earnestly and sincerely present our heartfelt sympathy and 
condolence to the bereaved widow, the fatherless children, and aged and stricken mother of our President. We 
fully realize that tho' our heart-strings may be sorely wrung by the loss of him who was our protector, as he was 
the friend and protector of our whole country and the friend of every man on the face of the earth — yet the loss 
of the widow and fatherless and that aged mother is greater than ours — we lose a friend and protector and they a 
kind and loving husband and father and a devoted son, and in their bereavement we ask the widow, the orphans, 
and the noble mother to remember, as a slight solace in their deep affliction, that tho' he has gone in the full 
flush of manhood, just when arm and mind were strongest; just when the eyes of all the world were turned upon 
him; he died in the service of mankind, he died in harness, died after the grandest and most prolonged struggle 
for life ever made by mortal man, a struggle made not through fear of death — for he feared it not, nor thro' any 
love of life for its own sake — for he cared not for himself. Through all those gloomy months of pain and suffer- 
ing he struggled to live as he has ever struggled to live, for his mother, for his wife, for his children, and for his 
country; and be it further 

Resolved, That as the only token of public respect in our power is manifest, .we recommend our citizens to drape 
their residences and places of business in mourning for a period of thirty days; that all public business shall be 



716 History of Alameda County, California. 

suspended on the day appointed for the President's funeral, and that public worship be held in all the churches on 
Sunday, September 25th, when the people may assemble to mourn our loss, and pray for the safety of the 
Republic; and be it 

Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Council. 

1882-83. — During the year 1882 there was nothing of any especial moment 
occurred that need find a place in this work, but the 12th of March, 1883, saw the elec- 
tion of a Democratic Mayor in the person of J. West Martin, who, with the City Coun- 
cil, inaugurated a system of retrenchment by dismissing some subordinates in the 
several departments, and reducing the salaries of the remainder. The efificient Captain 
of Police is abolished for the nonce and an acting Captain installed, while, as a niove 
to further economy, the streets are but half lighted by gas. 

It may be mentioned, though not belonging properly to the city of Oakland, 
that Maro P. Kay, a former deputy and trusted officer of the County Treasurer, was 
sentenced May 22, 1883, to fourteen years imprisonment in the State Prison for the 
crime of forgery and embezzlement of the public funds. 

The Oakland of to-day is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is a 
credit to all concerned in guiding it to its present position, while the day is not far 
distant when it will add the importance of a great manufacturing and commercial 
center to its already numerous attractions. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



717 



TABLE 

Sluywing the Officers of the Tozon of Oakland and the City of Oaklatid, Compiled from tlie Records of the Board of Trustees 
atid City Courtcil, front t8S2 to iSSj, Inclusive. 





1852-53- 


1853-54- 


1854-55- 


Name of Office. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holuek. 


Date. 


Name of Holder, 


Date. 


Board of Trustees. . . . 


/'Am^dCe Marier 

1 A. W. Burrell 

■{ Edsor Adams 

Andrew Moon 

I^AIpheus Staples 


May 12, '52 


/Amed^e Marier 

1 A. W. Burrell 

•{ Edson Adams 

1 Andrew Moon 

I^Alpheus Staples 


May 9, '53 


H. W. Carpentier . . . 
/E. Gallagher 

G. M. Blake 

1 A. D. Eames 

1 John Kelsey 

W. C. Josselyn 


Ap. 17, '54 


City Council. .... 












F. K. Shattuck 


May 17, '52 


A. S. Hurlburt 

Wm. B. Russell 

John Hogan 


May 16, '53 
May <^, '53 


;; 


Town and City Clerk . . . 


J. R. Dunglison 

J. R. Dunglison 


;; 








il 








JohnHoSan 

J. E. Whitcher 

J. S. Tubbs 

John Scott 

( Rev. H. Durant 

- Jas. Lentell 

( C. T. Jacobus 


(( 








Julius Kellersberger. . . 


" 










Ap. 17, ;54 
May 27, 54 

Aug. 5, '54 


Chief Eng Fire Dept 










School Commissioners \ 


, 








Board of Education . j 













1855-56- 


1856-57. 


1857-58. 


Name of Office. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Mayor 


Charles Campbell 

^E. Gallagher 


Mch. 5, '55 

Apr. 5, 'S5 
Mch. 5, '55 
July 13, 'S5 

Mch 24, '55 


S. H. Robinson 

/^Robert Worthington. 
Wm. Hillegass 

! Edward Gibbons .... 

"^ Geo. H. Fogg 

J. G. Ketteridge 

If. K. Shattuck 

Thomas Gallagher 

Thomas Gallagher 

J. P M. Davis . 


Mch_3, '56 


a. Williams. 


Mch 2, '57 


/'Robert Worthington. 

Wm. Hillegass 

N. Gray 

" A. Davidson 

Wm. Harwood 

I A. Marier 

E. Gibbons 




J A. D. Eames 

"^ Andrew Williams 

William Harwood . . . 
^Leonard Johnson. . . 

Thomas Gallagher 

Thomas Gallagher 

J. P.M. Davis 

J. P. M. Davis 

J. E. Whtcher 




Town and City Clerk . . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 




E. Gibbons 

J. P. M. Davis 

J. P. M. Davis 

A. D. McDevitt 

J. Prevaux 

1 H. Durant 

\ Geo. H. Fogg 

1. J. Daley 




Tax-Collector ........ 

Surveyor and Engineer 


J. P. M. Davis 

A. D. McDevitt 






City Supt. of Schools. . 

School Commission'rs "1 

or _ y 

Board of Education. ) 


Rev. E. J Willis 

( Rev. H. Durant 

I Dr. E. Gibbons 

(C.T. Jacobus 


Rev. S. B. Bell 

f J. E. Whitcher...... 

\ S. B.McKee 

(a. Davidson 


Sep. 17, '56 





Name of Office. 



Mayor. 



City Council , 



'Town and City Clerk . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-Collector 

Assessor. 

Attorney . . 

City Supt. of Schools. 
School Commission'rs "j 

°^ ■ I 

Board of Education . J 

Fund Commissioners, . 



1858-59. 



Name of Holder. Date. 



i.. Williams 

/'Thomas Gallagher . 

G- W. Fountain. . . . 

I J. McCann 

I Geo. W. Scribner. . . 

Jas. Daley 

l^F. _K. Shattuck 

Z. Gibbons 

L. Gibbons 

L. Davidson 

L. Davidson 

i. J. Thompson 



W. H. Glascock., 



1859-60. 



Name of Holder. 



F. K. Shattuck. ... 
fA, D. McDevitt. 

E. Hoskins .... 

J J. R. Rogers 

"] J. B. PieVce.... 

F. Warner 

l^A. Marier , 

E. Gibbons 

E. Gibbons 

A. Davidson 

A. Davidson 

L. B. Tarpley 



Geo. W. Blake . - . 
Wm. Hillegass 
Geo. H. Fogg. 
Wm. Reed. . . . 



Mch 7, "59 



Oct. 19, '59 



Name of Holder. Date, 



J. P. M. Davis 

'R. E. Cole 

J. H. Brown 

A. W. White 

J. B. Pierce 

i P. W. Van Winkle . 

l^M. M. Howe 

E. Gibbons 

E. Gibbons 

W. Hoskins 

W. Hoskins 

L. B. Tarpley 

D. P. Brewster 

W. H. Glascock 

f E. Hoskins 

\ D. C. Potter 

1 W. H. Bovee 



Mch 7, '60 



June 
Dec. 



6, '60 
.5> '60 



718 



History of Alameda County, California. 



T A B L E — Continued. 
ShoTving the OJjficers of the Ttnun of Oakland ami the City of Oakland, Compiled from tlu Records of the Board of Trustees 
^ anti City Council, from rSj2 to fSSj, Ittclusiz'e. 





1861-62. 




1862-63. 




1863-64. 




Name of Office. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 

• 


Date. 


Mayor 


J. P. M. Davis 


Mch 6, '61 


Geo. M. Blake 

(Y.. Gibbons 

|T. D. Woolsey 

j 1 J. M. Dillon 

1 A. D. Eames 

1 Samuel B. Merritt .. 

VF. K. Shattuck. ... 


Mch 5, '62 
Nov. 20, '62 


W. H. Bovce 

(V.. Gibbon.s 

1 T. D. Woolsey. . . 

' 0. L. Shaficr 

-! Chauncey Taylor. . . . 

W. W.Crane, Jr.... 

F. K. Shattuck .... 

VJas. DeFremer>'. ... 

E. P. Sanford 


Mch __• •— 


City Council 

Town and City Clerk.. 


T. D. Woolsey 

J J. M.Dillon 

i A. D. Eames 

1 D. G. Barnes 

KV,. C. Horn 

Edward Hoskins 

Edward Hoskins 

W. Hoskins 




E. T. Sanford 

W. Hoskins. ... ;.... 

W. Hoskins 

J. E. Whitcher 

Wm. Van Voorhies.... 

Rev. Geo. Mooar...... 

1 J. B. Saxton 












Tax Collector 


W. Hoskins 

L. B. Tarpley 


Ja.s. Brown 

1. M. Dillon 




Attorney 

City Supt. of Schools.. 


JohnW. Wnitcher .... 


Apr. 21, '63 


F. K. .Shattuck 

M. Fallon 


Dec. 18, '61 




J. E. Whitcher 




., Geo. H. Fogg 

t D. P. Barstow 






Board of Education. J 
Fund Commissioners.. 


Wm. Reed 

Ed. Hoskins 


May 29. '6r 





Name of Office. 



Mayor. 



City Council - 



Town and City Clerk . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-Collector 

Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Attorney 

Justice of the Peace 
Police Judge 



School Commission'rs \ 
Board of Education . ) 



1864-65. 



Name of Holder. 



E. Gibbo 
rE.Ja 

J. O. Miner 

D. P. Barstow 

I- Chauncey Taylor. . 
A. C. Palmer 
F. K. Shattuck... 
,Jas. DeFremery. 

E. P. Sanford 

E. P. Sanford 

Jas. Brown 

Jas. Brown 



J. M. Dillon... 
Geo. W. Blake. 



Mch 14, '64 



Mch — , '63 
Mch 14, '64 



Mch — , "63 
May 24, '64 



1865-66. 



3. F. Ferris 

/•E. Gibbons 

; J. O. Miner 

I D. P. Barstow ... 

; A. F. Rogers . . . . 
A. H. Jayne 

I F. K. Shattuck . . . 

VChauncey Taylor. . 

A. D. Eames 

A. D. Eames 

Jas. Brown 

Jas. Brown 

Wm. F. Boardman 
J.M.Dillon 

N. Watson 



Mch 6, '65 



Mch 14, '64 



Dec. 5, '65 
Dec. 6, '65 



1866-67. 



Name of Holder. 



J. W. Dwindle 

(H. Gibbons 

J. O. Miner 

D. P. Barstow 

-! P. S. Wilcox 

I K. Anderson . 
F. K. Shattuck. .. 

U- H. Jayne 

A. D. Eames 

A. D. Eames 

Jas. Brown 

Jas. Brown 

J. M. Dillon 

Geo. H. Foge: 

H. P. Watkins 

/Geo. H. Fogg 

Rev. L. Hamilton. 

J. H. Brewer 

! R. E. Cole 

\ F. Warner 

W. S. .Snook 

I Rev. B. Akerly . . . 
VRev. Geo. Mooar. 



Mch 5, '66 
Mch 6, '65 

Mch 5, '66 



Mch 6, '65 
Mch 5, '66 



Apr. 25, "66 
May 2, '66 





1867-68. 


1868-69. 


1869-70. 


Name of Office. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Name of Holder. 


Date. 


Mayor 


W. W. Crane, Jr 

(T. S. Wilcox 


Mch ^, '67 


Samuel Merritt 

/'W H Miller 


Apr. 6, '68 


J B Felton 


Mch I, "69 




/'N. W. Spaulding. . . 

1 E. H. P.-u-dee 

Walter Van Dyke . . . 

-Id. G. Barnes 

W. C. Little...... .. 

J. A. Folger 

\S.. H. Jayne 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Chas. P. McKay 

Chas. P. McKay 

T J Arnold 




1 W. G. Moody 

1 W. H. Miller 


1 W. G. Moody 




•( 




1 F. M. Campbell 




• 


City Council 






" 


Town and City Clerk . . 


1 J. A. Hobart 

! F. M. Campbell.... 

' B. F. Pendleton 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 


1 A. H. Jayne 

1 J. A. Hobart 

VB. F. Pendleton. ... 
H. Hillebrand . . 




jl 


Treasurer. 


H. Hillebrand 




<• 


Marshal 






•» 


Tax-Collector 






Chis P McKay 




41 


Surveyor and Engineer 






W. F. Boardman 

J. M. Dillon 


Sep. 21, '68 


Jan. 10, "70 
Mch I, '6» 


Assessor 


J. M. Dillon 


" 


J. M. Dillon 










H. H. Havens 


Apr. 5, '69 
Mch I, '6» 


Justice of the Peace . . . 


Thomas Wall 

N. Watson 


• " ' 


Geo. H. Fogg . . . 




Police Judge 


Sextus Shearer 




F. B. Tarbett 

J. C. Nally 

L Walker 




Chief of Police Dep't . . 


Oct. II, '69 
Oct. S3, '69 
Mch I, '69 












City Supt. of Schools.. 






L. Walker 






/•Wm. Battling 

Rev. L. Hamilton.. 
L. Walker 


1 


/'Rev. L. Hamilton. . 




C R. E. Cole 




1 N. B. Hoyt 

^ G. W. Armes 




i- B.T. Martin..,.. .. 
t Geo. Tate. 


■I 


School Directors, or | 
Board of Education. ( 


! R. E. Cole 


.> 


"^ B. T. Martin 

W.S. Snook 

W. B. Hardy 

VRev. Geo. Mooar.... 


1 Wm. D. Harwood . . 
(.Ed. McLean 




[Fire Commissioners] 


Mch 13, '69 






1 Miles' D^ody 

1 J. Calder 



Oakland Township— City of Oakland. 



719 



T A B L E — Continued, 

Slunving the Officers of tlie Town of Oakland and the City of Oakland, Compiled from the Records of the Board of Trustees 
and City Council, from 1852 to 1SS3, Inclusive. 



1871-72, 



Name of Office. 



Name of Holder, 



M ayor . 



City Council. 



J. B. Felton 

(Yi. Durant 

I W. J. Gurnett. .. 
I Chas. D. Haven . 

\ Q. A. Chase 

A. L. Warner. . . . 
E. H. Pardee.... 



Town and City Clerk. . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-CoIIector 

Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Justice of the Peace . . . 

Police Judge 

Physician 

City Supt. of Schools- . 

School Directors, or ) 
Board of Education . f 



Board of Health. 



Fire Commissioners . 



I. 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson 

Perry Johnson 

T. J. Arnold 

J. M. Dillon 

Geo. H. Fogg 

A. H. Jayne 

T. H. Pinkerton 

Geo. Tate 

/■Rev. L. Hamilton. . 

) J. W. Thurman . . . . 

") G. W. Ames 

(,F. S. Page 

Dr. C Cushing 

Dr. A. Verhave 

Dr. J. C. Van Wyck, 



Mch I, 

Mch 7, 

Jan. 10, 
Mch 1, 

Mch 7, 

June 13, '70 



Name of Holder. 


Date. 


N. W. Spaulding 

fX. J. Murphy 

1 E. H. Pardee 

1 W. G. Gurnett 

-; J. V. B. Goodrich... 

A. L. Warner 

W. S. Snook 

l^Q. A. Chase 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson 

Perry Johnson 

T. J. Arnold 


Mch 6, '71 

Mch 7, '70 

Jan. 10, '70 
Mch 6, '71 
Mch 7, '70 

June 13, '70 


J. M. Dillon 


A. H. Jayne 

T. H. Pinkerton 

F. M. Campbell 

("Wm. Bartling 

) Ed. Playter 

" R. E. Cole 






fD. G. Barnes 

\ P. S.Wilcox 

(Q. A. Chase 


Oct. 30, '71 



Name of Holder. 



N. W. Spaulding.. 

(X. J. Murphy.... 

I E. H. Pardee.... 

I F. Warner 

-; B. F. Ferris... 

I A. L. Warner . . , . 

I W. S. Snook 

I^Mack Webber. . . . 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand , . . . 
Perry Johnson . . . 

Perry Johnson 

T. I. Arnold 

J. M. Dillon 

Geo. H. Fogg .... 

A. H. Jayne 

J. H. Pinkerton. ,. 

F. M. Campbell. . 

(' Jacob Bacon . . 

J C. W. Kellogg . 

\ O. H. Burnham. 

V Wm. Button 



fj. J. Hanifin 
^' V. P. Terry.. 
( Q. A. Chase. 



Mch 4, '73 

" b '7' 

Mch 4, '72 

Mch 6, '71 

Mch 4, '72 
• 6, '71 

Mch 4, '72 

Jan. 10, '70 
Mch 6, '71 
7' '70 
4, ;72 
June 13, 70 
Mch 6, '71 



ijune ] 



Name of Office. 



Mayor. 



City Council 



Town and City Clerk . . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-Gollector. ... , ... 
Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Attorney 

Justice of the Peace. 

Police Judge 

Physician 

Chief of Police Dep't 
Chief of Fire Dep't. 
City Supt. of Schools 



School Directors, or 
Board of Education . 



Board of Health 



1873-74. 



Name of Holder. 



Henry Durant 

/'N. W. Spaulding. . 
B. F. Ferris 

I F. Warner 

-( Jas. Larue 

Israel W. Kno.x . . 

1 W. S. Snook 

I^Mack Webber.... 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson .... 
Perry Johnson .... 

T. J. Arnold 

J. M. Dillon 



Mch 3,. '73 



Mch 4, '7. 

" ?: '^^ 

1 4, '72 



Jas. Lentell. 

A. H. Jayne ... . 
Geo. E. Sherman . 



[ R. E. Cole 

I J. M. Miner 

1 E. W. Playter. 
I A. W. Swett... 



Mch 3, '73 

" 4. 
Aug. 18. 



Name of Holder. 



Henry Durant ... 

(]. B. Larue 

I Wallace Everson , 

I T. R. Mason 

J, Israel W. Kno.i. 

I W. S. Snook .... 

I Mack Webber 

^ 

H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson 

Perry Johnson .... 

T. J. Arnold 

J. M. Dillon 

S. A. Gilchrest .... 

fas. Lentell 

A. H. Jayne 

Geo. E. Sherman . . . 

D. H. Rand 

J. C. Halley 

F. M Campbell.... 



rC. W. Kellogg... 
I W. F. Boardman 
I Dr. Wm. Bolton . . 
[ W. K. Rowell. . . 



(•Dr. W. Bamford .. 
\ Dr. C. S. Kittredge 
( Dr. Wm. Bolton . . . 



May 4, '72 



Mch 3, '73 
Mch 4, '74 



Mch 3, '7: 



June 8, '74 
Sep. 21, '74 
Oct. 5, '74 
Oct. 4, '74 



June 



1875-76. 



Name of Holder. 



Mack Webber 

/'James Dods. 

I J. M. Miner.... 

I J. R. Mason. ... 
-' Uriel Huntington 

1 J. B. Ford 

I J. W. Shanklin. . 

^Wallace Everson . 
H. Hillebrand . . . 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson 

Perry Johnson .... 
T. J. -Arnold . . . 
J. M. Dillon 

Jas. Lentell 

A. H. Jayne . . . 

D.'H.'Rand'!!! !! 
M. de la Montanya. 
F. M. Campbell. .. 

/-R. E. Cole 

I L. Hamilton 

1 J. A. Folger 

"l K. W. Swett . . . . 

I W. K. Rowell 

I^L. H. Cary 



Mch I, '75 



May 4, '74 
Mch 1, '75 



Mjiy 4, '74 

May r, '75 

May ^4, '74 

May 3, '73 



May 4, '74 



720 



History of Alameda County. California. 



T A B L E — Continued. 



Sko-wing tlw OJficers of the Town of Oakland and the City o/ Oafclxn^, Compiled from the Records of the Board of Trustees 
and City Council, from tS^a to 1S83 Inclusive. 



1876-77. 



Name of Office. 



Name of Holder- 



Mayor 



City 
Council. 



fist Ward. 
I 2d Ward. 
\ jd Ward. 
-' 4th Ward. 
IJth Hard. 
I 6th Ward.\ 
Kjth II 'ard. 
Town and City Clerk . . 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-Collector 

Surveyor and Engineer, 

Assessor 

Attorney I 

Justice of the Peace ... 

Police Judge ] 

Physician j 

Chief of Police Dep't. .[ 

Chief of Fire Dep't . . 

City Supt. of .Schools. . 

School Directors, or J_ 

Board of Education ) 

/St Ward... 

2d Ward... 

3d Ward... 

4th Ward. . . 

Sth Ward. . . 

6th Ward. . . 

7th Ward. . . 



Board of Health 



H. H. Watson 

W. A. Walter 


" 






J. F. W. Sohst 


•• 



H. Hillebrand 

H. Hillebrand 

Perry Johnson 

Perry- Johnson 

T. J. Arnold 

J. M. Dillon 

Henry Vrooman . . . 

Geo. H. Fogg 

A. H. Jayne 

L. H. Cary 

D. H. Rand 

M. de la Monlanya. 
F. M. Campbell 



Rev. B. Akerly. 
L. L. Alexander. 
C. W. Kellogg... 



C Dr. W. Bamford . . 
-' Dr. C. S. Kittredge 
( Dr. Wm. Bolton . . 



Mch 13, '76 



Mch 
Mch : 



Mch 
Sep. 

Ja" 



-Mch 13, '76 



1877-78. 



Name of Holder. 



E. H. Pardee Mch 

P. W. Fonda 

W. E. Grinnell 

W. A. Walter 

J. M. Miner 

W. E. Miller 

J. F. W. Sohst 

M. W. Fish 

Jas. Dods 

Jas. Dods 

Perry Johnson [Mch 

Perry Johnson 

T. J. Arnold .... 
J. M. Dillon.... 
Henry V'rooman. 
Wm. Bolton . 
A. H. Jayne . . . 

L H. Cary 

D. H. Rand. .... 

.M. de la Montanya. . Jan, 

F. M. Campbell Jan. 



13. '761 



Mch 1 



Mch 1 
Mch : 
Sep. : 



8, '77 

13. '76. 



C. H. Redington Jan. 

J. A. Hobart 

C. N. Fox 

R. E. Cole 

J. W. Shanklin 

Eugene Lynch 

A. W. Swett 

( Dr. W. Bamford .... 
- Dr. C. S. Kittredge. 

' Dr. Wm. Bolton .... 



Name of Holder. 



W. R. Andrus ... 
P. W. Fonda. .. 
W. E. Grinnell. 
W. A. Walter... 

J. M. Mmcr 

W. E. Miller ... 
J. F. W. .Sohst . 

M. W. Fish 

James Dods. . . . 
James Dods .... 
J. R. Cutting. . . 
J. R. Cutting... 
r. I. Arnold.... 
J. M. Dillon.... 
F. W. Byrne . . . 
.Adam Koob 
Ed. Hoskins .. . 

L H. Cary 

W. W. Gray... 

las. Hill 

F. M. Campbell. 



C. H. Redington 
I. A. Hobart .. 

C. N. Fox 

R. E. Cole 

J. W. Shanklin 
Eugene Lynch . 
.K. W. Swett .... 
Dr. H.St. G.Hopkins 
Dr. .\. H. Agard 
Dr. H. Legler .. 



■} 



Mch 25, '78 
Mch 12, '77 



Mch 25, '78 



Mch 12, '77 
" f.5' ''* 
July 27, '77 
Sep. 18, '76 
Oct. J 5, '77 
Jan. 7, '78 
Mch 25, '78 



Mch 12, '77 



July 15, '78 



Name of Office. 



Mayor. , 



City 
Council. 



(1st Ward. 
2d Ward. 
\jd Ward. 
-.; 4th IFard. 
ijth Ward. 
I 6th irard. 
I Tth II 



1879-80. 



Name of Holder. 



W. R. -"^ndrus . . 
J. C. Millan... 
J. N. Corlies . . . 
J. S. Wall ... 

J. B. White 

David Hewes. . 

Jas. Gill 

G. W. Babcock. 



Name of Holder. 



Town and City Clerk . . Jas. Dods 
Treasurer Jas. Dods. 



Marshal 

Tax-Collector 

Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Attorney 

Justices of the Peace . . 



Police Judge . 

Physician 

Chief of Police Dep't . . 
Chief of Fire Dep't. . . . 
City Supt. of Schools. . 
School Directors, or ) 



Mch 



J. R. Cutting 
J. R. Cutting 

T. W. Morgan 1 June 

J. M. Dillon IMch 

P. W.Byrne I " 

C. C. Jenks I " 

Ed. Hoskins 

Dr. Posey I Feb. 

W. F. Fletcher Mch 

Jas. Hill Jan, 

F. M. Campbell Mch 



Board of Education 

/st Ward... 
2d Ward. . . 
3d Ward... 
4th Ward. . . 
Sth Ward. . 
6th Ward. . . 
7th Ward. . . 

Board of Health . . . . 



IC. H. Redington . . 

F. M. Smith 

|C. N. Fox 

,C. D. Harris 

[Geo. H. Wheaton . 

Eugene Lynch .... 
A. W. Swelt ... . 

(• Dr. A. C. Posey. 



Dr. W M. Brown. 



Free Library Trustees 



> f 5. 


■78 


e 10, 


■78 


1 10, 


T) 


25. 


7* 


to, 


79 


2, 


'80 


I 25, 


■78 


7. 


■78 


25. 


'78 


10, 


'79 



Ja.s. E. Blethen 


. . Mch 


8, '80 


J. C. Millan 


..'Mch 


10, "79 


J. N. Corles 






J. S. Wall 






J. B. White 


, 




David Hewes 






Jas. Gill 






Geo. W. Babcock... 






las. Dods 






Jas. Dods 







M. E. Clough, 
M. E. Clough. . . 
T. W. Morgan . . 
J. M. Dillon .,. 
J. M. Postoii. 
C. C. lenks . . . 
A. W." Bishop. 

John Yule 

A. C. Posey 

W. F. Fletcher.. 

Jas. Hill Jan 

H. J. Todd Mch 



June 1 
Mch I 

Mch 1 



Feb. 
Mch ; 



Jas. E. Blethen I Mch 14, '81 

J. C. Millan 

L. S. Hawkins '• 

C. R. Lewis ' '* 

J. H. Fish I 

Peter Thomson " 

Jas. Gill I 

Henry Hayes 1 " 

las. Dods ...: 

!ja.s. Dods.. .. I 

'80 '.M. E. Clough I Mch 8, 'So 

AL E, Clough I 

'79 IT. W. Morgan June 10, '78 

■78 J. M. Dillon Mch 14, '81 

'So J. M. Poston Mch 8, '80 

C. C. Jenk.s 

A. W. Bishop I 

.John Yule | 

■80 I J. R. Bradway I April 4. '81 

■78 I W. F. Fletcher Mch 25, '78 

'78 [Ja-s- Hill Jan- 7, '78 

80 H.J. Todd Mch 8, 'So 



C. H. Redington Mch 10, 

F. M. Smith 

C. N. Fox 

C. D. Harris 

Geo. H. Wheaton. ... " 

Eugene Lynch *' 

.\. W. Swett •' 

Mch 3, '80 I ( Dr. A. C. Posey. .. Mch 3, 
- Dr. W. -M- Brown. 



■79 C. H. Redington. 

Alex. Elder 

W. H. Jordan . . . 

E. Everett 

Geo. C. Pratt . 

Eugene Lynch. .. 

M. W. Fish 

•80 ( Dr A. C. Posey. 



IMch 14, '81 



Dr. .\. H .\g.ird.... 
' Dr. T. H. Pinkcrlon 

,'0. H. Burnh.am 

I J. A. .Swenarton . . . . 
.; C. W. Kellogg, 

I W. B. Ludlow 

yy/. H. H. Hamilton. 



(April 

i 
Mch 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



721 



T A B L E — Continued. 

Skowing^ the Officers of the Town of Oakland and the City of Oakland, Co77ipihd from the Records of the Board of Trustees 
and City Coftncil,from lSj2 to iSS^y hichisiz^e. 



Name of Office. 



Mayor 

fist Ward. 

[ 2d Ward. 

Hrv ^3d Ward..... 
rJ^S;i < -Ith Ward. . . . . 
Council. i., ,jr J 

jth It ard. . . . . . 

\ 6th Ward. 

\jih Ward. 

Town and City Clerk ... 

Treasurer 

Marshal 

Tax-Collector 

Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Attorney 

Justices of the Peace 

Police Judge ... 

Physician 

Chief of Police Department, 
Chief of Fire Department. . 

City Sup't of Schools 

School Directors, or 
Board of Education. 

/St Ward. . 

2d IFard. . . 

jd Ward. 

4ih H 'ard. 

SthWard. 

0th Ward. 

7th Ward. 

Board of Health 



Free Librarj-- Trustees. . 



Name of Holder. 



C. K. Robinson 

J. C. Millan 

L. S. Hawkins 

C. R. Lewis 

J. H. Fish 

Peter Thomson 

Jas. Gill 

Henry Hayes 

Jas. Dods. 

Jas. Dods 

M. E. Clough 

M. E. Clough 

T. W. Morgan 

J. M. Dillon 

John Yule 

C. C. Jenks 

A. W. Bishop 

S. F. Daniels 

J. R. Eradway 

Peter Pumyea. 

Jas. Hill 

J. C. Gilson 

C. H. Redington 

Ale.\- Elder 

W. H. Jordan 

E. Everett 

Geo. C. Pratt 

Eugene Lynch 

M. W. Fish 

I Dr. A. C. Posey 

■' Dr. A. H. Agard . . . 

( Dr. T. H. Pinkerton. 

(O. H. Burnham 

I J. A. Swenarton. . . . 

■( C. W. Kellogg 

W. B. Ludlow 

I W. H. H. Hamilton. 



Mch I 
Mchi 



June I 

Mch 1 

Nov. 
Nov. 

" I 
April 
Oct. 3 
Jan. ■; 
Mch I 



Mch 14, 



April 18, 
Mch 14, 



Name of Office. 



Mayor . . 

(tst Wa7-d. 

2d Ward. 

Citv 1-^^ Ward... .. 
r . -1 < 4i^^ Ward. .... 
Council. ; ^ ,, jj- J 
' Sth /■yard. 

6th Ward. 

7t/t Ward. ..... 

Town and City Clerk 

Treasurer 

Marshal ._ 

Tax-Cotlector 

Surveyor and Engineer 

Assessor 

Attorney 

Justices of the Peace . . 

Police Judge 

Physician 

Chief of Police Departmnet 
Chief of Fire Department. . 

City Sup't of Schools 

School Directors, or 
Board of Education. 

ist Ward. 

2d Ward. 

Sd Ward. 

4tk Ward. 

Sth Ward. 

6th Ward. 

7th Ward. 

Board of Health 

Free Library Trustees 



Name of Holder. 



J. West Martin 

J. T. Carothers 

S. M. Babbitt 

E. B. Dean 

M. de la Montanya 

M. C. Garber 

Jas. McGivney 

Henry Hayes 

Jas. Dods 

Jas. Dods 

M. E. Clough 

M. E. Clough 

T. W. Morgan 

J. M. Dillon 

John Yule 

C. C. Jenks 

A. W. Bishop 

S. F. Daniels 

E. W. Buck 

E. J. Chase (Acting). . . 

Jas. Hill 

J. C. Gilson 

C. H. Redington 

A. W. Barrel! 

W. H. Jordan 

E. Everett 

E. B. Clement 

Henry Sohst 

M. W. Fish 

(Dr. T. W. Trembly.. 
- Dr. A. H. Agard . . . . 

( Dr. T. H. Pinkerton. 

^E. M. Long 

I Wm. Walker 

-' C. W. Kellogg 

I O. H. Burnham 

^ E. A. Trefethen . . . . 



June ] 
Mch I 

Nov. 

Mch I 
April ; 
April 
Jan. 
Mch I 



■3, '62 



Notes — 1852-1S53. 

1852, May 17— A. Marierto be President Board of Trustees. 

1853, Jan. 8— A. S. Hurlburt to be Clerk to Board of Trustee_s, 

vice Shattuck, resigned. 

Notes— 1854-1S55. 

1854, June 24— James Grey to be Pound Master. 

1855, Jan. 10— E. W. Cohea to be Pound Master. 

" Jan. 23— Micah M. Howe to be City Marshal, vice Hogan, 
absconded. 

Notes— 1855-1856. 

1855, March 12— E. Gallagher to be President of Council. 

" May 2 — Andrew Williams to be President of Council, vice 
Gallagher, resigned that appointment. 
May 29— Ed. Gibbons and Robt. Worthington to be Mem- 
bers of Council," vice Gallagher and Eames, 
resigned. 
J. E. Whitcher to be School Commissioner, vice 

Gibbons, resigned. 
-J. E. Whitcher to be School Commissioner, mci: 

Durant, resigned. 
■L. N. Crocker to be Member of Council, Tfice 
Lynch, absent. 

Notes— 1856-1S57. 

2 — Edward Gibbons to be President of Council. 

Notes — 1S57-1S58. 

— F. E. Prevaux to be Superintendent of Public 
Works. 
" 15 — James Lentell to be Member of Council, vice 
Gray, failed to qualify. 

Notes— 1 858- 1 859. 

, March 8— F. K. Shattuck to be President of Council. 
Sep. lo — J. Dieves to be Member of Council, vice Mc- 

Cann, disqualified on contested election. 
Oct. 20— Wm. Hillegass to be School Commissioner, vice 
W. H. Glascock, resigned. 



" 


June 6- 


" 


July 18- 


" 


Sep. 6- 


856 


Mai-ch I 


857 


April 15 



Notes — 1859-1S60. 

1S59, March 14 — E. Hoskins to be President of Council. 
" Dec. 7~J. P. M. Davis to be Mayor, zn'ce Shattuck. 
" " •' — y/ JJ. Bovee to be Member of Council, z'zViT 

Marier, resigned. 

Notes— 1S60-1861. 

i860, July 5 — P. Hoskins to be School Commissioner. 

" " '* — J- R- Rogers to be Member of Council, vice V 
Winkle, absent. 

Notes— 1861-1S62. 

1861, March ii — -E. Gibbons to be President of Council. 

" Aug. 5 — Geo. M. Blake to be Member of Council, vice 
Barnes, absent. 

1862, Jan. 15 — C. T, Jacobus to be School Trustee, vice Reed, 

resigned. 

Notes — 1862-1863. 

1862, March lo— E. Gibbons to be President of Council. 
*' " 3r^E. Hoskins to be Member of Council. 

Notes — 1 863- 1 864. 

1863, March II— E. Gibbons to be President of Council. 

" June 29— L. Janssen to be School Trustee, vice Saxton, 

resigned. 
" Dec. 22— D. P. Barstow to be Member of Council, vice 

Shafter, resigned. 

1864, Jan. 26 — J. O. Miner to be Member of Council, vice 

Haynes, resigned. 

Notes — 1S64-1S65. 

1864, March 14 — F. K. Shattuck to be President of Council. 
" Sep. 27 — E. D. Waters to be Member of Council. 

1865, Jan. 3 — A. F. Rogers to be Member of Council, vice Pal- 

mer, resigned. 

Notes— 1S65-1866. 

1865, March 21 — G. J. Faulkner to be Member of Council, vice 
Jayne. resigned. 



722 



History of Alameda County, California. 



Notes— 1866-1867. 

1866, March 5^E. Gibbons to be President of Council. 

Notes— 1867-1868. 

1867, July 23 — Sextus Shearer to be Police Judge, z^/ff Watson, 

deceased. 
Nov. 2— Dr. S. Merritt to be Mayor, vice Crane, resigned. 
" Nov. 16— F.M. Campbell to be Member of Council, vice 

Anderson, deceased. 
" Dec. 21 — B. F. Pendleton to be President of Council, 7'/?^- 
Hobart, resigned that appointment. 

N OTES — 1 869- 1 870. 
1S69, March 8— A. W. Jayne to be President of Council. 

13 — Thos. Maguire to be First Assistant Engineer 

Fire Departmeat. 
13 — Geo. Taylor to be Second Assistant Engineer 
Fire Department. 
April 19 — Horace Laperle to be Assistant Engineer Fire 
Department. 
Oct. 25 -Walter Van Dyke to be Member of Council, vice 

Campbell, resigned. 
Dec. 6— W. H. Miller to be Member of Cuuncil, vice 
Little, resigned 
1870, Jan. 3— Miles Doody to be Chief Engineer Fire Depart- 
ment, 77tT Nally. 

Notes — 1870-1871. 

1870, March 14— H. Durant to be President of Council. 
" Sept. 19 — J. V. B. Goodrich to be Member of Council, 
vice Durant, resigned. 

Notes — 1 872-1873. 

1872, March 25— y. p. Terry to be Fire Commissioner, vice 

Wilcox, resigned. 

Notes — 1873- 1S74. 

1873, March lo— Mack Webber to be President of Council. 
" " 17— A. L. Warner to be Fire Commis^oner. 

" April 7— J. H. Howard and H. E. Winslow to be Fire 
Commissioners, vice Chase and Warner, resigned. 

Notes — 1874-1S75. 

1874, May ri— Mack Webber to be President of Council. 

" Oct. 12— M. de la Montanya to be Chief Engineer Fire 
Department, 7>ice Halley, resigned. 

1875, Feb. I— Mack Webber to be Mayor, 7'ice Durant, deceased. 

** 15— F. Warner to be Member of .Council, 7v« Webber, 
elevated to the office of Mayor. 
" " 15— I. W. Knox to be President of Council, vice Web- 
ber. 

Notes — 1875-1S76. 

1875, Aug. 23— Dr. E. H. Pardee to be Member of Council, 
z'icc Mason, resigned. 



Notes— 1876-1877. 

1876, April 17 — J. W. Shanklin to be Member of Board of Ed- 

ucation, vice Rev. L. Hamilton, resigned. 

Notes — 1877- 1878. 

1877, March 19 — W. A. Walter to be President of the Council. 
" April 3o»-F. O. Fuller to be Chief Engineer Fire Depart- 
ment, vice Montanya, resigned. 

" July 19— C. E. Sessions and T. B. Simpson to be Water 
Commissioners. 

" July 23— L. G. Cole to be Water Commissioner, vice Ses- 
sions, resigned. 

" July 27— Ed. Hoskins to be Police Judge, vice Jayne, de 
ceased. 

" Oct. 15— W. W. Gray to be Chief of Police, vice Rand, 
deceased. 

" Nov. 19— W. W. Camron to be Member of Council, r/cr 
Miller, resigned. 

1878, Jan. 7— James Hill to be Chief Engineer Fire Depart- 

ment, vice Fuller. 
" March r8*-Samuel Milbnry to be Member of Council, 

vice Camron, resigned. 
" " 25— W. F. Fletcher to be Chief of Police, wVtf 

Gray; office declared vacant. 

Notes — 1 878- 1 879. 

1878, June 20— T. W. Morgan to be City Engineer, t'/Vf Arnold, 

deceased. 
" Aug. 19— Elisha Hook to be Member of Council, vice 

Sohst, resigned. 
" Sept. 16 — C. C. Jenks lo be City Justice of the Peace, 
vice Koob, resigned. 

Notes— 1S79-1880. 

1879, March 17— J. B. White to be President of Council. 
" Sept. I — D. C. Bortree to be Police Clerk. 

" " 15 — L. G. Cole to be Member of Council, ViW Codies. 

resigned. 
" Oct. 6— Geo. L. Morgan to be City .\ttorney. 

1880, Jan. 5 — T. F. Jenkins to be Sanitary Inspector, vice 

Church, resigned. 

Notes— 1S80-1881. 

1S80, March 29— J. .\. Booth to be License Collector. 

'* June 21— G. W. Babcock to be President of Council, vice 
White, resigned that appointment. 

Notes— 1881-1882. 

1881, March 21 — Henry Hayes 10 be President of Council. 
" Oct. 3 — S. R. Hassinger to be Sanitar>' Inspector. 

'* " 3— Peter Pumyea to be Chief of Police Department, 
I'icc Fletcher. 



Let us now introduce to the reader histories of some of its churches, schools, 
societies, and industries. 

Churche.s. — There are nearly forty churches in the city of Oakland of ail 
denominations, but our space will only admit of our giving histories of the oldest 
of these. From the days when "two or three were gathered together" under the shade 
of one of Oakland's spreading oaks, up to the present the city has been the home of 
churches that have grown in beauty of design and magnificence of architecture, as 
the years flew by. She is sometimes called the "City of Spires," as she deserves to 
be, for more graceful outlines are not to be found anywhere. Her number of devotees 
is large, and, in truth, Oakland is a city of families, boasting in her churches and her 
schools. 



First Presbyterian Church. — This church was organized in April, i S53, being one of 
the oldest of any denomination in Oakland. The first services were held in a cloth tent, 
and afterwards in the public school house, under the pastoral charge of Rev. S. B. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 723 

Bell. He was succeeded by Rev. E. B. Walsworth, who officiated until December, 
1865, when Rev. L. Hamilton was called to the pastorate, and continued in charge 
until February 24, 1869. On August 17, 1S69, the Rev. Daniel W. Poor, D. D., suc- 
ceeded to the duties, since when the following have been the pastors: From June, 
1872, to November, 1879, Rev. James Eels, D. D.; from November, 1879, to Novem- 
ber, 1882, Rev. Samuel P. Sprecher, D. D. The present pastor. Rev. Francis A. 
Horton, assumed the pastorate April 8, 1883. 

The present church edifice, on the northeast corner of Fourteenth and Franklin 
Streets, was built in the year 1875, at a cost of about fifty-two thousand dollars, and 
was dedicated for public worship January 16, 1876. It is one of the handsomest 
structures in the city: The original church building occupied by this society was 
erected about 1856, at the corner of Webster and Sixth Streets, at a cost of about 
six thousand dollars. It was afterwards removed to the southeast corner of Broad- 
way and Thirteenth Streets, and enlarged to meet the requirements of the growing 
congregation. It now stands on Thirteenth Street, between Broadway and Franklin 
Streets, and is used as an armory. 

The present membership of the church is eight hundred and forty-two, the 
largest accession to the church in any one day was on March 6, 1881, when two hun- 
dred and twenty persons were admitted to its membership. The present officers are as 
follows : Pastor, Rev. Francis A. Horton ; Elders, E. Bigelo w, G. W. Armes, C. W. Armes, 
J. B. Ford, J. J. Gardiner, J. C. Raymond, C. H. Fish, G. D. Gray, P. D. Browne, A. J. 
Ralston, H. L. King, Jr., C. A. Bailey; Deacons, W. H. Knight, VV. F. Curtis, R. W. 
Poindexter, A. Elder, F. S. Page; Trustees, A. Miller, D. E. Martin, E. C. Sessions, E. 
B. Beck, A. J. Ralston, M. W. Upton, C. L, Watson; President of the Society, W. H. 
Friend; Secretary, M. W. Upton; Treasurer, W. P. Wheeler. 

The Sunday-school connected with this church was organized in April, 1853, 
under the superintendency of John Kelsey, with four teachers and six scholars. The 
present membership is, officers and teachers, eighty-four; scholars, six hundred and 
seventy-three; total, seven hundred and fifty-seven. Officers, 1882-83 — Pastor, Rev. 
Francis A. Horton; Superintendent, G. W. Armes; Assistant Superintendent, H. L. 
King, Jr.; Secretary, M. S. Hill; Treasurer, G. W. Armes; Librarian, J. E. Simmons; 
Assistant Librarians, J. H. Henderson, Geo. Henderson; Chorister, Miss Jennie Har- 
rison; Organist, J. F. Kendall; Pianist, Miss Mollie Andrews; Advisory Committee, H. 
L. King, Jr., P. D. Browne, C. H. Fish, Chas. A. Bailey, G. D. Gray. Primary Depart- 
ment — Superintendent, Mrs. William Sublette; Assistant Superintendent, Miss Kate 
S. Van Arsdale; Secretary, Mrs. M. B. Holmes; Treasurer, Mrs. James E. Gordon; 
Librarian, Mrs. Edward Hackett; Assistant Librarian, Miss Bessie Goodfellow. 

Independent Presbyterian Church. — This church was organized February 28, 1869, 
and is the only one of a similar character in California. The first pastor. Rev. L. 
Hamilton, officiated for several years as minister of the First Presbyterian Church in 
Oakland, but for opinions expressed by him he was tried before the Presbytery, and sub- 
sequently before the Synod, resulting in his being deposed by those bodies, February 
24, 1869. A large portion of Mr. Hamilton's congregation, who were opposed to this 
decision of the Presbytery and Synod, determined upon organizing another society, 



History of Alameda County, California. 



and secured Brayton Hall as a temporary place of worship, where services were held 
until the spring of 1S70, when the edifice, situated at the southeast corner of Thir- 
teenth and Jefferson Streets, was erected, at a cost, including lot, of about twenty-two 
thousand five hundred dollars. The pastor, since Mr. Hamilton's death, which 
occurred April 9, 1882, has been Clarence Fowler, who began his pastorate June 5, 
1882, when the society assumed the name of Hamilton Church of Oakland. 

The Sunday-school connected with the church was organized March 6, 1869, and 
at present has an attendance of one hundred scholars, and ten teachers. The church 
officers are: Trustees, N. W. Spaulding, P. N. Remillard, J. W. Ward, Thomas Var- 
ney, J. D. Haines, O. M. Sanford, A. T. Dewey, and J. W. Mackie. Clarence Fowler 
is Superintendent of the Sunday-school. The church is essentially Unitarian, of the 
broadest Christian sentiment. 

St. Johns {Episcopal) Church. — This church had an humble origin when Oakland 
numbered but a few houses, and not over one thousand inhabitants. During the 
summer of 1852 two families met and worshiped unitedly, until a member of one 
of the families fell seriously ill, when the services were discontinued. In August, 1853, 
Rev. Doctor Ver Mehr, Rector of Grace Church, San Francisco, visited Oakland, to 
aid in the establishment of a church, and with much difficulty a meeting of twelve 
persons was convened. For various reasons, however, the project was for the time 
abandoned. Toward the close of the same year, the Rev. John Morgan appeared, 
and preached a sermon to a small but attentive audience beneath the branches of one 
of Oakland's shady trees, and so favorable was the impression then made that it was 
determined that a covered church of some kind should be procured by the follow- 
ing Sunday, if the reverend gentleman would repeat his visit. A large tent, twenty- 
five by seventy feet, was erected, with a cross upon the ape.x to designate the object 
of the structure, and a temporary pulpit fitted up. Mr. Morgan, however, was in 
some manner detained, but a Presbyterian, the Rev. Mr. Walworth, who had incident- 
ally visited Oakland, being present in the congregation, was invited to officiate. 
The same week the tent and appurtenances were sold to the Presbyterians. In 
December, 1854, the Right Rev. Bishop Kip celebrated divine service in a room that 
had been prepared for the purpose. In January, 1855, the missionary. Rev. E. W. 
Syle, arrived, and became acting rector of the embryo parish. The first communion 
service was celebrated on Sunday, February 4th, when eleven communed with the 
rector. On March 5th of the same year, the parish was regularly incorporated and 
trustees elected, but it was not until the 8th of August following that a constitution 
and by-laws were finally adopted. During the same month a rented room was fitted 
up as a church, with benches, at a cost of one hundred and fifty dollars, current 
expenses being met by collections every Sunday. The Re\-. Mr. Syle resigned Jan- 
uary, 1856, and from that time lay services were regularly held, Bishop Kip officiating 
occasionally. In July, 1856, the Rev. James W. Caper became rector, and continued 
in charge until 1857, when he resigned, and the Rev. Benj. Akerly became rector, 
officially, March i, 1858, although he had officiated regularly from December, 1857. 
A lot v.'as purchased in i860 for the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars, and a 
church edifice erected thereon, at a cost of two thousand six hundred dollars, which 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 725 

has since been enlarged twice. The church was consecrated to divine service March 
I, i860, while the number of communicants in June, 1872, was one hundred and fifty. 
The Rev. Benjamin Akerly, D. D., has been rector over twenty-five years. 

The Sunday-school connected with the church was organized April, 1858, and 
has an attendance now of two hundred and fifty scholars, and a library containing 
five hundred volumes. The church officers are : R. W. Kirkham, Senior Warden ; Chas. 
D. Haven, Junior Warden; Chaunce)^ Taylor, James de Fremery, Van Leer Eastland, 
J. Harvey Fish, Pieter J. Van Loben Sels, and of the Sunday-school, the rector is Super- 
intendent; Wm. M. Cubery, Assistant Superintendent, and twenty teachers. This 
church has also a chapel at Temescal, where services are held every Sunday afternoon 
at 2 o'clock, with Sunday-school of an average attendance of about seventy. 

St Paid's (Episcopal) Clutrch. — This church affords a striking example of 
what may be accomplished by a few persons in a short time. It has derived its 
remarkable prosperity through the zeal and wisdom of a few vestrymen, materially 
aided by a popular and energetic rector. Its inception was begun in a desultory way 
by a few small gatherings of persons uncomprehending the magnitude which the 
enterprise thus born was shortly to attain. Speedily, however, they realized the work 
before them, and the church was duly organized in February, 1871. It has drawn 
within its doors a congregation comprising large influence and wealth from a field 
comparatively unoccupied before, and is solidly established on a broad temporal and 
spiritual basis as a great and growing Christian power. The organizers were pecul- 
iarly happy in the purchase of the church property. It consisted of a chapel with a 
rectory, belonging formerly to the California College, and a lot one hundred feet 
square situated at the corner of Twelfth and Webster Streets. The purchase price 
was ten thousand dollars, payable in ten years, and was secured by an individual note 
of four of the vestrymen, with mortgage on the property. The deed was made a third 
party in trust, for conveyance to the church whenever, within a certain time, it should 
pay one-fourth the purchase price. The chapel was arranged interiorly to fit it for 
church purposes at an extreme of two thousand dollars, obtained on loan by individual 
members of the vestry. Sixty pews were put in, capable of seating comfortably two 
hundred persons. They were tastefully upholstered, carpets laid, an organ purchased, 
and real work was then begun. Pew rates were fixed to produce two hundred and 
twenty dollars monthly, allowing free seats for forty persons. The first twelve months 
showed an increase from pew rentals from fifty-seven to one hundred and fifty-three 
dollars, demonstrating a steady growth of membership. Fifty dollars a month 
was received for rental of the basement for school purposes, and of the rectory for 
a residence. By the end of a year the regular income, including offertories and 
subscriptions met all current expenses, comprising interest, salaries, and incidentals 
and it has since kept pace with the increased expenses. In 1880 the church building 
was moved to the corner of Fourteenth and Harrison Streets where it is now located. 
The rectors in charge of the parish up to date have been Rev. Charles W. Turner, 
1871; Rev. J. L. Parks from 1874 to 1879, the first of July in which latter year the 
present Rector, Rev. Hobart Chetwood entered on the Rectorship. 

The first officers and vestry were: Allen I. Gladding, Senior Warden; Capt 



726 HisTURV OF Alamkda County, California. 

Watson Webb, Junior Warden, and Secretary; R. C. Alden, Treasurer; Hon. John 
A. Stanley, John B. Harmon, Dr. W. C. Parker, Thomas J. Hyde, Dr. H. P. Babcock, 
Thomas Yolland. Those at present serving are Allen I. Gladding. Senior Warden; 
William. R. Wheaton, Junior Warden and Secretary; D. M Kent, Treasurer; S. W. 
Bugbee, Secretary. 

The Sunday-school in connection with the church was organized in 1871, and at 
present consists of two hundred and twenty-five scholars and twenty teachers under 
the superintendenc}- of the Rector. 

SL Andn-zv's Mission {Episcopal). — This mission is under charge of the Rev. 
Charles L. Miel, and is doing good work in the cause. There is an average attend- 
ance of about forty-five families, with fifty-eight communicants. The property it 
possesses is valued at twelve hundred dollars, but as yet no church has been built^ 
services being conducted in a room temporarily fitted up for the purpose. It supplies 
a want long felt in the western portion of the town, and bids fair to become a per- 
manency in that locality. 

First Baptist Church of Oakland. — This church was organized with the following 
constituent members: Rev. E. J. Willis, Mrs. A. N. Willis, Mr. L. W. Taylor, Mr. S. 
Ayers, Mrs. Mary Potter, and Mr. J. N. Thompson. Rev. V.. J. Willis was chosen Pastor, 
N. J. Thompson, Deacon, and L. W. Taylor, Clerk. In December, 1854, under the 
labors of Rev. E. J. Willis, missionary, the first house of worship being dedicated at 
that time, and was the first Protestant church completed in the city. It was located 
at the corner of Fifth and Jefferson Streets, and cost, with the land, about two thou- 
sand dollars. Mr. Willis' pastorate terminated in June, 1856, leaving the church 
without a pastor for about a year. In May, 1857, Rev. Harvey Gilbert began to 
preach, and, four months later, was settled as pastor. He resigned in December, 1858, 
and was succeeded in April, 1859, by Rev. J. B. Saxton. In May, 1863, Mr. Saxton 
having left. Rev. John Francis became pastor of the church. Soon thereafter the 
house of worship was removed to the corner of Clay and Ninth Streets, a more eligible 
situation in view of the rapid growth of the city. This house, and the lot on which it 
was located, were sold, when the new edifice was rented to the German Turn \'erein, 
who occupy it during the week, religious services having been frequently held there 
on the Sabbath. Mr. Francis resigned in July, 1864, and was succeeded in November 
of the same year, by Rev. A. L. Baker, a recent graduate from Rochester. He, how- 
ever, was compelled to resign in a few months on account of ill-health. In July, 1865, 
Rev. B. T. Martin was called to the pastorate and continued pastor for nearly six 
years. During Mr. Martin's pastorate the present handsome edifice at the .southea.st 
corner of Fourteenth and Brush Streets was erected at a cost of thirt)- thousand 
dollars, the lot whereon it stands having cost twenty-five hundred dollars. It was 
formally dedicated in March, 1869, the chapel in the rear having been occupied three 
months before, and used while the main building was being completed: Since that 
time the following pastors with the dates of their induction have supplied the pulpit: 
Rev. T. C. Jameson as supply, from August 1871 to May 1873; Rev. R. !■". Farshall 
as pastor, from May 1873 to October 12, 1873; Rev. R. Patterson and Rev. C. B. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 727 

Post as supplies, from October 1873 to May 1874; Rev. B. S. McLafferty as Pastor^ 
from May 10, 1874 to March 30, 1879; Rev. Granville S. Abbott, D.D., Pastor, from 
April 2, 1879 to Dec. 31, 1881; Rev. E. Nisbett and Rev. E. H. Gray as supplies 
(awaiting the arrival of the Rev. Evan Davis* to whom a call had been extended 
and accepted, but sickness prevented his fulfilling his engagement); Rev. E. H. Gray^ 
D.D., Pastor, August 30, 1882. 

The Sunday-school connected with the church was organized in 1854. It has in 
attendance thirty teachers and two hundred and sixty-sev^n scholars, and a library 
of six hundred volumes. The officers of the church are, Pastor, Rev. E. H. Gray, D. D.; 
Deacons, J. T. Latimer, Cyrus Dam, C. W. Dearborn, H. Garthwaite, J. Z. Dudley; 
Clerk, H. Garthwaite; Treasurer, Dr. J. R. Bradway; Trustees, J. P. Cogswell, J. 
L. Lyon, Ch. Schrieber, James Dalziel, G. F. Lamson. 

Sunday-school — G. F. Lamson, Superintendent; Charles Baker, Assistant; Wm 
Lyon, Librarian; Ella Swain, Secretary and Treasurer. 

Chinese Mission — H. Garthwaite, Superintendent; Organist, Mrs. C. T. Benjamin; 
Sexton, D. C. Davison. 

Church of the Immaculate Conception {Roman Catholic). — Thirty years ago 
a room in a private house served as a place of worship for the Roman Cath- 
olics of Oakland and nearly the whole of the present county of Alameda. A 
priest from the Mission of San Jose occasionally made a visit to celebrate mass and 
administer the sacraments, and even these occasional visits had to be omitted during 
the rainy season, owing to the bad roads. The first church, a building of the most 
modest description, was erected in 1853 through the exertions of a few of the congre- 
gation, and for some time was the only Roman Catholic place of worship in the whole 
of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, with the exception of the old Mission. Sub- 
sequent additions made by the Revs. Fathers Croke and King increased the size 
of this edifice until it was capable of holding a congregation of several hundreds, but 
this, too, became entirely inadequate to the needs of the population of Oakland, 
although three new parishes had been formed in the county. In 1869 Father King 
determined to erect a church on a scale commensurate with the promised importance 
of the city. Plans accordingly were prepared for a building surpassing in dimensions 
anything in the State, though only with the intention of erecting a part of it at first, 
a design which has been carried out in the present structure. The foundations were 
laid in that year, but various causes retarded any further progress until May, 1871 
when the superstructure was commenced and pushed vigorously forward. Although 
not quite completed the church was dedicated on June 23, 1872, the ceremony being 
performed by Archbishop Alemany. The sermon was preached by Father Gallagher, 
to whom, nearly thirty years before, the Roman Catholics of Oakland were in a great 
measure indebted for their first place of worship. 

The church is of wood, with heavy brick foundations, and built in the strong- 
est manner, with double walls firmly braced together. The nave roof principals 
are supported by posts twelve inches square and fifty-four feet long, to which the 
principals of the aisle roofs are secured at a height of about thirty-four feet, and these 

*BurUngton, N. J. 



728 History of Alameda County, California. 

at the outside rest on posts eight inches square and strengthened by side buttresses. 
The style of the building is early Gothic, and it consists of a nave, side aisles, chancel, 
and two front towers. The latter are to be surmounted by spires at a future period, 
but even in their present state their height (one hundred and four feet to the top of 
the pinnacles) and size give a highly imposing appearance to the front. The roof is 
open; on the inside the spaces between the principals and tie-beams, and the latter 
and the arch braces, in both nave and aisle roofs, being filled in with light and elegant 
open-work tracery. The ceiling is paneled and painted blue, with stars; the wood- 
work being painted white, with flower patterns with tertiar\' colors. At the sides the 
arch braces under the roof-timbers are terminated in carved niches, intended to 
receive statues of the Twelve Apostles. The cornices are also of wood, the arches 
between the naves and aisles and the chancel arch being, with the walls and ceiling 
under the organ gallery, the only plaster-work in the building. The organ gallery 
projects only a few feet into the church, thus allowing its full dimensions to be better 
appreciated. The windows are filled with rich stained glass, the heads being orna- 
mented with emblematic figures, and the large front window being quite a fine speci- 
men of artistic design. It is not the least satisfactory matter in connection with this 
building, that it is entirely the product of California design and workmanship- 
Nearly all the men employed on it belonged to Oakland; the stained glass was man- 
ufactured by Mallon & Boyle, of San Francisco, and the fresco painting executed by 
S. Buzzi, of the same city. The entire cost of the building was about thirty-three 
thousand dollars, while it has a seating capacity for one thousand two hundred and 
fifty persons. The Sunday-school connected with the church was organized in 1853, 
and is under the superintendence of the Rev. Father King. It is situated on Jef- 
ferson Street, between Eighth and Seventh Streets. 

TJic First Congregational Cliiircli of Oakland. — Was formally organized Decem- 
ber 9, i860, with a membership of seventeen persons. Its first place of worship 
was the Baptist church, then situated on the corner of Fifth and Jefferson Streets. 
Afterwards for a few months its services were held in a building called "The 
Pavilion," on the Plaza, Broadway, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, the site of the 
present County Court House. 

Rev. George Pierson, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, com- 
menced the first Sabbath service of the church in November, i860, and continued to 
supply the pulpit once each day till the arrival of the chosen pastor. This was Rev. 
George Mooar, who came from Andover, Massachusetts, arriving in Oakland May 6, 
1861, and beginning his services with the church on the Sunday following. May I2th. 
He was formally installed as pastor August 30th, of the same \-ear. 

Having been elected to a professorship in the Pacific Theological Seminary, Rev. 
Mr. Mooar resigned his charge, and left the pastorate August 4, 1870, nine years from 
his installation. He continued to supply his pulpit and act as pastor, however, for 
nearly two years longer. 

The present pastor, Rev. J. K. McLean, D. D., came from Springfield, Illinois, on 
April 24, 1872, and was installed in the following June. 

In September, 1861, the church purchased the block bounded by Broadway, Wash- 




"^ -^ 




Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 729 

ington, Tenth, and Eleventh Streets, for the sum of one thousand four hundred dollars. 
Upon this a church building was immediately erected, and occupied for religious wor- 
ship in June, 1862. It was enlarged in 1867; in 1868 a chapel was added. In 1871 
the half of the block fronting on Broadway was sold for sixty-five thousand dollars 
the church building was removed to the corner of Washington and Tenth. In the 
following April the church was again enlarged. In April, 1878, work was begun upon 
the present house of worship, corner of Central Avenue and Clay Street. The corner- 
stone was laid May 21st, and the building formally dedicated January 21, 1879. 

The cost of the present structure, with ground and furnishing, was in the neigh- 
borhood of one hundred thousand dollars. It contains sittings for fourteen hundred 
persons. Its auditorium is undoubtedly the most complete on the Pacific Coast. 

The church has received since its formation one thousand two hundred and forty- 
three members, of whom seven hundred and sixty are members at the present time. 
It has raised for church construction and current expenses down to September, 1882, 
the sum of two hundred and ninety-nine thousand seven hundred and fifty-three dol- 
lars and seventeen cents; and for charitable purposes fifty-six thousand five hundred 
and nine dollars and fifty-five cents, a total of three hundred and fifty-six thousand 
two hundred and sixty-two dollars and seventy-two cents. Four other Congrega- 
tional churches have, since the organization of this church, been formed within the 
territory it originally held, to all of which it has made liberal contributions, both of 
members and of funds. 

A Sundav-school of eight hundred and fifty members is connected with the 
church; also a branch Sunday-school of nearly four hundred members, meeting on 
Market Street, corner of Twenty-second. The church has, from time to time, sus- 
tained other branch schools, which have either grown into churches, or been merged 
into other schools. 

The Second Congregational CImrch of Oakland. — This church was organized 
on the 31st May, 1868, in the West Oakland School House. Previous to 
this organization a Sabbath-school had been held for some time in the school 
house, and a "Religious Society" had been formed, and preaching services had been 
conducted by Prof Martin Kellogg, of the College of California. J. A. Folger, O. P. 
Treusdell, C. C. Fisher, H. G. McLean, and Dr. D. P. Fonda were the trustees of this 
religious society. On the loth of May, 1868, this society was dissolved, and in its 
place the "Second Congregational Religious Society of Oakland" was formed, of 
which the same persons were elected Trustees. Soon after this measures were taken 
for purchasing a lot and building a church at the corner of Goss and Wood Streets. 
The church building and furnishing cost about two thousand dollars. It was dedi- 
cated in August, 1868. -In 1874 another lot on Chase Street, the one now occupied 
by the church, was secured. The following year the old building was removed to the 
rear of this lot, and fitted up for a lecture-room; and a neat and commodious church 
edifice was erected at a cost for building and furniture of eleven thousand dollars. It 
was dedicated December 26, 1875. In November, 1882, there was a remaining 
indebtedness of three thonsand dollars on the property, which indebtedness was at 
47 



730 History of Alameda County, California. 

that time entirely covered by reliable subscriptions to be paid within one year from 
that date. 

The church at its organization was composed of nine members. The entire 
number received into the church is two hundred and ten. The present membership 
is about ninety. 

The Rev. Eli Corwin, the first pastor, entered on his duties in November, 1868, 
and resigned in December, 1869. After him the following persons have successively 
ministered to the church: Rev. D. B. Gra)-, from January, 1870, to October, 1873; 
Rev. C. H. Pope, from May. 1874, to January, 1877; Rev. W. L. Jones, from April, 
1877, to July, 1878; Rev. J. T. Wills, from July, 1878, to July, 1880; Rev. John Kim- 
ball, from October, 1880, to June 1882. The present pastor. Rev. Walter Frear, 
began his services with the church August i. 1882. 

The present deacons of the church are: L. P. Collins, J. Hoag, and J. Jewett. 
The Trustees are: George E. Bugbee, J. Hoag, F. C. Marston, M. B. Smith, and L. P. 
Collins. The Sabbath-school, of which E. E. Walcott is Superintendent, has a mem- 
bership of two hundred and fifty. 

Plyiiioiitli A%'eni(c C/imr/i, Oak/and. — In the Spring of 1871, the Trustees of 
the First Congregational Religious Society of Oakland, for the sake of aiding the 
Pacific Theological Seminary in purchasing the present site and buildings of that 
Institution, and for the sake of preparing the way for planting a Congregational 
Church for the northern part of the city, secured the four lots on the northeast corner 
of Plymouth Avenue and Elm Street. In the Spring of 1873, on request of twenty- 
six persons residing in the neighborhood, the Trustees voted to expend five thousand 
dollars for the construction of a chapel, provided the First Congregational Church 
approved of the undertaking. June 4, 1873, the church voted its approval. The 
building was erected under the direction of W. K. Rowell, W. M. Boyd, and I. W. 
Knox committee appointed by the Trustees. 

It was at first intended that the congregation should be gathered as a branch of 
the First Church. But as the way seemed not very clear to this course, permission 
was obtained of the Legislature of California for the transfer of the propcrt}' to a dis- 
tinct corporation. 

Accordingly, on January 28, 1874, at a meeting held at the house of \^^ K. 
Rowell, it was resolved to organize the Plymouth Avenue Church, and Directors were 
chosen. The building was dedicated March i, 1874: sermon by Rev. J. K. McLean; 
the other exercises were conducted by Professors Mooar and Benton. The entire 
cost of the building was $6,229.29; of the upholstering and other furnishing, $1,265.30. 
Regular services were commenced forthwith. The church was formally constituted 
and recognized as in fellowship with other churches by a council, April 9, 1874, the 
recognized membership numbering thirty-eight. Dr. A. L. Stone preached the sermon; 
Rev. W. C. Pond offered the constituting prayer; Rev. J. K. McLean gave the fellow- 
ship of the churches; Revs. T. G. Thurston and J. T. Wills also participating. 

At the beginning of services the Revs. George Mooar, D. D., and Joseph A. 
Benton, D. D., were invited to supply the pulpit, and the former to perform the pas- 
toral service of the congregation. The first deacons of the church were, W. K. Rowell, 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 731 

Amasa Pratt, Charles F. Whitton, Abel Whitton; and the directors: W. M. Boyd, W. 
K. Rowell, W. H. Jordan, D. S. Sutton, W. H. Love, A. Pratt, S. F. Daniels, the 
Sunday-school being first placed under the superintendence of Amasa Pratt. The 
number of those received into the church at its constitution on April 9, 1874, was 
thirty-eight, which number was doubled in the following year, and since then the 
membership and attendance have considerably increased. 

German Methodist Episcopal Cliurcli. — From about the year 1868 to 1872 
the preachers of the German Methodist Episcopal Churches of San Francisco felt it 
their duty to come over to Oakland on Sabbath afternoons, in order to preach the 
gospel to the German inhabitants of this city. In the year 1882 the Rev. Hermann 
Brueck was sent here by the authorities of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Oak- 
land and vicinity was taken up as a regular mission field. Mr. Brueck commenced 
holding meetings in the Congregational Chapel on Second Street between Broadway 
and Washington Street, where a few members were gathered, and a Sunday-school 
instituted, which was attended by about twenty-five children. This place being rather 
on one side, and out of the way for many of the congregation, the hall of the Knights 
of Pythias was rented for a short time and there the congregations were better, and 
the Sunday-school rose to the number of about forty-five children. At the annual 
Conference of 1874, Rev. H. Brueck was removed to another field of labor and Rev. 
Frederick Bonn took charge of the church at Oakland. During his term of service, 
the First Methodist Episcopal Church at the corner of Ninth and Washington Streets 
concluded to sell their house of worship, in order to build a new church at the corner 
of Fourteenth and Clay Streets, and offered it to the Germans for five hundred dol- 
lars, reserving the seats. A Board of Trustees, consisting of Messrs. August Kaese, 
Christian Rode, Philipp Fuchs, I. Rouse, and Charles Ska was formed according to 
the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the law of this State, and that 
church edifice was bought. A lot on Seventeenth Street, near San Pablo Avenue, was 
boughtfor the sum of $3,500, and the church was moved to that place. 

The expenses for moving, repairing, and putting in new seats, amounted to 
$2,000. 

A parsonage was afterwards secured, moved to one side of the church and repaired, 
which added another $1,200; the whole costing now $7,200. Of this amount the sum 
of $2,200 was raised among themselves, and $5,000 secured by mortgage. At the 
annual Conference of 1876, Rev. H. Brueck was sent back again for one year. Then 
the Rev. C. H. Afflerbach took his place. During his administration $2,000 were raised 
among the members and paid on the mortgage, so that at this time there is a debt of 
$3,200 resting on the church property. 

A Pastor's Aid Society consisting of the ladies of the church and outside friends 
was formed, which still meets once a month for mutual spiritual edification, and for 
contributing money for helping poor members and for other purposes. 

Rev. R. Steinbach followed the Rev. C. H. Afflerbach at the annual Conference 
of 1880, and remained in charge until September, 1882, when the present incumbent, 
Rev. C. A. E. Hertel was appointed to the charge. The number of members now 
is twenty-nine; probationers, four. The benevolences of the church are considerable. 



732 History of Alameda Countv, California. 



The average attendance of hearers on Sunday morning is fifty-five. The Sunday- 
school has an efficient corps of teachers under the superintendency of Mr. Ph. P'uchs. 
The church, according to Methodist usage, holds to total abstinence from all intoxi- 
cating drinks. It is growing in influence and numbers. The church is located on 
Seventeenth Street, near San Pablo Avenue. 

Methodist Episcopal Church (South). — In the month of March, i.SiSi, Bishop 
H. H. Kavanaugh appointed Rev. W. H. Layson to visit Oakland to spy out 
the land, and found that there never had been any organization of this church in that 
city, although there were a few whilom members there resident, but so little was the 
interest taken in the matter that it was not thought even advisable to rent a hall wherein 
to make a trial. Mr. Layson, however, was not to be thus easily deterred, he there- 
fore personally secured Camron Hall, commenced services and soon secured a regular 
attendance of about one hundred persons. Eleven names were enrolled, and soon 
followed this lead. The hall of the Odd Fellows, at the corner of Eleventh and Frank- 
lin Streets, was permanently secured and in it services were regularly held, and the 
congregations grew numerically and substantially. Within six months the member- 
ship approximated to sixty persons, there being nine on the baptismal-roll. Monthly 
socials were inaugurated with about ninety in attendance, there was a full and effi- 
cient choir, while the ladies had a useful and energetic sewing union. A Sunday- 
school, to meet before service, was organized with a membership of about fifty, while 
the attendance had increased from one hundred to three hundred persons. In the 
latter part of December, 1881, Mr. Layson retired from the church and was succeeded 
by Rev. J. C. Simmons. 

SeventJi-day Advcntist Church. — As the name indicates, the distinctive feat- 
ures of this body of Christians are the keeping of the seventh-day Sabbath, "accord- 
ing to the commandment," as also the doctrine of the early advent of the Lord ta 
judge the world — although no time is fixed for that event. They acknowledge no 
creed but the Bible, and inscribe upon their banner, " The commandments of God,, 
and the faith of Jesus Christ." They totally abstain from every form of intoxicating 
beverage, and disfellowship the use of tobacco. They teach abstinence from tea and 
coffee as a doctrine of health reform, but do not make it compulsory upon members. 

The first movement of any prominence by this sect in Oakland, was in April, 
1874, when a large tent was pitched at the corner of Broadway and Thirteenth Street, 
and a series of meetings held. These meetings were conducted by Eld. James White, 
his wife, Mrs. Ellen G. White, Eld. J. N. Loughborough, and other ministers of 
the faith — all of whom had but recently come from the East. As a result of this 
effort, about thirty persons were baptized, which, added to a few individuals who had 
before embraced this faith, formed the nucleus of the present church. This com|3any 
rented a hall at the corner of Broadway and Twelfth Streets, and continued to hold 
regular meetings, and were represented in the State Conference the following Sep- 
tember. 

It was not, however, until May 16, 1875, that a permanent organization was 
effected. At a meeting held for this purpose on that date. Eld. J. N. Loughborough 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 733 

presided, and explained fully the doctrines of the church and the requirements from 
its members. Thirty-nine names were attached to the " covenant," and the following 
officers were chosen: Elder, D. B. Rickey; Deacon, John I. Tay; Clerk, George Man- 
uel. During the remainder of the year 1875, sixteen more members were added to 
the church-roll, and early in January, 1876, a movement was started by the State 
Conference to secure a suitable location for a house of worship. After careful can- 
vassing, the very desirable northeast corner of Clay and Thirteenth Streets was 
selected, and purchased at a cost of four thousand dollars. Here a neat and commo- 
dious building was erected, costing about twelve thousand dollars. 

On the 6th day of April, 1876, the legal incorporation of the society was effected, 
under the ' name of the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Oakland, and a code of 
by-laws adopted. The first Board of Trustees was composed of the following persons : 
D. B. Rickey, President; George Manuel, Secretary; G. A. Baker, Treasurer; John I. 
Tay and W. C. White. The present Board (1883) consists of W. C. White, President; 
W. N. Glenn, Secretary; John I. Tay, Treasurer; E. J. Waggoner, and G. A. Baker. 

The first Pastor of the church was Eld. J. N. Loughborough, who held the posi- 
tion until 1879, since which time Eld. J. H. Waggoner has very acceptably discharged 
the duties. The officers of the church for 1883 are: J. H. Waggoner, Pastor; C. H. 
Jones and E. J. Waggoner, Elders; John I. Tay and W. N. Glenn, Deacons; J. B. 
Leavltt, Clerk. The membership at this writing is one hundred and eighty. One of 
the first acts of the society was the organization of a Sabbath-school, which has been 
maintained with a good degree of success, having a well-selected library. The school 
has a membership of one hundred and seventy. There are five divisions, and twenty- 
seven classes. The present officers are: C. H. Jones, Superintendent, and E. J. Wag- 
goner,' Assistant; Miss Emma Boyd, Secretary, with Miss Alice Morrison, Assistant; 
and V, M. Donaldson, Librarian. 

Central Mission Sunday School. — One Sunday morning early in January, 
1876, while walking through Sixth Street, W. R. Bentley was attracted by the num- 
ber of children playing at the corners and in the vacant lots, many of whom were old 
enough to be members of Sunday-schools. He learned that some attended schools 
while others were allowed to remain at home and pass the time as they felt disposed, 
with little or no religious influences around them. 

The impression that there was an opportunity to organize a school that should 
call to its support earnest Christian men and women, who could go out among people 
and invite all who were not engaged, to come in and work, so possessed him that he 
resolved (God helping) to undertake it. 

The subject was mentioned to B. S. Tower and others, all of whom thought it 
would be a noble undertaking. Some promised pecuniary aid, while others said they 
would come and labor. 

After having the matter under advisement during all of February, and finding 
many friends of such a move among the residents of the southern part of the city, 
arrangements were made with Mr. Sagehorn, for the use of the Academy of Music, 
on Sixth Street, for one year, at four dollars each Sunday. 

The first regular session was held Sunday afternoon at half past two o'clock, 



734 History of Alameda County, California. 



March 19, 1876. There were present twenty-six children and twenty \-isitors and 
friends. All left the session fully impressed that a glorious work had been undertaken. 

The early officers were: William R. Bentlcy, Superintendent; I^cnjamin S. 
Tower, Assistant Superintendent; Fred. C. Miles, Secretary; Theodore O. Gladding* 
Librarian; Miss Ella Bradway, Treasurer; Miss P"annie Betancuc, Collector and 
Pianist. 

January 13, 1878, the school mo\ed to Pythian Hall, on Broadwa)-, caused by a 
notice from Mr. Sagehorn that the Academy of Music was to be turned into a Tivoli 
Garden. These jJarties failing, the school moved back to the Academy of Music, 
March 10, 1878. June 16, 1878, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks donated to the school library 
twenty-five books. During April, 1879, Mr. Edmund Pugh was chosen Musical Director 
of the organization. Thursday, January i, 1880, the school held at the hall a New- 
year's tea-party. A large number were present, who seemed to enjoy themselves. 

March 7, 1880, the Sabbath-school moved to Camron Hall, then on Fourteenth 
Street, as the seats were more conveniently arranged. January 9, 1881, Mr. and Mrs. 
Stebbins (who were with Mr. Moody, the Evangelist) visited the school, and sang a 
few selections. 

August 28, 1 88 1, the school moved to the parlors over the Independent Church, 
corner of Thirteenth and Jefferson Streets, on account of Camron Hall being turned 
into an opera garden. 

It was thought best, as the Young Men's Christian Association and the school 
were both undenominational bodies, to unite the two; this change was made Sunday, 
May 24, 1882, and the school is now a part of the Young Men's Christian Association 
of Oakland. The resignation of Mr. Pugh, Musical Director, was accepted July 9, 
1882. The school owes a great portion of its success to him, as he has spent many 
days laboring for the "School Gatherings," which brought many a dollar to th^ school, 
without a cent in his pocket. Yes, he even often paid out money in the interest of 
the school. 

The school meets at 865 Broadway each Sabbath afternoon, at half past two 
o'clock. Attendance on the increase. The officers for 1883 are as follows: B. S. 
Tower, Superintendent; Dr. C. S. Lane, Assistant Superintendent; R. S. Gladding, 
Secretary; J. C. Estey, Treasurer; Fred. Lane, Librarian; Miss Mamie Tower, Pian- 
ist; Miss Hattie Carson, Assistant Pianist. 

Young Men's Christian Association. — The Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation of Oakland was organized July 24, 1879, in the First Presbyterian Church, with 
A. A. Dewing as President. It soon secured a room located at the corner of Eleventh 
and Washington Streets, at a cost of ten dollars per month, and held meetings on Tues- 
day evening and Sunday afternoon, until August 13th, when they were compelled to 
move to other quarters. A room was secured at Medical College Hall, at a cost of 
fifteen dollars a month, and was occupied until June i, 1881, when they moved to a 
store under the Masonic Temple, at the corner of Twelfth and Washington Streets. 
They then began to realize their need of a General Secretary, in order that the work 
might be carried on successfully. Several gentlemen in the East were written to, but 
none of them consented to come. They then found that if a General Secretary was 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 735 

secured it must be from their own State. E. S. Fowler, of San Francisco, was 
accordingly called to fill the position December 20, 1881, and entered upon his duties 
January i, 1882. 

Prominent business men were interested in the work, and were appointed as mem- 
bers of the Board of Directors, fourteen in number. They were divided into four 
committees, as follows: Financial, Library and Rooms, Lecture and Entertainment, 
and Publication; and proceeded immediately to make arrangements for more commo- 
dious quarters, as the rooms they were occupying were not large enough to accommo- 
date those who came. 

The upper part of a large building on Broadway, between Seventh and Eighth 
Streets, in the center of the city, was rented for fifty dollars per month, and fitted up 
at a cost of about seven hundred dollars, which made it pleasant and attractive. The 
audience-room will .seat comfortably about four hundred .people. The reading-room 
is well supplied with reading-matter, is cheerful and attractive, and adjoins the office, 
which is also the library, and contains nearly one thousand well-selected books. 

The Association is now conducting twelve religious meetings each week, with 
wonderful success, among which is a noonday meeting that has been the means of 
doing very much good. 

Reading-room. — Rooms open from 8 A. M. to 10 P. M. ; Sundays from 9 to 10:30 
A. M.; 12:30 to 7:15. Young men are cordially invited to visit the rooms during 
their leisure hours, day or evening. The General Secretary may be found at the 
rooms at all hours, willing to give advice and assistance to young men in need of 
friendly aid. 

Parlors Open Day and Evening. — For social intercourse. It offers free to every 
young man, Reading and conversational rooms, writing material, director)' of good 
boarding-houses, visitation in sickness, aid in obtaining employment, social compan- 
ionship, course of free lectures. All young men are invited. Strangers are especially 
welcome. Any young man of good moral character may obtain an annual ticket for 
two dollars, ladies same price. For membership, or further information, apply to the 
General Secretary, at the rooms, 865 Broadway. 

Stated Meetings. — Daily, 12:00 to 12:45, Noonday Prayer-meeting; Sunday, 10 
A. M., City Prison Service; Sunday, 2 P. M., County Jail Service; Sunday, 2:30 P. M., 
Mission Sunday-school; Sunday, 4:30 P. M., Gospel Meeting for all; Sunday, 5:30 
P. M., Young Men's Meeting; Monday, monthly meeting of the Association — second 
Monday each month; Tuesday, 7:30 P. M., Young People's Meeting; Friday, 7:30 P. M., 
Song Services, Concert, Lectures, etc.; Saturday, 7:45 P. M,, Young Men's Meeting; 
Sunday, 4:30 P. M., Odd Fellow's Hall, East Oakland, Branch Gospel Meeting; Boys' 
Meeting, 13th of each month. 

The Association publishes a monthly journal by the name of The Bidletin, circu- 
lating two thousand copies. 

Educational classes are held during the winter months; also, a course of medical 
talks, given by prominent physicians. Altogether, the association is in a most pros- 
perous condition, and is looking forward to a great harvest for the Master during the 
coming months. 

Officers for 1883. — President, J. M. Buffington; First Vice-President, David E. 



736 History of Alameda County, Califcjrnia. 

Collins; Second Vice-President, C. W. Dearborn; General Secretary, E. S. Fowler; 
Clerk, C. E. Cornell; Treasurer, Dr. J. Fearn; Auditor, A. J. Ralston; Directors, Geo. 
T. Hawley, A. J. Ralston, J. L. de F'remery, C. W. Kinsey, R. W. Snow, C. S. Lane, 
R. VVhitmon, Chas. H. Fish, David McClure, Jr., J. M. Buffington, David E. Collins, 
Geo. H. Collins, C. W. Armes, D. H. Potter, J. L. Lyon, J. G. Hoyt, K. W. Playter, 
W. H. Rouse, Dr. J. Fearn, C. W. Dearborn, C. F. Baker, G. T. Walker, J. C. Adriance, 
C. A. Bailey, H. Garthwaite, Dr. J. S. Adams, Wm. Verbeck, W. F. Curtis. 

Committees of the Board. — Finance Committee — Geo. H. Collins, Geo. T. Hawley, 
C. W. Kinsey, A. J. Ralston, J. L. de Fremery, D. H. Potter, E. W. Playter, Dr. J. S. 
Adams, Chas. H. Fish; Library and Room Committee — C. W. Dearborn, G.T.Walker, 
J. C. Adriance, H. Garthwaite, W. F. Curtis, C. S. Lane; Lecture and Entertainment 
Committee — C. W. Armes, David E. Collins, Dr. J. Fearn, Wm. Verbeck, C. F.Baker; 
Publication Committee — C. A. Bailey, R. W. Snow, R. Whitmon, J. G. Hoyt, J. L. 
Lyon, W. H. Rouse. 

Committees of the Association. — Devotional Committee — D. E. Collins, C. A. 
Bailey, C. E. Cornell, Myron T. Holcomb, Chas. F. Baker; Reception Committee- — G. 
H. Merrill, A. A. Dennison, Robert Swartwout, Cary Howard, G. W. Lane; Member- 
ship Committee — J. C. Adriance, J. C. Hill, Wm. Verbeck, W. F'. Lange, R. Black- 
wood; Visitation of Sick Committee — Geo. W. Waggoner, W. S. Dryden, L. Caldwell, 
N. R. Turner, J. W. Welch; Employment Committee — D. H. Porter, J. R. Sumner, 
W. W. S. Merriam. 

Past Presidents. — A. A. Dewing, 1879; F. S. Page, 1879-80; S. I. Merrill, 1880-81; 
Dr. C. S. Lane, 1881-82. 

Schools. — The College School, College of California, and Universit)- of Califor- 
nia are mentioned in connection with each other, because the College of California 
grew from the College School, and the State University* is the full development of 
the College of California. Each institution marks an era in the progress of the cause 
of education in the county. 

A correspondence was commenced among some of those who subsequently 
became trustees, on the possibility of founding a college in California, as early as the 
year 1849. Plans were laid at that time, but there was very little progress until the 
Spring of 1853. At that time the Rev. Henry Durant arrived, and a plan for open- 
ing a College School was matured at a meeting of the Presbytery of San Fran- 
cisco and Congregational Association of California. A building which stood on the 
northeast corner of Broadway and Fifth Streets was rented, and school was opened 
by Mr. Durant. At first the school was exceedingly small, and for several years its 
growth was slow. Funds were raised by subscription, and the four squares now occu- 
pied by the College and College School were purchased. At this early day, the 
services rendered by the Rev. S. B. Bell, the Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, were 
of incalculable importance, and but for him Mr. Durant would have been unable to 
have continued in the enterprise upon which he had embarked. 

The College of California was incorporated in April, 1855. The trustees entered 
upon their work with much energy, and frequently gave from their private funds for 

* The history of the State University will be found elsewhere. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 737 

the support of the institution. In 1856 the Rev. Horace Bushnell was elected Presi- 
dent. While having the matter under consideration, he gave a large portion of his 
time to a careful examination of the country around the bay of San Francisco, and 
the site finally chosen was in accordance with his preference. It may, therefore, be 
stated that the site for the University building, at Berkeley, is the best that can be 
found anywhere in close proximity to San Francisco, for the opinion of such a 
man as Doctor Bushnell, proved to be of more value than that of any number of 
commissioners acting under the authority of a legislature, and exposed to the number- 
less improper influences which would beset them. 

The first Freshman Class was admitted in the summer of i860. A small college 
building was erected, and a college faculty chosen. To meet the increased expenses 
renewed exertions were made and sufificient funds were obtained. In March, 1862, 
Rev. S. H. Willey was elected Vice-President of the College. A larger building was 
erected, and a fund was raised for the endowment of the Presidency. Efforts were 
made to secure the services of some suitable person from the East, to act as Presi- 
dent, but without success, therefore Mr. Willey was .continued as Vice-President to 
administer the affairs of the institution. The first class admitted graduated in June, 
1864. 

As stated above, Rev. Henry Durant was Principal of the College School from 
1853 to i860. He was succeeded by Rev. I. H. Brayton, who, for eight )'ears, enjoyed 
the assistance of F. M. Campbell, A. M., lately the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, and Rev. E. G. Beckwith. In 1865 the Trustees of the College ceased 
to retain proprietary control of the College School, though continuing to exercise 
supervisory oversight, and stipulating that the original purposes in its establishment 
should be adhered to. In its day it was acknowledged to be the largest institution 
of its class upon the Pacific Coast. Its property was estimated at one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. 

Public Schools. — The "Athens of the Pacific" has just cause to feel pride in 
her institutions of learning, for nowhere in the world has better provision for the 
education of the young been made. The information which we are about to place 
before the reader has been gathered from the Report of the Superintendent of Public 
Schools to the Board of Education of the city of Oakland for the school year ending 
June 30, 1 88 1, an elaborate document containing a vast amount of interesting infor- 
mation, but which we have not the space to reproduce in its entirety. 

The total population of the city according to the census of 1880, was thirty-four 
thousand four hundred and fifty-six. A comparison with the census of 1870, when 
the population was stated at ten thousand five hundred, shows the city to have more 
than tripled itself in the last ten years. On June 30, 1881, we find, from the School 
Census Marshal's report, there were twelve thousand one hundred and eighty-five chil- 
dren under the age of seventeen years, of whom there were eight thousand two hundred 
and forty-two in the seven wards of the city between the ages of five and seventeen 
years. Of these five thousand nine hundred and sixteen attended the public schools, 
seven hundred and eighty-one private schools, and one thousand five hundred and 
forty-five attended no school at all. This last item, however, is misleading, from the 



r3s 



History of Alameda County, California. 



fact that the census enumeration includes all children between the ages of five and 
seventeen, while pupils are not admitted to the city schools until six years of age. 

Many parents do not send their children to school until seven, eight, and nine 
years of age; and numerous boys who have completed the whole, or a greater portion 
of the course of study prescribed for the Primary and Grammar Schools arc put to 
work at from thirteen to si.xteen years, so that fifteen hundred and forty-five does not 
represent the number who have never attended school, but those who, from whatever 
cause, have not attended school during the year. The unusually large number of 
excellent private schools in the city affords increased facilities for educational pur- 
poses, and the number of children whose names do not appear upon the rolls of some 
one of the schools is exceedingly small. 

The following comparative table of school statistics, shows the condition of the 
schools and the growth of the department from the organization of the first class in 
July, 1853, to the year 1881. Some of the records containing the early statistics of 
the schools have been destroyed, so that no complete report can be obtained, but the 
table is sufficiently clear to show the rapid growth of the city and School Department, 
and the provision that has been made for the education of the children: — 

TABLE 
Showing Growth of the Department. 






1854. 
1855- 
1856. 

1857. 

1858. 

1859. 

i860. 

1861. 

1862. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

1S67 

1 868. 

1869. 

1S70. 

1S71. 

1872. 

:873 

1874. 

1875. 

1S76. 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881. 



n- 

n o 



•55 
136 
189 



391 
416 

481 

475 
626 

771 
701 
925 
1038 
1328 
1617 
1792 
2417 
3006 
3953 
4749 
5742 
6592 
6670 

795° 
8108 
8242 



o o a CI. 

ffi' " f^ ^ 
• 5. 3- 



No 
Record. 



193 
276 
288 
218 
313 
319 
357 
417 
336 
271 

343 
400 
407 
469 
642 
668 
733 
795 
781 



ft 2. ;? 

H 0, 

2.tra 5 

5" S- 



144 
91 
54 
90 
84 
■3° 
142 

'75 
130 
217 

333 
332 
687 

749 
1057 
1410 



1580 
2118 
2679 
2985 

3732 
4066 
5080 
5952 
6125 
7262 






No 
Record. 



85 

93 

■59 

209 

355 
530 
674 
790 



1419 
1789 
2234 
2679 
3212 
3630 
4240 
4836 
5281 
5461.56 



>^ 



SO 



16 

59 

54 

35-5 

27 

45-7 
58 
S7 
62 

75 

85 
140 
189 
311 
471 
613 
735 



1327 
1692 
2118 
2503 
3120 

3477 
4119 

4599 
4983 
5237-80 



HS- 



5 
6 
10 
'5 
'9 
28 

33 
51 
54 
62 
64 
78 
95 
112 
127 
133 



* From the organization of the first public school in this city in July, 1853, to July, 

■--•--''' -'-' ' '" n the - r I--- • ■ ■ 

ihv pi 



l^:^i 



O ft 



S-2: 



"z'u-y 



42.5 
46.5 

53 

41.8 

59.16 

53 

44-93 
41.58 



43 

35-08 

41 -37 

43.06 

50.18 

46.54 

44-63 

43-21 

41.58 

41.06 



i (VJlll nil. l^l^dlltAlLVllJll ,^1 Lll,. IllOt pnL/11,^ OI..I11W1 111 Llll^ 1,11J ^ , . . ^^, 

enumeration included children between the nijes of four and eighteen. From July, 1S65 
five to fifteen, and from that date '■ ■■■ '- i:--- 



from five to se\cnleen. 



1865, the census 
July, 1S73, from 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



739 



The following table exhibits the names of school buildings, their location and 
capacity, the size of school lots and estimated value of school property: — 

TABLE 

Showing Name, Location, and Capacity of Buildings, and Estimated Value of School Property. 



Name of School. 



Location. 



I Size of Lot 



High . . . 
Prescott . 



Cole 

Tompkins. . 
Lincoln . . . 
Durant . . . . 
Franklin . . 



Lafayette 

Grove Street 

Harrison Street 

Swett 

Court House 

tLynn 

Broadway & 25th St. 
Plymouth Avenue.. 

Watts' Tract 

+ Evening 



Carpenter Shop . 



Corner 12th and Market Streets. . 

Campbell Street, bet. Seward and 

Taylor 

loth St., bet. Union and Poplar. . 
5th .St., bet. Chestnut and Linden 
Alice Street, bet. loth and nth. . 
28th St., bet. Grove and West. . . 
loth Ave., bet. East 15th and East 

i6thSts 

Jefferson St., bet. nth and 12th. . 
Grove Street, between 4th and 5th 
Corner Harrison and 5th Streets. . 
E. 20th St., bet. 12th & 13th Aves. 
Cor. E. 14th St. and 20th Ave. . . . 

Lynn 

Corner Broadway and 25th Streets 
Cor. Elm St. and Plymouth Aves. 
Corner Magnolia and 32d Streets. 
9th St. , bet. Washington and Clay 
Corner 17th and West Streets . . . 
E. 14th St., bet. ioth& iithAves. 



271x150 

270x140 
230x193'. 9 
250x120 
200x175 
250x280 

300x300 
300x200 

20O.\I00 

On Plaza 
300x300 



400x133.3 



90x155.7^ 
50x140 



Potals 1 133 6547 3^120,225 §209,500,135,100 1364,825 



16 



709 



927 
822 

589 
15 729 
15 690 



623 

634 
201 

145 
200 

45 
25 
60 



Value of 
Lot, 



? 1 0,700 

7,600 

8,925 

4,800 

16,000 

5,000 

12,000 

28,000 

5,500 

9,000 

5,000 

Rented. 



2,400 
Rented. 
3,200 

1,100 



Value of 
Building 



23,500 
32,500 
20,000 
26,000 
29, 500 

23,000 

12,000 

3,000 

2,000 

5,000 

Rented, 



Unimp'd 






57,000 

4,500 
4,000 
3,000 
4,000 
3,700 

3,000 

3,000 

1,000 

600 

800 

100 

100 

80 
150 
70 



8 50,700 

35,600 

45,425 

27,800 
46,000 
38, 200 

38,000 

43,000 

10,500 

11,600 

10,800 

100 

100 

So 

150 

2,470 



3,200 
1,100 



Note.- When erected: High, 1870; Prescott, 1869; Cole, 1877; Tompkins, 1877; Lincoln, 1872; Durant, 
1874; Franklin, 1875; Lafayette, 1S62; Grove Street, 1869; Harrison Street, 1865. 
t Discontinued, April 30, 1881. J Removed to High School Building, May i, 1881. 



The High School, which is the head of the Public School Department of this 
city, has long been the pride of the citizens of Oakland. Its rank among the foremost 
educational institutions on this coast, entitles it to the high esteem of the public, and 
the liberal support it has always received. It needs no praise from us, but is able to 
stand upon its own merits and sustain the enviable reputation it has achieved. 

The Oakland High School was organized July 12, 1869, with twenty-nine pupils. 
The curriculum adopted provided a liberal course in natural science, mathematics, 
literature, and language, requiring three years for its completion. For the first two 
years the classes were accommodated in connection with a_ grammar school, but at 
the commencement of the third year they were moved to the commodious building 
situated at the corner of Central Avenue and Market Street. At first but one teacher 
.was employed; now there are nine. 

The following table shows the total number in attendance, the number graduating, 
and the number entering college for each year, from the organization of the school. 
As the examinations for admission in 1881 are not concluded at the writing of this 
report, it is impossible to give the number entering college that year: — 



740 



History of Alameda County, California. 



STATIsriCAI. TABLE. 



YEARS. 


Number .Attending. 


Number Gr.vduating. 


Number Entering College or 
Un.versitv. 




Boys. 


Girls. 


Totals. 


Boys. 


Girls. 


Totals. 


Boys. 


Girls. 1 Totals. 


1S69-70 


18 

14 

28 

40 

39 

56 

67 

66 

Si 

III 

126 

139 


22 
21 
47 
59 
73 
80 

79 
"7 
167 
177 
202 

213 


40 
35 
75 
99 
112 

136 
146 
183 
248 
288 
328 
352 












iS7c^7> 

1871-72 

1872-73.... 
1873-74. • . • 

1874-75 

1S75-76 

1S76-77 

1S77-7S 

187S-79 

1879-80 

1880-S1 












5 

3 

5 
7 
3 
6 
10 

13 
20 


10 

5 
II 

12 
18 
10 
14 
20 

33 

35 


■5 
6 

14 

17 
25 
'3 
20 
30 
46 
55 


4 
2 

3 

4 
3 

2 

3 
5 
3 


3 7 
2 


2 5 

3 1 7 
2 1 5 

' 2 


2 I 5 
5 1 10 






1 



In addition to those entering the University after graduation, as stated in the 
above table, quite a number have entered each year from the lower classes. This was 
possible a few years ago, when the requirements for admission were less stringent than 
they are at the present time. 

An evening school was opened in a rented building on Ninth Street, between 
Washington and Clay Streets, on November 8, 1880, with a class of twenty. It increased 
in numbers during the winter until the average number belonging reached sixty-five, 
when another class was formed. The attendance in the Spring fell off, and the two 
classes were consolidated. During the school year ending June, 1880, the total num- 
ber enrolled was one hundred and fifty-four; of these one hundred and forty-five were 
males and nine females. Their average age was about eighteen, ranging from twelve 
up to middle age. 

The subjects taught are arithmetic, spelling, writing, reading, book-keeping and 
grammar. All study spelling; nearly all arithmetic; many writing and book-keeping; 
some reading, and a few grammar. The progress made by those who have attended 
regularly for some length of time has been very satisfactor)-. The Evening School 
pupils, as a class, are a hard-working, well-behaved set of boys. They are not as 
regular in attendance as pupils of the day schools, and for several reasons. Many of 
them are employed in San Francisco, and often do not get through with their work in 
time to get to the school. They are sometimes too tired to go the distance required, 
as by far the largest part of those attending live at the extreme limits of the city. 
Some of them are kept at work so late in the evening that for weeks at a time they 
cannot attend at all. A very few will absent themselves for slight reasons, and 
in the case of such bovs, it would be well if their parents were to visit the school 
sometimes. But, as a whole, I think the boys of the Evening School, both in their 
conduct and their desire to learn, are worthy of much praise. The\^ appreciate the 
opportunity afforded them, and are grateful for every assistance; and it is with pleas- 
ure that we testify to their general good behavior. There should be no necessity of 
advocating the importance of an evening school for those who have no opportunity to 
attend the day schools. A most valuable educition may be obtained through and by 
its means. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 741 

The school was removed to the High School building May i, 1881. This change 
of position saved to the department the cost of renting the building on Ninth Street, 
and furnished, in many respects, better accommodations. The building is not con- 
veniently, though centrally, located. It is in a neighborhood that does not furnish 
many pupils for the Evening School. Nearly all of those who attend come from great 
distances. The residences of Oakland are scattered over a great e.xtent of territory, 
and no place can probably be found that would prove more convenientiox more than one 
locality. It will probably not be long before separate classes might be sustained in 
West Oakland, East Oakland, and North Oakland. 

Vocal music is taught in all the Public Schools of Oakland, from the lowest to 
the highest grade, not introduced merely for the purpose of affording an agreeable 
exercise by means of which the tedium of the regular school work may be relieved, or 
that an accomplishment may be added to the acquirements of the pupils who study it, 
but on account of the place the study holds in the economy of a public school educa- 
tion. 

In concluding the report of the City Superintendent, from which our remarks 
have been gathered, that official says: — 

" The progress and efficiency of our schools ought not to be measured merely by 
the changes that have from time to time been introduced, blit by observing the rela- 
tions that exist between the actual condition of our schools and the educational wants 
of the city which they are designed to supply. 

" During the year just ended, only such changes have been introduced as were felt 
to be actual wants, and necessary to the welfare of the schools. The revision of the 
course of study was a necessity on account of the adoption of new text-books, which 
in themselves, have in some instances, suggested new methods for the presentation of 
the subjects. I am of the opinion that the discontinuance of the study of Descriptive 
and Political Geography at the end of the Third Grade Course, and of the intro- 
duction of Physical Geography in the Second Grade were mistakes which 
the experience of a few years will demonstrate. The introduction of the 
study of book-keeping, and business forms, was made necessaiy by the amend- 
ment to the School Law, which requires book-keeping to be taught in all gram- 
mar schools. This study will doubtless prove beneficial to our schools, if the attempt 
is not made to carry the study too far. The success of our schools, however, has not 
depended so much upon a perfect course of study as upon an efficient corps of prin- 
cipals and teachers. A good course of study, well-selected text-books, and com- 
petent supervision are valuable aids, and necessary to entire success in any school 
department, but without good teachers all other agencies will fail to produce efficient 
schools. In asserting Xh.-a.t'&LQ personnel of the teaching force of the Oakland public 
school department is second to that of no other city, we are sure that the facts will 
warrant the statement. 

The favorable location of our city, and the advantages it offers of climate, society, 
means of improvement, and a measurable adequate compensation for service rendered, 
have not failed to attract to our city teachers of the highest culture, large experience, 
and unquestionable merit. The Board has wisely profited by these advantages, and 
. has by judicious selections, gathered into its department a corps of teachers of which 
any city might justly feel proud. 



742 



History of Alameda County, California. 



In concluding these remarks we append a tabic of expenditures for the fiscal 
year ending June 30, 1881, which may be taken as an average of expenses: — 

TABLE 
Of Expenditures for the Fiscal Year Ending Junk 30, 1881. 



MONTHS. 



1S80. 

July 

August 

September 
October . . 
November. 
December . 

1881. 
January . . 
February. 
March . . 
April .... 
May . ... 
June 



Totals. 



Amount. 



12,703.77 
12,198.04 
12,578-73 
12.343 12 
12,869,35 
12,613.85 

14,687.25 
16,190.91 
12,201.26 
12,531.96 
23.324S9 
2,210.6 



$160,453.74 



pekmaxe.nt. 



§ 23.57 •«. 



17.40 
50.70 



28.60 



2,850.00 117.50 
1,500.00 32.50 
4.80 



S4. 373-57525 1. 50 



3-85 
51-50 
41.30 



TUITION. 



13.00 

64.05 

20.00 

2.80' 



200$ 

200 

200| 
200 
200 
200 

i 
200 

200 1 

200 

200 1 

200 

200' 



10,232.25 
10,322.69 
10,285.87 
10,281.74 
10,381.20 
10,455-90 

10,660.16 
10,749-15 
10,665-31 
10,749.70 
21,517.91 
70.00 



§196.5082,400 §126,371.88 



CONTINGENT EXPENSES. 



5 o 
3> 



r90o 



707 
707 
707 
707 
722, 
727 

722 

732- 
727 
727 
717 
717 



.5'400 §8,625.00 















T ^'^ 








S 




"S 2.~> 


Rents. 


5 " 








3 -^ 




p. p 








• 





83-33 » 

83-33! 
83-33i 
8333 
8333 
108. 33[ 

■33-33! 
'33-33! 
'33-33. 
'33-33 
'33-33 
'33-33! 



1 11.00 
III. 00 
III. 00 
III. 00 
III. 00 
157-40 

161.00 
135.00 
135.00 
13500 
95-00 
95,00 



,324,96 §1,468 40 



TABLE 
Of Expenditures for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1881. — Continued. 



MONTHS. 



1880. 

July 

August . . . 
.September 
October. . 
November 
December 



January . . 
February. 
March . . . 
April . . . . 

May 

June 



Totals . 



Gas, 



INCIDENTAL OR CONTINGENT TJXPENSES. 



12,90 



'■40J 



145.50,8840 



Fuel. 



•54-25; 



495-75 

836.00 

170.50 

69,50 

52.00 



I 



S 3 



5 ° 

&. o 



673.761$ 293.00$ 

286. 18I 196.22 

30.75! 102,22, 265.00 

121.80 146.09 23.37 

"9-75 13-48 12.65 

337.75 1SS.20 



207.69 




$1,899, I2ife,635. 55:$!, 424.S7i$422.9S 



C ft 
'> =3 



crq 



53 

55 

273 

376 

146, 

'5 



03$. 

^i ■ 

26| 73 

99i 23, 

201 303 

951 " 



..$172.60 
.. 56.90 
35 '9-20 

251 .... 
ooi 18.30 

50; .... 



241.50 

4'3-07l 

90-99' 

'39-20I 

100.30 19.00 

68.24 



'5-25 
'30-^51 



13.60 



S'.974-5S;$475-50|S2So.6o 



%. 



530.24 



,461.64 

5'3 75 
801.65 



$3,307.28 



3230 
9.S0 
6.75 
8.65 
41.40 
16,60 



120.00 
'4-55 
'7-35 
22.00 
44,20 
90.25 
•412.10 



§835,95 



* Census Marshal. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 743 

Pacific Theological Seminary. — This institution was founded in 1869, in San 
Francisco. The buildings erected by the Female College of the Pacific, on 
Academy Hill, were purchased by the seminary, and possession taken in June, 1871, 
at which time the regular e.xercises of this seminary were commenced. The regular 
course of study extends over three years, but there are courses adapted to two years 
or to one year. The seminary is under the auspices of the Congregational Church, 
but the course of study is not biased in favor of that denomination, some of the 
students belonging to other churches. The Rev. George Mooar is Professor of 
Theology. 

California Military Academy. — The Rev. David McClure, Ph. D., who is 
the present Principal, founded this institution in January, 1865, as a private school. 
The superiority of his course of instruction, which combined military discipline with 
a full collegiate course of studies, was soon acknowledged, and so numerous were the 
applications for admission, that Dr. McClure consented to enlarge his establishment, 
employ assistants, and give the youth of the remote West an opportunity to acquire an 
education such as could otherwise be obtained only at West Point. The school at this 
time was located on Ninth Street, near Franklin, Oakland, to which a roomy addition 
was built the first year after the founding of the school. The number of cadets con- 
stantly increased, and in 1867 the present site of the Academy was purchased by Dr. 
McClure, and the following year the fine main building was finished, and the school 
removed thereto. In 1868 the armory, a two-story building, was erected, but a year 
later, in 1870, it was found to be insufficient for the accommodation of its increasing 
patrons, and another large building, three stories high, seventy-five feet by one hun- 
dred and fifty feet, was built, connected with the armory by a covered passage twenty 
feet wide. The first floor was used for recitation-rooms, and the two upper floors as 
dormitories for the cadets. 

A destructive fire occurred on the 20th of September, 1873, which completely 
destroyed the elegant new building, the armory, barns, and other outhouses, inflicting 
a serious loss upon the proprietor, as the insurance upon the buildings burned was very 
small. The main building, upon which there was a heavy insurance, was saved 
intact. 

Nothing daunted by this calamity. Dr. McClure immediately set to work to have 
the destroyed buildings rebuilt, the school in the mean time occupying the building 
then recently vacated by the State University, which was kindly placed at Dr. 
McClure's disposal by President Oilman, and no interruption to the regular course of 
studies occurred. Very soon the elegant new buildings, much larger and finer than 
the first, took the place of those destroyed, and in an incredibly short space of two 
months' time were finished, furnished, and ready for occupancy. 

The location of the Academy buildings, three in number, three stories high, is on 
a beautiful eminence situated on Telegraph Avenue in the northern part of Oakland, 
and commands one of the most extensive and finest views of the surrounding country 
afforded in the limits of the city. 

The bay and city of San Francisco, the several islands in the former, the Golden 
Gate, and a firje view of the ocean beyond, while Berkeley, Temescal, Alameda, Fruit 



744 History of Alameda County, California. 



Vale, and nearly all the beautiful and extensive city is to be seen from its upper 
windows. The grounds are laid out in artistic design, and filled with a profusion of 
lovely flowers and shrubbery, including trees of choice selection, and as a whole the 
surroundings cannot fail to exert a salutary and ennobling effect upon the cadets 
whose mental and ph}'sical training is conducted under such favorable auspices. The 
proprietor has devoted his time and energy to the welfare and instruction of the 
cadets within the institution, without endeavoring to bring it into public notice in any 
other way than through the superior merits evidenced by the number and standing of 
its students. 

The school occupies such an exclusive field that the general public would be the 
loser through the quiet unobtrusiveness with which it is conducted, rather than the 
institution itself for lack of patronage. Therefore we take pleasure in calling the 
attention to those who have the education of the young lads of to-day in hand to the 
merit of this unrivaled institution of learning. 

The course of studies is of three classes: i. Classical; 2. English and Scientific; 
3. Business course. A preparatory department is provided for those who are not pre- 
pared to enter the academic course of study. The English and scientific and business 
courses are divided into four classes occupying four years; the classical embraces the 
advanced English course, Latin, Greek, French, German, Ancient Geography, and 
Mythology. This course prepares students for any university. The academic year 
is divided into two terms of twenty weeks each, beginning the third Monday in July 
and the first Monday in January. 

Miliiary Exercises and Discipline. — The physical condition of youth is regarded 
of so much importance as to require the study and the practical application, as far as 
possible, of the laws of health in the daily routine of school life. Military exercise, 
including light gymnastics, is a means to secure for students strength of body, vigor 
of constitution, and manliness of bearing. Its discipline will fit them for all depart- 
ments of life which demand promptness, accuracy, presence of mind, ability to gov- 
ern, energy, and endurance. 

Admission. — The applicant is understood to intend to give cheerful and prompt 
obedience to proper authority, and to maintain a high standard of morals, and of 
polite intercourse with the instructors and cadets of the Academy. None but trust- 
worthy students are desired. • 

Expenses. — Instruction in the English and Scientific Course, Book-keeping, Latin 
and Greek Languages, Board, Washing, Gas, and Fuel (payable in advance) $180 
per term of twenty weeks. 

Extra Charges. — Piano, Drawing, Painting, French, German, and Spanish. 

T/ie Hopkins Academy. — This academy is situated on a commanding position 
between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue, and was formerly known as the Golden 
Gate Academy. By a donation to its funds from Moses Hopkins, of San Francisco; 
the institution was placed under its present name on a firm financial basis, enabling it 
to enlarge its sphere of usefulness. The teaching, although unsectarian, is under the 
supervision of the Congregational denomination. The Rev. H. E. Jewett, of Amherst 
College, is the Principal, who is aided by a very efficient force of tutors. 




r^>/,| > 






Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 745 

Sackett School. — This institution was established in July, 1879, on the prem- 
ises it now occupies — No. 529 Hobart Street, Oakland, California, by Professor D. P. 
Sackett. The school aims to provide the best of foundation work in education, 
united with a patient and painstaking training of its students in all those habits of 
life which combine to form real nobility of character. Started in the midst of great 
business depression and in a community famous for its excellent educational advan- 
tages, it has steadily increased in numbers and popularity, and has nearly one 
hundred students, including day scholars and boarders, on its attendance-roll. 
This record is proof enough of the solid worth of this flourishing school. 

While the fundamentals of education, reading, writing, spelling, etc., receive the 
daily instruction of masters of recognized ability, provision is also made for the most 
thorough training of the more advanced students in the higher branches of a well- 
balanced education. 

There are three departments of instruction — Primary, Intermediate, and Academ- 
ical. The Academical Department has a Classical Course which prepares students 
for the best colleges; an English Course for those who do not expect to go to college, 
and a Commercial Course. 

The best instruction is furnished by graduates of experience from Eastern col- 
leges of the first rank, and from the University of California. The physical well- 
being of the students is amply secured by a well-equipped gymnasium, and a recre- 
ation ground unequaled in the city. 

It was not the design of the founder to establish a school great in numbers, but 
one whose quality and training shall accomplish for the Pacific Coast what our best 
Eastern schools of similar grade are doing for the Atlantic Coast. 

Ladies' Schools. — The history of institutions in Oakland for the exclusive 
instruction of young ladies is interesting. On November 8, 1858, the Oakland Sem- 
inary was commenced by Mrs. G. M. Blake in a private parlor on Broadway and 
Sixth Streets, with a class of four young ladies. By April i, 1859, the school had so 
increased as to require a larger room; it was therefore removed to the corner of Broad- 
way and Eighth Streets, where it remained until March i, i860, when it changed its 
locality to the corner of Fifth and Jackson Streets, where it remained four years. A 
new building was commenced (that now known as the Blake House) on Washington 
Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, in June, 1 863, and completed on the 
24th October, where it was permanently established. 

Another institution was the Female College of the Pacific, which owed its exist- 
ence to the efforts of the Rev. E. B. Walsworth, whose personal exertions first secured 
the means of establishing it. During the first years of the institution, Rev. S. S. Har- 
mon and wife had the immediate control, and its success and subsequent reputation 
was in no small degree due to their skill as teachers, and to the efficiency with which 
they performed the varied duties which devolved upon them. In April, 1864, the 
" Pacific Female College" was incorporated under the general laws of the State. A. 
department had been opened June 15, 1863, and the existence of the college properly 
dates from that time. It possessed the full right of conferring degrees, those bestowed 
being: A. E. (Artium Excelsior), and S. B. (Baccalaureate of Science). 



746 History of Alamkda County, California. 

From these have sprung the several female seminaries in Oakland and its 
environs: — 

The Snell Seminary. — Is located at No. 568 Central Avenue, or Twelfth 
Street, and was opened for students in July, 1878. Its object is the education of 
young ladies, of whom there are at present over a hundred in attendance, who arc 
received either as boarders or day scholars. The principals arc Miss Marj- E. Snell 
and R. B. Snell. 

Miss Bisbie's School. — Is attractively situated on the western margin of Lake 
Merritt on Oak Street, between Eleventh and Twelfth Streets, and was established by 
Mrs. E. C. Poston in 1872. This lady was formerly principal from a seminary in 
Marysville and was induced to move her establishment from Marysville, which she did, 
purchasing the residence of General Heath for the purpose. 

Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. — This is one of the leading 
educational institutions of Oakland, and is located in a picturesque position at the head 
of Lake Merritt, commanding a fine view of the city of Oakland and its environ- 
ments, including the bay and Golden Gate. This convent was founded by the Sisters 
of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, in 1868, under the patronage of Rev. Father 
M. King, Pastor of the Catholic Church in Oakland. This religious order, like the 
Sisters of the Presentation, is devoted principally to teaching, and its members receive 
a special training for that high and responsible office. The building of this convent 
was erected in 1872 at great expense, and is one hundred and ten b\' se\"enty-fi\-e 
feet, and three stories high, exclusive of the basement. It has all the modern improve- 
ments and conveniences necessary for the comfort of the pupils. The ba.sement con- 
tains a gymnasium provided with wards, dumb-bells, rings, and Indian clubs, refectories, 
pantries, and kitchen. The first story contains parlors, music rooms, museum, and library. 
• Through the kindness of the numerous friends of the Institution, valuable additions are 
constantly being made to the museum, and the different specimens are of great service 
to the members of the various classes. The library consists of ov-er one thousand vol- 
umes of choicely selected books, many of which have been presented by friends. In the 
second story are class-rooms, oratory, and recreation-halls. The third story contains 
dormitories, toilet-rooms and bath-rooms. The attic is used for the trunks and clothes 
of the pupils. From the roof, which is flat, there is a good outlook from which a fine 
view of the bay and surrounding country is obtained. On bright and pleasant even- 
ings this is used as an observatory. In the rear of the convent is an old building 
which is used as a chapel, drawing-room, and infirmary. The placid and smiling 
waters of Lake Merritt bound the grounds on two sides, and boats are provided in 
which the young ladies find much enjoyment in rowing. They are also allowed to 
indulge in various other proper amusements. The course of study comprises all the 
elementary and higher branches of education, including polite literature, metaphysics 
and mathematics. There are also special courses in music, singing, drawing, paint- 
ing, and ornamental needlework. The pupils are also well schooled in plain sewing, 
cooking, and other housewifery accomplishments. Three times a week two pupils 
appointed by the Principal don large calico aprons and under the supervision of two 
Sisters, learn to prepare not only ornamental desserts, but the more substantial dishes 
of a good dinner. There are several Sisters, novices and postulants in the Convent, 



Oakland Township — Citv of Oakland. 747 

also a large number of students, who are boarders. The Institution is in a very pros- 
perous and thriving condition, and a good work is being done. 

Californl\ Medical College, Eclectic. — This college was organized under 
the auspices of the Board of Trustees and Faculty of the California Medical College 
in 1878, with the following office-bearers; Dr. J. P. Webb, President; Dr. McRae, 
Secretary; C. C. Mason, First Vice-President; M. F. Clayton, Second Vice-President, 
J. H. Bundy, Treasurer. The college is organized as the exponent of liberal and pro- 
gressive medicine and surgery, its aims being to present to the student medical science 
in all its breadth, while it recognizes Truth wherever found, irrespective of sect or 
school, and adopts every scientific discovery and rational idea that tends to promote 
the healing art, for standing on the broad platform of Eclecticism, with reference to 
the methods and agents of medication, they adhere to no creed, but aim to follow 
wherever Truth and Science lead. The Board of Trustees are advocates of medical 
education for women, who are therefore admitted to the college on the same terms as 
other students. As the sole aim of the college is to educate good practical physicians 
and surgeons, its course is free from all exclusiveness and bigotry, and will accept stu- 
dents with reference solely to their attainments, and not with regard to the schools or 
preceptors that may have them. The professors are men in the prime of life, capable 
of keeping abreast of the daily improvements in all branches of their respective chairs, 
and, as practicing physicians, of imparting to students what is most useful and practi- 
cal, no less than what is theoretical and fundamental. The College building is located 
on Clay Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Streets, and excels any similar institu- 
tion west of Chicago. It is four stories in height; on the second floor are a magnifi- 
cent hall, and three suits of offices; on the third floor are the amphitheater, museum, 
library, and laboratory. The dissecting-room, the best appointed on the coast, is spa- 
cious, and thoroughly ventilated by means of the dome. The present Board of 
Trustees consists of D. Maclean, M. D., President; Colin Campbell, First Vice-Presi- 
dent; O. P. Warren, M. D., Second Vice-President; J. P. Webb, M. D., Treasurer; 
D. D. Crowley, M. D., Secretary. The Medical Faculty comprises: D. Maclean, 
M. D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology; D. D. Crowley, M. D., Professor of the 
Principles and Practice of Surgery and Clinical Surgery; A. W. Bixby, M. D., Pro- 
fessor of the Principles and Practice of Medicine and Clinical Medicine; F. Webster, 
M. D., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics; G. G. Gere, M. D., Professor of 
Anatomy, Surgical Anatomy, and Demonstrator of Anatomy; M. Herzstein, M. D., 
Professor of Physiology and Nervous Diseases; S. P. Meads, A. B., Professor of 
Chemistry and Toxicology; M. H. Logan, M. D., Adjunct Professor of Chemistry; 
F. Cornwall, M. D., Professor of Opthalmology, Laryngology, Otology; Colin Camp- 
bell, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence. Dean of the Faculty, Professor D. Maclean, 
M. D. 

Ladies Relief Society of Oakland. — This association was originally organ- 
ized in March, 1871, and on June 6, 1S72, was incorporated by the following ladies 
and gentlemen: Mrs. Virginia T. de Fremery, Mrs. Catherine E. Kirkham, Mrs. Jen- 
nie C. Carr, Mrs. C. C. Curtis, Mrs. Lucy C. Dam, Mrs. Cornelia B. Dwindle, Mrs. 



748 History of Alameda County, California. 

Sarah Milliken, Mrs. Louise J. Campbell, Mrs. A. Sarah Jones, Mrs. L. P. Fisher, 
James dc Fremery, Alexander Campbell, and Henry C. Campbell, who desired to 
act in concert for the care, protection, relief and improvement of unprotected and 
needy women and children in the city of Oakland. The following were then elected 
to take charge of the estate and property belonging to the corporation: Mrs. Martha 
R. Moore, Mrs. Lucy E. Dam, Mrs. Cornelia B. Dwinelle, Mrs. Ida J. Spear, Mrs. L. P. 
Fisher, Mrs. C. C. Curtis, Mrs. G. VV. Dam, Mrs. A. Sarah Jones, Mrs. Margaret Perine, 
Mrs. Harriet D. Palmer, Mrs. Catherine E. Kirkham, Mrs. Josephine Chase, Mrs. 
Sarah H. Tompkins, Mrs. Mandana M. Wedgewood, and Mrs. Mary R. Mathews. 
The society is controlled and managed by a Board of thirty directors, from whom a 
President, two Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding Secretary 
and a Treasurer are elected. The payment of five dollars annually constitutes an 
annual member, and fifty dollars cash entitles one to life membership. The society 
is wholly non-sectarian. It now consists of sixty life members; two honorary mem- 
bers; and nearly eight hundred monthly subscribers. Meets in the chapel of the First 
Congregational Church at the corner of Clay and Twelfth Streets on the first Thurs- 
day of every month during the winter and at the Home during the summer months. 
The Society owns a home and ten acres of land on the south side of Linden Avenue, 
between Broadway and Telegraph Avenue, Temescal. 

WoMENs' Christian Temperance Union.— The object of this society may be 
gathered from the following pledge: "We, the undersigned, women of California, 
covenant with one another in a sacred and enduring compact against the wicked sale 
of alcoholic stimulants, under whatsoever name or form it may be conducted; and, 
although sanctioned by law, we pledge ourselves now to work for such a change in 
those laws as will give u; pjw;r to reclaim the fallen; to prevent the young from con- 
tracting tastes and habits that will eventuate in drunkenness, and for the creation of a 
high moral and religious sentiment in favor of total abstinence from all that can 
into.xicate." The officers of the Union consists of a President, Vice-Presidents, Sec- 
retary, Treasurer, and Auditor, who with eleven others chosen annually constitute an 
Executive Committee. The present officers are: President, Mrs. E. H. Gray, Oakland; 
Vice-Presidents, Mrs. P. D. Brown, Mrs. G. S. Abbott, Mrs. S. B. Sublette, Mrs. Dr. 
Coxhead, Oakland; Mrs S. P. Taylor, San Francisco; Mrs. G. W. Lamoreaux, Pcta 
luma; Mrs. J. L. Williams, Alameda; Mrs. C. P. Buckham, Watsonville; Mrs. R. 
Newton, Grass Valley; Mrs. Arvidson, Placerville; Mrs. J. P. Raymond, Salinas; Mrs. 
Nellie Eyster, San Jose; Mrs. W. T. Reid, Berkeley; Secretary, Mrs. M. E. Congdon. 
Mariposa, Cal.; Assistant Secretary, Mrs. H. H. Havens, Oakland; Treasurer, Mrs. 
Charles Chamberlain, East Oakland; Auditor, Mrs. Thomas Varney; Executive 
Committee, Mrs. S. P. Taylor, San F'rancisco; Mrs. F. K. Shattuck, Berkeley; Mrs. 
McChesney, Mrs. S. C. Sanford, Mrs. Dr. Coxhead, Oakland; Mrs. L. B. Saddler 
East Oakland; Mrs M. E. Griswold, Alameda; Mrs. L. P. Williams, Mrs. S. A 
Churchill, San Francisco; Mrs. E. Monroe, Nevada City; Mrs. John A. McNear, 
Petaluma; Mrs. M. H, Cook, San Francisco; Mrs. S. D. Cutler, Salinas; Mrs. R. 
Newton, Grass Valley. 

Women's Christian Association of Oakland. — This cha' itable societv was 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 749 

organized, October 5, 1877, its objects being "to carry Christian sympathy, love, and 
help to all families in our midst who may need such ministrations." The officers of 
the Association are a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Cor- 
responding Secretary, and an Executive Committee of seven or more persons. Mem- 
bership may be had by any lady paying the sum of one dollar annually, while the 
payment of twenty-five dollars constitutes life membership. For the conduct of its 
benefits there are four departments, viz.: Fruit and Flower Mission, Sheltering Home, 
Industrial Committee, with headquarters at the rooms of the Association at No. 1274 
Franklin Street; and the Helping Hand School at the corner of Twenty-second and 
Market Streets. Its officers are a President, Mrs. William Sublette; seventeen Vice- 
Presidents; a Recording Secretary; and a Treasurer. Besides these each sub-depart- 
ment has its own officers. The association now consists of three hundred members, 
five life members, and fifty-one sustaining members. 

The California Sheltering Home. — This charitable institution was organ- 
ized in April 1881, and was originally situated on Chestnut Street, but was afterwards 
removed to No. 1274 Franklin Street. It is one of the branches of the Ladies' 
Christian Association, of which Mrs. William Sublette is the President. The object 
of the home is to render aid and provide a temporary home for destitute women and 
children who have no habitation. In this place a number of motherless children have 
been kindly cared for until other homes could be provided for them. Two aged 
women, strangers to the city, have enjoyed the hospitalities of the Home for a season, 
until means could be provided to send them to their native places. Sixty persons in 
all have been members of the Home, while the number of families during the last 
year averaged twelve. These two associations cannot be too well patronized, fulfilling 
as they do woman's mission upon earth — the doing good to her fellow-beings. 

Home for Aged Women. — Under the auspices of the Ladies' Relief Society of 
Oakland. The building was erected in 1882, and possession was taken of it October 
1st. Mrs. K. M. Fox is matron, and has six assistants. The structure faces the south 
with one hundred feet of frontage, and is three stories high besides the basement, and 
has a large rear extension, two stories high. On the first floor there are ten rooms, 
seven of which are for inmates, and one is for the matron, and the other two are used 
for reception and sitting rooms respectively. On the second floor there are eleven 
rooms, all to be used by inmates. The third floor comprises an attic, used at present 
for a store-room, but ultimately designed to be finished off into rooms. AU the rooms 
in the building have been furnished by special donation, that is, a donor chooses a room 
and furnishes it complete. In the rear addition of the building there are two dining- 
rooms, on the first floor, one of which is used for the aged women, and one for the 
children of the home; also a kitchen. On the upper floor are two dormitories for the 
children of the home, and rooms for attendants. In the basement is the laundry and 
furnace-room, and a large room which is to be used for a children's dining-room in 
time. The terms of admission are, $300 for front rooms and $200 for back rooms. 
There are ten acres of land belonging to the property. The building cost $18,000. 
Governor Perkins and nine others gave $1,000 each. It is all out of debt now. 



750 History of Alameda County, California. 

Lodges, Societies, etc. — The societies of Oakland — secret, social, and benev- 
olent — are most numerous, but the chronicles of only a few of them will be found in 
our work. We disclaim any blame in this regard, as written requests were made for 
the necessary information, but this was in many instances entirely ignored, therefore 
such as were handed to us we now produce. The latest directory of Oakland gives 
the information that there are within the city — -e.xclusive of East Oakland — some fifty 
lodges. 

Masonic Tenip/e.-^The Oakland Masonic Temple Association was incorpo- 
rated June 25, 1878, with a capital of $100,000, divided into 10,000 shares of the par 
value of $10.00 each. 

The association was organized and officers elected June 27, 1878. F. K. Shattuck 
was elected the first President of the association, and has been re-elected each year, 
and is the present President. A lot si.xty-five feet on Washington by one hundred 
and five feet on Twelfth Street, was purchased of E. P. Flint on the northwest corner 
of Twelfth and Washington Streets. 

By-laws of association adopted July 13, 1878, and a Building Committee, consist- 
ing of N. W. Spaulding, S. Hirshberg, and R. C. Gaskill appointed. August i, 1878 
Messrs. Wright and Sanders were selected as the architects, to draw plans and speci- 
fications for the building. Plans for the building as prepared by Messrs. Wright and 
Sanders were adopted by the Board, October 3, 1878. Building committee July 2, 
1879, N. W. Spaulding, John Cullin, S. Hirshberg. Modified plans of building 
adopted October 20, 1879. 

Bids for the several kinds of work were advertised for October 20th, and received 
up to noon, November 5, 1879, and on the loth day of November the Board of 
Directors awarded the following contracts: For brick-work, to G. D. Nagle & Co. 
Oakland; for the granite-work, to George Griffith, Penryn, Cal.; for freestone, to J. 
Pfeiffer, San Jose; for wrought-iron-work, to J. R. Sims, San Francisco; carpenter- 
work, to D. Farniell, Oakland; Plumbing, etc., to W. W. Montague & Co., Oakland; 
tin and slate work, to J. F. Forderer, San Francisco; plastering, to A. C. Corbett, 
San Francisco; painting and glaizing, to J. T. Gardiner, Oakland. 

The corner-stone of the Temple was laid with appropriate Masonic ceremonies 
on the loth day of January, 1880, by M. W., W. N. Traylor, Grand Master of the 
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, of the State of California, assisted by 
other officers of the Grand Lodge. The lodges and other Masonic bodies of Oakland 
participating. An address was delivered by M. W., Leonidas E. Pratt. 

W. E. Boone was elected the superintendent of the work, and under his directions 
the contractors were required to do all their work. 

Although the entire Temple was not completed, )'et the third story was so nearly 
finished that Oakland Lodge No. 188, F. and A. M., moved to the Temple and held 
the first meeting on the eve of December 27, A. D.' 1880, and installing their newly 
elected officers for the ensuing year. The Temple was completed and dedicated Feb- 
ruary 22d, A. D. 1881, by the officers of the M. W. Grand Lodge of P"ree and Accepted 
Masons of the State of California, with appropriate ceremonies and music, followed 
by an oration by M. D. Boruck, and a ball in the evening. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 751 

The Temple is semi-Gothic in style, and is sixty-five by one hundred and 
five feet, and constructed of brick, granite, and San Jose sandstone. The main 
entrance on Twelfth Street is in the form of a Gothic portico of polished granite sup- 
ported by pillars of polished black granite, with the letter " G. T." cut in the massive 
arch over the gateway. The first floor contains a main hall forty-two by sixty-eight 
feet with a banqueting hall adjoining, eighteen by sixty-eight. Ladies and gents 
rooms are also attached. On the second floor, which is constructed with special 
reference for the meetings of the various Masonic bodies, the main hall or lodge 
room is forty-two by sixty feet with twenty-five foot ceiling and a central dome reaching 
six feet higher. This floor has also a banqueting hall, with tyler's room, coat, com- 
mittee and preparation rooms, also armory rooms for the Knights Templar. The cost 
of the lot and building with furniture is fully $100,000. 

The annual meeting of stockholders is held on the third Tuesday of June, at 
which meeting, a Board of eleven Directors is chosen. The present officers of the 
Board of Directors are: F. K. Shattuck, President; A. Chabot, Vice-President; C. E. 
Gillett, Secretary; M. T. Dusenbury, Treasurer. 

Oakland Commandery, No. it, Knights Templar. — This Commandery was 
organized January 18, 1876, with the following charter members: William Thomas 
Reynolds, Edward Farnum, Ralph Josiah Van Voorhies, Daniel William Gelwicks, 
Rollin Corrolus Gaskill, James Dods, Natale Giamboni, Thomas Jefferson Arnold, 
Frank Worthy Gushing, Francis Kettredge Shattuck, John Macklin Miner, Alfred 
Coolidge Waitt, Edward Waterman Roberts, Nathan Weston Spaulding, Osgood 
Church Wheeler, August Liliencrantz, Henry Edward Mathews, Edward Edmonds 
Potter, Charles Edwin Gillett, Adolphus Skinner Hubbard, Frank Xavier Zephidon 
Marchand, Willard Franklin Fletcher, Solomon Lathrop, and Richard Woolsey Ellis^ 
the officers under dispensation being: Sir James Dods, Commander; Sir W. T. Rey- 
nolds, Generalissimo; Sir N. W. Spaulding, Captain General. On April 15, 1876, the 
charter was granted, since when it has been in a most flourishing condition. It meets 
at their asylum in the Masonic Temple, at the northwest corner of Twelfth and Wash- 
ington Streets, every Tuesday evening, the stated conclave being held on the first 
Tuesday of each month. The officers since organization, including those for the pres- 
ent term, are: — 

1876. — Sir R. C. Gaskill, Commander; Sir A. S. Hubbard, Generalissimo; Sir A. 
Ryder, Captain General. 1877. — Sir R. C. Gaskill, Com.; Sir A. S. Hubbard, Gen.; 
Sir A. Ryder, Capt. Gen. 1878.— Sir R. C. Gaskill, Com.; Sir A. S. Hubbard, Gen.; 
Sir A. Ryder, Capt. Gen. 1879. — Sir O. C. Wheeler, Com.; Sir S. Lathrop, Gen.; 
Sir W. F. Fletcher, Capt. Gen. 1880.— Sir S. Lathrop, Com.; Sir A. C. Waitt, Gen.; 
Sir W. F. Fletcher, Capt. Gen. 1881. — Sir. Solomon Lathrop, Com.; Sir J. E. Ben- 
ton, Gen.; Sir W. F. Fletcher Capt. Gen. 1882. — Sir S. Lathrop, Com.; Sir J. E. 
Benton, Gen.; Sir George D. Metcalf, Capt. Gen. 1883. — Sir Solomon Lathrop, 
Com.; Sir Alfred Coolidge Waitt, Gen.; Sir George Dickson Metcalf Capt. 
Gen.; Sir Herman Barnum Sears, Pre!.; Sir Zachary Taylor Gilpin, Senior 
Warden; Sir Charles Franklin Burnham, Junior Warden; Sir Rollin Corrolus 
Gaskill, Treasurer; Sir James Todd Gardiner, Recorder; Sir James Bestor Merritt, 



History of Alameda County, California. 



Standard Bearer; Sir Frank Eugene Brigham, Sword Bearer; Sir George Pat- 
terson, Warder; Sir Charles Edwin Gillett, Sentinel; Sir F. X. Z. Marchand, Sir Wm. 
P. Jones, Sir William George Cumming, Guards; Sir Wallace Everson, Sir A. G. 
Anthony, Purveyors. 

Oakland Chapter, No. 26, R. A. M. — -This Chapter was instituted May 5, i860, 
with the following charter members: J. E. Whitcher, P. E. Edmondson, Hiram Tubbs, 
H. S. Vesey, A. H. Myers, William Kennedy, J. W. Carrick. J. C. Kyte, Samuel 
Hirshberg, T. J. Nevins. The first officers being, J. E. Whitcher, H. P.; P. E. 
Edmondson, K.; J. W. Carrick, S.; T. J. Nevins, C. of H.; A. H. Myers, Pr. Soj.; Hiram 
Tubbs, R. A. C; J. E. Kyte, M. 3d V.; S. Hirshberg, M. 2d V.; W. Kennedy, M. I.st 
v.; H. M. Vesey, Sec. The Chapter has a present membership of sixty-two, the fol- 
lowing being the officers for the current year: F. H. Brooks, H. P.; C. E. Gillett, K.; 
A. W. Bishop, S.; W. F. Pierce, Treas.; J. Lentell, Sec; W. B. Clayton, C. of H.; J. T. 
Gardner, Pr. Soj.; E. Winchester, R. A. C; J. J. Newsom, M. of ist V.;' J. Dieves, M. 
2d v.; George Goodman, M. 3d V.; H. E. Hitchcock, Guard. Meets on the first and 
third Mondays in each month in Masonic Temple, at the corner of Central Avenue 
and Washington Streets. 

Royal and Select Masters.^-Ox\ May 13th, A. D. 1882, a dispensation was granted 
by the III. Dep. G. M. of the Grand Council of R. and S. M. of California, to Com- 
panions Charles Edwin Gillett, George Wait Hopkins, Lewis Goodwin Thomas, Joseph 
Parsons, Osgood Church Wheeler, Daniel W. Gehvick, Nathan Weston Spaulding, John 
Andrew Zimmerman, Samuel P. Kelly, Alfred T. Perkins, Isaac D. Ryttenberg, 
Thomas H. Pinkerton, William R.Thomas, Ebenezer Winchester, Willard F. Fletcher, 
and George B. Seaman — to open and hold a Council of Ro)-al and Select Masters in 
the city of Oakland, 'Cal., to be known as Oakland Council. The 111. Dep. G. M. 
appointing 111. Comp., Charles E. Gillett to be the first Thrice 111. IMaster. Comp. 
Osgood Church Wheeler the first Dep. 111. M. and Comp. George B. Seaman, the first 
Prin. Con. of the work. The first regular meeting of Oakland Council \^^ D. of R. and S. 
M., was held on June 1 5, A. D., 1 882. A Dep. 28S2 at which time the officers not named 
in the dispensation were elected or appointed. A code of by-laws adopted, and the Coun- 
cil proceeded to transact business and work of a Council of R. and S. Masters. The 
Council continued to hold their monthly meetings until the annual session of the 
Grand Council of R. and S. M. of the State of California, in April, 1882, at which 
time a charter was granted, and on the 17th day of June, 1882, Oakland Council, No. 
12, R. and S. M., was duly constituted by R. P., Adolphus Hollub as Dep. Gr. Master, 
assisted by Comp. J. H. Gray, as Grand Marshal, after «hich the following named 
companions were duly installed : R. P. Charles, E. Gillett, Th. 111. Master; James B. 
Merritt, Dep. 111. M.; Robert A. Hughes, P. C. of W.; Thomas H. Pinkerton, Treas.; 
E. Winchester, Recorder; Z. T. Gilpin, C. of G.; E. H. Morgan, C. of C; A. Kendall, 
Stew.; and J. A. Zimmerman, Sentinel; present mumber of members of council, thirty. 
Time of meeting, the third Thursday of each month, at Masonic Temple, corner of 
Twelfth and Washington Streets. 

Live Oak Lodge, Xo. 61, F. & A. J/. — Was instituted Ma}- 4, 1855, with the 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 753 

following charter members: L. C. Owen, I. E. Paddock, J. E. Whitcher, S. H. Robin- 
son, S. B. McKee, J. Black, S. Beel, F. Warner, M. Fallon, P. Hayes, J. P. M. Davis, 
H. M. Barnard, B. L. Jones, L. Langfeld, H. C. Spicer; the first officers being: I. E. 
Paddock, W. M.; J. E. Whitcher, S. W.; H. A. Higley, J. W.; S. H. Robinson, Treas.; 
S. B. McKee, Sec; J. Black, S. D.; John Scott, J. D.; F. Warner, Tyler. The pres- 
ent membership is one hundred and eleven; and the names of the present officers are: 
Robert J. Beeby, W. M.; E. C. Robinson, S. W.; W. F. Perry, J. W.; Peter Baker, 
Treas.; A. E. H. Cramer, Sec; J. C. Plunkett, S. D.; H. P. Dalton, J. D.; H. E. 
Hitchcock, Tyler. The lodge meets on the evening of the first Friday in every 
month; while the place of meeting is the Masonic Temple, at the corner of Twelfth 
and Washington Streets. 

Oakland Lodge, No. i88, F. & A. M. — Was instituted under dispensation, 
April I, 1868, and finally received its charter October 15, 1868. The charter mem- 
bers were: N. W. Spaulding, W. G. Houghland, Joseph W. Hoag, John Laing, E. H. 
Pardee, W. H. Smith, G. R. Walker, P. Johnson, J. W. Myrick, J. Hill, C. B. Ruther- 
ford, F. Reichling, A. W. Hawkett. The first officers were: N. W. Spaulding, W. M.; 
Joseph W. Hoag, S. W.; E. H. Pardee, J. W.; F. Reichling, Treas.; C. B. Rutherford, 
Sec. The lodge, which has a present membership of two hundred and forty-seven, 
meets every Saturday evening in the Masonic Temple, at the corner of Washington 
and Twelfth Streets, and is in a flourishing condition. The officers for the current 
term are: N. B. Hoyt, W. M.; T. J. O'Keefe, S. W.; G. S. Keys, J. W.; C. B. Ruther- 
ford, Treas.; A. K. Clark, Sec. 

Oak Leaf Chapter, No. 8, 0. E. S. — This Chapter was instituted April 30, 
1872, with the following charter members: Sarah H.Warner, Ellen J. Rutherford, 
Emily Bagge, Fannie H. Hewes, Susie B. Lentell, S. Ella Whitcher, Henrietta 
Whitcher, R. J. Ingalls, Lizzie Dewes, Ricka Hirshberg, Henrietta Heyman, Ruth 
Ward, Caroline L. Pierson, Franklin Warner, Charles B. Ruthei'ford, Christian Bagge, 
Charles Hewes, James Lentell, Foster B. Tarbett, Jeremiah E. Whitcher, James E'. 
Ingalls, Gertrude Dewes, Lena Rosenberg, Robert T. Ward, M. Rosenberg; the first 
officers being: Jeremiah E. Whitcher, W. P.; Henrietta Whitcher, W. M.; Lucy E. 
Dam, A. M.; Sarah H. Warner, Sec; Salome Anderson, Treas.; Fannie H. Hewes, 
Cond.; Mary E. Partridge, A. C; Susie B. Lentell, Warder; Albert Shorey, Sentinel; 
S. Ella Whitcher, Adah; Ricka Hirshberg, Ruth; Emily Bagge, Esther; Ruth Ward, 
Martha; Caroline L. Pierson, Electa. The lodge, which is in a flourishing condition, 
with one hundred and sixty-five members on the roll, meets on the second and fourth 
Thursday of each month, in the Masonic Temple, corner of Twelfth and Washington 
Streets. The officers for the current term are: Samuel Thorburn Black, W. P.; Mar- 
tha Pearee, W. M.; Martha Baker, A. M.; Salome Anderson, Treas.; Fannie Ward, 
Sec; Maud Howard, Cond.; Amelia Marcellus, A. Cond.; Osgood C. Wheeler, 
Chaplain; Lucia Etta Loring, Adah; Elizabeth Gee, Ruth; Sarah J. Brewster, Esther; 
Emma J. Welch, Martha; Lucinda C. Tucker, Electa; Sarah A. Deming, Warder; 
Hugh Frazer, Sentinel. 

Oakland Lodge, No. 118, L. O. 0. F. — This lodge was instituted July 5, 1864, 
with the following charter members and officers: E. Jansen, N. G.; P. Johnson, V. G. ; 



754 HisTDRv OF Alameda Couxtv, California. 

J. C. Holland, Sec; J. Becht, Treas.; and \^ Kopf. The present membership is two 
hundred and thirty-five, the officers for the current term beinj^: H. L. Madsen, N. G.; 
W. S. Dryden, V. G.; J. A. Button, Rec. Sec; A. M. Drinkwatcr, Per. Sec; C. McG. 
Quackenbush, Treas.; W. H. Rouse, A. L. KUis, A. T. Eastland, Trustees. The 
lodge, which is in a flourishing condition, meets every Tuesday evening in Odd Fel- 
lows' Hall, corner of Eleventh and Franklin Streets. 

Fountain Lodge, No. igS, I. O. 0. F. — This lodge was instituted on January 
lO, 1872, with the following charter members: John B. Harmon, Joseph Lufkin, J. E. 
Marchand, J. E. Whitcher, Louis Belfils, William Chamberlin, C. H. Townsend, J. J. 
Porter, J. E. Ingols, J. E. Bacon, W. L. McKay, I. R. Marston, J. M. Miner, R. H. 
Adams. The original officers were: J. B. Harmon, P. G. M., N. G.; J. E. Ingols, V. 
G.; C. H. Townsend, Rec. Sec; J. E. Whitcher, Treas. There are at present one hun- 
dred and twenty-five members on the roll, and the officers for the current term are- 
Hermann Nebel, N. G.; John Crebbin, V. G.; Jacob Mueller, Rec. Sec; E. Kreyenha- 
gen. Treasurer. The lodge meets every Monday evening in Odd Fellows' Hall, cor- 
ner of Eleventh and Franklin Streets. 

Evening Star Lodge, No. 26 j, L 0. 0. F. — Was organized July 20, 1877, with the 
following charter members: T. W. Le Ballister, John Nelson, F. Schimmelpfenning, 
John K. Wood worth, Joseph L. Golden, Oscar T. Bailey, L. B. Larue. The first offi- 
cers were: T. W. Le Ballister, P. G.; John Nelson, N. G.; J. K. Woodworth, V. G.; T. W. 
Le Ballister, Secretary; F. Schimmelpfenning, Treasurer. The Past Grands are: T. W. 
Le Ballister, John Nelson, J. K. Woodworth, J. McCracken, James McGrew, F. Schim- 
melpfenning, A. J. Sweet, F. X. Olaine, R. H. Larsen. The present officers arc: R. H. 
Larsen, N. G.; D. J. Sullivan, V. G.; T. W. Le Ballister, Secretary; F. Schimmelpfen- 
ning, Treasurer. The present membership is fifty-one, and the lodge is in a prosper- 
ous condition. 

Oakland Rebekali Degree Lodge, No. t6, I. 0. O. F. — Was instituted Octo- 
ber 10, 1873, with the following charter members: C. G. Reed, C. W. Cornor, C. B. 
Rutherford, Mrs. C. B. Rutherford, W. B. Ingersoll, Mrs. W^ B. Ingersoll, C. Bagge, 
C. E. Bagge, A. B. Brower, Mrs. A. B. Brower, A. P. Partridge, Mrs. A. P. Partridge, 
J. Letters, Mrs. J. Letters, N. Rosenberg, Mrs. N. Rosenberg, Louis Gans, Mary Gans, 
Mrs. J. Ingols, Mrs. E. G. Jones, Mrs. H. L. Kercheval, Robert Dalziel, S. P. Knight, 
F. A. Corner, Sarah P. Knight. The first officers were: C. G. Reed, N. G.; C. W. 
Cornor, V. G.; Mrs. M. E. Partridge, Rec Sec; Mrs. A. F. Ingersoll, Per. Sec; Mrs. 
E. C. Bagge, Treas. The lodge, which meets every Wednesday evening in Odd Fel- 
lows' Hall, at the corner of Eleventh and Franklin Streets, is in a flourishing condi- 
tion, and has fifty-eight members on the roll. The present officers are: Mrs. Maria 
L. Black, J. P. G.; Miss Elsie E. Aldrich, N. G.; Miss Maggie E. Price, V. G.; Mrs. 
Alice M. Naismith, Rec. Sec; Miss Jennie L. Demott, Per. Sec; Mrs. Susy C. Jones, 
Treas. 

Pacific Lodge No. 7, A. O. U. IV. — This lodge was instituted July 24, 1877, with 
the following charter members: B. D. Alexander, F. C. Barkhouse, S. Bowers, C. W. 
Baker, S. M. Gushing, W. J. Cuthbertson, James Dods, J. A. Dyer, C. A. Fuller, D. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 755 

McG, Fraser, C. F. Groff, A. A. Guernsey, C. A. Gore, S. L. Gibbs, W. H. H: Hussey, 
L. Hamilton, J. E. Ingols, Wm. H. Jordan, W. W. Landon, A. Landon, W. S. Murphy, 
G30. D. Metcalf, C. W. Ormsby, C. C. Palmer, L. M. Prince, J. R. Porter, D. W. Pratt, 
Charles G. Reed, D. Roudebush, H. T. Smith; I. A. Skinner, J. A. Swenarton, A. 
Shorey, Geo. Taylor, C. H. Twombly, C. P. Ward, W. Winnie. ' The first officers 
were: W. H. Jordan, M. W.; C. C. Palmer, F.; S. M. Gushing, O.; Wilham Winnie, 
Recdr.; W. W. Landon, Fin.; J. P. Thorn, G. The lodge meets every Thursday even- 
ing in Workmen's Hall, corner of Twelfth and Franklin Streets, and has a pres- 
ent membership of two hundred and thirty-five. The present officers are: R. B. S. 
York, M. W.; J. C. Fielding, F.; Albert Gankroger, O.; C. W. Baker, Recdr.; E. S. 
Finch, Fin.; George V. Blackman, I. W.; E. J. Edwards, O. W.; W. H. O'Brien, P. 

m: W. 

Oakleaf Lodge. No.jj,A. O. U. W. — Was instituted June 3, 1878, with the follow- 
ing officers: M. S. Baker, P. M. W.; D. S. Hirshberg, M. W.; E. J. Webster, F.; A. A. 
Wood, O.; Charles Hapgood, Recvr.; George G. Bailey, Recdr.; E. L. Warner, Fin.; 
W. N. Pearce, G.; L. H. Pierson, I. W.; R. I. Auld, O. W.; Charles H. Dunton, E. M. 
Campbell, Joseph Harris, Trustees. The lodge, which is in a very flourishing condi- 
tion, meets at Workmen's Hall, corner of Franklin and Twelfth Streets, every 
Monday evening, and has on its roll two hundred and thirty-five members. The pres- 
ent officers are: J. R. Sturrock, P. M. W.; W. N. Miller, M. W.; A. Donaldson, F.; J. 
A. Johnson, O.; Joseph Harris, Recvr.; M. S. Baker, Recdr.; D. S. Hirshberg, Fin.; B. 
F Everheart, G.; S. Pallimbaum, I. W.; William Branch, O. W.; S. G. Tucker, Med. 
Exr.; Charles H. Dunton, Jeremiah Tyrrell, J. W. Mackie, Trustees. The Past 
Master Workmen of this lodge are: M. S. Baker, D. S. Hirshberg, E. J. Webster, A. 
A. Wood, W. N. Pearce, R. I. Auld, C. K. Robinson, Charles H. Dunton, J. A. Miller, 
M. S. Levy, W. J. Wilkinson, J. J. Jones, J. R. Sturrock, J. A. C. Macdonald. 

Live Oak Lodge, No. ij, K. of P. — Was instituted August 12, 1870, with the fol- 
lowing charter members, J. C. Parks, C. M. Baldwin, William H. Parrish, Robert 
Swarbrick, David B. Bankhead, Frank Merriweather, Charles Parry, John Coffey, 
Samuel Baily, George Blake, A. E. Hartman, Edward C. Van Duyn, Charles A. 
Perkins, Samuel Baird, Charles Crosbie, William H. Campion, Moses G. Morse, W. 
G. Adams, William B. King, Felix M. Butler. The first officers were: John C. Parks, 
V. P.; R. Swarbrick, W. C; C. A. Perkins, V. C; S. Baily, W. R. S.; S. Baird, W. F. 
S.; F. M. Butler, W. B.; D. B. Bankhead, W. G.; C. M. Baldwin, W. L S.; W. G. 
Adams, W. O. S.; W. H. Parrish, C. Parry, J. Coffey, F. Merriweather, Attendants. 
The lodge, which has a present membership of one hundred and sixty-one, meets 
every Wednesday evening in Pythian Hall, No. 1058 Broadway, and is in a flourish- 
ing condition. The officers for the current term are: Josh. Dimmick, P. C; John N. 
Bonham, C. C; Charles A. Ingerson, V. C; Gus. W. Meyer, Prelate; David B. Bank- 
head, M. of E.; August Welander, M. of F.; Henry A. Holland, K. of R. and S.; 
Sam. H. Gowen, M. at A.; H. E. Church, I. G.; J. W. Baxley, O. G.; A. Stein, P. J. 
Keller, R. H. Gans, C. G. Schroeder, Attendants. 

Oakland Council, No. 20, 0. C. F. — Was instituted January 14, 1882, with the fol- 
lowing charter members: H. M. Collins, William T. Bellars, Charles H. Eitel, Edward 



756 History of Alameda County, California. 

F. Kohler, Rebecca Striker, S. J. Springer, Mary K. Collins, James Phillipps, Hannah 
Philiipps, S. P. Babcock. The original officers were: H. M. Collins, P. C. C; R. Springer, 

C. C; J. K. Price, V. C; S. J. Springer, Prelate: C. H. Eitel, Treas.; R. E. Striker, Sec; 
Mary E. Collins, Mar.; H. W. Watkins, G.; Delia A. Collins, W. The lodge, which 
meets on the second and fourth Mondays in each month, is in a flourishing condi- 
tion, and convenes at Kohler's Hall, West Oakland, there being sixty-six members 
on the roll. The officers for the current term are: Ransom Springer, P. C. C; S. P. 
Babcock, C. C; Mary E. Collins. V. C; Kittie Bullock, Prelate; John A. Henninger, 
Treas.; Henry A. Holland, Sec; Lucy Holland, Mar.; Eliza Bunker, War.; Thomas 
Gray, Guard; Alexander S. Ellis, Sentry. 

Brooklyn Comici/, A'o. jo, /. 0. C. F. — Was organized December 13, 1881, with 
a large list of charter members. The first officers were: Charles J. H. Luth, C. 
C; J. W. Glaze, Financier; F. Schimmelpfenning, Treasurer; Albert Schmidt, Secre- 
tary. The present officers are F. A. Beamis, C. C; C. J. H. Luth, Financier; Mrs. L. 
Schemmelpfenning, Treasurer; Albert Schmidt, Secretary. The present membership 
is sixt}'-five, and the lodge is prospering. 

Oakland Lodge, No. 2j2, I. O. B. B. — Was instituted November 28, 1875, and 
had as its first officers: N. Witkowsky, President; Samuel Hirshberg, Vice-President; 

D. S. Hirshberg, Sec; M. Greenhood, Treas.; J. Letter, Ass't. Monitor; M. Rosen- 
berg, Warden; H. Davis, Guardian; A. Cerf, Nathan Rosenberg, L Marcus, Trustees. 
The lodge meets every Sunday afternoon at two o'clock, in Medical Hall, Clay Street, 
between Tenth and Eleventh Streets, and has ninet)--five members on the roll. The 
present officers are: M. S. Levy, Monitor; Leo Zeimer, President; J. Lsaac, \'ice- 
President; E. Bernstein, Sec; Henr}' Kahn, Fin. Sec; J. M. Cohen, Treas.; Alexander 
Hirshberg, Ass't. Monitor; A. Silberstein, Warden; L Jacobs, Guardian; J. D. Ryttcn- 
berg, A. Jonas, J. L. Isaacs, Trustees. 

Appomattox Post, No. 50, G. A. R. — This Post was organized March 22, 1883, 
through the efforts of T. H. Allen, Thomas Todd, J. Frederick, and W. R. Thomas, 
with nineteen charter members, and with the following officers: W. R. Thomas, Com- 
mander; W. E. Norris, Senior Vice-Commander; Thomas Todd, Junior Vice-Com- 
mander; N. S. Douglass, Quartermaster; J. C. Estey, Chaplain; J. J. Hambright, 
Adjutant; T. H. Allen, Officer of the Day; J. Frederick, Guard. The Post has now 
a membership of fift\-, and meets every Thursda)- evening in the Medical College. 

Army and Nazy Rtpublican League, Oakland Lodge. — This camp w^as organ- 
ized March 16, 1880, with the following charter officers: E. B. Jerome, Camp Com- 
mander; W. H. H. Hussev, Senior Vice Commander; E. W. Buck, Junior Vice- 
Commander; L. B. Edwards, Adjutant; John T. Coe, Quartermaster; James Hill, 
Officer of the Day; E. W. Woodward, J. A. Robinson, J. H. Inwall, J. C. Nichols, P. 
W. Billingall, Council of Administration; Jesse Robinson, G. W. Hoguet, F. W. Cush- 
ing, Jacob Winkler, J. G. Edwards, Bureau of Employment. There are now four 
hundred members on the roll, with the following officers: H. T. Smith, Camp Com- 
mander; J. G. Edwards, Senior Vice-Commander; H. Inwall, Junior Vice-Commander; 
L. S. Bixbey, Adjutant; J. G. Edwards, Chairman Council of Administration. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 757 

St. Aiidre7vs Society of Alameda County. — This Society, which has for its 
object the assisting of distressed Scotchmen who are deserving of aid, was organ- 
ized May 17, 187S, with sixty charter members, the first officers being: A. McKin- 
lay. President; D. Kilpatrick, Vice-President; James Easton, Treas.; Thomas Turn- 
bull, Fin. Sec; Robert P. Smith, Rec. Sec; W. O. Buckland, M. D.; Physician; Rev. J. 
K. McLean, D. D., Chaplain; A. Campbell, R. Dalziel, W. G. Gray, Trustees; W. L. 
McKay, James Dalziel, John S. Collins, Relief Committee. There are at present one 
hundred and forty members on the roll. The officers for the current term are Peter 
Thomson, President; Robert Smilie, James P. Taylor, Vice-Presidents; James 
Easton, Treas.; D. E. Collins, Rec. Sec; A. W. Hughan, Asst. Rec. Sec; Thomas 
Turnbull, Fin. Sec; J. A. C. Macdonald, Asst. Fin. Sec; D. C. McTavish, Librarian; 
William Collins, WilUam Stuart, David Leitch, Trustees; John Thomson, Alexander 
Campbell, J. Wyllie Mackie, Board of Relief; William Brown, M. D., Physician; Rev. 
J. K. McLean, D. D., Chaplain; Peter Thomson, D. E. Collins, Colin Campbell, J. P. 
Munro-Fraser, J. P. Taylor, A. Campbell, John Thexton, Literary Committee. 

^^ Daughters of Israel" Relief Society. — This society was organized in the year 
1876 with twenty charter members; its first officers being: Mrs. J. J. Bettmann, 
President; Mrs. S. S. Cohen, Secretary; Mrs. R. Beel, Treasurer; the last of whom 
was the actual originator of the association. The objects for which it was instituted 
are charity and benevolence to all, irrespective of nationality or creed. The present 
membership consists of fifty-four, while the office-bearers ' for the current term are: 
Mrs. R. Beel, President; Mrs. E. Bernstein, Vice-President; Mrs. M. H. Coffee, 
.Secretary; Mrs. J. Alexander, Treasurer. Meets on the third Wednesday of each 
month in the vestry of the Synagogue, on the south side of Fourteenth Street, between 
Franklin and Webster Streets. 

Hebrew Benevolent Society. — Was organized in July, 1861, with the following 
officers: .S. Hirshberg, President; S. Adler, Vice-President; S. Schultz, Secretary; 
R. Heyman, Treasurer. The present office-bearers are: D. S. Hirshberg, President; 
B. Samuels, Vice-President; I. D. Ryttenberg, Secretary and Treasurer. Meets on 
the first Sunday of each month. 

The Danish Society "Dania of California." — Was organized January 21, 1882, 
and incorporated August 12, 1882. The Trustees for the first year being Oscar 
F. Westphal, Thomas Mikkelsen, C. H. E. Christensen, W. A. Kreutzman and C. E. 
F"rostholm. Its object is to assist and relieve its members, to establish a relief fund 
for widows and orphans of deceased members, to assist and obtain employment for its 
members when in need, to improve its members socially and materially, and to create 
a spirit of harmony amongst the Danes in California. Branch No. i of Dania is 
located at 864^ Broadway, Oakland, has a membership of about sixty and its officers 
are: President, H. Andresen; Vice-President, P. Larson; Secretary, Fred Peterson; 
Treasurer, H. Frederikson. This branch is in a prosperous condition. 

O.A.KLAND Guard, — Upon the outbreak of the rebellion the loyal citizens on 
every hand gathered themselves together and formed themselves into military com- 



758 HisTORV OF Ala.meua Couxtv, California. 

panies for the protection of the rights of the Union, determining to maintain its 
integrity at all hazards; and it maj^ be remembered that it was proved almost beyond 
a peradventure that a secret scheme existed whereby California was to be given over 
to the control of the Confederacy. To this end the citizens of Oakland met in meet- 
ing, and on June lo, 1861, formed the "Oakland Guard," that distinguished company 
of which we now purpose giving a short sketch. The city of Oakland then num- 
bered only about two thousand of a population, and from among those who signed 
the original muster-roll, we have the names of William Hoskins, Jeremiah Tyrrell, J. 
Barnett, A. W. Burrell, Harry N. Morse, J. A. Whitcher, John H. Hobart, A. D. 
Eames, J. A. Webster, George M. Blake, H. Hillebrand, W. W. Crane, C. S. Haile, 
William C. Little, John McCann, and many others. From these were elected the first 
officers, viz.: James Brown, Captaifi; Harry N. AJorse, First Lieutenant; Henry Hille- 
brand, Second Lieutenant; Jeremiah Tyrrell, Junior Second Lieutenant. Shortly 
after its organization the Oakland Guard was attached to the Second Regiment of 
Artillery, where it remained for som2 considerable time. After this it became 
"unattached," and as we find in the annual report of the Adjutant Gsneral of the 
State of California, 1862, at that time it was Compan>' C, of the First Infantry Bat- 
talion, Second Brigade, of the National Guard. From this official statement its name 
would appear to have then been the "Oakland Home Guard." In 1S72, when the 
number of companies in the National Guard was reduced, each regiment in the Sec- 
ond Brigade losing two, the Oakland Guard was mustered out, but that same even- 
ing was again mustered in as an "unattached " organization. The Captains, from its 
incipience up till the present writing, 1883, have been: James Brown, Harry N. Morse, 
W. C. Little, A. W. Burrell, H. D. Ranlett, Henry Levy, A. L. Smith, and Thoma? 
H. Thompson. It will thus be seen that the company's first captain was he who was 
elected to the responsible position of Marshal of the city in 1 863, and who died January 
I, 1879, while the second to take command was none other than the gentleman who 
was for so many years the distinguished Sheriff of the county. The third captain on 
the list is the well-known Colonel Little, who took so prominent a part in bringing 
the Oakland Light Cavalry into existence. Captain Ranlett has since developed 
into the Colonel in command of the Fifth Battalion of the National Guard, while 
under the n'i^tjne of Captain Levy, the company won its crowning laurels as the best 
drilled company in the State Militia. In all branches of its military duties have the 
Oakland Guard ever held the foremost position; be it at drill or at the target, their 
record is a proud one and adds luster to its fame. Its trophies have been won in 
many a hard though friendly contest, and tell of honor gained at home and abroad, 
while to the credit of the company it may be said that it has one in its ranks, C. H. 
Ellis, who has been a continuous member of it for upwards of twenty-one years. The 
armory of the company is located at the corner of Central Avenue and Washington 
Street, where their social and military equipments are most complete, the drill-hall 
being a noble room ninety-five feet in length and forty wide. Officers, non-com- 
missioned officers, and men each have separate rooms wherein they meet, a commend- 
able scheme that is eminently conducixe to discipline. The present status of the 
Oakland Guard is seventy men, rank and file, the officers being Thomas H. Thomp- 
sDn, Captain; Joseph S. Green, First Lieutenant; Edward M. Campbell, Second Lieu- 
tenant. 



Oakland Township — City or Oakland. 759 

Oakland Light Cavalry, Unattached, Second Brigade, N. G. C. — This 
effective corps was organized in 1877, thirty-three members having signed the roll at 
a meeting held on the 31st of July of that year. On the 7th August the following 
officers for the military and civil departments were elected: W. C. Little, Captain; E. 
W. Woodward, First Sergeant; J. E. McElrath, Senior Second Sergeant; T. H. Allen, 
Junior Second Sergeant; C. M. Burleson, Secretary; Thomas Prather, Financial Sec- 
retary; W. H. H. Graves, Treasurer. The corps originally had their meetings in the 
old Armony Hall on Thirteenth Street; subsequently they moved to Antisell's Build- 
ing at the corner of Central Avenue and Broadway, and finally on April 15, 1883, took 
up their quarters in the building erected by H. D. Bacon, on the corner of Washing- 
ington Street and Central Avenue. Here they have their armory. The drill-hall is 
a splendid apartment one hundred by sixty feet in dimensions with ante-rooms for 
officers and men, besides assembly rooms and parlors. The Oakland Light Cavalry 
were mustered into the service of the State, September 23, 1878, with forty-nine rank 
and file, but their membership has reached ninety. There are now sixty-two effect- 
ive members on the roll. This may be said to be the corps (f elite of Oakland, and as 
such takes a just pride in presenting a most creditable demeanor at every public 
parade. They are a fine body of men, generally good horsemen, and have a distin- 
guished military appearance in their handsome and becoming uniforms. The social 
entertainments given by the corps are remarkable for their high standard of excellence 
and rank among the events of Oakland's social world. The present officers are: 
Webb N. Pearce, Captain; George B. Flint, First Sergeant. 

Hancock Rifles, Company C. — This thriving military company was organized 
shortly after the State campaign that resulted in the election of the Democratic can- 
didate. General Stoneman, to the exalted position of Governor of California. The 
material of which the Rifles is composed was principally taken from the Hancock Fire 
Brigade, a political body of about two hundred members, which had been marshaled 
successfully during election times by Frank J. Moffitt, in the interest of the Democ- 
racy. After the victorious election the Fire Brigade found its occupation gone, and 
a committee from its ranks was appointed to select suitable young men for a proposed 
independent military organization. The outgrowth of this committee's labor was the 
Hancock Rifles, the name of that famous military chieftain being all that was left of 
the now defunct political company. Temporary organization was effected with Henry 
Levy as Captain and Martin Ryan as Lieutenant. Will. S. O'Brien was Secretary and 
Frank Moffitt was Treasurer. New recruits were taken in at each meeting, and a 
course of drilling exercise was at once commenced, and in a remarkably short time 
the Hancock Rifles possessed the reputation of being the best independent military 
organization in the State. One evening, unexpectedly. Adjutant General Cosby 
dropped in during a drill; accompanying him were several members of his staff 
and Major-General Turnbull, and so well were the visitors pleased with the " Rifles " 
that the Adjutant-General intimated that were the company to apply for admission 
to the State service, as a part of the National Guard, the request would receive favor- 
able consideration, and accordingly application was made and the company mustered 
into the State Militia as a part of the Third Infantry Regiment, and given the official 



760 History of Alameda County, California. 

title of Company C. It was the first company of that gallant regiment to be honored 
by being placed at the command of the military authorities of California. Permanent 
officers were then chosen as follows: Captain, Henry Levy; First Lieutenant, Martin 
Ryan; Second Lieutenant, Will. S. O'Brien. Thus properly organized an armory was 
procured and fitted up at the corner of Franklin and Twelfth Streets, where the pres- 
ent headquarters of the company are. A considerable sum of money was required to 
equip and uniform the prosperous body, and the members for the first time realized 
their company's popularity when a sufficiency poured in almost immediately. The 
company is at the present time in excellent condition financially and socially, 
and at every meeting applications from the foremost young men of the city arc being 
acted on. 

Firp: Department. — The first attempt to establish a Fire Department in the 
city of Oakland was made in the early part of 1853, which resulted in the organiza- 
tion of two engine companies, the Empire and Washington, and the Oakland Hook 
and Ladder Company, and the election of John Scott as Chief Engineer. Three 
large cisterns were soon after constructed on Broadway between First and Fourth 
Streets, to supply the engines with water, and the necessary apparatus was obtained 
to give efficiency to the operations of the Department. The apparatus then used by 
the Empire Company, a small New York side-stroke engine, purchased originally at a 
cost of two thousand dollars, was not long ago in the Santa Clara Fire Department, 
in good condition. This organization had but a short-lived existence. It was within 
a year disbanded, the property delivered over to the Council, and, up to 1869, Oakland 
had little or no means of resisting the fire element. 

The present Department was organized March 13, 1869, under the provisions of 
an ordinance approved February 4, 1869, by the election of John C. Halley as Chief 
Engineer and Thomas McGuire and George Taylor, Assistants, who succeeded John 
Scott, Chief, and John C. Halley and W. W. Moore, Assistants, acting under author- 
ity of a previous organization. The apparatus of the Depaitment comprised a third- 
class Amoskeag fire-engine, purchased by the city, and a hose-carriage procured by 
funds temporarily advanced by Col. John Scott. The organization of the Depart- 
ment is at present composed of a Chief Engineer, two Assistant Engineers, and a 
Superintendent of Fire Alarm and Police Telegraph, while its force consists of four 
steamers, five two-wheel hose-carts, carrying three thousand seven hundred feet of hose, 
two Hook and Ladder trucks; fifty-eight officers and men, one hundred and sixty 
hydrants, five cisterns, and forty-six fire-alarm stations. Water for the use of the 
Department is supplied by the works of the Contra Costa Water Company. 

The following are the F"ire Companies in the Department: — 

S/cam Fire Engine Company No i. — Located on Fifteenth Street, near Cit\- Hall; 
Third Class Amoskeag engine, drawn by two horses; and hose-reel carr\'ing eight 
hundred feet of rubber hose, drawn by one horse. The engine driver, who acts as 
stoker, and hose-cart driver are permanently employed. These, together with the 
Engineer, Foreman, and five e.xtramen, who do duty onh' when alarmed, constitute 
the entire company. 

Steam Fire Engine Company No. 2. — Located on Sixth Street, between Broadway 







?/^^ 



(X-f^ ati 



^t^(2C^C^O 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 761 

and Washington; second class Silsby Rotary Engine, drawn by two horses; and hose- 
reel, carrying seven hundred and fifty feet of rubber hose, drawn by one horse. The 
engine driver, who acts as stoker, and hose-cart driver are permanently employed. 
These, together with the Engineer, Foreman, and five extramen, who do duty only 
when alarmed, constitute the entire company. 

Steam Fire Engine Company No. j. — Located on Eighth Street, between Camp- 
bell and Willow; one second class Rotary Engine complete, drawn by two horses; 
and hose-reel, carrying seven hundred and fifty feet rubber hose, drawn by one horse. 
The engine driver, who acts as stoker, and hose-cart driver, are permanently employed. 
These, together with the Engineer, Foreman, and five e.-ctramsn, who do duty only when 
alarmed, constitute the entire company. 

Steam Fire Engine Company No. ^. — Located on East Fourteenth Street, near 
Thirteenth Avenue; second class Amoskeag Engine, drawn by two horses; and hose- 
reel, carrying seven hundred and fifty feet of rubber hose, drawn by one horse. The 
engine driver, who acts as stoker, and hose-cart driver, are permanently employed. 
These, together with the Engineer, Foreman, and five extramen, who do duty only 
when alarmed, constitute the entire company. 

Hook and Ladder Company No. i. — Located on Si.xth Street, between Broadway 
and Washington Streets; first class Hayes Patent Fire Escape Truck, and the usual 
equipments attached to truck companies. The driver and tillerman are permanently 
employed. These, together with the Foreman and nine extramen, who do duty only 
when alarmed, constitute the entire company. 

Hook and Ladder Company No. 2. — Located on East Fourteenth Street, near 
Thirteenth Avenue; one Hook and Ladder Truck, drawn by one horse, and the usual 
equipments attached to truck companies. The driver is permanently employed. 

Hose Conipa?iy No. i. — Located on Sixth Street, between Broadway and Wash- 
ington Streets. The hose-reel is two-wheeled, drawn by one horse, and carries si.x 
hundred and fifty feet rubber hose. The driver is permanently employed. The.^e, 
together with the Foremas, and five extramen, who do duty only when alarmed, con- 
stitute the entire company. 

The Mountain View Cemetery. — As early as 1863, the design of opening a 
cemetery along the foothills of Oakland was discussed, and in December of that j'ear 
a few public-spirited men formed an association under the name of the " Mountain 
View Cemetery Association," and fixed the number of Trustees at twelve, the names 
of whom are: Hiram Tubbs, Geo. E. Grant, A. M. Crane, J. A. Mayhew, Rev. S. T. 
Wells, S. E. Alden, Rev. H. I. Brayton. Dr. S. Merritt, J. E. Whitcher, R. W. Heath, 
Wm. Faulkner, and J. S. Emery. Early in 1864 the Association organized by elect- 
ing Dr. S. Merritt President, J. E. Whitcher Secretary, and Hiram Tubbs, Treasurer. 

In the same year by-laws were adopted, a suitable site was selected, and bonds were 
issued for its purchase, and thus the Mountain View Cemetery came into existence 
Rev. S. T. Wells was elected as the first Superintendent, and remained in that capacity 
49 



762 History of Alameda County, California. 

until the end of 1870. Under his direction avenues were opened, and some plots 
surveyed, and prepared for occupancy. 

In accordance with the salutary resolution, that all profits accruing under said 
organization, from the sale of lots or otherwise, shall, after paying for the ground, be 
expended in improving and ornamenting said cemetery, and incidental expenses, the 
the Trustees immediately began the work of improvement and ornamentation. Fred. 
Law Olmstead, the architect of Central Park, New York City, prepared a general 
plan which has been but slightly and not essentially modified. In harmony with his 
instructions and explanations the cemetery has been opened and improved, and now 
begins to show the imposing S)'mmetry and beaut}' which ha\e been taking form for 
many years. 

In 1 87 1 Rev. S. T. Wells resigned, and William Collins was elected Superintendent, 
a position which he has held ever since. At the same time Gen. R. W. Kirkham was 
elected President of the Board of Trustees, and David E. Collins chosen Secretary. 
Since that date the cemeter}- has been rapidly improved, and has attained a widel)- 
extended reputation for the beauty of its site, the charming effect of its landscapes, 
and its peaceful seclusion. The finances of the association were ably managed and 
rigidly economized by its very efficient and lamented treasurer. Dr. E. P. Sanford. 
Within the last few years the association has been able to cancel all its financial 
obligations, and now carries only an inconsiderable debt arising from incidental 
expenses. The history of the Mountain View Cemetery has been one of steady and 
unobstructed progress, and in large measure its success has been owing to the efficiency 
and vigilance of its present superintendent. During the present year he was grantetl 
a leave of absence to visit the East and Europe, and was requested to gather what 
new information he could regarding cemeteries — such information at least as would 
be applicable to the cemetery which he superintends; at the present writing he has 
not yet returned. 

From the beginning Hiram Tubbs has manifested unceasing interest in the 
growth and advancement of the cemetery, and has been activel}- supported by a 
generous and intelligent body of men. The public spirit which the Trustees have 
invariably shown is deserving of the highest commendation. 

Various changes have taken place in the members of the Board and in the officers 
of the Association; but in every case the Trustees and officers have shown exceptional 
fidelity. From 1875 to 1881 John S. Collins acted in'the capacity of Secretary, and 
proved himself an efficient and popular officer. Since that time no change has been 
made in the officers of the association. At the present time the following are the 
names of the Trustees and Ofi^cers: Trustees, Hiram Tubbs, A. K. P. Harmon, A. 
Chabot, Geo. E. Grant, Peter Thomson, R. W. Kirkham, Walter Van D\-ke, J. S. 
Emery, E. S. Davis, J. W. Carrick, C. W. Kellogg, and W. C. Mason. The officers 
are: R. W. Kirkham, President; A. K. P. Harmon, Vice-President; David E Collins 
Secretary; W. C. Mason, Treasurer; Geo. L. Nusbaumer, Engineer; Messrs. Tubbs, 
Harmon, and Thomson, Finance Committee; Messrs. Harmon, Chabot, and Tubbs, 
Executive Committee; William Collins, Superintendent. 

Mountain View Cemetery is about two miles from Oakland, and i:s approach is 
the finest drive in Alameda County. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 763 

The Oakland Bank of Savings. — This bank was organized August 13, 1867, 
with the following directors, A. C. Henry, Edward Hall, Samuel Merritt, P. S. Wikox, 
W. VV. Crane, Jr., with a capital stock of $150,000, which on March' 30, 1869, was 
increased to $300,000, and by further action of the stockholders, May 9, 1871, was 
increased to $1,000,000, divided into ten thousand shares of one hundred dollars 
each. The subscribed capital stock paid up in United States gold coin is $475,000, 
with a reserve fund of $28,500. The bank is situated at the corner of Twelfth Street 
and Broadway, and was built in 1876. The officers at present are: Directors, Francis 
Blake, W. E. Miller, Samuel Merritt, Henry Rogers, A. W. Bowman, W. A. Aldrich, 
J. E. McElrath, R. E. Cole, E. C. Sessions'; Finance Committee, E. C. Sessions, A. 
W. Bowman, W. E. Miller; President, E. C. Sessions; Cashier, W. W. Garthwaite. 
The bank draws direct on London, Dublin, Paris, and Berlin; the San Francisco cor- 
respondents being, the Anglo-Californian Bank (limited), and the Bank of California. 
New York correspondents, the Ninth National Bank- New York, and Messrs. Laidlaw 
& Co. 

The Union Savings Bank of Oakland. — This bank commenced business in 
July 1869, near the corner of Broadway and Eighth Streets, the President being A, C. 
Henr}', and the Cashier, H. A. Palmer. The capital stock was originally $150,000 
which, in a few years, was increased to $450,000. In 187] the present building at the 
corner of Ninth Street and Broadway was con.structed, whither they moved on the 1st 
of May of that year. In 1875 the bank was reorganized under the Civil Code, when 
it separated its commercial from its saving business, and transferred the former to the 
Union National Gold Bank, with the same management, saving the election of Hon. 
J. West Martin as President in the place of A. C. Henry. The status of the bank on 
December 31, 1882, was most satisfactory. The present capital, fully paid, is $200,000, 
with a reserve fund of $100,000. The officers of the bank are: J. West Martin, R. W. 
Kirkham, A. C. Henry, Hiram Tubbs, John C. Hays, D. Henshaw Ward, R. S. Far- 
relly, H. A. Palmer, Socrates Huff, W. W. Crane, Jr.j Samuel Woods; President, J. 
West Martin; Vice-President and Treasurer, H. A. Palmer. The bank does a purely 
"savings" business, investing its funds in mortgages, etc. 

Union National Bank. — This institution was organized July i, 1875, under 
the National Banking Act of the United States, and succeeded to the commercial 
business of the Union Savings Bank. The following were the first officers: A. C. 
Henry, President; H. A. Palmer, Cashier; A. C. Henry, J. West Martin, R. W. Kirk- 
ham, D. Henshaw Ward, H. A. Palmer, Directors; the capital being $100,000. The 
bank remained under this management until October i, 1881, when Mr. Henry was 
succeeded on his resignation by H. A. Palmer, who was elected to the Presidency, and 
Charles E. Palmer, Cashier. On March 8, 1881, the institution was changed under 
the Act of Congress to the Union National Bank, the style it at present bears, while 
it transacts its business in the same building as does the Union Savings Bank, the 
organization of officers being identical with it save as regards the President and 
Cashier. 

First National Bank of Oakland. — This bank was originally organized as 



764 History of Alameda County, California. 

the First National Gold Bank in May, 1875, with the following officers: B. F. Ferris, 
President; E. Case, Vice-President; G. M. Fisher, Cashier; B. F. Ferris, E. Case, 
F. Delger, C. H. Twombly, W. Newcomb, A. Eberhardt, P. C. Huntley, V. D. Moody, 
J. E. Ruggles, G. M. Fisher, S. N. Putnam, Directors. In 1876 V. D. Moody 
was elected to the presidency under whom, and with the same name it was 
conducted. In 1878 Mr. Twombly was elected Cashier. On March 8, i88o, the 
institution was reorganized under the style of the F"irst National Bank of Oakland, 
with the same management, and in Februar}', 1883, moved to No. 1002 Broadway, 
where they are now located. The present officers are: V. D. Moody, President; B 
F. Mann, Vice-President; C. H. Twombly, Cashier; A. D. Thompson, Assistant 
Cashier; A. Chabot, L. C. Morehouse, J. E. Ruggles, B. F. Mann, C. H. Twombly, A.J. 
Snyder, F. K. Shattuck, W. P. Jones, V. D. Moody, Directors. Financially the bank has 
been a success. For the first twelve months of its operations it paid one per cent^ 
per month, since which time it has been paying three-quarters per cent, per month, 
and having a surplus fund of $50,000. 

West Oakland Mutual Loan Association. — This association was incorpo- 
rated July 21, 1875, with a capital stock of $600,000. It has a membership of three 
hundred. Office, Masonic Hall, Corner of Willow and Seventh Streets. This 
is a mutual banking association, whose object is to assist persons in obtaining homes, 
saving their earnings, and to aid them in improving and acquiring real and other 
property. This society is in successful operation, with a paid up capital of over $250,- 
000. It has issued a fifth series of stock, and its shares were all taken before the time 
fixed for closing the books arrived. It is now making loans to its members at six 
per cent, per annum. Its officers are: N. Giamboni, President; G. W. Drake, Vice- 
President; William Wyner, Treasurer; and A. Sharboro, Secretary. 

Cosmopolitan Mutual Building and Loan Association of East Oak- 
land. — This institution was organized on August 6, 1879, having as its objects the 
raising of funds in shares not exceeding two hundred dollars each, payable in period- 
ical installments, and to make loans to its members, for the purpose of aiding them in 
acquiring and improving real estate, taking mortgages or other securities for such 
loans. The original incorporators were: C. W. Beach, M. S. Hind, G. W'. \\'atson, 
W. K. Vanderslice, Joseph Chessman, J. Howard Hayes, Robert R. Yates, H. C. Logan, 
John H. Sumner. Capital stock six hundred thousand dollars, divided into three 
thou.sand shares of two hundred dollars each. The first officers were: G. W. Watson, 
President; W. K. Vanderslice, Vice-President. The present Directors, arc W. K. 
Vanderslice, M. W. Wood C. M. Nichols, William Hoffschneider. F. H. Kellogg, 
Samuel Baker, David Hughes, R. R. Yates, J. L. Lyon; President, W. K. Vanderslice; 
Vice-President, M. W. Wood; Treasurer, E. G. Mathews; Secretary, George Atkinson. 
Offices, No. 628, Central Avenue, East Oakland, and No 513 California Street, San 
Francisco. The concern is in a v'ery flourishing condition under prudent and econom- 
ical management. 

Oakland Gas Light Company — This association was incorporated in 1S66, its 
first street-lamps being lighted January i, 1867. Originally the works of the company 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 765 

were situated on the block bounded by First, Second, and Washington Streets, and 
Broadway. In the year 1877, however, the company erected buildings upon the block of 
land bounded by First, Second, Grove, and Jefferson Streets, comprising a double lift- 
holder of five hundred thousand cubic feet capacity, a purifying-house one hundred 
and fifty-four feet long by thirty-six feet wide, a meter-house of proportionate size, 
and a tower-scrubber, with independent water works. The mains of the company 
extend from Alameda to Brooklyn, and from Fruit Vale to the water's edge, while the 
number of miles of mains laid is sufficient to supply a city of three times the number 
of inhabitants that Oakland has. The original twenty-five street-lamps started with 
have increased to eight hundred and twelve; and the coal used in the manufacture of 
gas is English and Australian. The officers of the company are: J. West Martin, 
President; W. W. Crane, Jr., Vice-President; Joseph G. Eastland, Secretary. 

Pioneer Carriage Manufactory. — With so large a proportion of wealthy 
people as Oakland has in its population, it is not surprising that carriage building 
should be an extensive industry in that city. The business has grown with the 
growth of the city, until now there are nearly thirty establishments, among the largest of 
which is that of Sohst Brothers, at the northeast corner of Eighth and Franklin Streets. 
Sohst's building was erected in 1873, and exteriorly is a fine-looking frame construc- 
tion. It is fifty by seventy-five feet in size, two stories high, of good proportions, and 
is set off with a tasteful cornice, which arches .symmetrically on the Franklin Street 
front, and gives the building a very fine appearance. The lower story is occupied as 
a carriage making and repairing shop, and for horseshoeing. There are four forges 
kept constantly in full blast. The upper story is used for carriage painting and trim- 
ming. A patent hoisting apparatus is used to transfer vehicles from one floor to 
another. This is a model establishment, and a credit to the city. 

Western Carriage Company. — During the month of March, 1882, George H. 
Boneboake commenced business in the buggy and carriage line, at the corner of Tenth 
and Franklin Streets in this city. Mr. Boneboake shipped in car-load lots from the 
East, and carried on the business alone until about the ist of June, 1882, at which 
time he was compelled, by constant demand and increasing trade, to get assistance in 
the way of a good salesman and manager of the retail business in Oakland. At this 
time, after long and diligent searching, he at last succeeded in obtaining the services 
of H. C. Newby, of San Jose, California, who had been traveling salesman for 
San Francisco houses for the previous two years. Mr. Newby took charge of the 
business on the 1st of June, 1882, and moved the entire stock to No. 917 Washington 
Street, corner Ninth, and conducted the business, in connection with Mr. Boneboake, 
in a successful manner until about the 25th of July, 1882, when the Western Carriage 
Company was organized, and incorporated under the laws of the State of California, 
with the following named gentlemen as stockholders, directors, and officers, with a 
paid up capital of ten thousand dollars: George H. Boneboake, H. C. Newby, G. F. 
Wright, Charles F. Pierce, and C. G. Bishop as directors and stockholders. Officers 
elected by above Board were: G. F. Wright, President; Charles F. Pierce, Secretary; 
George H. Boneboake, Treasurer; and H. C. Newby, Business Agent. 



766 History of Alameda County, California. 

Oakland Carriage Factory. — This industry was begun in January, 1873, by 
M. W. Allen, on the corner of Franklin and Tenth Streets, where he conducted the 
business until 1878, when he moved to his jirescnt location, on the corner of Webster 
and Tenth Streets. He does a general carriage and wagon making business, also 
general repairing in his line. He has a full outfit of machinery for conducting an 
ex.tensive business, and from ten to twenty men are employed. In 1878 he erected 
his present building, which is seventy-five feet square and two stories high. 

Oakland Boiler Works. — This industry is located on the corner of Third 
and Franklin Streets, Oakland. It was begun in April, 1880, by Clark & Wooliey, 
the present proprietors. They are engaged in making boilers, steam fixtures, etc. 

Eight men are employed. 

Oakland Iron Works. — In 1871, Mr. Ives Scoville began operations on a 
small scale, in a building located on Second Street, between Washington and Clay 
Streets. Here he struggled along as best he could, doing the most of the work him- 
self; but in a short time he began to find that his field of operations was widening, 
and more men were requisite to do the work which found its wa\- to his shop. In 
January, 1882, he associated T. H. Eichbaum in the business with him, and the works 
were moved to the corner of Second and Jefferson Streets, where a building with 
one hundred feet frontage on each street and two stories high was erected. A gen- 
eral jobbing and manufacturing business in their line is conducted, including machin- 
ery, steam-engines, etc. There is also an extensive foundr}' connected with the works. 
Fifty hands are continuously employed. 

JUDSON Manufacturing Company. — This vast enterprise, which is located on 
the northern water front of the city of Oakland, was begun in June, 1882. A com- 
p'any was formed with a capital stock of $1,000,000, of which Egbert Judson was 
chosen President, A. Chabot, Vice-President, C. B. Morgan, Secretary, and the First 
National Bank of Oakland, Treasurer. The Directors are as follows: C Webb How- 
ard, A. J. Snyder, Volney D. Moody, and George C. Perkins. The General Manager 
is Charles S. Chamberlain, and he is assisted by John Finn. The works are located 
at the foot of Park Avenue, and the site comprises nine acres, on which there are 
erected the following buildings: pattern shop, forty by one hundred feet; file shop, 
forty by one hundred feet; machine shop, eighty by one hundred feet; tack factory, 
forty by one hundred feet; lumber-shed, twenty-five by sixty feet ; forging building, 
twenty by one hundred and eight feet; bolt-works, fifty by one hundred and eight 
feet; tumbler-shed, twenty by one hundred feet; foundry, fifty by one hundred feet; 
coke-shed, twenty by one hundred feet; scrap-iron-shed, twenty-five by fift)' feet; 
rolling-mill, ninety by one hundred and twenty feet; iron warehouse, forty by one 
hundred and twenty feet; and a wood-working-shop, forty by one hundred feet. 
This company is engaged in the manufacture of the Victor mowing-machines, 
and it is intended to have one thousand of them completed by the ist of May, 
1883. Everything connected with these machines is manufactured here. In 
one department all the wood-work is made, and in the foundry the castings are 
run. The capacity of this branch of the works will be, when all is in running order. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 767 

eight completed machines a day, or about two hundred per month. In the same 
building with their wood-working department, is the machinery for box-making, com- 
prising a planer, saws, etc. The boxes are used for shipping nails, and small parts of 
the mowers. In another building the process of file-making may be seen. The steel 
is shaped first and then tempered, and then placed in a machine and cut. There are 
now four cutting-machines in running order, but others will soon be put in, so that 
files of every description can be cut. The capacity of each machine now running, is 
fifteen dozen per day, but when all the machinery is in, the works will be able to turn 
out two hundred dozen files a day of twelve hours, or four hundred dozen in twenty- 
four hours. In the rolling-mill there will be two trains of rolls, one of which is ten 
and the other sixteen inches wide. These will be driven by an engine of one hun- 
dred and eighty horse-power, the steam for which is generated in four large boilers- 
There are four furnaces so constructed that the heat from them passes under the 
boilers, and generates the steam used for running the engine, thus saving that much 
fuel, which, by the way, is a great item of expense on the Pacific Coast, where all our 
coal has to be shipped to us. The capabilities of these mills will be about thirty tons of 
iron every twelve hours. As it is intended to work both day and night in all. depart- 
ments as soon as all the machinery is complete, the capabilities of these mills will be 
double the figures named above. At the present time two hundred men are employed, 
but probably not less than five hundred will be required when the works are com- 
pleted. In the foundry they are prepared to do all the work .necessary for all the 
work done in the different departments. They are now casting the large heavy frames 
for the nail machines, all of which are being made at their own works. There is an 
extensive machine shop connected with the works where all the iron-work is turned 
out. In this is a full outfit of drills, lathes, planers, and whatever else is necessary 
for excellent and expeditious work. In the bolt-works there are the necessary dies 
and other machinery for that class of work. In the tack-works there are four 
machines which are fed by hand, and several automatic feeders, one of which has a 
capacity of thirty-five thousand tacks an hour. A number of horseshoe-nail machines 
will be put in operation in a short time, also several of other tack and finish-nail 
machines. The modus operandi of nail-making may not be without interest in this 
connection. The material from which nails are cut comes to the works in the shape 
of scrap-iron, which comprises all the odds and ends of creation, seemingly; a large 
percentage of which, however, is old railroad rails. These rails are cut into proper 
lengths, and the space between them, or, in other words, the hollows on the sides of 
them, are filled with smaller bits of scrap-iron. The whole mass is then heated to a 
proper degree and passed through a train of rolls. The heating and rolling process 
goes on until the the iron has become one homogeneous mass, and is rolled to the 
required thickness for the nail desired to be manufactured from it. This leaves it in 
sheets ranging from six to twelve inches wide and from three to six feet long. 
These sheets are then " scaled," as it is called, that is, placed in an acid bath, where 
all particles of oxydized iron, which may have formed on the sheet during the heat- 
ing and rolling process, are removed. This leaves the sheet with a grayish appear- 
ance, similar to galvanized iron. From the bath the sheets are passed to a sheering 
machine, and cut into strips just as wide as it is desired to make the length of the 



7(J8 History of Alameda County, California. 

nail. These strips are then ready to be worked up into nails. A strip of iron is 
placed into a clamp in the end of a rod, and the process of feeding is begun. As nails 
are always smaller at one end than the other, it necessitates the turning of the strip, 
as each nail is cut, so that the feeding may be uniform. As the machine operates 
very fast the feeder has to work rapidly to keep up with its motion. The automatic 
feeders are so arranged that the feeding is perfect, and no time is lost. The machine, 
which cuts thirty-five thousand an hour, is fed by four strips at a time. After the 
nails are cut they are then heated, which process brings out the bluish color seen on 
all nails. They are then packed ready for shipment. At the present time the only 
shipping facility accessible to the Judson Manufacturing Compan}-, is the Central 
Pacific Railroad, but it is intended soon to cut a ship canal from deep water in the 
bay up to a wharf on the water front of the comijany's property. 

Pacific Iron and Nail Company. — That the city of Oakland is destined to 
be the chief manufacturing and industrial center of this coast there can be no doubt. 
Almost every month of the year witnesses the inception of some enterprise, and 
though man)' of them are small at the outset, yet they serve as the central point from 
which much greater things will be developed in the near future. But occasionally an 
industry springs into existence almost full fledged, having sufficient capital to back 
it, and the necessarj' enterprise in its projectors to push it to a grand success from the 
very first. In this last category may well be placed the Pacific Iron and Nail Works. 
George T. Walker, the superintendent of these works, was connected, in a similar 
capacity, for many years, with an extensive establishment of the same character in 
Omaha, Nebraska, and during this time became acquainted, in a business way, with 
the firm of W. J. Houston & Co., of San Francisco. He also made inquiries of friends 
who resided on the coast in regard to the feasibility of beginning an enterprise of this 
kind at some suitable location. Having satisfied himself that the project was prac- 
ticable he came to San Francisco for the purpose of making a per.sonal inspection 
of the field, and was soon convinced that there was one here that justified the 
establishment of among the grandest enterprises of the kind west of the Mississippi 
River. In casting about for a site for the works he soon determined that Oakland 
was the most eligible of any place on the coast. He then began the task of interest- 
ing capital in his enterprise, and soon had a company formed with a capital stock 
of five hundred thousand dollars, with P. A. Wagner as President; Harker, Vice- 
President; W. F. Perry, Secretary, and George T. Walker, Superintendent. The First 
National Gold Bank of San F"rancisco is Treasurer. The stockholders are as follows: 

P. A. Wagner, Harker, W. A. Starr, W. J. Houston, W. F. Perry, Morgan, 

William Man, \\'ilson,T. F. Hays, George Walker, and Coogan. The organi- 
zation of the company was effected in May, 1882. But with the site chosen and the 
company formed the battle was not ended, nor was the outlook rose-strewn by any 
means. The place selected for the works was at the foot of Market Street, between 
the railroad which runs along First Street and the Creek, thus giving them the double 
shipping facilities of rail and water, placing them in position to dispatch their product 
t) any market in the world. But the people of Oakland know that to get a perfect 
title to a parcel of land on the water front of this city is no child's play, nor the work 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 7G9 

of a day. The legal acumen of T. C. Coogan, one of the stockholders and 
attorney for the company, assisted by G. T. Walker and W. F. Perry, was now 
brought into requisition, and after transferring and re-transferring titles, claims, and 
counter-claims almost labyrinthian, the Gordian knot of title was finally straightened 
out, and eight and a half acres of land secured, with a good prospect of adding 
two and a half more to it in the near future. This gives them a water frontage 
of three hundred feet. The question of title being satisfactorily settled, and the 
purchase duly made, active plans for buildings, wharves, etc., were immediately set on 
foot, and in the fall of 1882, operations were begun. A wharf, eight hundred feet 
long, has been constructed, which is forty feet wide at the end next the creek. A 
double track has been laid upon the wharf, with the necessary switches, for the expe- 
ditious handling of cars, and a large scale placed in position, so that stock and material 
can be weighed on the cars. A dredger was put to work and a channel wide enough 
for all practical purposes, and fifteen feet deep at low tide, was scooped out, the dirt 
from which was utilized in filling in for the building foundations and other neces- 
sary railroad tracks about the premises. There are at present three buildings: the 
rolling-mills, nail works, and machine shop. The rolling-mill is one hundred by one 
hundred and sixty feet in size; the nail factory, one hundred by one hundred and 
thirty feet, two stories, with thirteen-foot ceiling, and the machine shop is forty-two 
by seventy-two feet. In addition to these buildings there is a warehouse twenty- 
four by sixty feet, and an office fourteen by twenty-six feet. Another building 
will be constructed in the near future in which to manufacture kegs. All 
the shops are roofed and sided with galvanized iron. It has been no easy task 
to secure suitable foundations for the buildings, owing to the marshy character 
of the land where they are located, but Mr. Walker's skill and judgment have 
proved equal to the emergency, and there is now no better foundation under 
any building in Oakland. Under all buildings in which heavy machinery was to be 
placed trenches were excavated to a depth sufficient to reach the solid clay, which 
were filled with concrete to the surface, and on this a brick foundation for the build- 
ing was laid. Under the ponderous Corliss engine a concrete foundation, twelve feet 
de.=;p, twelve feet wide, and thirty-six feet long was made, which rests on a bed of 
solid clay, and will never give way. For driving the machinery of the rolling-mills a 
five hundred horse-power engine, of the Corliss pattern, manufactured by Hinckley, 
Spears & Hays, of San Francisco, will be used. The diameter of the fly-wheel of 
this engine is seventy feet, and th^ weight of it is sixty tons. In the nail factory 
seventy machines will be put in operation, ranging in size from the smallest lath nail to 
a No. 90 spike. The most of these will be automatic self-feeders, and all of them of 
the latest and most improved patterns. The automatic machinery has been selected 
by Mr. Walker with special reference to the quality and quantity of the work which 
they will perform. There are twenty-six grindstones, each weighing about three 
tons, on the same floor with the nail machines, .conveniently arranged for the use of 
the operators of the machines. The stones are used for grinding the knives of the 
nail machines. As these implements are ground with the stones dry there is naturally 
a great amount of steel and sand that would be flying about the room and become 
very injurious to the workmen, but this is all obviated by an improved exhaust fan. 



770 HisT(jRV OK Alamkda County, California. 

the device of Mr. Walker, which draws the dust under the stones' and deposits it where 
it can do no harm. After the nails are cut they drop into hoppers which are arranged 
on the lower floor, and are then packed in kegs and made ready for shipment. The 
cajiacity of the nail-works is from eight hundred to one thousand kegs a day. The 
engine which drives the nail-works was constructed by Scoville & Co., of Oakland, 
and is of three hundred horse-power. As far as it has been possible all machinery in 
the works has been procured on this coast. The nail machines and rolling-mills had 
to be exported from the East. There will be six other engines in use to drive the 
machinery, when it is all in operation. A twenty horse-power engine is used to drive 
the blast, shears, and elevator. The other engines will range from twelve to fifteen 
horse-power, and will be used for running shears, etc. There are two trains of 
rollers. There are four furnaces for puddling the iron in the rolling-mill, and two for 
heating it in the nail factory. The supply of material for the manufacture of 
nails is derived chiefly from scrap-iron and old rails. The amount of such material 
is practically unlimited. Already ship-loads of it have been received from India, 
Oregon, and elsewhere throughout the world. 

Lanz Bros. Soap Works. — This industry is located on Third Street near 
Market. The business was started in Alvarado in May, 1875, where it was conducted 
until April, 1883. The capacity of the works is twenty tons per week. Chemical 
Olive, Borax, Toilet, Tar, etc., are some of the prominent brands of soap manufactured 
at these works. 

California Hosiery Company. — This industry was put in operation in 
March, 1881, by the California Hosiery Company, which is composed of the follow- 
ing named gentlemen: Wm. H. Jordon, J. A. Swenarton, J-. Williams, O. A. Chase, 
J. Kryster, W. Everson, J. B. McChesney, of Oakland, and M. T. Brewer, and J. F- 
Farnsworth of Sacramento. The first President of the company was Wm. H. Jordon, 
and J. A. Swenarton occupied the position of manager, and J. Williams, Secretary. 
At the expiration of a few months Peter Thomson succeeded Mr. Jordon as Presi- 
dent, which position he has since held. The present manager is J. Lee, and J. Will- 
iams continues to hold the position of Secretary. During the year 1882 the works 
produced $219,000 worth of goods, at cost value. The machinery consists of three 
sets of cards, with the requisite concomitant appliances. The company began opera- 
tions with a capital stock of $100,000, which has since been increased to $200,000. It 
is proposed to enlarge the works shortly. Location of works. Corner of First and 
Jefferson Streets, Oakland. 

Samm's Mills. — These mills, which are the most extensi\e in Oakland, are 
located on the corner of First and Clay Streets. The building was erected and the 
business begun in 1874, by Jacob Samm. In June, i88o, T. J. Parsons purchased 
an interest in the mills, and the firm name is now Samm & Parsons. The building is 
one hundred by one hundred and twenty-five feet, three stories high. There are ten run 
of buhrs, and the mill has a capacity of two hundred and fifty barrels per day of 
twenty-four hours. A force of twent\--fi\c men is constantly employed at the mills 
in the various departments. The mills are fully supplied with machinery of the best 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 771 

and latest styles, which is driven by an engine of one hundred and twenty-five horse- 
power, the steam for which is generated in two large boilers. Everything in the line 
of flour, meal, groats, etc., is manufactured at these mills. 

Oakland City Flour Mills. — These mills are located at the corner of Third 
and Broadway Streets, Oakland, and were erected in 1864. In November, 1876, in 
some manner a fire originated in the engine-room, early in the morning, and the 
entire building was destroyed. The mill was immediately rebuilt by Messrs. Babcock 
& Gould, the owners at that time. In March, 1880, B. E. Hickok purchased the 
property, and is the present owner. The mill has eight run of stones, with a capacity 
of one hundred and fifty barrels every twenty-four hours. The machinery in the mill 
is all of the latest improved patterns, and is driven by an engine of eighty-horse power. 
The building is seventy-five by seventy-five, and three stories high. Fourteen men 
are employed. The product of these mills is disposed of in the home market. 

Williamson's Flour Mill. — In 1876 William VVilliamson, a practical miller 
of San Francisco, erected a mill in Rio Vista, Solano County, which was at that time 
one of the most eligible sites in the State for an enterprise of that kind. The busi- 
ness flourished for a few years, but in 1878 a flood submerged all the adjacent islands, and 
they have not since been reclaimed, hence a large percentage of the business supply 
was cut off. Finally, in January, 1883, Mr. Williamson determined to transfer his base 
of operations to Oakland. He thereupon caused the building, including all the 
machinery, to be placed upon a barge and towed, down the Sacramento River, across 
Suisun, San Pablo, and San Francisco Bays, and up the estuary at the south side of 
Oakland to the foot of Washington Street, whence it was moved to the corner of 
Fourth. It contains two run of stones, and all other necessary machinery, which is 
driven by steam, machinery for grinding oatmeal, pearl barley, cracked wheat, etc., 
is being added to the mill. 

Kelly's Marble Works. — J. F. Kelly, the proprietor, began operations at 
his present place of business. Seventh Street, near Market, in February, 1882. He is 
engaged in the manufacture of marble mantels, marble and granite monuments, head- 
stones, and building work. 

Dwyer's Marble Works. — Mr. Dwyer began business first in Oakland in 
1876, on Broadway, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets. In February, 1880, 
he moved to his present location, at the southeast corner of Seventh and Castro 
Streets. He is engaged in the manufacture of marble mantels, granite and marble 
monuments, headstones, plumbers' slabs, etc. 

Knowles & Co.'s Granite and Marble Works. — These works are located 
at the southwest corner of Seventh and Castro Streets, Oakland. Operations were 
begun here in February, 1878. Granite and marble monumental, cemetery, and 
building work is executed at these works. The firm consists of F. E. Knowles and 
Abel Hosmer. 



772 History of Alameda County, California. 

The Pacific Press Pubi.ishinc House. — The accompanying engraving repre- 
sents the building known as the Pacific Press Pubh'shing House. The left of the pic- 
ture represents the Castro Street front (\o. 1059), ths right being the Twelfth Street 
front (No. 715). Tliat portion fronting on Castro Street is t\vent>--six feet front by 
sixt}'-six feet deep, having central side wings projecting nine feet from the main frame. 
It is two stories, basement and attic. This building, together with a one-story brick 
engine-house in the rear, was erected in 1876. During the course of construction 
many people were curious to know for what purpose it was intended. Some supposed 
it to be a school house or seminar)-, while others conjectured this, that, and the other 
object. But the surprise of all was complete when the institution de\eloped into a 
printing-office, in which was placed a large Cottrell & Babcock four-roller press, run 
by steam, on which was printed the Sij^/is of tlic Times, and books and pamphlets for 
the Publishing Association. 

And when, in 1877, a fine job printing department was added, a great many 
folks, especially printers, actually laughed at the idea of running a printing business 
"away out on Castro Street." But when the office turned out the finest work that 
could be done in the city, even vying with the San Francisco offices, and the tide of 
work flowed constantl}' in this direction, the laugh stopped, and business men found 
that the corner of Twelfth and Castro Streets was not \er\- far from the recognized 
business centers of the city — and it appeared all the nearer when the low prices were 
added to the excellent quality of the work. 

The same year a book-bindery was added to the institution, as also a large stock 
of book and newspaper, and printer's stationery. This, in connection with the book- 
selling business, filled the large building to overflowing; and at the same time the job 
printing had increased until an additional cxliiider press became necessary. In the 
same year a three-story building, fourteen b}- twent)-four feet, was erected in the rear 
of the main building, surmounted by a five thousand gallon water-tank, which was 
filled by a steam-pump, from a well in the )'ard, and the Association dispensed with 
cit)' water. This building is used also for lodging and storage purposes. 

In 1878 the Association purchased the lot on Twelfth Street, and erected that 
portion of the structure, thirt\- b_\' eighty-four feet, two stories and an attic, and fin- 
ished to match the other building, with which it is connected at the rear. The job 
printing department was at once moved into the first story of the new building, and 
materially enlarged by the addition of a new two-roller Hoe Press and other impor- 
tant facilities. The book, paper, and music composition department was moved into 
the second story, and the attic was devoted to storage and lodging. While this build- 
ing was in process of erection, a stereotype and electrotype foundry was introduced, 
which has added much to the working capacity of the institution. This now occupies 
the rear of the first floor of the Twelfth-street house and the former engine-house. 

During the summer of 1880 further important improvements were made. The 
Castro-street building was raised, and the basement enlarged and fitted up for a press- 
room, an engine-room, and a storage-room for paper. Another press (a Cottrell & 
Babcock four-roller, double-revolution), the largest book press on the coast, was 
imported and put in operation. Again in 1882 another book press was added, as also 
additional machinery in the book-binder)' and electrotype foundr\-. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 



773 




774 HisToKV OF Alami:i)a County, Cai.ifoknia. 

The establishment is now a complete home institution, doing a large and ever 
increasing business. No printing-office on the coast is better supplied with facilities 
for fine job work, as custom specimens all over the State will attest; and no pains or 
expense is spared to keep pace with the rapidly ad\ancing new styles in the art. The 
gentleman in charge of this department has few, if any, equals in the State, having 
been ranked as an artisan in some of the best offices in the East. The book, paper, 
and music department is furnished with facilities for an extensive range of work. 
The electrotype and stereotype foundry is manned with comjietent workmen, and 
provided with first-class equipments. The book-bindery is under the direction of one 
of the very few men on the coast who understand thoroughly all parts of the business. 
He is lately from the East, and since his arrival has turned out some specimens of 
blank-book work, and other binding, gilding, and ruling that challenge the admira- 
tion of all who examine them. The bulk of the printing-paper, inks, etc., used here 
is imported directly from Eastern manufactories, which gives customers an advan- 
tage in getting work done at this house. 

The reputation of the Pacific Press for fine work and square dealing attracted so 
much attention in San Francisco that in 1879 it became expedient to establish an 
agency in that city — a project which was carried out to the gratification of man}- 
prominent business houses, and profit to the Institution. This branch office, under 
the management of J. W. Gardner,' is now established at No. 529 Commercial Street, 
at which place a first-class engraver is kept constantly employed. 

In the delta of the two buildings (on the corner represented as vacant for the pur- 
pose of better showing the plan of the business house), stands a two-story double 
frame building, also owned by the Publishing Association, which is occupied as a 
boarding and lodging house, and conducted by the Association, principally for the 
accommodation of employes. 

The projectors of this enterprise realized that Oakland, from the very character 
and standing of its citizens, and the nature of its beautiful situation, would always be 
a legitimatel}- high-toned city, and have ever aimed to give their buildings and 
grounds an appearance in keeping with the surroundings, so far as the work of almost 
continuous improvements would permit. They have endea\ored, and with a good 
degree of success, to demonstrate that large places of business (a few occupations 
excepted) need not be disorderly eyesores in any communit\-. And whereas some 
residents in the vicinitj- were inclined to take exception to introducing a business 
house in a residence neighborhood, it is cxident their objections ha\'e been ground- 
less, at least so far as appearance is concerned. And a hca\y outla\- of means was 
occasioned by placing large presses and engine in basement apartments to avoid 
annoyance to neighbors on account of noise. Persons entering the building for the 
first time always express surprise at the extent of the work carried on as compared 
with the quiet and orderl}- appearance outside. This house stands in fair competition 
with any printing-house or book-bindery on the Coast, for any class of work, large or 
small. There are employed, in all departments sevent\- hands, ami there is alwa\-s a 
bus)--bee appearance throughout the interior, while the outward improxcmcnt is one 
of which even handsome Oakland ma_\- well feci proud. 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 775 

Oakland Brewery. — Situated on the northeast corner of Telegraph Avenue 
and Durant Street; proprietors, Kramm & Dieves. This enterprise was started by a 
man named Wilmer in the year 1853, where now is the corner of Ninth Street and 
Broadway, but it was a miniature concern, capable of turning out only from ten to 
fifteen barrels of beer per month. It afterwards passed into the hands of Joseph 
Becht, and during the year 1863 was entirely consumed by fire, being, however, 
rebuilt on the ground on which it formerly stood. In 1867 Mr. Kramm purchased 
the concern from Mr. Becht, and conducted it for eighteen months. In April, 1869, 
he admitted Messrs. Mangles and Bose into partnership, and thus it was conducted 
until the Fall of that year, when purchasing one hundred feet fronting on Telegraph 
Avenue and Durant Street, the erection of the present brick building, one hundred by 
fifty feet, was undertaken and completed early in 1870. The Ninth-street business 
was then transferred to the new brewery, when they first began the use of horse- 
power. Since that date they have added considerably to their premises until they 
now own one hundred and thirteen feet on Telegraph Avenue and one hundred and 
twentv-five feet on Durant Street. In 1876 steam-power was introduced into the 
buildings, giving the establishment a capacity of eighteen thousand barrels at the 
present time. The annual manufacture is about fourteen thousand barrels. The 
Oakland Brewery gives employment to fifteen, men, and a sale is found for their 
produce in all parts of the county of Alameda and city of Oakland. 

Washington Brewery. — This establishment is located at the corner of Fifth 
and Kirkham streets, West Oakland, and was completed early in the year 1879 by 
Bredhoff & Cordes, proprietors. This firm continued until March i, ' 1882, when 
the last-named gentleman disposed of his interest to Mr. Westerman, the firm 
being now Bredhoff & Westerman. The premises, which comprise the necessary 
brewing buildings, occupy one hundred and eighty-two feet on Kirkham Street, and 
one hundred and seventy-five on Fifth Street. The capacity of the establishment is 
thirty barrels per day, but at present is not run to its full power. 

Reuter's Dye Works. — This establishment was originally established in Feb- 
ruary, 1875, by Charles Reuter, at 912 Broadway, in connection with which he con- 
ducted the practical portion of the work at Nos. 833-835-837 Washington Street, 
Oakland. In the spring of 1881 both places were consolidated, and at the latter 
address twenty-two hands find constant employment. These works have a large 
connection throughout the State and in the city of San Francisco, the business 
occupying the two stories of the large building. 

Oakland Planing Mills. — Proprietors, Burnham, Standeford & Co. This 
establishment, situated on First, Second, and Washington Streets, is the largest in the 
county, and will compare favorably with any other of the same kind in the State. It 

was originally started in June, 1868, by O. H. Burnham, D. W. Standeford, and 

Robinson. In 1872 Mr. Robinson sold his interest in the concern to W. N. Miller, 
who in turn disposed of the share to L. G. Cole, who is at present the junior partner. 
To give an idea of the magnitude of this enterprise it may be mentioned that it was 



776 HisToRV oi- Alameda County, California. 



commenced in one building, still standing, at the corner of First and Washington 
Streets; as business increased the contiguous property was purchased until at the 
present writing they occupy no less than twenty-one lots. There is a capacity in the 
mills for fully a hundred and twenty-five men, but only eighty find constant employ- 
ment. They manufacture, to an enormous extent, moldings, brackets, frames, sashes, 
blinds, stairs, doors — in fact, all descriptions of wood-work finish, while their business 
connections extend all over the Pacific Coast, Arizona, Mexico, and the Territories, 
with portions of Central America. 

Trunk Manufactory of Bt. Colin. — This enterprise, located at No. 415 
Thirteenth Street, Oakland, was established in the year 1866, under the Grand Cen- 
tral Hotel. After the destruction by fire of which in 1880 it was moved to its present 
location, where all kinds of trunks and valises of the best quality are manufactured. 

Odd Fellow.s Library of Oakland. — August 12, 1867, there was a meet- 
of Odd Fellows for the purpo.se of founding a library, and it was determined to 
establish an association, to be composed of such members of the Order as might 
choose to unite with it. The first event of any importance was the transfer of two 
hundred and ninety-five volumes from the "Oakland Philomathean Library Associa- 
tion," immediately followed by a large donation from \V. W. Crane, Jr., and in quick 
succession by smaller donations from many individuals. For nearly four years the 
library attracted but comparatively little attention from the Order, and its friends 
often despaired of its success. A radical change, the basis of its present organiza- 
tion, was decided upon June S, 1871; the association formally dissolved, handing over 
its assets to a Board of Trustees, consisting of an equal number of members from each 
of the lodges in the city. Oakland Lodge, No. 118, and University Lodge, No. 144, 
were the only lodges then in existence. These lodges had agreed to assume the 
trust, and to pay the sum of fifty cents per quarter for each member in good standing. 
Thus every Odd Fellow became entitled to the benefits and privileges of the library. 
January 10, 1872, Fountain Lodge, No. 198, was instituted, and was admitted into 
the association. Some years later Harbor Lodge, No. 253, and Porter Lodge, No. 
272, were admitted, and are now contributing to the library, and the association is 
open for the admission of any lodge that may hereafter be instituted in this city. 
There is at present in the library or in circulation four thousand three hundred well- 
selected volumes. The library is open all day except Sunday. The Odd Fellows 
and their families are the only ones entitled to draw books from the library, but 
others are always welcome to examine the books in the library for reference, and 
many are daily availing themselves of the privilege. 

The Oakland Free Library. — Perhaps no institution in the city is held in 
more esteem, judging from the patronage it receives, than the Oakland Free Library. 
Its clean and neat rooms, and well-stored shelves, and ample newspaper files, form a 
healthful attraction which the public is not slow to perceive. The history of its 
foundation and growth to its present degree of excellence is not altogether an unevent- 
ful one. The Oakland Library Association was organized March 5, 1868, by a party 
of citizens called together for that purpose, upon which occasion some $6,000 were 





^^^^^^^-^I2L<^ 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 777 

subscribed, Dr. S. Merritt being its first President. It originally occupied rooms in 
the Holmes building, corner Eighth and Broadway ; removing from there to Eleventh 
and Broadway, to the rooms now occupied by Dr. Cole. In the early part of 1872, a 
building (which forms the upper part of the present library) was erected on the corner 
of Twelfth and Washington Streets, on a lot given the association, we believe, by 
Edward Tompkins. Owing to lack of funds and financial difficulties generally, the 
association found it necessary, in 1874, to dispose of this lot, which they did for 
$12,500 cash; and the City Council giving them permission to use a corner of the 
City Hall lot for that purpose, the building was accordingly transplanted to the site 
upon which it now stands. After years of trial it was found to be next to impossible 
to sustain the library; the membership being so small as to render the yearly sum 
from the dues ($6 per member) insufficient to cover expenses; and in 187S, under the 
Act of the Legislature known as the " Rogers' Act for the establishment of Free 
Libraries in the State," and upon conference with the City Council, it was decided to 
surrender it to the city on condition of its being sustained thereafter by such tax as 
the authorities might deem proper to levy for such purpose. The transfer was 
accordingly made ; the building (costing originally $3,600), between four thousand 
and five thousand books, and above $2,300 in cash, forming the nucleus of the new 
library. The Free Reading Room on Eleventh and Washington Streets was also 
merged in the library, adding $619, a few books and fixtures. The library building 
was raised, and the present reading-room erected under it. The old association 
had a paying membership of three hundred. The Free Library of to-day has a 
membership of over five thousand, the number of books circulated per month averag- 
ing between eight thousand and nine thousand. Of the total volumes withdrawn an 
average of sixty per cent, are fiction, the remaining forty per cent, embracing belles 
letti'es, history, geography, travels, poetry, and religion, in the order named. In 
November, 1878, the date of its opening as a free institution, there were upon the 
shelves four thousand three hundred and ninety-two books. To-day it owns eight 
thousand two hundred and thirty-five, exclusive of those worn out and cast aside ; of 
this number two thousand aud sixteen have been added in the last year. The reading- 
room is well furnished with the news and periodical literature of the day, receiving 
between twenty and thirty magazines, and over one hundred papers ; and the branch 
rooms, of which there are two, one at East Oakland and one at West Oakland, being 
equally well supplied. The library proper and reading-rooms are managed by a 
Board of five Trustees, elected by the people. The force of employes consists of 
Miss Ina D. Coolbrith, Librarian, who has held the position since October, 1874; H. 
F. Peterson, First Assistant; Ina L. Peterson, Second Assistant, who have also had 
more or less experience in the library during nearly the same length of time, though 
they were only regularly employed when the library became free. D. P. H. Brown, 
Janitor and Curator of Central Reading Room; L. D. Mason and Miss C. E. Brom- 
ley, Curators of West Oakland and East Oakland branch rooms. The monthly sal- 
aries are: Librarian, $100; First Assistant and Assistant Secretary, $60; Second 
Assistant, $45"; Curators, $60 each. The Library Association is extremely 
fortunate in having at its head as trustees public-spirited gentlemen of irre- 
proachable character, and possessing sound business sense, while to the 
50 



778 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

superior management of the Librarian much of the popuhirit)- and efficiency 
of the hbrary is due. Miss Ina D. Coolbrith, the Librarian, will be recog- 
nized by all competent literary critics as a woman of genius, and one among the best, 
if not the very best, of California's daughters of song. Those who have read with 
pleasure the poetical contributions by Miss Coolbrith, in the Overland, in its best days, 
will realize the truth of what we write. The following information respecting this 
institution may prove interesting: On May i, 1883, the total number of books in the 
library was nine thousand six hundred and seventy-two, of which five thousand two 
hundred and eighty were purchased since October, 1878. The average circulation is 
between eight and nine thousand, while there are six thousand eight hundred and eighty- 
two members. The present officers are: C. W. Kellogg, President; E. M. Lorey, Sec- 
retary; H. F. Peterson, Assistant Secretary; Trustees, O. H. Burnham, Wiiber 
Walker, E. A. Trefethen, E. M. Long, C. W. Kellogg. 

Oakland Daily Evening Tribune. — The first number of the Oakland Daily 
Evening Tribune was issued on Saturday evening, February 21, 1874, by Ben. A. 
Dewes and George B. Staniford, under the firm name of Dewes & Staniford. The 
sheet was insignificant in size, but very respectable in its typographical appearance 
and editorial tone, being the joint production of two excellent printers and journalists. 
The idea on which the enterprise was based can be best expressed probably by a 
quotation from an editorial printed in the first number of the paper. It reads as 
follows: "There seems to be an open field for a journal like the Tribune in Oakland, 
and we accordingly proceed to occupy it, presenting the Tribune, which is intended 
to be a permanent daily paper, deriving its support solely from advertising patronage." 
Previous to the production of this unpretending sheet Oakland journalism was at a 
low ebb. The ability and energy displayed by the proprietors immediately attracted 
attention, and secured paying patronage that soon warranted its enlargement. The 
first number contained only three narrow columns to the page, and carried forty-three 
business advertisements. Three months after the first issue of the Tribune, it was 
enlarged to double its original size, and was no longer distributed gratuitously. The 
place of publication was changed to rooms in the Wilcox Block, over those occupied 
at that time as the Post-office, and in the following year to rooms in the adjoining 
block, on Broadway, between Eighth and Ninth Streets. In the earl)' part of 1876 
Mr. Dewes, who had previously purchased the interest of Mr. Staniford, disposed o( 
one-half his interest in the paper to A. B. Gibson, of San Francisco, who retained the 
share but a short time, disposing of the same to A. E. Nightingill, then recently from 
Marysville. The present management of the Tribune was assumed July 24, 1876, when 
Wm.E. Dargie purchased the interests of Messrs. Dewes and Nightingill. From a variety 
of causes, the principal one being the long-continued ill-health of Mr. Dewes, the 
business had fallen away materially. Under the new management, however, renewed 
life and energy were instilled into the business, news, and editorial departments. 
Important changes were made, not onl)- in .systematizing the various details, but in 
the general features of the paper. The columns of the Tribune, under the old pro- 
prietors, had been confined almost exclusively to local affairs, and but very little space 
was devoted to general news. Believing that Oakland presented a field for the sup- 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 779 

port of a first-class journal, giving full and reliable reports of all matters pertaining to 
Oakland, and Alameda County, choice selections of miscellany, as well as the tele- 
graphic news of the day, Mr. Dargie resolved to bring the Tribune up to that standard 
as rapidly as possible. Within a month he succeeded in obtaining the Associated 
Press dispatches, being the first Alameda County journalist who had succeeded in 
doing so. Other new features were introduced from time to time, and special efforts 
were made to increase the circulation. No difficulty was experienced in effecting 
this object, and the circulation and general business at the close of the first year had 
increased so greatly that it was found necessary to purchase the press and other 
material of the defunct " News Publishing Company." This gratifying success of the 
first year proved conclusively that the people of Oakland appreciated the energy, 
ability, and intelligence displayed in the efforts to establish the Tribune as a first- 
class journal, and rendered its ultimate success a foregone conclusion. To accommo- 
date the increased circulation and advertising patronage of the Tribune, on October 
I, 1877, the business was removed to more extensive quarters, at No. 406 Twelfth 
Street, and a book and job department added, besides which one of R. Hoe & Co.'s 
patent improved double-cylinder presses was purchased on which to print the daily 
Tribune, and a new two-roller cylinder press was placed in the book and job printing 
department. On November 1, 1881, the Tribune was moved to its present com- 
modious quarters at Nos. 413, 415, and 417 Eighth Street, where each department is 
under special and efficient supervision. 

The Tribune is a well-printed publication, containing all the latest telegraphic 
and local news, with well-digested editorials and well-written articles on special sub- 
jects. It has a circulation of five thousand, and is to be found in every household 
throughout the county. The Tribune is Republican in politics, and is printed by the 
"Tribune Publishing Company," W. E. Dargie, Manager, A. K. P. Harmon, Jr., Sec- 
retary. 

The Oakland Daily Times is to-day one of the leading journals in Alameda 
County, and one of the most influential Democratic papers in the State. It is an 
old-established paper, being formerly known as. the Transcript, owned and controlled 
by Col. John Scott, and was then a leading Democratic journal. The chief work the 
paper did under that regime was the advocating of, and, in fact, the framing of the 
law known as the "Litigants' Law." The paper fought for this bill assiduously, and 
finally succeeded in procuring its passage through the Legislature. This law fixed 
the rates for the publication of legal notices and advertisements, and still continues 
in force. The office was located on Broadway, between Eighth and Ninth Streets, 
and the paper was printed on a hand-press. Gradually the paper grew, and subse- 
quently changed hands, a Mr. Powers becoming the proprietor. Under his control 
the politics of the paper was changed, and from an advocate of the Democracy it 
became a Republican journal of the most outspoken character. 

In 1878 the paper again changed proprietorship, and it was then the most impor- 
tant changes were made. On the 8th of January of that year Messrs. J. A. Johnson 
and J. B. Wyman purchased the entire plant, and extensive improvements were 
immediately commenced. The building, 952 Broadway, was leased, and to the new 



780 History of Alameda County, California. 

establishment the business department was first moved, and was subsequently followed 
by the news and editorial departments, and, lastly, by the composition department. 
J. B. Wyman was business manager. Possessed of great executive ability, he 
kept the entire institution under his eye, and by degrees built the paper upon its pres- 
ent strong foundation, and was the chief factor in bringing the journal to an impor- 
tant and influential position. When this last change of proprietorship was made, the 
title of the paper was changed to the Daily Times, and in addition to the daily publi- 
cation, a large and valuable weekly edition was published, chiefly for circulation 
throughout the county and State. From the date of that change prosperity has 
marked its course. Soon after the change was made William D. Harwood became 
editor-in-chief, and by his ability as a writer, his argumentative powers, and close, 
logical reasoning, aided greatly in establishing the paper in its successful career. 
Probably the most important fight ever made by a newspaper was made by the 
Times, and brought to a successful termination, in connection with the water front. 
The importance of the harbor of Oakland had gradually been impressed upon the 
minds of the people, and had reached the Government headquarters. Hon. Horace 
F. Page, the Congressman from the district of which Alameda County formed a large 
portion, became deeply interested in the matter, and by persistent efforts obtained 
sundry appropriations for the improvement of the harbor and the deepening of the 
channel leading to the land-locked basin at East Oakland. In course of time the 
appropriations amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, and work was 
about to be commenced on the harbor, when the Oakland Water Front Company 
appeared upon the scene, and claimed the ownership, not only of the entire water front 
surrounding the city of Oakland, but such avast portion of the bed of the estuary, that 
their claim, if established, would have vitiated all efforts at improvement. At first, 
little notice was taken of the claim, the people believing that the Government would 
go on with the work and pay no attention to it. But it was soon learned that unless 
the Government could have a clear title to the land in dispute they would do no work, 
and the money would consequently lapse to the treasury. This knowledge startled 
the people to a sense of their position, and several meetings were held, at which com- 
mittees were appointed to confer with the Water Front Company and endeavor to 
arrange matters. All their efforts failed, however, and the money was about to lapse, 
by reason of the time having expired in which it could be used. The Times had closely 
watched the contest, and had directed the course to be pursued, through its editorial 
columns. But an apathy would seem to have taken hold upon the people. They 
appeared indifferent to the future of their chosen home; its bright prospects seemed 
about to be extinguished forever, and there was every prospect that instead of becom- 
ing a city of great mercantile importance, Oakland would sink into obscurity and 
become nothing more than a pleasant country town. The citizens were like a flock of 
sheep without a shepherd, and, lacking a leader, knew not which wa\' to turn or what 
to do. At this critical juncture the Times decided to make the fight single-handed, 
and win back the water front, or, at any rate, compel such a recognition of the rights of 
the citizens that the appropriations should be .secured and the work proceeded with. 
Alfred J. Share, a journalist of considerable experience, was engaged, and specially 
detailed to work up the case, and in September, 1879, the fight was commenced. This 



Oakland Township — City of Oakland. 781 

was done in a series of interviews with persons connected with the early interests of 
Oakland, and occupied nearly three months of close work. The results are familiar to 
every resident of this city, and, in fact, to the entire reading public in the State. From 
the earliest settlement of the town of Oakland, up through all the changes and vicissi- 
tudes the town had gone through, its history was published; and the methods by 
which the Water Front Company had sought to deprive the people of their rights 
were laid bare. Broadside after broadside was poured into the sides of the enemy, 
until, becoming thoroughly frightened at the prospects of their property slipping away, 
the company commenced suit against the cit}' to quiet title, and the result of it all 
was that the title of the Government to the estuary and tide-lands was established, 
the engineers were set at work preparing plans and specifications, and the work of 
improvement has gone on ever since, and is still progressing. 

The result of this fight made by the Times cannot even now be estimated, nor 
can the good that will result from it be even guessed at. But it is already assuming 
vast proportions. Factories are springing up all around the city, upon the water front 
for the right of possession to which the fight was made, and Oakland's success as a 
manufacturing center is an assured fact. Through the victory won for the city by the 
Times, the course has been opened for railroads to make their termini here, and the 
increased accommodation caused by the entry of the Narrow-gauge Railroad is one 
of the results. 

It was the indomitable pluck and business tact of J. B. Wyman that planned 
and carried through the fight to its successful issue, and his name and that of the 
Times will always be associated as ranking foremost among the public benefactors of 
the city of Oakland. 

By rapid strides the Times grew in importance, and another change was neces- 
sary in order to accommodate the largely increasing business of the ofifice. The com- 
modious building at the corner of Ninth Street and Broadway was secured on a lease, 
the facilities for publication were largely increased, a large and well-appointed job- 
printing-office was added to the instil ution, and Alfred J. Share was installed as city 
editor. Under his management the local news department attained an unrivaled 
position, and presented a faithful record of every transaction of note occurring within 
the limits of the city and county. 

The growing importance of the Times as a leading journal became recognized 
throughout the States, and attracted the attention of John P. Irish, a stanch Demo- 
crat, and the editor and proprietor of the lozva City Press, a leading journal in the 
State of Iowa. Recognizing the need of a Democratic Journal on the Pacific Coast in 
general, and in Oakland in particular, Mr. Irish made a visit here, and opened negotia- 
tions for the purchase of an interest in the Tillies, one of the chief conditions being 
that it should advocate the cause of the Democracy. In the course of a few months the 
arrangements were completed, and on October i, 1882, Mr. Irish became the editorial 
pilot, in time to make the fight for the fall election of that year. With what result 
that fight was made, the public is perfectly familiar. Under the skillful eye of Mr. 
Irish the State craft was steered and by his pen the delinquencies of the Repub- 
lican Party were kept before the voting public, and thfe need of reform in all depart- 
ments urgently made. The result of the contest was the election of Democrats to 



782 History of Alameda County, California. 

the two leading offices in the county, the Sheriff and County Clerk, the election of a 
Democratic Congressman, and, for the district, a Congressman at large living in Oak- 
land. A better illustration of the influence and importance of the Times in the com- 
munity cannot be given. 

Since Mr. Irish took charge of the editorial department, the paper has increased 
in circulation to a remarkable degree. Soon after his advent, the Tunes was issued 
as a seven-day paper, the Sunday edition consisting of eight pages; the weekly 
edition was enlarged, and now has a circulation of immense proportions, not only in 
the county of Alameda and the State of California, but also through other States of 
the Union. Financially the establishment is in a flourishing condition, and as a proof 
of the popularity of the management of which J. B. Wyman is still the head and 
brains. 

Oakland Press. — Located at Center Station, Seventh Street, West Oakland, 
and was started by G. W. Barter, in 1872, at that time a twenty-eight column paper. 
He conducted it until 1875; it was then purchased b)' DeWitt C. Lawrence, its present 
proprietor, and in 1876 was changed to its present size of forty-two columns, and 
Democratic in principle. It enjoys a good advertising patronage and a large circu- 
lation. 

Berkeley. — This town has very little history beyond what is given to it by the 
presence of the University of California. It is a suburb of Oakland, and the day is 
not far distant when it will be absorbed by that rapidlj- extending and increasing 
city. In the year 1868, when the University was located where it is, there then was 
near the bay a hamlet known as Ocean View, but which is now called West Berkeley, 
the cluster of houses in the neighborhood of the college receiving the name of Berke- 
ley, which is now usually termed East Berkeley. It was some time before Berkeley 
took any great strides to improvement, however, but a superior class of persons took 
up their residences there, have purchased property, erected houses, and have done 
much towards the establishment of a model town with .systematically laid out streets, 
well-kept lawns, and handsome environs. It is now in direct communication with 
San Francisco by half-hourly local trains. 

Berkeley is blessed with water of the best quality, while its streets are lit 
with gas. It is well supplied with churches as with schools, and has marvelous beauty 
of nature on every side, and a railroad to every door. 

The town was incorporated in 1S78, while the following industries will show 
that it is a place of considerable enterprise. 

Having been disappointed in receiving a promised history of the University of 
California, we reproduce the accompanying complete sketch, taken from a pamphlet 
descriptive of Berkeley and its environs published by Bacon & Co. of San Francisco. 

Sketch of the University. — No learned institution more truly deserves the 
title of Alma Mater than the University of California. It is the consort of the State, 
and the foster-mother of its sons and daughters. Its blessings fall equally on high 
and low, rich and poor. None are excluded from its classes on account of age, sex, 
or condition. It resembles, in its wide scope, the German universities, to whose lect- 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 783 

ure-rooms students return year after year until they are gray-haired. It is ample in 
scientific attainment, comprehensive in literary culture, and by its practical devices 
reaches every department of ordinary life. It has been remarked that California begins 
every scheme of civilization and improvement where others leave off We avoid the 
errors, and accept the wise conclusions of all who have gone before us. In accord- 
ance with this principle, when California framed a constitution, she laid the foundation 
of her government so broad as to include a university, furnishing a culture complete 
in extent, and available for all. This was to be the crowning stone of the educational 
pyramid. Things were so shaped as to take advantage of extraneous aid offered by 
the nation, or by individuals. In 1853 Congress gave to the States seventy-two sec- 
tions of land for the establishment of a fund for seminaries of learning, and ten sec- 
tions of land to provide suitable buildings for such institutions as that provision might 
call into being. In 1862, through the Morrill Act, a special gift of land was made 
for the purpose of establishing schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts. This 
being apportioned pro I'ata, gave to California a magnificent domain of one hundred 
and fifty thousand acres. It was the practical period in American life, when thought, 
tired of pure classicism, tended toward those courses of study that would not only 
educate the brain, but the hand, the foot, the eye, and every physical function 
which would help to make the student a self-supporting man or woman. The land 
found a good market, bringing five dollars an acre; a result only achieved by one other 
State. It has all been paid for, and passed under the control of the buyers. 
It was then flush times in California, and the demand for money permitted the 
investment of all the spare funds at ten per cent. Trustees were appointed to 
control the inchoate College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, who met in Sacra- 
mento, June 10, 1867, and decided that it should be located somewhere in Alameda 
County. This brought the scheme within the sphere of the College of California, 
which had received its charter in 1855, and had, since i860, been leading a precarious 
existence in Oakland. This school was not sectarian, though it was nominally under 
the control of the Presbyterians and Congregationalists. It admitted Unitarians to its 
executive board. But it occupied no special place in public appreciation. It was too 
denominational to please the most liberal patrons of education, and not strict enough 
for those who wished their children reared under church influence. It was in charge 
of Dr. Henry Durant, a graduate of Yale College, where he had been a classmate of 
Dr. Horace Bushnell, the celebrated New England divine. At one time he had been 
a tutor at Yale, and afterward principal of an academy at Byfield, Massachusetts, 
The College of California had accumulated considerable property by gift or purchase, 
a part of which comprised one hundred and sixty acres of land north of Oakland, in 
the foothills of Contra Costa County. The time seemed to Dr. Durant opportune for 
uniting his languishing institution with the well-endowed Agricultural and Mechani- 
cal College, and making of the two a great practical school, satisfactory to the scient- 
ist and the average citizen. Therefore, the domain in the foothills was transferred to 
the Agricultural College, on the sole condition that it should maintain a department 
of letters. Of this union of ideas came the University as it exists. The founding of 
a seminary of advanced learning on the western shore of the American Continent, 



784 History of Alameda County, California. 

from whose windows could be seen the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, suggested 
to those engaged in the project the famous hne of Berkeley, 

" WLstwaril the course of Empire takes its way." 

Hence, the site received the name of the author of the poetic prophecy, and it 
will add luster to it as the years increase its fame and influence. Dr. BuslincU inter- 
ested himself in the scheme, but had nothing to do with the selection of the site; for 
this, Dr. Durant may be considered as chiefly responsible. The beaut)- of the locality 
began to be appreciated, and many gentlemen, smitten with the pros])ect, and fore- 
seeing a brilliant future for the town, bought neighboring property; and in some cases 
regardless of the distance of railroad communications, went daily back and forth to 
the city. 

Preliminary Legislation. — The responsibility for the changes made, and the real 
paternity of the University, have been much discussed. So much of the credit as is 
embraced in the surrender of the College of California and the transfer of its property, 
is due to Doctor Durant, whose action was kind and considerate. Here his interven- 
tion in the work of organization ceases. The time fouiid man\- men animated by the 
proper degree of public spirit, intelligent, wide of view, and fitted for so important 
an undertaking; among them were Gov. Henr}' H. Haight, Lieutenant Governor 
Holden, Hon. E. H. Hcacock of Sacramento, Hon. John S. Hager of San Francisco,. 
Hon. Henry Robinson of Alameda, Hon. W. L. Angney of Santa Clara, Hon. Isaac 
Ayer of Calaveras, Hon. W. S. Green of Colusa, and Reverend Doctor Benton of Oak- 
land. Judge Hager is still interested in the University, as regent. The necessary 
legislation was framed by John W. Dwindle, who had no model from which to deduce 
his scheme, and was obliged to depend on a rough draft made b\- four of the Trustees 
of the College of California. The results have been eminently satisfactory, the organic 
act having nobly stood the test of twelve years' work and criticism. The following 
may serve as a memorandum of the various proceedings, legislative and otherwise, 
which preceded the opening of the University. 

The Act of Congress which appropriated public lands to create a Seminar)- and 
Building Fund was approved March 3, 1S53. 

The Act of Congress which gave one hundred and fift\- thousand acres of public 
land for establishing a College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts was approved 
July 2, 1862. 

The donation was accepted by the Legis;ature of California, b\- a concurrent reso- 
lution, March 31, 1864. 

April 22, 1863, the Legislature of California appointed a Board of Commissioners 
to report on the feasibility of establishing a State University, which should include an 
Agricultural College and School of Mines. 

The Board of Commissioners shortly afterward reported in fa\or of establishing 
a State Museum and School of Practical Science as a branch of the State University. 

An Act to establish a School of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts was approved 
March 31, 1866. 

June 21, 1867, the Board met at Sacramento, and located the Agricultural College 
in Alameda Count)-. 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 785 

In August, 1867, the President and Board of Trustees of the College of Califor- 
nia formally offered to the College of Agriculture one hundred and sixty acres of land 
at Berkeley. 

The proposition was accepted, and the lands were conveyed directl}- to the State 
at a meeting held shortly afterward. 

The general Act not being deemed sufficient, on March 5, 1868, the "Bill to 
organize the University of California" was introduced into the Assembly by its author, 
John W. Dwindle. 

This bill became a law by the approval of Governor Haight, March 23, 1868. 

The Board of Regents of the University was organized June 9, 1868. 

Organisation Effected. — In accordance with the organic act, the Board of Regents 
was composed of twenty-two members, of whom the following were ex officio: The 
Governor and Lieutenant Governor of California, the Speaker of the Assembly, the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the President of the State Agricultural 
Society, and the President of the Mechanics' Institute of San Francisco. Of the 
remaining sixteen, eight were to be appointed by the Governor, with the approval of 
the State Senate, and eight were to be honorary members, chosen from the body of 
the State by the official and appointed members. At a meeting of the Board, June 
9, 1868, Gen. George B. McClellan was elected President of the University, but being 
at that time in charge of the Stevens' Battery, he declined the honor. At a meeting 
held the following day, Prof John Le Conte was unanimously elected to the chairs of 
Physics and Industrial Mechanics. On the 1st of December other chairs were filled 
as follows: Ancient Languages, Martin Kellogg; Chemistry, R. A. Fisher; Geology, 
Botany, and Natural History, Joseph Le Conte. In January, 1869, Governor Haight, 
in accordance with the request of the Board, telegraphed Prof. John Le Conte that his 
presence was desired to confer with the Regents in respect to courses of study, the 
purchase of apparatus, and other important details. Professor Le Conte left South 
Carolina on the 24th of February, and having visited New York, arrived in San Fran- 
cisco on the 3d of April. He at once proceeded, in conjunction with the Committee 
on Instruction, to prepare the synopsis of a course of study appropriate to the Colleges 
of the University, which were five in number, namely : — 

1. A College of Agriculture. 

2. A College of Mechanic Arts. 

3. A College of Civil Engineering. 

4. A College of Mining. 

5. A College of Letters. 

In the mean time. Professor Fisher was sent to Europe to purchase physical and 
chemical apparatus. In order to facilitate the labors of Professor Le Conte, he was 
made acting President. Being requested by the Board, he prepared a prospectus 
which contained a complete schedule of study for the five colleges, and an announce- 
ment of the opening of the scholastic exercises on the 23d of September. The Uni- 
versity began its labors in accordance with this announcement in the buildings of the 
College of California in Oakland, taking from the classes of its predecessor about ten 
pupils. It remained there until it graduated its own senior class. The first graduat- 
ing exercises were held in June, 1873, in a church in Oakland. The new buildings 



786 History of Alameda County, California. 

were occupied the next September. Professor Le Conte had the active co-operation 
of Mr. Dwindle during the arduous work of organization. He acted as President for 
more than a year, presided at the first commencement exercises, and conferred the 
first degrees on a graduating class of three, who had been advanced students in the 
College of California. During his incumbency several measures of \ital importance 
were taken, among which were the selection of suitable building plans, making tuition 
free, the adoption of the Rules of Order and General Regulations of which he was the 
author, and the affiliation of the Medical College through the liberal gift of Doctor 
Toland. D. C. Gilman, a tutor in Yale College, was elected President June 2 1st, but 
declining, Doctor Durant was cho.sen, and assumed office in August. Doctor Durant 
retained the position until the re-election and acceptance of Mr. Gilman, July 20, 1872. 
The most important change occurring during Mr. Gilman's administration was the 
modification of the organic act, which made chemistry a distinct college, and the 
division of the College of Letters into two courses called the Classical and the Liter- 
ary. When Mr. Gilman resigned the presidency in March, 1875, to take charge of 
the John Hopkins University in Maryland, he was succeeded by Prof John Le Conte, 
who was first chosen Acting President, and at the e.xpiration of three months elected 
President, which position he has since occupied. 

Tlie University Buildings. — The buildings are sufficientK' spacious and convenient 
for the present needs of the University. The two largest stand on a terrace more 
than three hundred feet above tide-water, and command an unrestricted outlook over 
the bay and surrounding hills. They may be regarded as the historic structures, the 
nucleus of the group. The corner-stone of the Agricultural College, called South Hall, 
was laid in August, 1872, with public ceremonies. The corner-stone of the North 
Hall was laid in the spring of 1873. Both were so far completed as to permit the 
occupancy of most of the rooms when the University moved to Berkeley in the 
autumn of that year. Both buildings preserve the freshness of their first years. The 
architecture of South Hall is simple, but handsome. The material is brick trimmed with 
graystone. In construction it is solid and durable. It is one hundred and fifty-two 
feet long by fifty wide, has four stories and thirty-four rooms, six of the rooms being 
thirty-two by forty-eight feet, and several others twenty by twenty feet. In its base- 
ment are the chemical laboratory and the agricultural department. On the first floor 
are the rooms at present occupied by the library, the Secretary's office, and the instruc- 
tion rooms of the college of chemistry; on the floor above are the lecture-hall of Prof. 
Joseph Le Conte, the museum, and other rooms needed by the scientific department. 
The north building is one hundred and sixty-six feet long by sixty feet wide. It has 
four stories divided into twenty-eight compartments, an assembly-room, forty-three by 
fifty-eight feet, philo.sophical lecture-room thirty-nine by fifty feet, the University printing- 
office, students' reading-rooms, and various recitation-rooms, the mathematical depart- 
ment of Professors Welcker, Sill, and Le Conte being among the number. The.se two 
buildings are aligned with the main terrace. Back of them, and irregularly placed on 
the hillside, stand two buildings of later construction — the Bacon Art and Library 
Building, and the College of Mining and Mechanic Arts. The first is named from 
Henry Douglass Bacon, of Oakland, who gave to the University his excellent collection 
of paintings, sculpture, and miscellaneous works of art, a library of several thousand 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 787 

volumes, and $25,000 to erect suitable buildings to contain these treasures, provided 
the State would add $25,000 in furtherance of the project. The State appreciated 
the value and intelligence of the gift, and furnished the amount required. The build- 
ing and its art contents will increase the facilities for study, and pave the way to a 
finer culture. Its outside is prepossessing, being of brick unobtrusively ornamented 
with stone. The architectural style followed within and without is the later forms of 
Gothic. There are, properly, two buildings in one. That fronting the west is rectan- 
gular; the rear building is semi-circular. The front portion is eighty-eight by thirty- 
eight feet. The center of the fa9ade rises into a tower one hundred and two feet in 
height. The interior arrangements are well designed. There are broad lobbies and 
stairways, an elevator, reading-rooms, committee-rooms, store-rooms, and a large art 
gallery well lighted from the top. The rotunda of the library portion is sixty-nine 
feet in diameter, and fifty-seven feet in height. It will hold ninety-thousand volumes. 
When the collection exceeds this, the capacity of "the building can be increased with- 
out altering its proportions, by rectangular additions at the north and south ends. 

Library and Works of Art. — There will soon be displayed in the art gallery the 
Pioche collection of paintings, and the paintings and sculpture given by Mr. Bacon. 
The first will have great value as illustrating a period of French art; the last has 
many works of superior merit. The library began with one thousand volumes, trans- 
ferred with the property of the College of California. It has since rapidly increased 
through gifts of Michael Reese, F. L. A. Pioche, Edmond L. Gould, President Gil- 
man, Sherman Day, John W. Dwindle, Mrs. and Miss Fourgeaud, William Ash- 
burner, Mr. Bacon, and a host of unobtrusive friends. It can only be said to be 
measurably complete in the direction of scientific works, owing to the long list of 
periodicals which are yearly increased in number and are copiously indexed. The 
greatest economy of purchase has been found necessary. A fuller supply of belles 
lettres is greatly desired; also books on special subjects, such as political and social 
science, mining, mathematics, and zoology. The present yearly income of about 
$4,000 is from a bequest of $50,000, made by Michael Reese. The library must 
grow from similar accretions, large and small. Its future magnificence will depend, 
therefore, largely on the liberality of wealthy citizens and the grateful gifts of those 
who have experienced the benefits of the University. As the library is a department 
of the University, the property of the State, and to be hereafter made accessible to ' 
all citizens, it will be specially interesting and valuable to residents of Berkeley. It 
is in charge of Joseph C. Rowell, a graduate of the University. The building occu- 
pied by the College of Mechanics and the College of Mining is of brick, large, well 
built, and well lighted. The only other building of importance is a large and well- 
furnished gymnasium, built by A. K. P. Harmon, of Oakland, which can, if needed, 
be used for literary exercises. A hall for the accommodation of the athletic clubs is 
in contemplation. 

The Grounds. — No college or university has ever before been environed by such 
natural beauties. Art has done more for many; as, for instance, the schools in Spain 
during the Arabic revival, and those of ancient Greece made memorable by the 
teachings of the great philosophers. But the groves of Academe sifted through with 
dust from the ill-kept thoroughfares of Athens, and overlooked by imposing temples 



788 History of Alameda County, California. 

of faultless architecture, were not half so rich in beauties and endowments, or so 
brilliant with foliage and color, as these not very trimly-kept grounds in which nature 
disports herself in almost unrestrained luxuriance. The University domain includes 
two hundred acres of land, most of it having a soil of surpassing richness. The west 
line is low down upon the plateau, the east line far up in the hills. The contour of 
the ground is formed by Strawberr\- Creek and its main branch, which issue from 
romantic cations behind the buildings, and run some distance in front ol them. They 
are bordered with oaks, laurels, willows, and the coast vegetation common to such 
localities. Near the angle formed by their confluence is an open space — the campus 
proper — used by the students for their games and alfresco exercises. The College of 
California has caused the property to be carefully examined by Frederick Law 01m- 
stead, the well-known landscape engineer, before its transfer. Mr. Olmstead wrote an 
elaborate treatise on the subject, copies of which are rare; and prepared a map, which 
has unfortunately been lost. He preferred such division and ornamentation as would 
preserve the natural features and flowing outlines of the place, a plan that has since 
been somewhat varied. The grounds were afterward laid out by \\"illiam Hammond 
Hall, under the directions of the Regents. The design is simple, involving winding 
drives, with entrances on the south, north, and west, serpentine walks, and a rather 
sharply defined terrace for the main buildings. The grounds ha\-e also been surveyed 
by Professor Soule with special reference to the water-supply. The open portions, 
dotted with fine specimens of live-oak, have, though untouched, a finished park-like 
appearance, and are gay with wild poppies, buttercups, primroses, and blue lilies 
tlirough winter and spring. The improved places are filled with evergreen and decid- 
uous trees, shrubs, plants, and flowers from every quarter of the globe. A conserv- 
atory occupies one of the warmest nooks. The fields of the agricultural departrnent 
are near the western entrance, and are, with their specimens of imported fruits, grains, 
and trees undergoing a process of experimental culture, of the greatest interest to the 
farmer and botanist. No modern college has grounds like these. The German 
universities are usually in crowded cities, and without external attractions. The 
English universities have lawns that are ill-kept, and a few trees poorly cared for. 
The American colleges ha^'e not found it easy to cultivate handsome surroundings, 
on account of a severe climate and ungrateful soil. Cambridge has a lawn and trees. 
. Yale has its elms and public green. Trinity College at Hartford has limited grounds 
which it is trying to improve. The New York colleges are much the same, except 
Cornell, which has a large domain still new. All is being done at Ann Arbor that 
can be done at a place so situated. The southern colleges might do more in their 
softer climate, but their grounds are neglected and forlorn. None are so favored in 
climate, universal capacity of production, and beauty of outlook as this. Art might 
do much to aid nature, but even without art nature was never more attractive. 

The Faculty. — The University's corps of professors and instructors will compare 
favorably in experience, attainments, dignity of character, and intellectual force, with 
those of the best of the Eastern colleges. Several of them were associated with the 
College of California; several have had experience in Eastern institutions; while to 
quite a number foreign study has added depth and finish of scholarshi]). President 
John Le Conte has a national reputation as a physicist. Professor Jo.seph Le Conte 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 789 

is accomplished in geology and its kindred branches. The works which he has pub- 
lished on geological science, on science in its relations to religion, his volume printed 
in the scientific series of the Appletons, and his numerous learned papers covering a 
wide variety of topics, have given him an excellent reputation among thoughtful men 
in this country, and have made his name known beyond the Atlantic. He was born 
in Georgia in 1823, and graduated in 1841 from the University of that State. After 
having studied at the New York College of Physicians, from which he received the 
degree of M. D., he practiced medicine for a short time, and then devoted himself to 
the study of science under Agassiz. In 1851 he became a mernber of the Faculty of 
Oglethorpe University in Georgia, first filling the chairs of Natural Science, and 
afterward that of Geology and Natural History. In 1856 he accepted the professor- 
ship of Chemistry and Geology in the University of South Carolina. This and other 
scientific occupations occupied his time until 1869, when he was called to the Univer- 
sity of California. The Le Contes are of Huguenot parentage, their ancestors having 
emigrated in 1665 to South Carolina, which was the home of the family until 1810, 
when their father moved to Georgia. Professor Kellogg is a Connecticut man by 
birth and education, having studied in the schools of that State, and graduated at 
Yale College in 1850. He afterwards spent four years at Union Theological Semi- 
nary, and came to California in 1855 as a Home Missionary. He was connected with 
the College of California from i860 to 1869, and was one of the first four elected to 
chairs in the University. He has been for many years Dean of the Faculty. He is 
considered a ripe scholar, and thorough instructor. What he has done in the way of 
editing Latin classics shows him capable of much more elaborate work of that 
character. Professor Rising was a professor in the College of California. He was 
educated at Hamilton College, New York. He has studied at Heidelberg and Berlin, 
and been twice associated with the University at Ann Arbor, first as instructor in 
Chemistry and Mining Engineering, the next time as instructor in Chemistry. , He 
has his degree of Ph. D. from Heidelberg. Professor Bunnell is accredited to Harvard- 
He was for some time principal of the San Francisco Latin School, from which many 
of his pupils found their way with credit to the University, and to leading Eastern 
colleges. Professor Sill is a graduate from Yale College, and for many years princi- 
pal of the Oakland High School, whence he was transferred to the chair which he at 
present occupies. He is an able instructor, and an enthusiast in his calling. West 
Point has furnished two members of the Faculty — Professors Welcker and Soule. 
The first was for many years a professor in that institution. To sufficient scholarship 
he adds those qualities of culture and breeding which are deemed essential to fine 
military character, and which invariably win the respect of students. Professor Soule 
is younger, but has had ample experience. He graduated from West Point in 1866,, 
in the ordnance corps of the army, served a while in Alleghany City, and was after- 
ward assistant instructor in mathematics at his Alma Mater, until he was offered, in 
1869, the position of assistant to Professor Welcker, in the Department of Military 
Science and Tactics. Professor Moses is one of the youngest members of the Fac- 
ulty. He graduated at the University of Michigan in 1870, and finished his studies, 
at the universities of Leipzig, Berlin, and Heidelberg, taking his degree from the last. 
His special studies while abroad were political economy, and history as incidental 



790 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

thereto. For the purpose of prosecuting a very interesting branch of historical 
research, he made two summer visits, of several months' duration, to Norway and 
Sweden. He is a thoughtful student, and earnestly devoted to his vocation. Pro- 
fessor Hesse was trained in a German polytechnic school, and was early engaged as a 
teacher in Brown University. Subsequently he held a scientific appointment under 
the United States Government, and was devoting himself privately to mechanical 
pursuits, when he was offered a chair at the University. He is said to be a mathe- 
matician of rare skill, and to unite scientific attainment with great practical abilty, a 
union of qualities very desirable in his present position. Professor Hilgard was born 
in Germany, and came to America when fifteen years of age. He has resided here 
since, except when completing his education at a German university. After his 
return to the United States he was made State Geologist of Mississippi and Louis- 
iana, and held that place till elected to the chair of geology in the University of 
Michigan. The College of Agriculture needing a man at once practical and scientific, 
the position was tendered to Professor Hilgard, in 1874. He found the college under 
a cloud, which his careful administration has completely dispelled. 

Tlie Work of the Colleges. — It would require a large volume to analj'ze the scheme 
of the colleges, and to fully explain their work. They will here be briefly outlined. 
From a practical point of view they leave very little to be desired. A university can- 
not make a scholar. If he is malleable it can hammer him into form; if he is ductile 
it can draw him out; if he is pliable it can bend him into graceful outline; but it can 
give him no quality of which he has not already the germ. It can teach his brain to 
theorize if he has a brain; it can train his eye and educate his hand; it can furnish 
him models to imitate; it can point out errors to be avoided; it can give him material, 
and instruct him -in its intelligent use; it can indicate the devious ways of knowledge, 
and show him how to walk in them without going astra)-; it can ground him in 
branches of science, and leave him to perfect himself in them as he matures. This is 
what the University of California is doing. Most students come too young to be 
made perfect in any specialty, for perfect scholarship implies the devotion of a lifetime. 
The department of civil engineering cannot graduate a pupil competent to build a 
railroad across the Andes, but it may send from its lecture-rooms a young man, who, 
if he has talent and is true to it, may acquire the experience that will enable him to 
perform even greater feats. The College of Chemistry cannot make a F"araday, but 
it can give a young man the means of becoming even greater tlian F"araday. It is 
well for every one to understand that college education is the beginning of life, and 
not the consummation of it. The College of Chemistr)- is in charge of a scholar 
thoroughly taught, who has able assistants. It has laboratories modeled on those 
considered most complete in foreign universities, furnished with all necessary appli- • 
ances for complete chemical manipulation; there are few better in the country. The 
scholar is taught the principles of chemistry, and made to illustrate them by his own 
experiments. The only expense is the trivial charge for the chemicals consumed. 

College of Agriculture. — The College of Agriculture is more nearly related to the 
masses. Professor Hilgard is a botanist, and familiar with the growth and diseases of 
plants. This has enabled him to do great service to the viticulturists of the State. 
He is expert in the analysis of soils, and has done a great deal to enlighten farmers 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 791 

in regard to reclamation of alkaline lands, and the adaptability of certain localities 
to special productions. He keeps himself e-n rapport with the cultivators of the soil by 
frequent lectures in the country, the distribution of reports, and by the exhibition of 
specimen cereals in cases at the State and district fairs. He thinks the time is not 
far distant when agricultural experts will be in as great demand as mining experts. 
The experiments made in this department have resulted in the cordial co-operation of 
intelligent and progressive farmers, who are beginning to understand in what manner 
science may become the handmaid of agriculture. The idea of a model farm has been 
abandoned as impracticable. Herein the college follows the example of Cornell and 
other Eastern institutions which include agriculture in their curriculum. Perfect culti- 
vation of the soil, safety of crops, and thoroughness of study are impossible where 
student labor is exclusively relied on; therefore most of the work is done by outside 
labor, the student looking on, and sometimes co-operating. For work out of hours 
he is compensated, and, if needy, to that extent aided in the completion of his col- 
lege course. The department has ample facilities for illustrating its theories and 
turning its work to practical account. Its plan contemplates finding out and explain- 
ing the best modes of propagating grains and economic plants. As soon as possible 
it will establish a botanical garden, which will not only illustrate plants of economic 
value, but those which are interesting to the chemist. Twelve thousand botanical 
specimens have been collected. Seven hundred specimens of soil have been gathered 
and analyzed. The texture of grain, dried plants, and fronds of flowers are shown to 
pupils in the lecture-room by means of a camera obscura. New varieties of wheat 
are constantly imported from abroad and distributed throughout the State. There is 
no department that has about it more life and activity that that of agriculture. Pro- 
fessor Hilgard is efficiently assisted in the branches of practical farming and experi- 
mental culture on the University grounds by Charles H. Dwindle. Mr. Wickson 
lectures at intervals on dairying. 

The Colleges of Mining and Mechanics. — The building occupied by the College 
of Mechanics and the College of Mining and Metallurgy was completed two years 
ago. The first is under the charge of Professor Hesse, the other under the superin- 
tendence of E. P. Christy. With the College of Agriculture, they stand very near 
to the heart of the people of the State, who are prone to look at the practical side of 
things. The tendency of modern instruction is in the same direction, as shown by 
the recent rapid increase of polytechnic schools. The course of study pursued under 
Professor Hesse involves a period of theoretic study, supplemented by experiments of 
the most practical character, which will enable the student to become a superior 
mechanic. Problems relating to mechanical engineering are illustrated by practical 
application. There is a machine shop with power, and all necessary tools, which will 
soon be placed in charge of a first-class mechanic, where students can be made thor- 
oughly acquainted with the various forms and facilities of machinery. The course 
includes instruction in the laws of solids, fluids, and the making of machineiy of all 
kinds and for all purposes. The mining c^epartment teaches assaying and the methods 
of practical mining, by lectures, text-books, practical illustration, and visits to indus- 
trial works in San Francisco, and mining and metallurgical works elsewhere. It con- 
tains four crucible furnaces, four furnaces for cupellation, and all necessary apparatus 



792 History of Alameda County, California. 

for pulverizing, sampling, and reducing ores. Its students have alread)' given good 
accounts of themselves in the mining districts of Arizona and Colorado. The doors 
of both these colleges are open to special scholars, who ma\' wish a \-car's instruction 
without having had other academic training. 

Other Departments. — The College of Letters, with its admirable culture, offers 
less opportunity for description. There is a military department organized by Pro- 
fessor Welcker, who has endeavored not to confine the course of study merely to 
tactics, but to impart information that would be valuable to the volunteer soldier and 
the officer when called into service. A nation of fifty million people which maintains 
no standing army should, he argues, receive what compensation is possible in the 
general diffusion of military knowledge. Profes.sor Welcker had. for some time, the 
valuable assistance of Mr. Soulc, who is now Professor of civil engineering and 
astronomy. The military department is at present ably instructed by George C. 
Edwards, Professor Welcker devoting himself strictly to the department of mathemat- 
ics. The classical course includes instruction in Latin, Greek, and the modern 
languages, with elective studies. The literary course omits Greek, and gives prom- 
inence to the modern languages and English literature. By this means the preferences 
and prejudices of all are regarded. No one is compelled to a course of mere scho- 
lasticism, who prefers the kind of learning which he thinks will prove more avail- 
able in after life; while those who desire the mere accomplishments of scholarship can 
be fully gratified. The departments of mathematics and civil engineering are spoken 
of as parts of the College of Letters because they treat of science in reference to 
theory, and are considered essential to the curricula of all higher institutions of learn- 
ing. They offer their advantages to all students of the University. Military study 
and drill are required of all. The study of English literature is made more attractive 
by frequent allusion to the best current publications. Several of the affiliated colleges 
of the University are for convenience located in San Francisco. These are the 
Hastings Law College, whose fee^ are merely nominal, the Toland Medical School, 
the College of Pharmacy, the College of Dentistry. Their existence is an additional 
proof of the adaptability of the University to all the wants of common life. 

In Condnsion. — Even this brief outline of the history and work of California's 
great institution of learning shows the admirable range and completeness of its plan. 
It needs time to consolidate its labors and to perfect its generous scheme. An 
existence of twelve years does not permit perfect results. Cambridge has been two 
hundred and fifty years in growing to its present stature from a "Freshman class of 
one." A working faculty of thirty, no matter how ripe in scholarship, can hardly 
accomplish as much as a well-equipped corps of one hundred teachers. Vet several 
of the University's Eastern rivals exceed that number. The institution has wrought 
out several problems since its organization. It has proved the co-education of the 
sexes possible. Young ladies have been admitted to all its classes on equal terms 
with young men, and have been remarkable for exceptional deportment and high 
class-standing. All its practical departments have been eminently successful. The 
school teacher, the mining expert, the druggist, the chemist, the mechanic, the 
farmer, can gain access to them at any time, and bring his imperfect knowledge up to 
any desired standard. A post-graduate course affords the earnest student an oppor- 




7 ^tf"*ii»^ 




Jr. y^ayi^ z^ty-cc-r-e^ '^/?2a^o/c 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 793 

tunity to emulate the example of the great scholars of the world. The library- 
is rapidly being perfected in all lines of science and literature. Museums illustrating 
every branch of study are large, and constantly increasing. Hard times have 
impaired the University's influence by diminishing the number of students from the 
middle classes of society, who have been its best supporters. There is every reason 
to believe, however, that the tide of fortune is now where it can be taken at the flood. 
The present members of the Board of Regents are active and sympathetic. The 
affairs of the institution have never bsen complicated by political chicanery. In 
accordance with this principle, recent appointments have been thoughtfully and intel- 
ligently made by Governor Perkini. T.ii Faculty who have hitherto been new to 
one another, will gradually become more homogeneous. Systematic social intercourse, 
firm executive control, and the natural solidification of time, will, year by year, give 
greater unity and an increased momentum. The State is liberal in its annual provi- 
sions, and nothing seems wanting to make this great school, with its noble foundation, 
a power on the Pacific Coast, and a potent influence in the world. 

The California Institution for the Deaf, and Dumb, and the Blind. — 
Was founded in i860. It was then under the auspices of a Board of Lady Managers, 
presided over by Mrs. P. B. Clark. By subscription the}^ effected the purchase of a 
lot on Spark Street, between Mission and Howard Streets, San Francisco. A timely 
appropriation from the convening Legislature enabled them to complete two brick 
buildings on the site, and to remove there some ten pupils from Tehama Street, where 
a school had been carried on for some months previously in a rented house. At that 
time the purpose of the school was not as well understood as it is to-day, and it 
verged upon the condition of a poor-house, with faint attempts at the education of 
the deaf thrown in. Besides, the public credit, consequent upon the war, was at a low . 
ebb. Donations had to be depended upon, but the energy of the originators was 
equal to the need. The school grew in strength and numbers. From a single pupil 
at the Tehama Street House, in i860, the school increased to fifty in 1866, and the ques- 
tion of its accommodations became a serious one, as it could be seen that the build- 
ings were outgrown, and their living and school facilities were taxed to the utmost. 
Just at this time there arrived from New York a new Principal, Prof Warring Wilk- 
inson. Two Principals — Mrs. Clark and a Mr. Francis — had preceeded him, but this 
time the selection by the Board was a most fortunate one, for Mr. Wilkinson brought 
rare qualifications from ten years' preparation at the New York Institution. In the 
Legislature, convened the following winter, Mr. Wilkinson had a bill introduced ask- 
ing for an appropriation for a new building, to be erected on a new site. It was 
passed, and a commission was appointed to find the desired location. The Kearney 
farm — the present site, and situated in Berkeley, four miles north of Oakland — was 
chosen, and wisely so, as time proved. The tract consists of one hundred and thirty 
acres, eighty of which are hill land, used as a pasture. The rest is devoted to sites 
and tillage. Clear and pure water can be tapped anywhere under the foothills. A 
good soil, healthful climate, and fine outlook approve the wisdom of the commission. 
The specifications of the new building called for an edifice of blue-stone masonry, 
and three stories, with a frontage of one hundred and ninety-two feet and a depth of 
51 



794 History ok Alamkda County, California. 

one hundred and forty-eight feet. The style was Gothic. The plans were such as 
would overcome the difficulty of housing the different sexes and classes. The four 
corners of the edifice answered the purpose of four institutions. The dining-room 
was in the center and the chapel above it. Beyond a court on each side of the dining- 
room were school-rooms. The ground was broken July 29, 1867. The foundation- 
stone was laid on the 26th of September, with appropriate ceremony, a feature of 
which was an ode by Bret Harte. Except with a hitch, occasioned by the great 
earthquake of 1868, which battered down some parts of the walls, and entailed an 
additional expense of $9,000, the work so progressed that the building was ready for 
occupation in the fall of 1S69. The cost of the structure was $149,000, including the 
incidental expenses. The land, $12, 100. The San Francisco property put in the 
market realized $34,000. The school then opened with ninct)--six pupils, and under 
most favorable auspices. But it had hardly begun with the si.xth year of its new 
existence when a great misfortune befell it. That was the destruction by fire of the 
beautiful building, on the evening of the 17th of January, 1875. The cause of the 
calamity could never be ascertained. The fire began in the roof above the kitchen 
chimney, and, as a strong east wind was prevailing, made such rapid headway that 
the children were in danger. But no lives were lost, and prompt assistance from the 
neighbors saved the children from the exposure of a drizzling night. A blow so sud- 
den and overwhelming almost paralyzed the friends of the institution. But the Board 
of Directors was on the ground before the light of the fire had died away. At the 
meeting called the next day arrangements were at once made to open the school 
again as .soon as possible. Extensions were made to an outlying building at an 
expense of $27,000, for which twenty-seven gentlemen loaned $i,ODO each. On the 
27th of April the school again opened. A period followed of personal discomfort and 
danger to health consequent on crowding one hundred and twenty-five persons — 
pupils and employes — in straightened quarters, which, however, was borne with com- 
mendable patience. Meantime the mind of the Principal was busy with the ques- 
tion of the plans for new buildings. With experience of the past and emulation for 
the success of the future, Mr. Wilkinson spent the two years prior to the meeting of 
the next Legislature in studying plans and systems, and consulting authorities. A 
journey through the country, in the vacation, was undertaken for these purposes. 
The outcome was an elaborate report in favor of the segregate system, in which the 
following reasons were set forth: i. Comparative safety from fire. One house may 
burn up without endangering the whole block. 2. The isolation of the sexes, and 
also of the classes. 3. A check to epidemics. The abetting tendency of the wicked 
pupils may also be checked. 4. It affords opportunity for grading the pupils and 
regulating their association. 5. It is one step nearer to the family. 6. It affords 
facilities for indefinite enlargement. 7. It is cheaper. The report received the 
Board's ratification, and the plans were forthwith ready on paper against the meeting 
of the Legislature. There $110,000 were voted for two "Homes." The following 
spring foundations were laid. In the fall of 187S the buildings were occupied. They 
were designed for the housing of the pupils only. In them are alcoves for the large 
pupils and dormitories for the small ones, besides sitting-room, reception-room, apart- 
ments for the teachers and the matrons, basement for playing, and bathing, and all 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 795 

necessary home accessories. In 1879 a central refectory was erected as part of the 
plan that looked to devoting separate buildings to separ.xte purposes; cost, $35,000. 
A boiler-house and a residence for the Principal were also erected ; costs, $4,000 and 
$5,000 respectively. In 18S1 another "Home" was built; cost, $51,500. Lastly, an 
educational building was ready for occupation in the fall of 1882. The appropriation 
asked for was $73,000, and the plans were for a proportionally extensive building. 
But it was cut down to $40,000, and the building was reduced to its present dimen- 
sions. It is one-storied and contains ten class-rooms, library, office, chapel, hat-rooms, 
and all modern improvements. The building material is brick, upon granite founda- 
tions, with slate for the roof, and artificial stone flooring for the basement. The out- 
ward architectural aspect is very plain, though not harassing to the eye, when it 
collects in a single view the whole group, and recognizes a degree of harmony existing 
between the design and appearance of the buildings and the brown hills against 
which the houses rest as against a background. Ground improvements are late in 
coming, as no money is at hand. The interior of the houses make up for the sacrifice 
of the outward appearance, as large airy rooms and bright, white cedar wood-work, 
contribute to a home-like cheerfulness, a feature that has been secured as one of the 
many parts of the segregate system, namely: the idealization of home-life as against 
the rigid discipline of barrack-life in the congregate institution. All that was 
expected of the system has been realized. Morals are improved many per cent., and 
sickness is so reduced to a minimum that the salary of a doctor is beginning to be a 
burden. The yearly expenses of the institution are $40,000, ot which $17,500 go to 
salaries and wages. The total cost of the buildings thus far has been about $260,000. 
The property, with the land at market rates, and all its improvements these many 
years, represents, along with the buildings valued as above, about $350,000 to the 
State's credit. At the time of the present writing one hundred and fifty pupils are 
being educated. Ten teachers are employed, namely: George B. Goodall, who, 
in addition to being the head teacher of the deaf-mute department, has charge of the 
blind's musical training; Charles Wilkinson; Henry Frank (a pioneer teacher 
and deaf mute, having been connected with the institution seventeen years); 
Douglas Tilden; Mrs. George B. Goodall; Miss Annie Carter; Miss M. A. Dutch; 
Miss Anna B.Garrett; Miss Annie Warren, and Miss Kate. Crandall. Articulation 
has been lately introduced as a p.irt of the deaf mutes' education. The institution is, 
as it has been for eighteen years past, under the management of Warring Wilk- 
inson, of whose zeal enough cannot be said by way of praise. His perfect familiarity 
with the mysteries of deaf-mute education has produced extraordinary results in the 
intellectual department of the school, and his enthusiasm has brought the institution 
out of a small beginning to be one of the best equipped schools throughout the 
country devoted to like purpose. The institution is fortunate in belonging to this 
county. Alameda County is the intellectual center of the State. It has also been 
enabled, by her geographical situation, to give to the institution a home which can 
ask for nothing better in the way of healthfulness of climate and fineness of site. 
The school is directly in front of the Golden Gate. A telescope in a front window 
levels across Alcatraz Island and notes the mast or chimney of an incoming vessel, 
and far beyond, on a fine day, may be seen the Farallone Islands, forty miles distant 



796 History of Alameda County, California. 

The view sweeps uninterrupted around the whole basin of the bay, from the Santa 
Cruz mountains to the Sonoma hills. The city of San Francisco is in full view, and 
the lights of the streets at night look like stars strung for the play of mortals, and 
the fires of Mount Tamalpais, seen from here, make strange colors with the sunset 
clouds, which veil the top. At our feet lies Berkeley, sloping gently down to the bay. 
Oakland is four miles to the southward — a great park of oak-trees. The institution 
has always been most fortunate in its management. Its Directors have been men of 
acknowledged integrity and administrative ability. Among them maj' be mentioned 
Ira P. Rankin, Dr. J. P. Whitney, Wm. Sherman, B. H. Randolph, Rev. J. A. Benton, 
J. Mora Moss, Col. J. C. Hays, Capt. Chas. J. Brenham, Dr. J. E. Nicholson, J. L. 
Barker, E. J. Crane, D. D. Shattuck, Dr. L. Hamilton, Gov. H. H. Haight, Thomas 
Yolland, John Garber, and Gen. J. F. Houghton. The present Board consists of Hon. 
John A. Stanly, President; A. K. P. Harmon, Vice-President; Isaac Wormser, 
Auditor; George D. Dornin, and Dr E. H. Woolsey. The Secretary and Treasurer 
is H. A. Palmer. The Directors serve without pay, and the prosperity and good 
name of the institution is largely due to the unselfish zeal which has characterized 
their administration. While the institution has been called upon to mourn the losa 
of several Directors, it particularly laments the death of J. Mora Moss, a well- 
known citizen of this county, who filled the Presidency of the Board for ten years, 
and departing this life in November, 1880, is still remembered for his gentleness and 
his integrity in the discharge of his trust. 

The Berkeley Gvmna.sium. — Next to the Universit)- in the educational .scheme 
of the town, and preparator)' thereto, is the Berkeley Gymnasium. It is related to the 
higher institution as the German gymnasia are related to the German universities. 
It is in full accord with the Faculty, one of whom makes the annual address to the 
graduating class, and most of whom deliver occasional lectures in a course that forms 
part of the stated curriculum of study. Its patronage is drawn from the best social 
element of the Pacific Coast. Its teachers are selected not only with reference to their 
scholarly ability, but their fitness by temperament for their arduous and important 
profession. The course of study includes the ordinary English branches, the higher 
mathematics as far as geometry, Latin, Greek, and the modern languages. The 
school buildings are near to the University grounds, are spacious, conveniently 
arranged, and surrounded by evergreens. They include everything necessary to the 
comfort and culture of the pupil — large study-rooms, necessary scientific apparatus, 
airy dormitories, and a generous ciiisine, the last feature being considered absolutely 
essential to the well-being of studious and growing youth. Observance of the funda- 
mental principles of the Christian religion is insisted on, but denominational inter- 
ference is not tolerated. Students can attend, with a monitor, any particular church 
in Berkeley or Oakland designated by parental authority. The scope of religious 
instruction contemplates inculcation of the idea of a Supreme Being, Creator of the 
Universe, the First Cause and Ultimate of things. That which relates to special 
dogma is left to the church, the theological school, and to domestic training. If by 
this means the student becomes inspired with reverence for God, respect for religious 
observances, consideration for well-established human institutions, and a zeal for 



* Oakland Township — Berkeley. 797 

critical investigation, work in this direction is considered finished. The use of tobacco 
is considered, as are all forms of intemperance, destructive to both brain and 
body, and pupils are so instructed. Students found guilty of bringing intoxicating 
liquors upon the school grounds, or of visiting drinking-saloons, are expelled. As in 
the University, discipline is based on manly qualities. When a boy forgets that he is 
a gentleman, and fails utterly in his duties to, his parents, his teachers, and himself, 
his connection with the institution is severed. The corps of teachers may be con- 
sidered as permanently connected with the school, their work havihg been so harmo- 
nious that no changes have occurred in four years. The theory of instruction is 
■embodied in the word "self-help." Here,. also, the guiding principle of the University 
is followed. Knowledge is not only imparted to the pupil, but every effort is made to 
■enable him to assimilate it as part of his mental constitution, that it may be of 
practical benefit to him afterward. This analysis of the Berkeley Gymnasium shows 
how it fits into the system of complete instruction which the town affords. The 
benefit of such an institution so closely related to the University is apparent. Its 
teachers know the exact standard required for admission to the Freshman Class; 
hence no pupil is submitted for examination until he is thoroughly prepared. If 
students come from a distance, having made imperfect preparation, they can be 
received here until they have supplied every deficiency, and are ready for the higher 
■education which the University so generously furnishes. The advantages of such a 
school to citizens of Berkeley, who desire to have their children with them through 
all the period of study, are great. The Berkeley Gymnasium has already the largest 
and best patronage of all the private schools on the coast. It is now extending its 
name to Mexico, Central America, the Sandwich Islands, Oregon, Nevada, and the 
East. Its management expect to make it in the near future one of the leading pre- 
paratory schools of America. The Principal is George Bates, M. A., Cambridge 
University, England, with a highly accomplished corps of instructors in every branch 
■of literature. 

The Harmon Seminary. — This institution for the education of young ladies 
was opened August 3, 1882, under the charge of Rev. S. S. Harmon and Mrs. F. W. 
Harmon, as associate principals, with a corps of seven competent instructors, instruc- 
tion being imparted in every useful information and mental culture. Here ladies are 
given, a special course of instruction arranged with a view to a thorough preparation 
for the entrance examinations of the State University. 

St. Joseph's Presentation Convent. — Xhis institution is located in the heart 
of the beautiful suburb of Oakland, Berkeley, and was founded by Reverend Mother 
Mary Teresa Comerford, of the Order of Presentation, in 1878. The foundress of this 
Convent was a remarkable and noble woman, and a few of the salient points of her 
life's work will be perused with interest by all the readers of this volume. The Order 
of Presentation Nuns was established by Miss Nano Nagle, who was born in Ireland, 
in 1728. The order flourishes in that country to this day, the chief characteristic of 
it being that its members observe cloister, and devote their lives to the education of 
■children "without money and without price," trusting in God for all their temporal 



798 History of Alameda County, California. 

needs; and certainly if we are to judge from the great amount of work accomplished 
by Sister Mary Teresa, that source of help can be relied upon in time of need. She 
came of a highly respectable family, and was born February 19, 182 1, and was given 
the name of Bridget at her christening. Early in life she was admitted to the Pre- 
sentation Convent at Kilkenny, as a postulant, and on the i8th of January, 1842, she 
received the holy habit of a Presentation Nun, as a novitiate. The final vows were 
tak:n January 17, 1844. Ten years later, in 1854, she determined to come to San 
Francisco, and assist in the establishment of a convent of her order, and on the first 
of December of that year a school was opened temporarily in a small building on 
Green Street, with an attendance of two hundred. August lOth of the following year 
the foundation of a convent was laid, the first of the order in the United States, as 
well as on the Pacific Coast. While this was building the Sisters who had come to 
California with Sister Mary Teresa, with one exception — Sister Mary Xavier Daley, 
determined to return to Ireland; and upon their departure Sister Mary Teresa was 
duly installed Superioress. The appointment was made November 8, 1855. The 
new building was taken possession of December 3, 1855, and the schools were opened 
in January, 1856. The attendance was very large, and the Mother Superior was 
urged to accept pay for the tuition of the pupils; but, keeping the principles of her 
order fi.xedly in view, she refused to do so. This institution i.^ well known as the 
Powell-street Convent. On the 26th of September, 1868, the corner-stone of a new 
convent was laid, on Taylor Street, San Francisco, which was built from plans designed 
by Mother Mary Teresa, and under her personal direction; and in May, 1869, eight 
Sisters, chosen from the Powell-street Convent, together with Mother Mary Teresa, 
took possession of the new building. The popularity of these schools is attested in 
the fact that by the 2d of June following the pupils had become so numerous that it 
was found necessary to convert the chapel into a school-room, and the refectory was 
used as an infant school, and each teacher was obliged to take charge of nearly one 
hundred scholars. We now come to the last work of her life in California — the estab- 
lishment of the Convent of St. Joseph, at Berkeley. From a small' volume entitled, 
"Memoir of Reverend Mother Mary Teresa Comerford," we make the following 
extract: "Being as desirous as ever to extend her Institute, she was eager to found a 
convent in the suburbs. Various locations were proposed. She decided, however, on 
Berkeley; Mr. Curtis and Mr. James Magee immediately offered lots for the building. 
As the property of the latter gentleman was larger, and in a good locality, his ground 
was accepted. In the beginning of the year 1877, Mother Mary Teresa visited 
Berkeley, and made preliminary arrangements for the erection of the convent. On 
the 27th of May his Grace, Archbishop Alemany, accompanied by many clergymen, 
proceeded to Berkeley to lay the corner-stone. The people's appreciation of the 
advantages to be derived from the gratuitous education of girls by the Presentation 
Nuns, was fully testified on the occasion. Hundreds crossed the bay to witness the 
ceremony. At fifty minutes past four o'clock on this beautiful May evening the 
congregation assembled on the open plain in center Berkeley. Beside the venerable 
Archbishop might be seen a youth who had scarcely reached his teens. He wore a 
mason's apron of no coarser texture than white satin, beautifully ornamented with the 
aquerelle painting of the nuns. In his hand he held a silver trowel, with which he 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 799 

aided the Archbishop in the laying of the corner-stone. This young gentleman was 
Joseph Donohoe. The ceremony having terminated, Rev. Brother Justin, President 
of St. Mary's College, San Francisco, delivered an eloquent -address. The crowd dis- 
persed as the orb of day was gathering his crimson rays into the placid waters of the 
Golden Gate." The 27th of May, 1878, was chosen as the time for taking possession 
of the new building, and six Sisters were selected to accompany Mother Mary Teresa 
to her new home. On the 30th of May the dedication services were held, which were 
largely attended, and were conducted by Rev. Father King, of Oakland, assisted by 
Rev. Fathers Prendergast, V. G.; Gualco, McNally, and Serda. Father Prendergast 
preached the dedicatory sermon. After the sermon and vespers, the priestly proces- 
sion was formed, and the building apartments, site, and grounds were blessed. The 
beginning of the school was small, owing to the residents of Berkeley being so scat- 
tered, the number of pupils being only about sixty the first day, but the school has 
gradually increased in size,, the present attendance being ninety. The size of the 
building is sixty by seventy feet, and two stories high. The cost of erection was thir- 
teen thousand dollars. There is one school-room which is divided by rolling-doors. 
There are also four music-rooms, refectory, chapel, spacious corridors and bath-floors, 
and dormitories. In 1880 there was erected a building on the grounds, twenty-eight 
by thirty feet in size, which is used for small boys' school. All pupils are day scholars. 
The convent is at present under the charge of Mother Mary Josephine Hagarty, who 
succeeded Mother Mary Teresa in 1879. There are eight sisters engaged in teaching. 
A church will be erected on the convent grounds during the present year. There are 
now four novices and one postulant in the convent. From the fact that the Sisters of 
the Presentation Order do not accept tuition for the pupils attending their convents, it 
will doubtless be a question in many minds as to where the funds come from with 
which Mother Mary Teresa accomplished her wonderful work. The only answer to 
the question is that — 

" God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform;" 

And that as a true child of the Supreme Father, going, like the Apostles of old, with- 
out money and without scrip, she put her trust in God, and he failed her not, and 
friends were always raised up at the right time to meet her requirements, and an 
abundance of money was always forthcoming. This sketch would be incomplete 
without a mention of the closing of the beautiful life of the foundress. . After getting 
the convent at Berkeley thoroughly established she paid her second visit to her native 
land in 1879, for the purpose of founding a general novitiate where young sisters 
might be trained to meet all the requirements of the United States Missions. After 
having accomplished her mission to Ireland she returned to California in May, i88i, 
and shortly after became seriously ill, and on the 2d of August she breathed her last 
without an effort, as the evening "Angelus" pealed from the convent belfry, and her 
bright, pure spirit sped away to its reward, so nobly and faithfully earned during her 
long novitiate of more than sixty years, and the sable garbs of a nun were changed 
for the immaculate marriage robes of God's saints. 

West Berkeley Presbyterian Church. — The First Presbyterian Church of 



800 History of Alameda County, Camkornia. 

West Berkeley was organized March 18, 1877, by Rev. James Currie. He began 
operations in this field in 1875, preaching his first sermon January 3d of that year. 
He organized a Sunday-school, and preached occasionally till Jul\- 23, 1876, he being 
a student during that time. At the last-named date he began preaching regularly in 
the school-house. The following-named persons united in the organization of the 
church: Capt. James S. Higgins, Mrs. A. E Bunce, Mrs. Ann Bowen, Mrs. John Boyd, 
Miss Josephine Snow, Miss Alice M, Bunce. Rev. David McClure assisted in effect- 
ing the organization of the church. Rc\\ Mr. Currie has remained in charge as pastor 
from the organization of the church to the present time. Capt. J. S. Higgins has 
been elder since its organization. The church building was erected in 1879, and was 
dedicated October 26th of that year. It is thirty-two by fifty-.seven feet in size, with 
a spire seventy feet high. The seating capacity of the church is about two hundred. 
The building cost $2,800, and the lot is valued at $1,000. The present membership 
is fifteen, and the field is being worked industriously by the pastor. The Sunday- 
school is in a flourishing condition, and numbers about sixty at the present time. 

West Berkeley Methodist Episcopal Church. — F"rom the earliest settle- 
ment of this part of the State Methodist ministers have pushed out into the sparsely 
settled sections and conducted divine service in school houses, halls, or wherever else 
they could find room. It is not known just when they began preaching in the vicinity 
of Berkeley, but certainly at a very early date. There were, however, no steps taken 
towards effecting a church organization by this denomination till 1878, when Rev. 
George Newton was appointed by the California Conference to occupy the field and 
organize a church. The first step taken in the matter was the forming of a class at 
West Berkeley, with C. H. Mason, Leader. During the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Newton, 
services were held in a hall. In September, 1879, Rev. William Herbert succeeded 
Rev. Mr. Newton, and remained in charge till September, 1880, w4:cn the present pas- 
tor. Rev. G. D. Pinneo, entered the field. Shortly after Rev. Mr. Pinneo became pa.s- 
tor arrangements were effected by which the Methodist services were held in the 
Presbyterian church during the morning hour, all other services being Union. In 
July, 1881, a building was purchased and moved upon a lot belonging to the church. 
It was used for school purposes until Eebruary, 1883, services being held, as noted 
above, in the Presbyterian church up to that time. (3n the first Sunday in February, 
1883, they occupied the building for church purposes, and also organized a Sunday- 
school. The church organization was effected September 14, 1882, by Rev. T. H. 
Sinex, Presiding Elder, and Rev. G. D. Pinneo, Pastor in charge; with C. H. Mason, 
Class Leader; andJ.O. Byxbee, John Squires, C. H. Mason, J. Underwood, F. Wilkes, 
and William Boddy, Stewards. The present membership is nineteen, and the work 
is in a good condition. The .Sunda}--school is flourishing also. 

Berkeley Lodge, No. 270, I. O. O. F. — Was organized February 20, 1878, 
with the following charter members: T. B. Tarbett, J. Woolle\-, S. H. Anthony, Wm. 
Ellis, George S. Tallman, S. C. Clark, F. H. Pa\-nc, 1^". J. R)us, I. A. Boynton, J. 
Funnell, G. D. Metcalf, J. Chappie, and T. M. Antisel. The first officers were: F. H. 
Payne, N. G. ; S. C. Clark, V. G.; I. A. Boynton, Secretary; F.J. Ryus, Financial Sec- 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 801 

retaiy; J. Chappie, Treasurer. The Past Grands have been: F. H. Payne, S. C. Clark, 
I. A. Boynton, J. Ryus, J. Funnell, Thomas Hann, J. McClain, W. H. Chapman, A. 
H. Broad. The present officers are: A. H. Broad, N. G.; W. E. Zander, V. G.; H. 
M. Barry, Secretary; Thomas Hann, Financial Secretary; J. Chappie, Treasurer. The 
present membership is eighty-six, and the lodge is in a prosperous condition. It 
meets on Thursday evenings. 

Hearts of Oak Lodge, No. 6i, A. O. U. VV., West Berkeley. — Was organized 
October 25, 187S, with the following charter members : F. E. Berge, G. A. Schuster, G. F. 
G. Larson, R. S. Nixon, J. C. Burghardt, E. F. Niehaus, C. Johnson, George Embury, P. 
R. Sisterna, A. Park, J. Chappie, T. Hann, R. Lloyd, C. Maloney, E. S. Tallman, C. F. 
Bums, W. H. Johnson, S. Austerhaut, A. Steinmetz, P. Sheridan, J. H. Ruarke, G. M. 
Eames, J. Copp, J. Ehrman, O. P. Oliver, S. A. Penwell, William Storm, T. J. Reilley, 
J. E. Wright, A. Arnold, Charles W. Tobey, M. Hendershot, D. W. Hewitt, E. M. 
Lawrence, G. Weidinger, A. Lucas, William J. Greer, C. Luth, L. Marks, E. Reagh, 
R. G. Houston, F. E. Corder, J. J. Bluett, B. E. Olsen, and M. M. Gilman. The first 
officers were: F. E. Berge, P. M. W.; G. A. Schuster, M. W.; G. F. G. Larson, O.; R. 
S. Nixon, Recorder; J. C. Burghardt, F.; E. F. Niehaus, Receiver; C. Johnson, Guide; 
G. Embury, I. W.; and P. R. Sisterna, O. W. The P. M. W., are F. E. Berge, G. A. 
Schuster, C. F. Burns, G. Larson, S. Austerhaut, and C. Hadlen. The present officers 
are: L. Shafer, M. W.; G. Larson, Foreman; H. Mitchell, O.; S. A. Penwell, Financier; 
S. Austerhaut, Recorder; and E. F. Niehaus, Receiver. The present membership is 
forty-six. The lodge is in a very prosperous and growing condition. Three of its 
members have died since its organization, viz., A. Park, J. C. Burghardt, and W. H. 
Johnson. 

Berkeley Lodge, No. id., A. O. U. W. — Was organized October 23, 1877, with 
the following charter members: C. F. Gompertz, J. F. Burdick, F. H. Payne, Thomas 
F. Graber, W. P. Durfee, P. R. Boone, Allen Shorkley, Lorenzo Davis, Jr., J. F. Burris. 
and these officers: C. F. Gompertz, P. M. W.; J. F. Burris, M. W.; L. Davis, Jr., F.; 
W. P. Durfee, O.; F. H. Payne, Recorder; P. R. Boone, Financier; A. N. Buchanan. G.; 
J. F. Burdick, I. W.; A. Shorkley, O. W. The Past Masters serving this lodge have 
been, John F. Burdick, Thomas F. Graber, W. P. Durfee, Philip R. Boone, C. F. Gom- 
pertz, Allen Shorkley, Frank H. Payne, John W. Bice, C. H. Siliman, R. G. Houston. 
The present officers are: Fred. E. Berge, P. M. W.; Samuel C. Clark, M. W.; Nathan C. 
Carnall, F.; Welles Whitmore, O.; T. F. Graber, Recorder; F. H. Payne, Receiver; W. 
H. Chapman, Financier; James Graham, G.; J. D. Stewart, O. W.; J. E. Masson, I. W. 

University Lodge, No. 88, A. O. U. W., Berkeley. — Was organized March 
20, 1879, with the following charter members: Thomas Hann, P. Sheridan, W. P. 
Oliver, B. T. Conger, G. A. Embury, H. L. Whitney, H. A. Palmer, I. A. Boynton, 
George Tallman, J.. Chappie, Clinton Day, S. Wilson. The first officers were: Thomas 
Hann, M. W.; C. Usinger, Secretary; C. O. Lord, Treasurer. The Past Master Work- 
men of this lodge have been H. A. Palmer, Thomas Hann, P. Sheridan, H. Ayers, 
B. T. Conger, H. L. Whitney, G. A. Embury, J. Squires. The present officers are 
J. Squires, P. M. W.; S. V. Nichols, M. W.; A. L. W, Kschieschang, Foreman; F. W. 



802 History of Alameda County, California. 

Styles, Overseer; J. G. Wright, Receiver; P. Sheridan, Financier; H. Ayer, Recorder; 

E. Horst, Guide. The present membership is forty, and the lodge is in a prosperous 
condition. 

West Berkeley Lodge. No. 206, I. O. G. T. — Was organized February 5, 1880, 
with the following charter members: J. Alphonso, M. C. Wright, Miss Kate Underwood, 
Wm. Shanly,J. F. Teague, W'. F. Higgins, P. Monroe, Mrs. J. Underwood, J. Underwood, 
Miss Nellie Higgins, Mrs. C. H. Mason, Miss Teresa Johnson, C. W. Davis, William 
Johnson, Miss Kate Wright, Mrs. H. O. Heath, W. T. Stanley, Fred. McCaskill, Fred- 
Esmond, and William Grimshaw. The first officers were: P. Monroe, W. C. T.; Miss 
Nellie Higgins, W. V. T.; J. Underwood, W. Chap.; W. C. Wright, W. S.; W. Higgins. 
W. A. S.; F. Esmond, W. F. S.; Mrs. J. Underwood, W. T.; J. F. Teague, W. M.; Miss 
Kate Wright, W. D. M.; F. McCaskill, W. I. G.; W. Stanley, W. O. G.; and W. H. 
Johnson., P. W. C. T. We are informed that there have been three other lodges of 
Good Templars in West Berkeley, all of which have been forced to surrender their 
charter. This lodge is, however, in a flourishing condition, and bids fair to live long 
and do much good. 

Berkeley Council, No. -Ji, I. O. C. F. — Was organized at West Berkeley, April 
25, 1882, with the following charter members: J. Alphonso, William Davis, C. W. 
Davis, J. Brown, E. Forsythe, T. S. Graber, William Grimshaw, P. Monroe, E. J. Parker, 

F. H. Payne, S. A. Penwell, J. Rooney, P. Sisterna, F. Silva, F. H. Wheelan, J. D. 
Wangrim, F. Maurer, M. Ludwig, G. Schmidt, D. Jackson. The first officers were 
C. N. Terry, P. C. C; F. H. Wheelan, C. C; W. Grimshaw, V. C; J. Rooney, Score 
tary; J. D. Wangrim, Financial Secretary; C. W. Davis, Treasurer; E. Forsythe, Pilot 
J. Alphonso, Marshal; P. Monroe, Warden; A. Brown, Guard; George Smith, Sentinel, 
The following gentlemen have filled the chair of the chief officer; C. N. Terry, F. H 
Wheelan, T. F. Graber. The Present officers are, P. Monroe, C. C; D. Jackson, V. C. 
S. A. Penwell, Secretary; William Davis, Financial Secretary; C. W. Davis, Treasurer, 
The present membership is thirty-one. Meets on Tuesday evenings at Sisterna Hall, 

Le Conte Lodge, No. 945, A. L. of H. — Was instituted in May, 1882, with the 
followingcharter members and officers: T. F. Graber, P. C; F. H. Paj'nc, C; L. H. Long, 
V. C; R. R. Reed, Secretary; C. S. Merrill, Coll.; R. G. Houston, Treasurer; L. Davis, 
Jr., Orator; W. Ellis, War.; H. N. Barry, G.; E. A. Sawyer, Chap.; L. W. Williams, 
Sentry; W. S. Dibble, J. McClain, J. Anderson, H. N. Marquand, M. L. Hanscomb. 
The present membership consists of one hundred and seventy-four. The officers for 
the current }-ear being: L. W. Lang, C; E. A. Sawyer, \ . C; L. Davis, Jr.. Orator; R. 
R. Reed, Secretary; C. S. Merrill, Coll.; W. S. Dibble, Treasurer; W. Ellis, War.; M. 
L. Hanscomb, Chap.; H. N. Barry, G.; H. L. Marquand, Sentry. 

Tahoe Lodge, No. 1876, K. of H. — Was organized at West Berkeley, Novem- 
ber 28, 1878, with the following charter members: I. M. Wentworth, D. R. Wentworth, 
S. Agerter, H. W. Hart, H. Marquand, F. O'Brien, S. A. Penwell, C. H. Richards, A. 
Rammelsberg, S. Wright, H. W. White, and C. C. Peterson. The first officers were: 
S. A. Penwell. P. D.; C. H. Richards, D.; A. Rammelsberg, V. D.; W. H. White, 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 803 



Assistant Dictator; H. Marquand, Reporter; C. N. Terry, Financial Reporter; D. R. 
Wentworth, Treasurer; S. Wright, Guardian; S. Agiter. The Past Dictators of this 
lodge have been, S. A. Penwell, A. Rammelsberg, S. Wright, F. O'Brien, W. J. Max- 
well. The present officers are: W. Mills, D.; J. H. Gator, V. D.; R. Burcher, A. D.; 
S. A. Penwell, Reporter; A. Rammelsberg, Financial Dictator; D. R. Wentworth, 
Treasurer; S.Nelson, Guide; J. Wilson, Guard; S. Wright, Sentinel; T. S. Byxbee,Chap- 
lain. The present membership is thirty-three. Meets on Saturday nights, in Sisterna 
Hall. The lodge is in a prosperous condition. 

West Berkeley Planing Mills. — These mills were put in operation in 1874 
by J. H. Everding, and were purchased by Schuster & Niehaus, the present proprie- 
tors, in the Spring of 1876. Under their management a great deal of machinery has 
been added, and the capacity largely increased. At present the machinery comprises 
one planer, one sticker, four saws, one turning-lathe, one band-saw, one jig-saw, one 
shaper, one tenanting-machine. and one boring-machine. They employ twenty-five 
men. 

West Berkeley Brewery. — This is a small industry lately started, by 

Christian, and is not yet fairly in working order. 

The Hofburg Brewery. — California is rapidly taking a prominent place as a 
manufacturing and industrial center, and in no branch of enterprise has the State 
made such pronounced progress as she has in the brewing industry. Already Cali- 
fornia beer is a favorite throughout the coast, and even in the Western States. The 
latest effort in this direction is the Hofburg Brewery, and although the company has 
only been brewing about six weeks there is a great and constantly increasing demand 
for their beer far beyond our local boundaries. The firm name is Neller & Co., and 
the brewery is located at the corner of San Pablo and University Avenues, West 
Berkeley. The building and apparatus is one of the most compact and convenient in 
the State, and was arranged with a view to rapid and extensive production. At the 
rear of the main building is the pump over a well of pure, cool, gravel water oozing 
out of a well sixty-five feet deep and eight feet in diameter, a second well of equal 
capacity adjoining and connected with the main well. As pure v/ater is a prime 
requisite in the brewing of beer, the company spared no effort in locating their well 
in the best possible position, prospecting two years before they were finally satisfied. 
The result of a close analysis was eminently satisfactory, and they now claim to have 
the best water for their purpose on the coast. They can tap fifty feet of water even 
after they cease pumping for twelve hours. Close by the well is an improved pitch 
machine and furnace for glazing the inside of the barrels to obviate the woody taste 
so common to ordinary beer. The engine, to which is attached a pump for distribut- 
ing hot water to every portion of the building, was built by Clot & Meese, of San Fran- 
cisco, and has a capacity of twenty-five-horse-power. The boiler is forty-eight inches 
by sixteen feet. The buildings are located on a plot of ground an acre and a quarter in 
extent, the main building having a frontage of eighty feet, by forty feet in depth, being 
three stories in height. The office adjoining is twenty- four by eighteen feet. The 
mash-tub, which is located in the second story of the main building is an improved 



804 History of Alameda County, California. 

patent by Andrew Stroebel, one of the proprietors of the brewery. It was built by 
Leopold Keiffer, an experienced millwright, and is five feet high and twelve feet in 
diameter, having a capacity of over four thousand gallons. In the tub is a patent 
washing-machine, above which projects a capacious hopper, the whole apparatus hav- 
ing a brewing capacity of five hundred barrels per day. The kettle receiving the mass 
has a capacity of seventy barrels, or two thousand one hundred gallons. By means 
of a powerful beer-pump the brew is forced to the cooler in the third story. The 
cooler is a zink-lined shallow, open, parallelogram forty by thirty-six feet with a 
capacity of four thousand five hundred gallons. The tanks used as adjuncts contain 
from four to five thousand gallons each and the hogsheads in the cellar, eight in num- 
ber, contain about five hundred gallons each. All these tanks and hogsheads were 
made by the company's cooper, Julius Lehman. Attached to the running ajiparatus 
is a patent heater, patented by Herman Gantert about two months ago, the improv- 
ment being that cold water may be converted into hot water and steam in one ininute 
and conducted to any portion of the building. The capacity of the brewery at present 
is twenty-five thousand gallons, or seventy barrels, per day, but this out-put can be easily 
doubled when occasion demands, and, judging by the popularity which the beer has 
already attained, this will soon be necessary. Andrew Stroebel, one of the partners, 
formerly connected with the Fredricksburg Brewery in San Josd, has charge of the 
brewery proper, and his adaptability for the work he has undertaken is already appar- 
ent in the superior excellence of the beer he is brewing. The bottling department is 
in charge of C. Turk, who will receive orders for keg or bottle beer at the general dejiot 
on the- corner of Fifteenth Street and San Pablo Avenue. 

Oakland Stockyard.s. — In 1876, H. M. Ames selected a site on the bay out 
nearly to West Berkeley as a suitable location for a stockyard and slaughtering-house. 
He began business there in a small way, expecting the railroad to soon be completed 
to Berkeley so that he could have shipping facilities. But in this he was disappointed 
for that year, and after a few months gave it up. During the next year the road was 
built, and the site chosen by Mr. Ames being considered very eligible was decided 
upon by others who located there, and the business has grown until now the following 
named gentlemen are engaged in the slaughtering business at this ]:)oint: Messrs. 
Grayson, Harrell & Co., Morris & Crow, Stewart & Co., Avey, and W'atkins. Mr. 
Avey is engaged in the slaughtering of sheep, and Mr. Watkins in the hog butchering 
business. The first three named firms slaughter about nine hundred animals each, per 
month.' An extensive tripe-works is also located at this point. 

Stockyards Tannery. — This industry was begun by Messrs. Cook & Corder, 
at the Oakland Stockyards, in April, 1876. At that time they erected a building 
one hundred feet square and two stories high. There arc twenty vats in use. They 
also do a large wool-pulling business, their average being about twenty thousand 
pounds per month. An engine is used for power about the place. 

Carbon-Bisulphide Works. — This article is more general!)- known by the 
name of "squirrel poison," from the fact that it is used very extensively for the purpose 
of exterminating those pests. It is also used by many vineyardists as a means of stay- 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 805 

ing the ravages of the phylloxera, though whether or not it has ever accomplished 
this object is a mooted question, with the most of the argument in favor of the nega- 
tive. The works were established in November, 1882, by J. H. Wheeler, the present 
proprietor. 

Wheelan's Flour Mills. — These mills are the property of F. H. Wheelan, 
and are located at West Berkeley. Business was begun in June, 1881. There are 
two runs of stones, and machinery for making pearl barley, cracked wheat, oatmeal, 
cornmeal, and Graham flour. The engine is forty horse-power, and the building is 
fifty by seventy-five feet, and two stories high. 

Pioneer Starch Works. — These works are located at West Berkeley, and 
are owned and conducted by J. Everding & Co. They began the business in San 
Francisco in 1854, and moved to West Berkeley in 1855, so the works may well be 
termed "pioneer." The works are on a small scale. 

Berkeley Lubricating Oil Works. — This industry was originated by A. C. 
Deitz & Co., who are the present proprietors. In October, 1880, operations were 
begun in a building about half a mile north of Delaware Street, West Berkeley, but 
a year later the works were destroyed by fire. Nothing daunted by this disaster, the 
firm at once established their works at the present location in West Berkeley. The 
building is sixty by one hundred feet, and one story high. There is also a refining- 
room, about twenty-five by fifty feet, in the rear'of the main building. While the 
works are known as a lubricating-oil manufactory, yet refined coal-oil is made here at 
the rate of fifty barrels per week. The crude petroleum is procured from Ventura 
County, and refined at the works, where a fine grade of oil is made. The residuum 
is used for lubricating purposes. There are a number of products resulting from 
the distillation of petroleum, but coal-oil and lubricating-oil are all that are worked 
up at this place. 

Standard Soap Works. — This, the leading industry of this kind, both in 
Alameda County and on the Pacific Coast, was set on foot in 1875, by R. P. Thomas 
In that year five acres of ground were secured adjacent to the ferry-landing at 
West Berkeley, and a main building one hundred and fifty by two hundred and fifty 
feet, and three stories high, was erected thereon. On the south of this and adjacent 
to it is an engine-room seventy-five by forty feet, and a box factory of the same dimen- 
sions. On the north side there are two wings, each fifty by one hundred feet, the 
westerly one being used for a storage room, and the easterly one for a barn. At the 
northern extremity of the enclosure is a warehouse, fifty by two hundred feet. In the 
engine-room there are four boilers, used for generating steam for the engine and for the 
processes of soap-making where steam can be utilized. The engine used is sixty 
horse-power. In the box factory there is all the machinery necessary for prosecuting 
that important branch of the industry, such as rip and cross-cut saws, planers, etc. 
A great amount of lumber is consumed annually in the manufacture of boxes, for 
the bulk of the product of these works is boxed before being placed upon the market. 
On the lower floor of the main building may be seen great quantities of soap in huge 
blocks ready to be cut up into bars of the proper size. On the second floor this pro- 



806 History of Alameda County, California. 



cess is conducted,- also the stamping of the bars. For this purpose on this floor 
there are three hand-presses, and one run by steam. Here, also, is the machinery for 
the manufacture of washing-powder, which is very popular, and is packed in ten-pound 
boxes, and in one-pound packages. Here, also, are the mi.xing machines; also, lye- 
tanks and drying-rooms. On the third floor are also a number of lye-tanks. Here 
are seen the tops of two monster soap kettles, each having a capacity of two hundred 
thousand pounds. These kettles extend from the third to the first floor, and arc about 
thirty feet in diameter. On this floor is the printing department, where three job- 
presses and one cylinder press are kept constantly at work. The out-put of the office 
is one million wrappers per month. The outfit of type is complete, and some excel- 
lent chromatic work is turned out in their illuminated pamphlet covers and fancy 
labels. The toilet, castile, and other fancy brands of soap are made, stami)ed, and 
packed on this floor. In the toilet soap department four presses are used for stamp- 
ing the designs upon the bars, different dies being used as required. After the soap 
is ready for shipment it is stored in the warehouse to await sale. The process of soap- 
making, while appearing simple, is yet very complicated, not that the various stages 
of it are hard to comprehend, but that the ultimate result may be perfect requires a 
thorough knowledge of the busines.s. The ingredients, which, every one knows, arc 
fatt}- substances, usually tallow, lye, and resin, are mi.xed in proper proportions in 
large kettles, and sufficiently cooked. It is then drawn oft' into a series of frames, 
and allowed to become solid, when the frames are removed and the soap is then in a 
block about fifteen inches wide, three feet high, and four feet long. These blocks are 
passed through a frame-work of wires, which cuts the soap into slabs of the required 
thickness, and they again are cut by a wire contrivance into bars and cakes of requisite 
length. The cakes are then stamped, wrapped, bo.xed, and labeled, and placed in the 
warehouse ready for shipment. For toilet soaps only the purest ingredients are used. 
After going through the process described above, it is cut into thin shavings and 
placed on tables to be bleached. It is then crushed and pressed into cakes, stamped, 
wrapped, and packed in paper bo.xes ready for the market. For all this there are a 
number of machines, which it is unnecessary to describe in this connection. Castile 
soap is made by what is known as the cold process; that is, the ingredients are mixed 
cold, and placed in the frames, and the soap is cooked by the heat generated by 
chemical action. The lye is made from caustic soda, which is imported from Liver- 
pool in sheet-iron casks. The works are located on a tract of five acres. Sixty 
men are employed in the different departments, and the products of the works amount 
to one million pounds of soap per month. The railroad runs in front of the works, 
and a side-track allows cars to be loaded at the door. Shipments for the city are 
made by the Berkeley ferry-steamer, owned by this company. 

WENT\vt)KTH Boot and Shoe Co.MPANV. — Operations were begun by this com- 
pany in April, 1879, in the old Cornell Watch F"actory building at West Berkeley, 
which was most excellently adapted for the purposes of a boot and shoe factory. I. M. 
Wentworth is President of the company; C. L. F"ield, Secretary; I. M. Wentworth, 
Superintendent; and W. H. White, General Manager. One hundred and fifty men 
are employed, and an average of forty do/.en boots and shoes per day are manufact- 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 807 

ured. A great amount of the work is done by machinery, which expedites business 
very much. The machinery is run by steam. On Fell Street, San Francisco, this 
company has a very large factory, in which two hundred and fifty men are employed. 
The building at West Berkeley is fifty by two hundred and fifty feet, and is four 
stories high. 

Berkeley "Advocate." — This sprightly suburban journal was established in 
March, 1877, by the present proprietor, H. N. Marquand. The ofifice outfit comprises 
a hand-press and job-press, also a full line of body and job type. The circulation 
of the paper is fully commensurate with the field in which it is located. 

Shell-Mound Park. — This park is situated between Emery Station and the 
Oakland Trotting Park, on the Berkeley Railroad, and is reached every thirty minutes, 
via Oakland Ferry, from San Francisco. It derives its name from one of the ancient 
Indian shell-mounds which is still in a fine state of preservation, and rises to a height 
of sixty feet, its summit being crowned with a dancing-pavilion. The park was first 
opened as a holiday resort in 1876 by E. Wiard, but in 1880 it was leased for ten 
years to Capt. Ludwig Siebe, who has made various and extensive improvements 
within the domain. The park contains two of the largest dancing-pavilions on the 
Pacific Coast, a race-track for games, with covered seats, accommodating two thousand 
people; turning apparatus, swings, flying-horses, bowling-alley, a shooting-range, 
containing four thirty-yard targets, one one hundred-yard target, twelve two hundred- 
yard targets, and four five hundred-yard targets; fruit and ice-cream stand, and shoot- 
ing-gallery, and a dining-room, where meals are served to the satisfaction of the 
public. 

Oakland Trotting Park. — This track was originally laid out in 1S71 by E. 
Wiard, the present proprietor, and is justly considered among the finest on the 
Pacific Coast. It is one mile in circumference, being also fitted with all modern 
and necessary improvements. It contains two hundred bo.x-stalls for horses, and 
two hundred cattle-stalls, and is situated opposite Shell-Mound Park, on the line of 
the Central Pacific Railroad, trains passing it every half hour. In 1879 it was here 
that the famous St. Julian lowered the record of the world, and trotted a mile in two 
minutes twelve and a quarter seconds. 

DwiGHT Way Park Nursery. — George R. Bailey, Proprietor. This nursery 
was first established in East Oakland, in 1868, by its present owner, on one block west 
of Tubbs' Hotel, on Twelfth, and Third Avenue. Commencing with small beginnings 
the enterprise grew apace, so much so that in ten years it was necessary to move to more 
spacious quarters, consequently exchanging the property for that now occupied by 
him in Berkeley near Dwight's Station, he there established a fine nursery where a 
specialty is made of the cultivation of California evergreens, and Australian forest- 
trees, although every kind of tree is sold. Mr. Bailey estimates that he has disposed 
of fifty thousand forest-trees since removing. 

Temescal. — It was in the vicinity of Temescal that Vicinte Peralta made his 



808 History ok Alameda County, California. 

home, and here he lived a life of ease and plenty. With the settlement of Oakland, 
its suburbs attracted attention, and to-day Temescal is, to all intents and purpo-ses, a 
portion of that city, though just without the incorporated limits. It possesses some 
fine brick buildings, and in its neighborhood are many of the handsomest country 
seats in the district. Here is the famous fruit-canning establishment of J. Lusk 
& Co. 

St. L.wvrence Parochial School. — This is a Roman Catholic school intended 
principally for the Catholic girls of the parish, and in it, along with various other 
branches of learning, the pupils are instructed also in the Christian doctrine accord- 
ing to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The school is. taught by the 
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and superintended by the rector of 
the parish. Pupils of other denominations are also received, but are not obliged to 
recite Catholic prayers, nor learn Catholic doctrine, unless they choose to do so, and 
with the express consent of their parents. The various branches of a common Eng- 
lish education, as also plain sewing, are taught free of charge; instrumental music and 
foreign languages are extra. 

Silver Star Lodge, No. 2, Degree of Honor, A. O. U. W. — Was insti- 
tuted March 7, 1877, with seventeen charter members, and the following oilficers: Mrs. 
A. E. Pinkham, P. W. S. of H.; Mrs. Ida Stricklin, W. S. of H.; Mrs. F. A. Morrill, 
S. of H.; Mrs. Emma Young, Sec. The Past Worthy Sisters of Honor have been: 
Mesdames Pinkham, Ida Stricklin, F. A. Morrill, Lillie Lewis, F. W. Billington, Nellie 
G. Babcock, M. M. Nixon. Meets on the third Thursday of each month, the number 
of members on the roll being twenty. The office-bearers for the current term are: 
Mrs. N. G. Babcock, W. S. of H.; Mrs. Lucky Pike, S. of H.; Mrs. C. Young, S. of 
C; Mrs. H. Jones, Sec; Mrs. F. A. Morrill, Treas.; Mrs. Hattie E. Harrison, S. U. 

North Temescal Temple Lodge, No. ii, A. O. U. W. — This lodge was 
instituted December 4, 1877, with the following charter members: H. C. Babcock, R. 
K. Latimer, E. Caruthers, P. Shuttzheis, T. W. Hargreaves, H. M. Whaley, J. H. 
Rickard, C. F. Lewis, J. CoUard, T. F. Bacon, J. M. Fowler, T. Pollard, C. M. Young, 
H. H. Linderman, S. M. Harrison, G. T. Pinkham, C. R. Norris, J. ¥.. Stricklin, P. F. 
La Prince, A. McAdams, R. B. Nixon, S. F. Morrill, M. H. Weed, C. A. Stearnes, G. 
K. Scott, M.J. Morse; the original officers being: C. F. Lewis, P. M. W. ; R. B. Nixon, 
M. W.; R. K. Latimer, O.; C. M. Young, Gen. For.; E. Caruthers, Recdr.; H. C. 
Babcock, P"in.; S. F. Morrill, Rec; F. J. Morse, G. The Past Masters have been: C. 
F. Lewis, R. B. Nixon, G. W. Beagle, H. C. Babcock, S. F. Morrill, M. J. Morse, C. M. 
Young, W. H. Eadon, O. R. Morgan, S. N. Harrison. The lodge, which meets every 
Monday evening, has a membership of forty-seven, with the following officers for the 
current year: C. Stearnes, M. W.; B. Kneale, F.; T. Pollard, O. ; H. P. Jones, Recdr.; 
H. C. Babcock, Fin.; J. Beaudette, Recr. ; J. Seidess, G. 

Teme.scal Grange, No. 35, P. of H. — Was organized July i, 1873, with the 
following officers: A. T. Dewey, M.; C. Bagge, O.; J. S. Collins, Sec. The grange 
has now forty-one members on its muster-roll with the officers for the current year as 




Mm)^-^,P .^a^ 



Oakland Township — Berkeley. 809 

under: Walter Renwick, M.; C. Bagge, O.; Ed. Wallet, S.; W. G. Klee, A. S.; Mrs. 
S. H. Webster, Lect.; Mrs. S. H. Dewey, Chap.; L. Frink, Treas.; Mrs. N. G. Babcock, 
Sec; Mrs. Emily Bagge, Ceres; Mrs. Eliza Brooks, Pomona; Miss Ida Bagge, Flora; 
Mrs. M. A. Renwick, L. A. Steward. 

Golden State Council, No. 40., O. C. F. — Was organized August 4, 1881, 
with thirty-six charter members and the following officers: E. J. Sayer, C. C; A. S. 
Sayer, V. C; H. Vandre, P. C. C; H. B. Jones, Fin.; A. Pease, Recdr.; L. Lusk, 
Treas. The membership numbers forty-six and the present officers are: L. P. Lusk 
C. C; H. B. Jones, V. C; Mrs. Hanifin, Fin. and Treas.; E. J. Sayer, Sec.' 

Claremont Council, No. 74, I. O. C. F. — Was instituted April 29, 1882, with 
twenty-two charter members, and the following officers: Warren Heaton, P. C. C; 
A. D. Colby, C. C; S. N. Harrison, V. C; Nellie G. Babcock, Sec.; B. Kneale, Fin.; 
F. E. Mitchell, Treas.; T. F Reinhardt, Prelate; Emma D. Stearnes, Mar.; E. R. 
Healy, War.; J. Beaudette, G.; F. Kelsey, Sen. The Past Chief Councillors have 
been, Warren Heaton and A. D. Colby. The lodge now numbers thirty-eight mem- 
bers on its roll, who meet every Thursday evening, with the present officers, viz.: S. N. 
Harrison, C. C; F. E. Mitchell, V. C; Mrs. N. G. Babcock, Sec; Lizzie E. H. Beebe, 
Fin.; Robert J. Beebe, Treas.; Mrs. F. A. Morrill, Prel.; Mrs. F. W. Billington, Mar.; 
Mrs. M. L. Mitchell, War.; Martha M. Nixon, G.; W. Heaton, Sen. 

Piedmont. — This place vicariously known as Piedmont Park or Piedmont 
Springs is situated in the foothills about three miles distant from the City Hall in 
Oakland. It occupies a plateau about three hundred feet above the bay and com- 
mands varied scenery of the utmost beauty. The Piedmont Land Company have 
laid out several hundred acres with such artistic regard to the topography of the 
ground that when all improvements are effected it will be one of the most delightful 
resorts in the neighborhood of Oakland. There is a fine hotel on the place, and 
several magnificent mansions adjacent to, the rnost notable of these being perhaps 
that of I. L. Requa. 




52 



810 History of Alameda County, California. 



WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



GEOGRAPHY. — Washington Township is bounded on the north by Eden and 
Murray Townships; on the west by Murray Township; on the south by Santa 
Clara County; and on the cast by the San Francisco Bay. 

Topography. — Like Eden Township the topography of Washington comprises 
a level valley backed by mountains. The area is about si.xty-eight thousand acres, 
and with the single e.xception of Murray is the largest of Alameda's townships, its 
proportion of cultivable to mountainous land being also the greatest. On the shores 
of the bay there are salt-marshes, backed by the fruitful valley lands, broader here 
than anywhere, retreating gracefully, with many a soft undulation until culminating 
in Mission Peak two thousand two hundred and seventy-five feet above the level of 
the sea, the highest point of the Contra Costa Range. 

ValleY-S. — The Alameda Canon is the only valley in the township, although 
there may be several other gorges in the foot-hills that could hardly be dignified by such 
a name. Up the steep ascent of the Alameda Caiion the Central (formerly Western) 
Pacific Railroad winds its tortuous way, passing through scenery than which there is 
none more romantic in the State, and finally arrives on the level plain of the Liver- 
more Valley at Pleasanton. On either side the way is lined with high precipitous 
rocks several feet in the sheer, while at their base rushes the purling, prattling brook 
from whence the canon takes its name. 

Streams. — Chief among the flowing water-ways of the county is the Alameda 
Creek, from which it takes its name. Having its source in the lagoons of Suiiol and 
Livermore Valleys, and fed by mountain brooks on every hand, it wends its turbulent 
way through the romantic canon to which it gives its name, and after becoming a 
peaceful sleepy stream as it feeds the fertile acres through which it meanders until it 
is claimed by the larger volume of the bay of San Francisco, where it becomes known 
as the Union City Slough. The coast line of the township is indented, however, with 
several of these estuaries, that may be described as Coyote Hill Slough, on which is 
Alviso's Landing; Beard's Slough, with Mayhew's Landing; Mowry's Slough with 
the landing of the veteran pioneer of that name; a little distance north is Green Point, 
or Dumbarton Landing, the next to it being the Warm Springs Landing. There are 
a few small mountain srreams, such as the Sanjon de los Alisis, the Segunda, or Dry, 
Creek, the Mission Creek, the Agua Caliente, the Agua Fria, the Calaveras and Lone 
Tree Creek. 

Climate. — Generally the climate of Washington Township resembles that of 
Eden, but in the vicinity of Mission San Jose have we the finest on the whole eastern 
side of the bay of San Francisco. It would be hard to find anj- spot in the world 
more favored, while it is within the influence of a warm belt where damaging frosts 



Washington Township. 811 



are unknown, and the extent of which is about two miles in width and nearly twelve 
in length. This belt commences usually at an altitude of about four hundred feet* 
above the level of the valley and extends sometimes to a considerably higher elevation. 
It is so distinctly defined that residents of the highe.r lands in riding up from the 
valley, in the night-time, when the air is still, can tell within a few rods where they 
will enter the warmer currents. This immunity from frosts makes some species of 
tropical fruits produce well, such as the orange, lemon, citron, palm, prickly pear, etc., 
and here does the grape attain the highest perfection, while nowhere else in California 
does the "good red wine" obtain so truly rosy a tint. 

Soil. — For the most part the soil is similar to that of the other townships bor- 
dering on the bay, that in the vicinity of Mission San Jose being adobe of about four 
feet in thickness, resting upon a gravelly stratum similar to the bed of a stream 
composed of sand and gravel, which induces to a perfect natural drainage, a fact that 
renders it so eminently suited to the culture of the vine and fruits generally. 

Products. — The good Fathers who founded the Mission San Jose were the first 
testers of the soil of Washington Township, their prime efforts being in orchards and 
vineyards. 

From the days that immediately succeeded the flood we have accounts of vine- 
yards and wine-using. In the book of Genesis 9:20 we read: "And Noah began to 
be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard, and drank of the wine." It is reasonable 
to suppose that if Noah knew how to manufacture wine after the flood, he also knew 
how to do it before that event occurred, and so did his fathers before him. To make 
and drink some kind of fermented and intoxicating beverage seems to be the common 
impulse of humanity, wheresoever dispersed around the globe. No nation was ever 
yet so highly civilized that it outgrew that taste, and no tribe is so primitive but that 
it has attained it. Almost everything that grows has been brought into requisition 
for the manufacture of spirits. Grapes make wine and brandy; wheat, barley, rye, 
and maize produce whisky; sugar-cane, rum; apples, cider; palm-trees, atole; cacti, 
aguadienti; barley and hops, beer and ale; the leaves and bark of the spruce-tree are 
often brought into requisition for the same purpose; and then there is blackberry, 
raspberry, elderberry, currant, rhubarb and et id genus omne kinds of wine. Whether 
or not this natural desire for these beverages is one of the taints that came upon the 
race through Adam, is not our province here to speculate. In all things we must deal 
•with mankind as we find it, letting the mooted question stand aside for the consid- 
eration of others. 

It is the abuse of the good things of life that has led the human family into dis- 
aster, and not the use of them. The intemperate use, which is the vilest of abuse of 
our greatest blessings, entails the greatest woes upon us. Both sacred and profane 
history is full of references to both the good and bad results which flow from the use 
of wine. Babylon, the Mighty City, fell into the hands of the enemy while the king 
and chief officers were in a drunken revel. " Wine is a mocker and whosoever is 
deceived thereby is not wise." " Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giv- 

*The Mission San Jos6 is 450 feet higher than the bay of San Francisco. 



812 History of Alameda County, California. 

eth its color in the cup; for at last it biteth like a serpent and stingcth like an adder." 
"Who hath woe? Who hath contentions? Who hath wounds without a cause? 
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine." Such and kin- 
dred passages can be found in the Bible; yet, when the Divine Master, Jesus, came 
into the world, his very first miracle was to make wine at the marriage feast in Cana 
of Galilea. And Paul, the great expounder of Christ's teachings, tells Timothy to 
take a little wine for his stomach's sake. 

The moral phases which this question of wine-making presents, arc of the great- 
est importance, and deserve to be considered first of all. " What shall it profit a man 
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? " is a very pertinent question just 
at this point. Of what avail if the coffers of the world are emptied into Alameda 
County, if the succeeding generations grow up to be a race of drunkards? Then 
comes at once the question, " Is there any danger of such being the case ? " To this 
question we can give no answer, nor anyone of to-day. Only time can demonstrate 
what the ultimate effect will be on generations yet unborn. For parallels, however, 
we can go to the wine-producing countries of Europe, where more than ten genera- 
tions have passed by since the advent of wine-making as an industry, and see what 
the effect has been there. T. Hart Hyatt, author of k volume entitled "Grape Cult- 
ure," and a man of vast experience and extended observation, having traveled all 
over the world almost, says in the introduction to his able work: — 

" To the question, ' Docs the production and use of wine necessarily tend to 
induce or encourage intemperance ?' we answer most emphatically and understand- 
ingly, No! In all our experience and observation in the wine districts of Europe, and 
among all classes of Europeans where cheap, pure wines were abundant and the common 
beverage of the people, we remarked it then, and ha\-e reflected upon it since, and all 
these observations and reflections have left upon our mind the full and clear impres- 
sion and belief, that there was far less intemperance among the people of those vine- 
growing and wine-making countries than in our own where all kinds of foul, poisoned 
adulterated stuff, under the name of whisky, brandy, rum, gin, etc., is drunk by our 
people for the want of a purer, more nourishing, and harmless beverage, like that of 
the pure juice of the grape, naw made by all honest viniculturalists in our own coun- 
^j.y_ « # * jp, gpain, where pure, cheap wines are almost as commonly used as 
water, we do not recollect to have scarcely ever met with an intoxicated man. 

"Pure cheap wines are, in our opinion, better temperance missionaries, and will 
do more to expel from our midst the accursed fire-water that has done so much to 
demoralize and debase its victims in our land, than can all the overzealous crusades 
against wine-growing and wine-drinking that are set forth by our temperance organi- 
zations, no doubt from good but mistaken motives of philanthropy. 

"It is contended by some that the taste for wine produces a taste for other and 
stronger kinds of ardent spirits. We do not believe it; it is against our own observa- 
tion and experience. It might as well be said that the babe should not imbibe the 
milk from its mother's breast, for fear it would give it a hankering after utillc puncli! 
For there is quite as much similarity or affinity between these two beverages as 
between the pure juice of the grape that cheers, enlivens, strengthens, and makes 
healthy its recipients, and the vile, drugged, poisoned liquors which make their vic- 
t'ms mad, drunk, and their 'steps to take hold on hell.'" 



Washington Township. 813 



We would state in this connection that the above testimony is corroborated by- 
all who have traveled in those countries; and also another fact which we have 
observed in our visits among the citizens of Alameda County who are engaged in the 
industry of wine-making, namely, the charge of being a drunkard cannot be laid at 
the door of one of them. They drink wine as a beverage in its fullest sense, and it 
is used in most of their families, yet not one of them has developed into a confirmed 
drunkard, nor do they show any tendencies in that direction. Surely the intelligence, 
good sense, and due regard for their own and their families' welfare will keep the citi- 
zens of this fair valley from degenerating into drunkards — nor will their children's 
children. No fears need be entertained upon that score. 

In considering the subject of viniculture, it will not be without interest 'to our 
readers to give a cursory glance at the general history and condition of the industry 
in the State of California. The first permanent settlers who came to California from 
civilized countries were the Jesuit Fathers, ox padres. They came mostly from Spain, a 
great grape-growing and wine-making country, and nothing was more natural than 
for them to bring with them this favorite fruit, also the source from which came their 
favorite beverage, and engraft it into the California soil. Hence the term "Mission" 
as applied to the black common grape found growing in the vineyards of California 
when the Americans first came to the country. These old /«i^rf?i' located upon the 
very cream of the land, selected the most favored spots, both as to soil and water for 
the missions. Here they planted the grapevines they had borne over so many 
leagues of water and barren wastes, and in a short tim2 the fruit of the vine, both as 
grapes and wine, became quite common. 

As a matter of interest we .will describe the method of grape-culture and wine- 
making in those primeval days. A choice spot of rich ground was selected, which 
could also be easily irrigated, for they had no idea that anything could b; produced 
without the free use of water. The usual method of plowing of those days was pur- 
sued, and the ground having been thus rudely upturned and afterwards harrowed 
with the branch of a tree, the vines were then planted, and the water turned on. They 
grew rapidly and strongly, and in the course of about three years began to bear quite 
thriftily. As in the days of Solomon so then, they literally trod the wine-press. The 
grapes were put into troughs made for the purpose, and the Indians then trod upon 
them with their bare feet until the whole mass was a pomace. This was then removed 
and placed in cow-skins, so suspended that they would retain the greatest possible 
amount of it. These were their fermenting-tanks, and here the pomace remained 
during that process. When this was accomplished a hole was cut in the skin, and 
they drew the wine off and put it into casks to await further processes. 

And that is the way they made what they called wine in those days. It was 
sour, unpalatable, and dreggy stuff, yet it answered the purpose, and was relished by 
those accustomed to its use from youth to old age. In these days of advancement, 
when the soils best adapted to the growth of the grape is sought out, when the 
ground is as thoroughly tilled as it is possible to have it, when the crushing is done by 
steam-power with a patented machine, when the process of fermentation is conducted 
in pure, sweet casks holding hundreds of gallons, when the entire process of wine- 
making is conducted in the best light of the age, we who live now look back upon 



814 History of Alameda County, California. 

the primitive wine-makers of our State with feeUngs almost akin to pity, thinking 
how great the opportunity and how meagerly it was embraced. 

When the first Americans came to the country they followed much in the steps 
of the Spaniards in regard to wine-making. It was something entirely new to them, 
and they had no information on the subject at all. Rich lands were sought in which 
to plant the vines, and much water was applied to make them grow. The Mission 
variety, with its large seeds and but little juice or pulp, was still in vogue. Finally, 
in 1856, a new era in wine-making in California began to dawn. All the old settlers 
will remember Col. Agoston Haraszthy, the founder of the Buena Vista vineyard in 
Sonoma County. He was a Hungarian noble, of court lineage, who was expatriated 
for taking a prominent part in a political crisis in his native land. After residing in 
Wisconsin for a while, he came to California in 1849, and to Sonoma County in 1856, 
and from that time on he devoted his entire attention to the advancement of the wine 
and vine interests of his adopted State. Up to that time there were no foreign vines 
in California. He founded a horticultural society, and began the importation of for- 
eign varieties at once. He believed that vines would thrive without irrigation, and 
carried out his faith by planting a large vineyard. He thus at once put himself at 
the head of the wine industry in California, and may with proprict)- be denominated 
the father of viniculture in this State. 

It will probably always remain a mooted question as to who brought the first 
foreign varieties of vines into California. It is known that a Mr. Stock of San Jos^ 
had several varieties growing on his place as early as 1858 or 1859, which he had 
received from his father who resided in Germany. In 1861 Doctor Crane of St. 
Helena purchased cuttings from the Stock vineyard at the rate of forty dollars per 
thousand. There was one variety which had no label, and Mr. Stock sold the cuttings 
at half-price, and they proved to be the now celebrated Riesling. 

In 1861 Colonel Haraszthy was appointed by the Governor of the State as a 
Commissioner to visit the wine-growing countries of Europe, in the interests of that 
industry of California. The result of this visit to the old countries, was the importa- 
tion of some three hundred different varieties of vines, many of which are yet great 
favorites with the vineyardists of the State, and from which are made the most valu- 
able wines now produced. Upon the return of Colonel Haraszthy from Europe, in 
1862, he was chosen President of the State Agricultural Society. In 1863 he orga- 
nized the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, to which he conveyed his four hundred 
acres of land in Sonoma. 

About this time, he wrote a treatise on the culture of the vine and the manufac- 
ture of wine, which was published by the State for gratuitous distribution. This pub- 
lication, thus generally circulated, called the attention, not only of the citizens of the 
State, but the people of the world to California, as a wine-producing country, and gave 
to that interest its first impulse. He had now given the matter a thorough test, and 
had proved beyond a doubt that wine-making could and would be made a success, 
and had demonstrated that he knew more than any other citizen of the county about 
the subject, and took more interest in it than any one. 

In the winter of 1858, Colonel Haraszthy planted about eighty thousand vines 
in a high tract of land east of the town of Sonoma, since known as Buena Vista \'ine- 



Washington Township. 815 



yard, and the growth and progress of this venture were very closely watched by all 
interested in viniculture. The experiment succeeded beyond the .most sanguine 
expectations of all, and was the beginning of a new epoch in the culture of grapes in 
California. 

Some idea of the immense progress of this industry may be had, when it is 
stated that in 1 866 the estimated wine product of the whole State was only two mil- 
lion gallons, while at the present time it is estimated that there are twenty million 
acres of grape lands in the State, which if producing the maximum amount would 
yield annually twenty billion gallons. That this yield will never be reached is doubt- 
less true, but it will be very great indeed. 

The cultivation of the grape in Washington Township is coeval with the Spanish 
settlement of the district. The first foreigners to embark upon it were Messrs. Beard, 
Ellsworth, and Palmer. It is said that in 1852, Mr. Palmer purchased the Peak 
vineyard and commenced with ten thousand vines, from cuttings received from France, 
Spain, etc., but his vines increased so rapidly, that in 1874 he had one hundred and 
forty thousand vines in all and only ten thousand of the Mission variety. Indeed, it 
may be said that every inch of ground lying between Niles and the Santa Clara 
County line, along the foot-hills, is suited for the cultivation of the vine. 

At Mission San Jose is the most marvelous vineyard in the State. Upon acquir- 
ing the old Beard homestead, Seiior Juan Gallegos at once set to work to beautify 
the locality. What was already a garden he has turned into a paradise, while he has 
planted a vineyard covering no less an area than five hundred acres. As one stands 
on the heights, and looks down the gentle slope towards Washington Corners, one 
sees what a five hundred acre vineyard means. It means that an amount of land 
equal to what would make two good sized farms in the Eastern States is here devoted 
to one especial staple: it means that it requires a princely fortune to keep these 
grounds in order, and that it needs vast wealth to be able to wait until the vines 
begin to yield. The day is not far distant when this vineyard will be among the 
greatest of California's wonders, and will attract the attention of the vine-growers of 
Europe more than any other has yet done. 

Grain is grown generally all over the township, the uplands being the principal 
locality for wheat and the lower lying grounds devoted to barley, oats, etc. Corn and 
hops are also grown to a considerable extent, while sugar-beets, onions, and potatoes 
produce good crops, indeed, some of the potato stories almost equal the proverbial 
"fish yarns." Messrs. Beard and Horner, after their purchase of the Alvarado ranch, 
entered largely into the cultivation of tubers, which subsequently became a drug upon 
the market. It is said that potatoes weighing from three to five pounds each, were 
by no means uncommon, while Doctor Willey tells in The Pacific, that on one occasion, 
in 1852, at Mr. Beard's, he aided at the sacrifice of one weighing four pounds, which 
served as a meal for nine persons at the table and three to follow. In that year his 
yield of potatoes was sixty thousand bushels, averaging, for the most part, three hun- 
dred and thirty bushels to the acre. 

In the year 1852 Mr. Beard had six hundred and forty acres of grain that yielded 
on the average, fifty-six bushels to the acre. 

The neighborhood of Warm Springs is favorable to the growth of early fruits and 



816 History of Alameda County, California. 

vegetables, while the grain crop in this portion of the township is yearly improving. 
In the mountains to the back of Warm Springs and the Mission, the country is very 
rough and is a good deal used for sheep pasture, and several persons about the mis- 
sion are extensively engaged in sheep-raising. 

Washington figures conspicuously in the nursery business also, while its salt lands 
and beet-sugar manufactory need not receive more than a passing mention here. 
Indeed, the products of Washington Township may be put down as follows: 1st, Agri- 
cultural; 2d, Horticultural; 3d, stock-raising; 4th, sheep-raising; 5th, salt-making; 6th, 
manufacturing; 7th, wine-making; 8th, storing and forwarding; 9th, mercantile; loth, 
fruit-preserving. 

Mexican Grants. — The following are the original Mexican grants in Washing- 
ton Township. On October 13, 1836, the Rancho del Agua Caliente of two leagues 
was granted to Antonio Suiiol, and by him transferred to Fulgencio Higuerra. The 
Rancho Arroyo del Alameda was granted by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Josd 
Jesus Vallejo. Before this that gentleman had obtained a grant of one thou.sand varas 
square. In 1842 Augustin Alviso, who had been a luajor-donio at the mission, set- 
tled upon the Rancho Potrero de los Cerritos, and in conjunction with Tomas Pacheco, 
obtained the above grant consisting of three square leagues. The last grant in the 
county was made in 1846, of thirty thousand acres of the mission lands to Alvarado 
and Pico; but tliis grant was rejected and in December, 1867, United States patents 
were issued to a large number of men who had settled upon it: 

Early Settlement. — Washington Township was the earliest settled portion 
of what is now Alameda County, and for which we may ascribe two reasons : first, its 
proximity to the Pueblo de San Jos^, whither all foreigners found their wa\- on first 
coming to the central portion of California, and, second, its nearness to the Mission of 
San Jose, surrounding which there were leagues of well-watered lands. 

The first actual settlers were the priests of the Mission and their followers who 
held sway over the district extending far into what is Murray Township, and as far 
as San Leandro. Then came the Mexicans who afterwards received the grants, for it 
was their custom to occupy the lands they had afterwards conceded to them long ere 
application had been made therefor. The Higuerra family had settled on the Warm 
Spring Ranch, on what is now the property of Henry Curtner; they built their adobe, 
which at the time of the American occupation was occupied by Valentine Higuerra, 
while' Fulgencio Higuerra dwelt in another adobe residence, now occupied by his son, 
Salvio, about a mile to the northward of the store of George W. Peacock. In the 
original instance there were two buildings at this point, but one of them succumbed 
to the earthquake of October 21, 1868. 

By this time Augustin Alviso had successfully grown quantities of grain, which he 
disposed of to the Russians at Fort Ross and Bodega, upon his ranch near Centreville, 
while Don Jesus Vallejo had his mansion, which still stands, in Mission San Jo.sc at 
the corner of the road to Washington Corners. These men were all wealthy, counting 
their cattle by thousands and their lands by leagues. 

With the year 1846 came the famous ship Brooklyn with her passengers who 



Washington Township. 817 



formed the earliest permanent settlers of the State. The fair, fertile lands of Wash- 
ington Township soon attracted their attention, and on the gentle slopes not far from 
the base of the Contra Costa Range did John M. Horner pitch his tent and there 
resided until his death. When he took up his residence near what is now known as 
Washington Corners there was not a single American resident between the Mission 
and the Contra Costa County line, while there were not five men of the Anglo-Sa.Kon 
race to the north of the bay of San Francisco. In 1847 Perry Morrison cast his lot in 
the township, and that same spring Earl Marshall, who too had come out in the 
Brooklyn, arrived at the Mission and embarked in the dairying business. Then came 
the year of '48 and the discovery of gold, but none settled here then, the mines were 
too attractive for people to settle down to the humdrum life of farmers; but, in 1849, 
came the late E. L. Beard, who needs something more than a passing notice at our 
hands. 

Mr. Beard was born in the town of Lyons, New York, on October 15, 18 16. In 
1830 he went to Michigan, ■ Jackson County, along with his father. The following 
year he went to Peru, Indiana, and in 1836 settled in Lafayette of the same State, 
where he remained till he started for California in 1849. He came to this State 
through Mexico, and located at the Mission San Jose, where he maintained his resi- 
dence up till the time of his death on May 8, 1880. His successes and disappoint- 
ments in Califdrnia are known to most of our readers and do not need recapitulation. 
That a man of his noble impulses should pass his declining days in disappointments, 
the chagrin of hopes unrealized, and the culmination of business reverses, hardly seems 
compatible with our ideas of the rewards due him who had always a word of cheer 
for the down-hearted, whose sympathies were always for the oppressed, and to whom 
no human being in need ever applied in vain. His taste is still to be seen in the 
beautiful surroundings of Mr. Gallegos fine mansion, in the garden of which are 
orange-trees planted by Mr. Beard full twenty years ago. 

In the year 1850 came Henry C. Smith to the Mission San Jose, after having 
shared in the fortunes of Fremont's California Battalion. To this gentleman, more, 
possibly than to any other, is due the shaping out of Alameda County in 1853. He 
was appointed by General-Governor Riley an alcalde at a very early date. 

In July 1850 Mr. Beard was joined by his family, among whom were his son 
John L. Beard and his step-son H. G. Ellsworth. In a conversation with the latter 
gentleman he informed us that in 1849, E. L. Beard had opened a store at the Mission, 
while H. C. Smith, Jeremiah Fallon, Michael Murray, and William Norris were resi- 
dents there. Mr. Ellsworth also says that in 1850 there was a mill at Niles, run by 
water-power, but a very crude affair, owned by Don J. J. de Vallejo, but this was not 
the first in the township, the Fathers had had a primitive concern, and he and his 
step-father erected a better and more costly, though a small one, shortly after his 
arrival. In the year 1850 William Tyson settled in the vicinity of the Mission, and 
Origin Mowry located on the place where he now resides, known as Mowry's 
Landing. In this year, too, Ephraim Dyer took up his residence in the district, 
but he has since permanently located in Murray Township. Ed. Niehaus who came 
to the township on December 24, 1850, informs us that on his arrival with L. P_ 
Gates, they found John M. Horner living about a mile below the Mission on what 



818 History of Alameda County, California. 

was known as Honda grant, the house being now owned by Jacob Salz, a tanner of 
Stockton. Don Jesus Vallejo resided in the Mission; E. L. Beard, within the Church 
property there; Mr. Coombs, a lawyer, dwelt on the place now occupied by James 
Emmerson; John Niel lived on the Mission grant, where Mr. Overacker now is; Joe 
NichoUs, where he does now; William Tyson, Perry Morrison, and William Morrison 
resided together, the estate being now divided between Mr. Tyson's widow and the 
children of Perry Morrison, the share of his brother William having been purchased 
by the two others, while he took up his residence in the vicinity of Alvarado, subse- 
quently proceeding to San Jose. Earl Marshall and Simeon Stivers also resided on 
the Tyson estate. Charles Hanyon lived ne.xt to Mr. Coombs, on the farm now occu- 
pied by T. Chadbournc, while Henry C. Smith resided on the hillside on what is now 
the Taylor ranch, about a mile from the Mission on the Niles road of to-day. Nie- 
haus and Gates themselves located on the Stubbe place. At this time there was a 
store in the Mission kept by W. H. Chamberlain, while in this year a hotel was opened 
by James Hawley, who now resides near Alvarado. 

On July I, 185 I, William M. Liston came to the township and took charge of 
two warehouses that had been erected at Alvarado by Henry C. Smith. At this date 
there were but two dwelling-houses in Alvarado, one of which had a small store kept 
in it. The third house was erected by Mr. Liston himself, and still stands on the 
thoroughfare known as Maiden's Lane. In Union City there were three families liv- 
ing, viz.: Dr. Buckland, who had charge of a warehouse belonging to John M. Horner; 
Captain Richardson and Captain Nowell, who commanded a couple of small craft 
plying on the bay and had their residences there, besides these a man named John 
Wilson lived on Alameda Creek not far from the town. Among the names of those 
who came to locate in the year 185 i, we have been able to gather the following: M. 
Sigrist, John J. Riser, George W. Patterson, George W. Bond, Capt. Stephen Larkin, 
Joshua Wauhab, Lewis Cass Smith, Christian P. Hanson, Henry Smith, Calvin 
Valpey, and of course many more whose names we have failed to hear. 

In the fall of the year 1851, John M. Horner purchased the steamer Ciiioii which 
had been brought in sections from the Eastern States, constructed in San Francisco, 
and put her upon the route between that city and L^nion City, and placing her under 
the command of Captain Marston, that gentlemen took up his residence in the to\T-n- 
ship. 

In this year Beard and Horner bought the Alvarado Rancho and commenced the 
cultivation of potatoes. The part they inclosed was that now owned by the Haleys. 
In the following year their crop averaged two hundred sacks to the acre, and sold for 
upwards of one hundred thousand dollars. The following year everybody cultivated 
them, and there was a plethora. Messrs. Beard and Horner made contracts for the 
disposal of theirs in advance; they sold them for two and two and a half cents per 
pound, to the San Francisco commission merchants — Brigham, Garrison, and others. 
Garrison took a million pounds of them; they were never removed and were allowed 
to rot on the ground, in consequence of the low price caused by the great abundance 
of the crop. The firm of Saunders & Co. purchased a large quantit)- of them, which 
they stowed away in a hulk in the bay. The warm weather coming on, they com- 
menced growing and threatened to burst the vessel open, when the owners ordered 



Washington Township. 819 



them to be removed. They commenced casting them into the bay at San Francisco, 
but the Harbor Master interfered and stopped it, necessitating the expense of removal 
to some other locality. 

Among the gentlenien with whom we have conversed, who cast their lot in Wash- 
ington Township in the year 1852, is Emery Munyan. When he arrived on July 7th) 
he found a small warehouse, and the dwelling-house at Movvry's Landing, and H. K. 
W. Clarke, resided in the ranch-house, now occupied by George Wagner, while near 
to it was a man named Tompkins. In November 1852 Isaac M. Long built a house 
where Mr. Thompson now resides, below the village of Newark, which is known as the 
Dairy Ranch; while about the same time Richard Threlfall took up land in the vicin- 
ity. Among others who settled in the township in the year 1852, we have the names 
of Nathaniel L. Babb, Howard Overacker, Garrett S. Norris, William H. Cockefair, 
Edward Ross, Henry Curtner, Daniel M. Sanborn, John T. Stevenson, E. S. Allen > 
Joseph Ralph, James Beazell, Joel Russell, C. J. Stevens, George Simpson, Victor W. 
Nuttman, Thomas W. Millard, William Barry, George M. Walters. 

In the spring of 1852, Henry C. Smith and A. M. Church started a store in the 
warehouse where now is the establishment of M. J. Peach, while the town of Alvarado 
had an accession to its strength by the arrival of W. Param and family, Edward Chin- 
nery and his wife, and not long afterward Mr. Church's family came, as did also a Mr. 
Hayes and his wife. In the fall of the year Peter J. Campbell settled between Cen- 
treville and Alvarado as did also the Ralph family on the place now occupied by the 
widow. In this year Captain Bond put up a blacksmith shop on the present site of 
Centreville. 

At the date of which we write, the agricultural products of California were not 
as celebrated in the Eastern States as they have since become; but in 1853 some 
samples of the production of Washington soil, grown on the site of Odd Fellows 
Hall at the Corners, were sent to the World's Fair at New York. The San Fran- 
cisco lV/ii£- and Advertiser of July i, 1853, had the following: "Berford & Co. will 
carry by their express to-day several cases, hermetically sealed, containing samples of 
California grain, among which are oat-stalks ten feet three mches in height, with heads 
from twenty-two to twenty-eight inches in length; also wheat, product of a single 
grain, containing seventy spears, inclosing four thousand two hundred grains." These 
remarkable specimens were the gift of Mr. Sim, a very early settler of the township. 

The following are among the settlers in the township during the year 1853: 
Frank Frietes, Hermann Eggers, John C. Whipple, Joseph F. Black, John McRae, 
Jarel T. Walker, Luther E. Osgood, John Blacow, Farley B, Granger, John Proctor, 
James Emmerson, Ebenezer Healey, Edward F. Burdick. J. W. Musser, who came 
to the Mission San Jose in this year, says that even at that late date the Mission 
buildings were in their pristine state, while in the village that had sprung up around 
it there was but one frame building, and which still stands next south to the store of 
Erhman & Lebrecht. Among the names of residents which he recollects are those of 
E. L. Beard, Augustus Johnson, David Howard, Adolf Sellman, Clemente Columbet, 
who had a vineyard, and W. H. Chamberlain, who kept the store. In 1854 he dis- 
posed of it to J. W. Chamberlain, and in 1856 the business was purchased and became 
Musser & McClure, who sold in 1866 to Bachman & Erhman. 



820 History of Alameda County, California. 

In the year 1854 Mr. Beard sent to the Eastern States for a large number of 
fruit-trees, such as apples, but they, for some unexplained reason, failed when planted. 
In this year the first hotel in Centreville was built by William Morgan, on the site 
now occupied by the Gregory House; while a man named Day settled on the Bain 
place, the property being previousl\' occupied by renters. On May 18, 1854, Ezra 
Decoto took up his residence in the township where he now resides. At this time, 
between Decoto and Niles, Antone Joseph was living where he does now; Hank- 
Smith dwelt near Dry Creek, and John Hanna, agent for the Clarke Ranch, had the 
land now owned by John Whipple. Between Decoto and Haywards there were only 
a few houses, among the residents being San ford Taylor and F. W. Meyer. Among 
the settlers in the year 1854, there are the names of Elijah Foster, August May, 
August Heyer, Michael H. Ryan, John Taylor, Henry Dusterberry, William Wales, 
Z. D. Cheney, Silvester P. Harvey, Andrew J. McLeod, William H. Mack. 

After the year 1854 the settlement of the township was general, while the people 
took up their positions as well-to-do, hard-working farmers. We will therefore wind 
up the general histor)' of the township by producing such names as we have been 
able to gather, and the years of their casting their lot in Washington: — 

1855. — Philip Thorn, William H. Hcaley. 1856. Healey, Edward Mur- 
phy, Henry F. Nebas, James Shinn, James A. Brewer, A. B. Montross. 1857. — E. H. 
Dyer, Howard S. Jarvis, Walter Baker, George W. Babcock, James Sinclair, Samuel 
K. Brown. 1858. — Antonio Bardellini, Maas Lueders, William Gibbons. 1859.— 
David H. Beck, James J. Stokes, i860. — J. C. Haley, E. A. Richmond, Nicholas 
Bergmann, Adolphus Decoto, John Decoto, Jacob F. Meyers. 1861. — Israel Horton 
1862. — Ivan J. Tifoche. 1863. — J. A. Bilz, Alson S. Clark, B. D. T. Clough, Solomon 
Erhman. 1864.— W. P. Abbey, A. A. Overacker, Michael Ryan. 1865.— M. W. 
Dixon, F. C. Jarvis, Hugh Doherty, Peter McKeanj-. 

Other sections of California, particularly the southern counties, have been 
admired and lauded for the productiveness of their soil and the salubrity and pleas- 
antness of their climate; but no county can surpass Alameda either in health, pleasure, 
or profit, when a permanent family residence is sought. The Alameda County Inde- 
pendent, a newspaper published at Washington Corners, on June 5, 1875, .says: "Last 
week we paid a visit to the hospitable home of one of the old settlers of our county, 
to wit, William Whidden, Esq., who owns two hundred and fifty acres near Alvarado. 
The ground in that district is subject to overflow e\er\- winter, the effect of which is 
greatly to enrich the soil and preserve its fruitfulness. Land that has been tilled 
every year for twent}' years is just as productive now as it was two decades since. 
That is the ca.se with this farm. Last year fifteen thousand bushels of onions and 
three thousand sacks of beans were raised on it, the sacks averaging about sixt\--five 
pounds, while the onions were so prolific that one single acre produced six hundred 
bushels. Carrots to the amount of nearly six hundred tons, eight hundred sacks of 
barley, two hundred and fifty sacks of potatoes, about fifty tons of squashes, and fifty 
sacks of corn were also produced. Two years before, twenty-seven acres of barley 
brought one thousand seven hundred and fourteen dollars cash, at home. Onions are 
sold at from one to five cents per pound. Of fruit-trees there are not le.ss than five 
hundred, consisting of apples, pears, plums, cherries, crab-apples, quince and peaches. 



Washington Township. 821 



The varieties of berries cultivated are blackberry, raspberry, and strawberry, chiefly 
for home consumption; and four acres of cherry currants, yielding three or four 
tons to the acre. The price of these runs from six cents, early in the season, down to 
two cents per pound at last. 

"The live-stock keep pace with the other products in quality if not in quantity. 
There are nine families of tenants on the place, and sixty to seventy workmen 
employed. The lessees get two-thirds of the produce of the land, giving one-third for 
its use to the owner — each party furnishing his own sacks." 

The above facts show what can be done and what has been done for a great many 
years on one farm, and that but two hundred and fifty acres in extent. 

Another class of Washington products that may be noticed is the splendid 
Merino sheep of Mrs. Blacow, finer than which there are none in any part of the 
world. There is still yet an article of commerce and a source of wealth that is culti- 
vated to the highest perfection in Washington Township. We allude to hops. In 
1873 B. Benedict and J. B. Shirk commenced the cultivation of this commodity near 
Alvarado and up to the present have prosecuted the industry with marked success. 

It will be unnecessary here for us to make mention of the manufactures of beet 
sugar and salt; histories of these will be found further on. We will, therefore, now 
draw the reader's attention to the following short sketches of the rise and progress 
of the towns in the district : — 

Alvar.'VDO. — As having once borne the honors of the Capitolian crown, Alvarado 
may be said to have precedence of the other small towns in Washington Township. 
With it, for the purposes of this sketch, may be included the places which bear the 
names of Union City (called after the steamer Union), and New Haven. In the 
month of July, 185 i, William M Liston, the present proprietor of the Alvarado Tav- 
ern, came to the place to take charge of two warehouses that had been built by Henry 
C. Smith. Besides these erections thcj-e were two dwelling-houses for other employes 
of that enterprising gentleman. The third house was built by Mr. Liston, and still 
stands on Maiden Lane, while, in one of the original dwellings, was a small store, the 
only one in the place at that time. In Union City, at the period of which we write, 
there were living Dr. Buckland, who had charge of warehouses, the property* of J. M. 
Horner; Captain Richardson, and Captain Nowell, both of whom commanded small 
craft running between that point and San Francisco, while a man named John Wilson 
had a residence on Alameda Creek, not far from the town. 

In the Fall of 1851 John M. Horner purchased the steamer Union, a boat that 
had been brought out from the East in pieces and put together in San Francisco, and 
placed her on the route between Union City and San Francisco, under the command 
of Captain Marston, who took up his residence at the former place. This small com- 
munity was added to in 1852, by the arrival of C. J. Stevens, now of Livermore, and 
his sister; and in the same spring, A. M. Church joined Henry C. Smith and started 
a store in the warehouse now occupied by M. J. Peach. About this time there also 
came to the village W. Param and his wife, Edward Chinnery and his wife, William 
Hayes and his wife, Mr. Church being also joined by his family. In the following 
year Alvarado was made the county seat of the newly created Alameda County, while 
it was then that John M. Horner erected the grist-mill, that was, after being conducted 



822 , History of Alameda County, California. 

for some time by C. J. Stevens, subsequently removed to Livermorc, and was there 
destroyed by fire in the winter of 1882. 

With the estabhshment of the seat of justice at Alvarado several settlers took up 
their abode in the place, for it was thought that before long it would blossom into 
something more than an ordinar}- village. That year, 1853, a private school, with 
five pupils, was opened, the rate of tuition being five dollars per month, while not 
long after a public school, taught by Mrs. Warren, was started in the residence of 
Captain Marston. 

The Court House was established in the upper story of the warehouse used by 
Messrs. Smith & Church as their store, while the county offices were in other 
buildings scattered about the town. 

Since the county seat was finally removed from Alvarado the town has made but 
little progress, still it has considerable commercial advantages, consisting in its facili- 
ties for shipping by the bay, and its railroad connections. 

Among the features of Alvarado may be mentioned its artesian wells, one of 
which, belonging to Captain Barrow, probably has a larger flow of water than any 
other well of this class in the State, the stream having a body of about eight 
inches square. 

Beet-sugar-making in California was inaugurated in Alvarado in 1869, by a joint- 
stock company, with a large capital invested in buildings and the neccssar\' machin- 
ery. The works' were a short distance northeast from the town, on lands of E. H. 
Dyer, to whose interesting sketch of the rise and progress of this industry we would 
refer the reader. Another important industry in Alvarado is that of salt-making, an 
interesting statement of which has been made in the early portion of this work. 
Not until 1863 was the business of salt-making engaged in. In that year John 
Quigley, a pioneer salt-maker of Alameda County, commenced operations at Alva- 
rado or Union City, where he still continues the business he inaugurated. The 
process originally employed (and substantially in use now) consisted in admitting, 
with the rising tide, the salt water upon a level surface of the ground which had 
been dyked into vats. These being filled to the required depth, the connection 
between them and the outside water is severed, and the water in the vats allowed to 
evaporate until the chloride of sodium (salt) can be gathered up. This description of 
salt-making is not designed to represent the somewhat complex methods employed 
at the present day, but merely to show the main feature — atmospheric evaporation. 
As conducted at the present time, a series of wooden vats are generally employed, 
and the brine treated to a variety of processes before the salt is brought to commer- 
cial shape. 

Crusade Lodge, No. 93, I. O. O. F. — This, the first I. O. O. F. lodge estab- 
lished in the county, was organized November 26, 1859, by Past Grand Jacob L. Van 
Bokelen, and Deputy Grand L. L. Alexander, with the following charter members. 
Charles S. Eigenbrodt, F. G.; Albert E. Crane, James Hawlcy, William M. Liston 
William Morrison, William Hayes, W. H. Hawthorne, George Simpson, N. B. Eldred; 
the first officers being: Charles S. Eigenbrodt, N. G.; Albert E. Crane, V. G.; James 
Hawley, Rec. Sec; William Hayes, Treas. ; William M. Liston, Per. Sec. The prcs- 



Washington Township. 823 



ent membership is forty-seven, while the officers for the current term are: Charles A. 
Plummer, N. G.; M. W. Ingalls, V. G.; Henry D. Goodman, Rec. Sec; Joseph Mc- 
Keown, Treas.; F. B. Granger, Jr., Per. Sec. The lodge meets in their own hall every 
Saturday evening, which was erected in 1864 by the Odd Fellows' Hall Association, 
the stock being now entirely in the hands of the lodge. The building occupies an 
area of forty by sixty-five feet, the society being in a flourishing condition, with 
assets of seven thousand dollars. 

Reliance Lodge, No. 93, A. O. U. W. — This lodge was organized April 15, 
1881, with the following charter officers: A. J. Hare,' P. M. W.; W. F. Ingalls, M. W.; 
O. L. Southwick, G. F.; Charles R. Neaurt, O.; J. M. Ingalls, Rec; F. R. Stokes, Fin.; 
W. F. Emery, Rec; Antonio Lee, G.; A. Bain, L W.; William Wells, O. W. ; and 
eighteen charter members besides. The present membership is forty, and the officers 
for the current term are: W. F. Emery, P. M. W.; Taylor Ralph, M. W.; S. H. Hall, 
F.; P. Plourd, O.; E. A. Anderson, Rec; E. A. Richmond, Fin.; Charles Nuwart, 
Rec; J. W. Robinson, G.; A. Muller, I. W.; P. Matthews, O. W. Lodge meets in 
Odd Fellows Hall on the first and fourth Wednesdays of each month, and is in a 
flourishing condition. 

Beet-root Sugar Industry at Alvarado.. — No history of Alameda 
County would be complete without some mention of the rise and progress of this 
promising industry, which, so far as California and the Pacific Coast are concerned, 
had its origin at Alvarado — its failure and its final success. 

The first attempt to manufacture beet-root sugar in California was made at 
Alvarado in 1869. Messrs. Bonesteel, Otto & Co., who were engaged in a small way 
in the business at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, opened a correspondence upon the sub- 
ject with Gen. C. I. Hutchinson, E. H. Dyer, and others on this coast. The matter 
was pushed with zeal, and the "California Beet Sugar Company" was soon organized 
with a capital stock of $250,000. The stockholders were: Gen. C. I. Hutchinson, Flint, 
Bixby & Co., T. G. Phelps, E. H. Dyer, E. R. Carpentier, E. Dyer, W. B. Carr, W. T. 
Garratt, and E. G. Rollins, all well-known capitalists and enterprising business men 
of California; and A. D. Bonesteel, A. Otto, and Ewald Klinean of Wisconsin. The 
Eastern parties, who were to assume the technical management of the business, 
arrived in California in the spring of 1870, and arrangements were immediately 
made for the erection of a factory. The location chosen was the farm of E. H. 
Dyer, at Alvarado. The work was pushed with such energy that the building 
was completed by the contractor, B. F. Ingalls, Esq., in November of the same year. 
It is unnecessary to follow minutely the history of this company. It is sufficient 
to say that after running four years at Alvarado, through the incornpetency of the 
technical managers, it proved a financial failure. Messrs. Bonesteel and Otto claimed 
that the location, at Alvarado, not being a suitable place for the business was the 
cause of the failure, and succeeded by their plausible representations in organizing 
a new company, which purchased the Alvarado machinery, and removed it to Soquel, 
Santa Cruz County, where, after operating a few years, subjecting its stockholders 
to a heavy annual loss, the enterprise was abandoned. 



824 History of Alameda County, California. 

E. H. Uyer, who had bought the buildings and a portion of the land owned 
by the old companj' at Alvarado, still had faith in the business, believing that, with 
good management, it could be made to pay at that place. He found it very difficult, 
however, in the face of so many failures to induce capitalists to invest a sufficient 
amount to give the business another trial, and it was not until February, 1879, that 
the "Standard Sugar Manufacturing Company" was incorporated. The company 
consisted of A. E. Davis, O. F. Giffin, E. H. Dyer, Prescott Scott & Co., J. P. Dyer, 
and Robert N. Graves, with a capital of $100,000. It was soon ascertained that more 
capital was needed, and the compan\' was re-incorporated under the name of the 
Standard Sugar Refining Company, with a capital stock of $200,000. The officers 
are: O. F. Giffin, President; J. P. Dyer, Vice-President; P". H. Dyer, General Super- 
intendent; W. F. Ingalls, Secretar}'; Trustees, O. F. Giffin, R. N. Graves, J. P. Dyer, 
G. H. Waggoner, and E. H. D\^er. This company has made a success of the business 
from the start. It earned thirty-three per cent, on the capital invested the last or 
third campaign, and is now just commencing on its fourth campaign with very 
flattering prospects. The success of this important home industry is greatly due to 
the general management of Mr. D)er, who owns one-fourth of the stock, and who, 
profiting by former experience, is able to avoid many mistakes which have caused 
the failures of other establishments of the kind. The present factory has been 
enlarged and improved, until it now has a capacity of about one hundred tons per 
day, employs, at the factory, one hundred and twenty-five men, to say nothing of the 
great amount of labor necessary to produce the beets, harvest, and haul them to the 
factory. One to obtain an adequate idea of the business of this company, and the 
great good it is doing in the way of using the products of the farmers, and keeping 
emploj'cd so many of our people, should see the works in operation during the 
months of September, October, and November, when beets are being received. 
There are frequently lines of teams, all heavily laden with beets, from a quarter 
to sometimes half a mile in length, pushing along in line to reach the company's 
scales, and deliver their loads. It is a scene of great activity. From fifteen to 
twenty thousand tons of beets are used each campaign, which requires for their 
production ten to fifteen hundred acres of land. The compan\' disburses among 
its workmen and the farmers n°arl)- $150,000 a year for labor and material used, 
all produced in Alameda Count)-. They have turned out each campaign one and a 
half millions of pounds of pure white sugar; no low grades or yellow sugars are 
put on the market by them. 

The climate and soil of the Pacific Coast are peculiarl}- adapted to the success- 
ful production of the sugar beet. The\' can be raised as cheaply and are of as good 
quality as those produced in an}- countr\-. The success of this company- has fully 
proved that it only requires a knowledge of the business and capital to produce, on 
the Pacific Coast, most of the sugar required for consumption in the United States, 
and at a cost not exceeding that paid for refining grades imported from foreign 
countries, and indicates the w-ay to save millions of dollars to distribute among our 
people and laboring classes. 

Union Pacific Salt Company. — This, the most extensive salt-making concern 



Washington Township. 825 

in the State, was incorporated March 25, 1868, and have their works situated at the 
mouth of the Alameda Creek. After incorporation the company purchased Rock 
Island, containing about one thousand acres, and situated in Washington Township. 
Work was commenced in 1870, and business has increased to such an extent that 
employment is given to over one hundred men. During the last ten years more than 
seventy thousand tons of salt have been manufactured here, while there is a capital 
of one hundred thousand dollars invested in the enterprise. The works of the Union 
Pacific Company may be selected as a type, and the description will apply, in the 
main, to all the others. 

The swamp or overflowed lands on the margin of the bay are so nearly level that 
the waters will generally follow any channel, natural or artificial, and may be conveyed 
from point to point in a slow current, by making the bottom of each basin a few 
inches lower than the preceding one. It sometimes becomes necessary to elevate the 
water when there is not sufficient head. This is done by a windmill of peculiar con- 
struction. The power is communicated by gearing to a paddle-wheel running in a 
channel, into which the water flows from the lower level. By the revolutions of the 
paddle-wheel the water is forced up an inclined plane to an elevation of a foot or so, 
which is all that is required. These mills are small copies of the great windmills 
used in Holland to drain lands reclaimed from the sea. They are provided with an 
iron strap and lever, by which the mill may be stopped when not required. 

The first step in opening new salt-works is to throw up dykes or levees, partition- 
ing off the available ground into basins of greater or less magnitude. Were it not 
for these dykes, the land would become wholly overflowed at the high tides on each 
month, but only partly so at other times. The outer basin, lying along the shore of 
the bay, is called the receiving-reservoir, and is large enough to contain salt water 
sufficient to keep the inner basins supplied from tide to tide. It is furnished with 
wooden gates turning on pivots, which are opened by depressing a lever. The gates 
open inwards. When open they allow of the free ingress of water, but when closed, 
resist the overflow; and the greater the pressure the more tightl)^ they shut, being 
set on an angle toward the pressure. In the channel leading to the flood-gates from 
the outside, there is a fence of pickets, to prevent any floating debris from passing in 
through the gate. 

The Union Pacific Company has fifteen flood-gates, each twelve feet wide. In 
the receiving-reservoir, all the mud and mechanical impurity settles. During the 
spring tides men are stationed at the gates, whose duty it is to open them when the 
tide flows, and to shut them at the commencement of the ebb. It sometimes requires 
only two nights to fill the receiving-reservoir; but at others, five or six. As the gates 
must shut perfectly tight to retain the water, considerable attention and care are 
required to effect this, as crabs and small floating refuse get in, when it becomes 
necessary to shovel in earth until a perfect joint is made. From the receiving-reser- 
voir the water is conducted as required into secondary tanks, to the extent of one 
million gallons daily, where it is allowed to remain until it becomes partly concen- 
trated by evaporation, during which it lets the sulphate of lime fall as a precipitate, 
which collects in large quantities, and although now considered worthless, it will, in 
th; future, be sought as a fertilizer. From the secondary basins, the water, freed in 
S3 



82G History ov Alameda County, California. 

part from impurity, is conducted in another set, where it becomes still more concen- 
trated by evaporation to brine, having a specific gravity of 1.2082, or twenty-five 
degrees Beaume, which is a saturated solution. It is then conveyed into vats and 
crystallizing basins, or " making-ponds," as they are called. After remaining for the 
required time, nearly all the salt crystallizes out, and the mother liquor, holding in 
solution magnesia, salts, and other impurities, and technically called " bitterns," is 
drawn off, and generally allowed to go to waste; a small quantit}- only being used in 
the manufacture of carbonate of magnesia. 

The crystallizing vats, basins, or pans are generally about an acre in extent. At 
the new works of the Union Pacific Company six ponds measure eight acres. The 
salt taken from one of these basins contained two hundred tons, and measured at 
the base of the pile thirty by forty feet, and was sixteen feet high. These basins are 
filled but once for each crystallization. Most of the crystallizing ponds have mud 
bottoms and sides. The salt, of course, is somewhat inferior, or at least less clean than 
that from others which are floored with planed boards. It is claimed that the low 
price of salt will not pay for the additional capital required to build the tanks and 
reservoirs of cement on the cheaper h'lon; but we are convinced that such works will 
in time replace the mud-bottomed basins of the present. 

When the mother liquors are drawn off the salt is carefully shoveled into small 
piles, like hay-cocks in a field, by a gang of sixteen men. It is then wheeled in bar- 
rows to the large piles, where it stands through at least one rainy season, during 
which the deliquescent salts of magnesia, and the coloring matter imparted probably 
by organic matter leach out, and the salt becomes ready for the market. When the 
salt crop has been gathered from one of these basins, a set of men wearing wide 
boards on their feet, like snow-shoes, walk over the surface, and with shovels flatten 
and otherwise smooth the surface of the rather soft mud, preparatory to refilling with 
brine. 

For the manufacture of salt for table use the Union Pacific Company have a set 
of elevated pans of wood, into which the cleanest brine is pumped by windmills. 
There is no contamination, and the salt from these crystallizers is pure as salt can be 
made in a large way. Salt is ground at these works in a mill of a peculiar construc- 
tion. It consists of a corrugated roller of granite, which makes seven hundred revolu- 
tions per minute; it is driven by a portable steam-engine. The salt passes between 
the roller and a block of burr millstone. 

The trade of the Union Pacific Company has extended from Arizona to British 
Columbia. The President of the company is John Barton. 

Centreville. — It is entirel)' problematical how this village received its name- 
It may have been that it was so called because it was midway between Alvarado and 
Mission San Jose, but be that as it may, Centreville it remains and centrally situated 
it is between the bay and the hills, the two lines of railroad, and is near to the geo- 
graphical center of the township. The first settlers in Centreville were two individ- 
uals named George A. Lloyd and Frank Pepper, who had a blue tent pitched on the 
spot now occupied by the Widow Lowrie, but they were mere birds of passage. The 
first actual steps towards the formation of a town was the opening by Captain Bond 



Washington Township. 827 



of a store in the year 1852, where he offered for sale the curious combination of 
whisky, boots, and codfish. The building was a little " ten by twelve" cabin, and stood 
where Captain Bond's house now is. Prior to the year 1850, however, John M. 
Horner had built a Mormon chapel, which occupied the site of the United States 
Hotel, conducted by Mrs. Lewis. Here Mr. Horner himself was wont to preach, and 
within its walls was opened a school at a very early date, taught by a man named 
Kempster, while it was subsequently used by Rev. VV. W. Brier as a chapel. In 1854 
William Morgan opened a hotel on the present site of the Gregory House, while in 
the following year William Barry and a man named Wilson opened a store in the 
village. 

Since that date the town has grown up slowly, while to-day it is the most busy 
looking of all the interior towns save Livermore. It possesses several fine stores, two 
good hotels, the Gregory House, and United States Hotel, two churches, and several 
trades. Although not on the line of any railroad, Centreville is in communication 
with the Central Pacific at Niles, only three miles distant, while there is a horse-car 
running to Newark that connects with the South Pacific Coast Railroad. 

Centreville was never laid out as a town, but lots measuring fifty feet frontage and 
four hundred feet depth were offered to the highest bidder, and thus uprose the -little 
village. 

The Centreville and Alvarado Presbyterian Churches. — In the sum- 
mer of 1852, Rev. W. W. Brier moved to the Mission of San Jose. His health had 
been broken by over-work for eighteen months, while he planted the church of 
Marysville. 

His generous friend, E. L. Beard, hearing of this, invited him to the most attract- 
ive spot then in the State, fitted up a school-room in the old adobe buildings and 
secured for him seven pupils. 

Mr. Brier, with his wife and child, lived in the Mission a few months, he taught 
the first public school for which funds were drawn in the bounds of Santa Clara County. 
Alameda County, as yet, had no existence. At the same time he preached to small con- 
gregations in his school-room each Sabbath. In the beginning of 1^53 the Pacheco 
Ranch was sold, and he bought his place near where Centreville now stands, and began 
to hold services in a building called " Horner's School House." This John M. Horner 
had built and in it preached his Mormon faith to thirty or forty people on Sunday 
afternoons, while Mr. Brier had twelve to fifteen hearers in the morning. Mr. Horner 
was wealthy and liberal, and invited Mr. Brier to occupy the house when he did not 
use it. In June of 1853 the interest in church services had so increased that, on 
request, the following persons were organized into a Presbyterian church, viz.: Charles 
Hilton, Elizabeth. A. Brier, Hannah Breyfogle, Chancey Cornell, Charlotte Cornell 
Chas. Kelsey, Mary C. Kelsey, Eliza Beard, and Dr. J. M. Selfridge. This church 
was called the Alameda Presbyterian Church, after the name of the creek. There 
was as yet no Centreville; even Oakland was less populous and of less importance 
than Washington Township. 

Charles Hilton was chosen and ordained Elder. After more than a year of 
preaching, while he gathered this and another small church in the Mount Eden settle- 



828 History of Alamkda County, California. 

ment, Mr. Brier was invited to take charge of the two churches at a salary of $i,8oo. 

On Feb. 24, 1855, J. A. Mayhew, Jesse Beard, Chas. Kelsey, Henry Clark, and 
Chancey Cornell were elected Trustees, and vigorous measures were taken to build a 
house of worship; the preacher acting as solicitor of funds and superintendent of 
work. The effort was successful. On January 27, 1856, the brick church twenty- 
four by forty-four was dedicated, cost $3,31X1. 

The lot two and one-half acres was donated by George Lloyd. On the tia\' of 
dedication Mr. Brier was installed as joint pastor of the Centrevillc and Eden Presby- 
terian churches. ' Rev. Sam. B. Bell preached the sermon and gave the charge to the 
pastor and Rev. T. Dwight Hunt gave the charge to the people. It was a day of joy 
in the new community. The church grew rapidly in numbers and influence. A. A. 
Saunders and Dr. Selfridge were added as Elders. The church frequently permitted 
its pastor to go out and do missionary work which resulted in planting the churches in 
East Oakland and Alameda, also in other and more distant places. In i<S6o there 
had been gathered into the Centreville church fifty members. At this time the 
church at Alvarado was organized, chiefly from members of the Centreville church. 
The Pastor gradually transferred his labors from PLden to Alvarado. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cornell were efficient helpers. The house of worship was erected chiefl)' by their 
influence. The Eden church was scattered by the change of population, the church 
building was taken for a school house, and finall)' sold without authority of the 
church. 

In the fall of 1S60 Mr. Brier resigned his pastoral charge to enter upon the work 
of "church extension" on the Pacific Coast. At this time Rev. B. N. Scjinour was 
invited to become stated supply of the Centreville and Alvarado churches, which have 
always been united under the same minister. Mr. Seymour continued until the fall 
of 1865. This was a period of gloom to the nation and the church. 

Rev. James Pierpont was the minister during 1866. In the beginning of 1867 
Rev. W. F. B. Lynch was invited to take charge of the churches, and continued for 
two years. On October 21, 1868, the great earthquake so injured the brick walls of the 
Centreville church that it w as closed for a year, and the congregation soon shipped in 
the Methodist church. In the fall of 1869 the brick walls were removed, and wood 
substituted. After Mr. Lynch closed his labors as pastor, there was a period of ncarh' 
two years when sermons were read by Mr. Shinn or temporary supi^lics were sccui'ed. 
Among these Rev. James Alexander labored for u time. 

In November, 1871, C. Park, a licentiate was engaged for one \-ear. He continued 
to preach until August, 1873. 

Rev. Wm. Alexander, D. D., a professor in the San Francisco Theological Sem- 
inary was engaged as temporary supply, and August i, 1874, was called to be pastor 
of the Centreville and Alvarado churches. Under his ministry the Centreville churchy 
which had decreased in membership ever since i860, was increased by many additions, 
especially from the children of the church and those who had grown up in the Sabbath- 
school. He continued as pastor until April, 1878. In the fall of this year Rev. W. 
A. Tenney was engaged as stated supply of the churches, and continued for two 
years. Charles D. Merrill, a student in the San Francisco Theological Seminary, acted 
as temporary supph* from October, 18S0, and was engaged as stated supplj- for one year 



Washington Township. 829 



from May i, iSSi. At the end of this time he received a call to become pastor of the 
two churches, and was ordained and installed by the Presbytery of San Jose May 28, 
1882. F. H. Hilton has served as a faithful Elder of the Centreville church since 
1874. Under Mr. Merrill's pastoral charge both churches have increased in members, 
and both houses of worship have been renovated and improved at an expense of 
several hundred dollars. Both churches are out of debt, and are in a harmonious and 
prosperous condition. Andrew Kerr is the Elder of the Alvarado church. 

Alameda Lodge, No. 167, F. and A. M. — This lodge was organized on Sep- 
tember 9, 1863, the charter being granted, October 13, 1864, to the following members: 
James Beazell, Perry Morrison, S. I. Marston, T. Scott, H. G. Ellsworth, G. M. Kuiz, 
A. J. McDavid. The following were the first officers: James Beazell, W. M.; Perry 
Morrison, S. W.; S. I. Marston, J. W.; Thomas Scott, Treas.; H. G. Ellsworth, Sec; 
G. M. Kutz, S. D.; A. J. McDavid, J. D. The present membership is fifty, while the 
officers for the current term are: A. J. Hare, W. M.; Edward Niehaus, S. W.; John 
Lowrie, J. W.; M. B. Sturges, Treas.; William Mortimer, Sec, G. W. Willis, S. D.; 
William Barry, J. D.; G. M. Smith, William Wilton, Stewards; G. W. Bond, Marshal; 
J. A. Trefry, Tyler. The lodge, which is in a flourishing condition, own their building, 
two stories in height, and occupying a space of sixty by forty feet, being divided into 
an entertainment hall on the ground floor, and a fine lodge-room upstairs. Meets on 
the first Saturday on or before full moon, of each month. 

Centreville Council, No. 34, I. O. C. F. — Was organized December 15, 1881 
with sixty-five charter members, the following being the first officers: H. C. Gregory, 
C. C; S. Sandholdt, V. C; S. A. Buteau, P. C. C; W. A. Yates, Sec; S. Saltz, Treas.; 
W. H. Tyson, Prelate; G. W. Willis, Marshal; J. A. Trefry, Warden; I. J. Tifoche, 
Guard; F. N. Silva, Sentry; S. A. Buteau, Med. Examiner. The lodge which meets 
every Thursday evening in Tifoche Hall, has a membership of ninety-two on the roll, 
and the officers now serving are: Robert D. Smith, C. C; A. Blacow, V. C; W. A- 
Yates, Sec; S. Sandholdt, Fin.; M. F. Silva, Treas.; S. Morrison, Warden; I. J- 
Tifoche, Prelate; George Juhler, Guard; F. Rose, Sentry; S. A. Buteau, Med. 
Examiner. 

Pioneer Association of Washington, Murray, and Eden Townships. — 
The organization of this association was first suggested by William Barry and 
W. Morris Liston. In the Independent of November 11, 1876, was published a 
notice by them, with two or three other gentlemen, calling a meeting of the pioneers 
of the township. The meeting was held on Thanksgiving Day, November 30th, at 
Centreville, the following persons being present: C. Kelsey, John Riser, J. A. Trefry, 
E. Ross, E. Munyan, E. Niehaus, C. C. Scott, W. H. Cockefair, D. C. Bane, G. W. 
Bond, and William Barry. Messrs. Riser and Kelsey were appointed a committee 
to prepare the constitution and rules of a permanent society. December 9th a 
meeting was held, at which the committee's report was received and adopted; but 
the organization was not completed until December 23d. The first officers elected 
were: George W. Bond, Pres.; C. C. Scott, First Vice-Pres.; W. M. Liston, Second 
Vice-Pres.; L. E. Osgood, Treas.; William Barry, Sec The regular meetings of the 



830 History of Alameda County, California. 

society are upon the second Saturda}' of April, August, and December. AU residents 
of Washington Township who were in California before March 26, 1853, also the 
sons of pioneers over twenty-one years of age, were made eligible to membership. 
The organization was afterward extended to the adjoining townships of ICdcn and 
Murray. The object of the organization is declared to be to "collect and preserve infor- 
mation concerning the settlement of the township," and "advance the interests and 
perpetuate the memory" of its pioneers. It cares for the sick, and has a ritual for 
the burial of the dead. But the more practical object is to form a social raliying- 
point for the re.iewal and continuance of old friendships. The present officers arc: 
J. T. Walker, Pres.; L. E. Osgood, Treas. ; William Barry, Sec. 

The Washington and Murray Township W.\ter Company. — In the 
spring of 1871 it was reported that a corps of surveyors were in Sufiol Valley, 
laying off lands for a reservoir, to be built for the purpose of taking the water of the 
Alameda Creek to San Francisco. A public meeting was called at Centreville, to 
adopt measures to oppose what it was believed would ruin the San Jose Valley, if 
prosecuted. This meeting was largely attended and enthusiastic. Resolutions were 
passed that the citizens should resist all attempts to divert the water of the creek, 
which gives fertility to the land, by feeding the gravel-beds below the surface. 

A committee was appointed to take legal advice, and report at a stated time. 
This committee went to Judge Crane, now of Washington, and he gave an opinion, 
that the cheapest way to keep the creek was to get up a company, and use the water 
for all these purposes — irrigation, family use, and machinery. He advised that the 
owners of lands on the creek should deed their rights in the water, also the right of 
way to the company, so that no other company could condemn the creek. This wise 
advice was reported to the adjourned meeting, which elected the following persons to 
organize themselves into a company, and serve as Trustees, viz.: W. W. Brier, Wm. 
Whidden, John Whipple, John L. Stevens, John L. Beard, Howard Overacker, E. H. 
Dyer, Samuel I. Marston, and B. D. T. Clough. 

On May 17, 1871, these persons met and agreed on articles of incorporation, and 
the company was formed according to law. Mr. Clough was elected President, and 
W. W. Brier, Secretary; both have held these offices ever since. 

Within five days the company was fully organized, and Mr. Whidden was 
appointed to secure the signatures of land-owners on the creek to a deed to the water 
and the right of way for ditches. This measure checkmated the company above, and 
that fact cooled the ardor for irrigation among the farmers 

Two years were spent in talk, and discussing plans, with a little surveying. In 
the fall of 1873 the Calaveras Company proposed a compromise with the Washing- 
ton and Murray Company, which was adopted;, the former to furnish money and 
defend the latter in law provided they granted them the right to make a reservoir 
at the lower end of Calaveras Valley. 

A lawsuit, in which the claims of the Washington and Murray Company were 
established, and some compromises made, placed an open door for success. 

In the spring of 1874 work was commenced. A dam and reservoir were bought 
from Messrs. Peet & Scott. The south branch of the Alameda Creek was adopted 



Washington Township. 831 



as a ditch from which a canal, thirty feet wide and four feet deep, was dug for one- 
half mile to Mr. Clough's farm. Here is a branch ditch, twelve feet wide, designed 
to supply several farms. From this point to Mr. Kelsey's farm, one and one-half 
miles, the main canal is twenty feet wide. From Kelsey's the design is to make a 
ditch twenty feet wide through the center of the valley, with branches from Mr. 
Kelsey's house. The main ditch is only sixteen feet wide, and continues its course 
toward Alvarado for four miles, passing through a large number of the best farms in 
Alameda County. There is also a small ditch, six feet wide, extending to Newark, a 
distance of four miles. The company has ten miles of ditch, two substantial dams, 
which cost $2,000. It has expended over $1 1,000. 

Decoto. — This is a small town on the line of the railroad, and takes its name 
from Ezra Decoto, who originally owned the land in the vicinity, and who still resides 
upon it. In 1867 he sold two hundred and eighty- four acres of it to the Railroad 
Company; and on the Decoto Land Company being subsequently formed, the site of a 
town was surveyed, and in 1870 no fewer than twenty-seven thousand evergreen trees 
were planted to adorn the future city, but though the trees have thriven the civic 
honors have not yet blossomed. 

The first houses in what may be called the town of Decoto were built by the 
brothers of that name, in 1867, and in the following year, mainly through the exer- 
tions of Ezra Decoto and F. W. Meyer, a school district was formed, and the school 
placed in charge of a Mr. Jones. There is a fair hotel in the village, built in 1874, 
by Mrs. McKenney, but it is chiefly noticeable for the extensive warehouses of A. J. 
Hare, a man of energy and enterprise. 

Mission San Jose. — What a quaint old town is the place known as Mission 
San Jose, embodying, as it does, the history of a by-gone age, and the result of 
American occupation. It is the only place in the county where still remains the 
adobe buildings and red-tiled roofs of the Spanish settlements, which lend a pecu- 
liarly ancient color when contrasted with the more stylish frame buildings of the pres- 
ent period. 

Enough still remains to show the visitor how the Indian converts of the Missions 
were housed, but unhappily the old church fell a victim to the never-to-be-forgotten 
earthquake of October 21, 1868; on its crumbled walls has arisen a new edifice, 
which has a strange and solitary aspect as it stands alongside of the ruined adobe 
apartments that were once the pride of the place. Of the better class of dwellings 
we have an example in the large square verandahed building erst awhile occupied by 
Don J. J. de Vallejo, and which is in a good state of preservation. 

Of the men who first settled here from among the early American pioneers none 
were more prominently identified with the interest that centered at the Mission than 
E. L. Beard. One of the many evidences of his enterprising career is to be found in 
the extensive grounds surrounding the residence now in the possession of Mr. Galle- 
gos. Here the capabilities of the climate and soil of the Mission are shown to their 
best advantage in the growth of trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruits, and, generally, the 
production of semi-tropical countries. Mr. Beard lived originally in the Mission 



832 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

proper, but in 1865 built the residence just mentioned, and laid out the beautiful 
grounds which have since been so much improved by Mr. Gallc^os. 

The Mission buildings remained in their pristine state for a considerable period 
after the American occupation of California. In 1853 there was but one frame house 
in -the village, and it still stands to the south of the store of Erhman & Lebrecht. 
The pioneer settlers of the country nearly all first found their way to the Mission, and 
thence started out in their quest for land on which to locate. In 1849 the earliest 
store was opened by Mr. Beard; here the first grist-mill was started; and here and in 
its vicinity were agriculture, horticulture, and viniculture first practiced. Towards 
the end of 1849, or early in 1850, W. H. Chamberlain opened his store, the same that 
has since successively passed through the hands of J. W. Chamberlain, Mu.sser & 
McClure, Erhman & Bachman, until it became the establishment of its present 
proprietors. 

In 1857 the "Red House" was built near where now is the house of Jose Colum- 
bet, it being at one time conducted by James Thrclfall, while it was here that nearly 
all things had a start. 

The Fathers were sagacious in selecting healthful and convenient locations for 
their missions. No town on the Contra Costa can boast a better climate. Air and 
water are here as healthful and pure as nature can make them, and the scenery is 
varied and delightful. With the air of age and romance about it, and having every 
essential of a desirable place of residence. Mission San Jose has been and still 
continues the home of people of wealth and refinement. 

Before the period of railroads in California, Mission San Jose was one of the 
liveliest trading and business points in Alameda Count)', especially during the early 
mining excitement, when much of the travel between the coast and the mines went 
through the Stockton Pass, which is entered at this point. It still continues, in a 
degree, much of its business, although its manufacturing industry has diminished 
considerably; it will, however, still remain as the central point of historic interest in 
the district of the Contra Costa. 

Newark. — This town is situated about twenty-eight miles from San Francisco 
on the line of the South Pacific Coast Railroad and has all the advantage of shipment 
of a place one-quarter the distance from the great metropolis. The soil in its vicinity 
is fertile and productive, being a light, rich black loam. 

Early in the spring of 1876, a large tract of land in the vicinty of Dumbarton 
Point was purchased by A. E. Davis, as representative of the Pacific Land Invest- 
ment Company, whose interest was identical with that of the South Pacific Coast 
Railroad Company. The tract consisted of about four thousand five hundred acres, 
and was made up of smaller tracts bought from several different parties, its cost being 
near three hundred thousand dollars. The largest single purchase was sixteen hun- 
dred acres from the Green Point Dairy Company, for which one hundred and forty- 
five thousand dollars was paid. Previous to this transaction other parties had been 
engaged in land speculation in the same locality, but the first considerable improve- 
ments were made by the Railroad Company. Upon the dairy ranch were buildings 
to accommodate an extensive manufacture of butter and cheese, and several hundred 
cows found rich pasturage which never failed upon the lowlands. The ranch was 



Washington Township. 833 

placed under the management of S. Davis, and thirty tons of cheese and a large 
quantity of butter were made and disposed of within the six or seven months follow- 
ing the purchase. In the fall of the same year the cows were sold and the dairy busi- 
ness closed. 

Meanwhile the Railroad Company was pushing on the line. Immediately upon 
the purchase of the land the operations of driving piles and raising the grade upon 
the marsh-lands, vvas commenced and the enterprise was carried on so rapidly that in 
a few weeks the track was laid and construction trains were running a distance of sev- 
eral miles from Dumbarton Point towards San Jose. At the Point was a spacious 
wharf, over a portion of which was a shed fift}^ by one hundred and fifty feet. Here 
was kept the rolling stock when not in use. Here were received the ties, and rails 
and other material for the construction of the road. 

In the spring of 1877, a franchise was obtained for a railroad from Alameda to 
Newark, and its construction was promptly undertaken. At about the same time the 
company built its round-house and sheds and established the town of Newark in fact, 
as it had before been upon the surveyor's plat. The location was three and a half 
miles from Dumbarton Point, with the marsh-land and the bay in front, while culti- 
vated fields stretched backward towards the hills. On June i, 1878, the cars began 
to run regularly between Alameda and Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, connecting 
with the ferry between Alameda Point and San Francisco. 

With this start several business houses of different characters, and two hotels 
were opened, since when its progress has been steady. Notable among the industries 
of the town is the establishment of Carter Brothers, where all varieties of cars are 
manufactured in such a manner as will bear favorable competition with Eastern work. 
- It has a neat Catholic Church and a school house both of which were dedicated in 
1880. 

Newark Lodge, No. 169, A. O. U. W. — This lodge was organized April 7, 1880, 
with fourteen charter members and the following officers: W. H. Haley, W. M.; E, 
C. Bragdon, R; W. H. Nesmith, O.; J. W. Shafford, Recdr.; J. A. Plummer, Jr., R; 
W. B. Depew, O. W.; W. M. Jaycox, G.; C. B. Mills, I. W.; George Lowrie, O. W. 
Lodge meets every Monday evening in the school building and has thirty-four mem- 
bers on the roll. The present officers are: Ay. H. Nesmith, P. M.; R. F. Ingraham 
M.; I. H. Chipman, P.: W. B. Depew, G.; David G. Butler, Recdr.; J. A. Plummer, Jr.,' 
Fin.; C. G. Healey, Recvr.; T. Bedard, I. W.; W. H. Haley, O. W.; W. N. Haley, 
T. Bedard, Trustees; Drs. Allen and Hall, Medical Examiners. 

Crystal Salt Works. — During January 1864 J. A. Plummer purchased 
the property now kifown as the "Crystal Salt Works" and now adjacent to the young 
town of Newark in Washington Township. This property consisted of a large pond 
and salt marsh in its natural condition, the improvement of which was immediately 
commenced by Mr. Plummer, who built vats, erected windmills and pumps, subdi- 
viding the pond into compartments for holding the salt water in its different degrees 
of strength (the partitions for subdividing, are of pine boards, and driven into the bot- 
tom of the pond edge to edge, thereby making the compartments water tight) the 



834 HisTuRV OF Alameua County, Califcjrnia. 

weakest water would be that just received into the main pond from the bay of San 
Francisco, to brine of one hundred and five degrees, at which stage it commences to crys- 
talHze in ponds and vats especially adapted for that purpose; after a certain period of 
cr_\-stallization has passed, the salt is now ready to be taken up, and carried ashore 
to put into the houses, or pildd outside when the houses are full. A tramway is laid to 
the landing on the slough leading into the bay, where vessels come and receive the 
salt (which is brought down on cars) and taken to San Francisco. The wind- 
mills and pumps are at work all the time, lifting water and transferring it from one 
pond to other ponds, by means of flumes and ditches. A milling and drying house 
was built for manufacturing salt for the famih-, dairy, and meat-packing trade. There are 
large pans, under which fires are kept burning to dry the salt placed theron; when dry it is 
ground for family or dairy purposes. A fifteen horse-power engine drives the mill; 
these works produce from fifteen hundred to two thousand tons per year. In 1869 Mr. 
Plummer and his sons, John A. Plummer, Jr., and Charles A. Plummer, leased a large 
pond near the town of Alvarado for the purpose of manufacturing salt. They after- 
wards, in 187 1, bought this property. Since then extensive improvements have been 
made, rendering it capable of producing three thousand tons per year. When the 
improvements contemplated are made five thousand tons will be the j'early produc- 
tion. In January, 1881, J. A. Plummer, Jr., and C. A. Plummer succeeded J. 
A. Plummer in this business. The salt produced at these salt-works is of a superior 
quality, and better than any foreign salt imported into this country. Analysis has 
been made by eminent chemists and the result each time was the same, 99.62 per 
cent, chloride of sodium. This grade of salt is largely used by meat-packers, who 
prefer it to any other. 

New.vrk Coursing Grounds. — These grounds are located about one hundred 
yards from the depot of the South Pacific Coast Railroad at Newark, and were opened 
in the fall of 1882 by John Dugan. They contain about one hundred acres in two 
fields, one of these being a breeding-field for hares, and the other for coursing, both 
being properly fenced. 

NiLES. — This village is distinguished as the junction of the San Jose branch of 
the Central Pacific Railroad with that from Stockton and Livermore. 

At this point in 1853, Don J. J. de Vallejo, at great expense, constructed a flouring- 
mill, the water for which he conducted in a long flume from the Alameda Creek. This 
was the first mill built after that at the Mission, and in the early history of the county 
was famous and widely known. Niles has not much to boast of in regard to population, 
but its location at the mouth of Alameda Canon, and consequently capable of being 
well supplied with water, being the junction of two lines of railroad, and being' 
ensconced in the cosiest manner in the hills, would justify the belief that it will some 
day become a town of considerable size and importance. 

Warm Springs. — The post-office in this district is known as Harrisburg, George 
W. Peacock being the postmaster. About a mile and a half from Peacock's, in a 
northwestly direction, is Warm Springs, which was at one time a place of 
fashionable resort. The water of the springs is tepid and much impregnated with 



Washington Township. 835 



minerals and is reported to possess highly curative properties in some diseases. 
Numerous evidences of a long-continued occupation of these springs by the Indians 
leads to the conclusion that their medicinal qualities were known to the natives and 
b/ them made available, while the early Spanish settlers gave to them the name of 
Ajua Caliente (Warm Springs). They were first brought into notoriety by Clemente 
Columbet, who in 1869 sold them to A. A. Cohen, of Alameda, and not long afterward 
they were purchased by Governor Stanford. Warm Springs is the most southern 
station on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad in Alameda County. 

Washington Corners. — This place is situated about twenty-seven miles from 
San Francisco on the San Josd branch of the Central Pacific Railroad, and was 
originally known as "The Corners," so called from the fact of there being cross-roads 
at the point on the corner of one of which a saloon was opened by a negro who had 
come to the State with Mr. Beard. In the vicinity of this place was the first effort at 
agriculture made by John M. Horner, and around him did the earliest foreign settlers 
congregate. Here too were manufacturing and mechanical interests started at an 
early day, notably that of Timothy Rix, who settled in 1850, and who afterward became 
the first postmaster of the place. 

The town is but small, yet boasts a well-edited newspaper, the Independent, and 
several g03d stores, while in the vicinity are many fine residences. One of the most 
serious fires that ever occured in the county, took place on September 3, 1880, when 
the warehouse was burned, causing damage to the extent of about one hundred thou- 
sand dollars. ' 

Washington College. — In July, 1871, measures were taken by W. F. B. Lynch 
and Albert Lyser to secure the site for a school to be called the "Washington College 
of Science and Industry," it being the desire of these gentlemen to found a school 
wherein should be incorporated the main features of the Polytechnic Schools of Europe 
and some of the Eastern States. With characteristic generosity E. L. Beard took a 
lively interest in the scheme and donated the beautiful site of the college on which 
was erected a handsome building that cost about thirty thousand dollars. The first 
Board of Trustees under the charter were: E. L. Beard, W. F. B. Lynch, H. Curtner, 
William Y. Horner, S. I. Marston, H. Crowell, Origin Mowry, and M. W. Dixon. 
The college was opened July 31, 1872, under the superintendence of Rev. and Mrs. 
S. S. Harmon, but unhappily it has this year been determined to close it for want of 
patronage. 



83G History of Alameda County, Cali forma. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



Herbert Lester Adams, LL.B. — The subject of this memoir, whose por- 
trait will be found in the following pages, was born in Buffalo, ICric Count)', New 
York, March 24, 1855, of American parents and ancestry. His father, D. L. Adams, 
was engaged in the then thriving industry of ship-building on the great lakes, he 
being foreman for the large firm of F. N. Jones & Co., who had yards and dry-docks at 
Buffalo. The bo\'hood of our subject was passed amid the bu.sy scenes of the .ship- 
building yard. In his youth he became conversant with the architectural designs 
of these leviathans; keel-blocks and ways were his elementary training, while rapture 
and astonishment beamed in his face as he saw the might}' ribs of oak bend to their 
places. Receiving a good ordinary scholastic training, after two jears of study he 
graduated, and prepared to do battle with the world. In 1869 he was employed as 
salesman in a wholesale produce store in Buffalo, and from that cit}', in the year 1870, 
following the advice of the great editor, he "went west" with his family to I'almyra, 
Otoe County, Nebraska, a town then consisting of but two hou.ses and a store, and 
located on a piece of government land, the nearest market being the town of Lincoln, 
the State capital, and now developed into a thriving and populous city. Lumber 
being a lu.xury almost unknown in Nebraska at that time the family constructed for a 
dwelling what is known as a "dug-out," consisting of a square e.xcavation hollowed in 
the hillside, and roofed by leaning branches of trees against a center ridge-pole, the 
roof being afterwards covered with earth two feet in thickness. After a year's resi- 
dence there Mr. Adams and his family came to California, arriving at Franklin, Sac- 
ramento County, in March, 187 1. Being here met by his uncle, Hon. Amos Adams, 
ex-Assemblyman and Secretary of the State Grange of California, who owned a 
large dairy farm in the Sacramento Valley, our subject passed a year with him, 
engaging in agricultural pursuits, but the memorable drouth of that season having 
destroyed most of the stock, and rendering farming unprofitable, in 1872 he returned 
to Buffalo with his family, and once more embarked in his former occupation as sales- 
man, and traveled for a wholesale produce store. And now came the famous 
"Black Friday," when thousands of business enterprises went into insoh'ency. Mr. 
Adams therefore again turned westward. Proceeding to De Witt, Carroll County, 
Missouri, where he visited his sister and friends, he continued his wanderings 
until he once more brought up in Palmyra, Nebraska. Here he passed the 
summer of 1874, and saw the first great grasshdpper invasion that did so great 
damage to the growing crops. Thence he made a flying trip through Kansas, after 
which, returning eastward, he obtained employment in New York from the New York 
Central and Hudson River Railroad Company as a car-builder and repairer. Here, 
by his industry and attention to work, he was placed in charge of a gang of men, but 
the snow and ice, and the searching winds from the Atlantic made him long for the 
sunny slopes of the Pacific Ocean. He then, for the second time, made the journey to 
CaIifornia,and arrived in Stockton, San Joaquin County, in June, 1875. Aftera month's 
work with the Stockton and lone Narrow-guage Railroad, the company failed. Mr. 
Adams, therefore, found himself once more free, he thereupon again betook himself to 
a farm life, and subsequently came to Oakland, Alameda County, where he obtained 
employment as a hostler in the Plaza Stable of Downing & Forrester, on P'ourth 
Street. He soon after met in San Francisco, A. P. Needles, Esq., with whom he at 
once took desk room and entered upon the study of the law, to such good purpose that 
in September, 1877, he was admitted to practice in the County Court of Alameda by 



Biographical Sketches. 837 



Hon S. G. Nye, on motion of Hon. M. P. Wiggin. In March, 1880, he was admitted 
to practice in the Superior Court by Hon. W. E. Greene. In the mean time Mr. 
Adams had become a student in the Hastings Law College of the University of Cali- 
fornia, from which he graduated May 29, 1882, and received the degree of LL.B. — 
Legiii/i Baccalanreus (Bachelor of Laws). May 31, 1882, he was admitted to the 
Supreme Court of California, on motion of Hon. J. Norton Pomeroy, LL.D., and is 
now in the enjoyment of a large and successful practice. Mr. Adams is an energetic 
worker in secret societies, belonging to the Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United 
Workmen, and Independent Order of Chosen Friends. He was also one of the 
organizers and is now President of the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Con- 
gregational Church of Oakland. He married, in Oakland, December 12, 1877, Miss 
Ella N. Crist, of Lodi, San Joaquin County, California, a native of Indiana. 

Mark Acer. — Was born in Jefferson County, New York, June 7, 1842, and there 
resided until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he answered his country's call, 
and enlisted, April 19," 1861, in Company F, Thirty-fifth New York Regiment, from 
which, after two years' service, he was discharged and re-enlisted in Company F, 
Twentieth New York Regiment, serving in this corps until the close of the war. In 
1865 he came to California, located at Folsom, Sacramento County, and was in charge 
of the post-office there until 1869, when he moved to Pleasanton, and was the first 
agent of the Western Pacific Railroad Company there. Resigning this position in 1871, 
he moved to Sunol and opened the present railroad office there. In the following- 
year he commenced operations in his present store, and in 1874 erected the first ware- 
house in that place, constructing another like edifice in 1875. Married, September 
24, 1866, Miss Sarah E. Sanborn, and has two sons, Archie and Fred. 

James M. Allen. — Was born in Cole County, Missouri, November 13, 1828, and 
is the son of David and Elizabeth (Storey) Allen. When but two years of age he was 
taken by his parents to Cooper County, where they resided five years; after which 
they transferred their habitation to Jackson County, not far from Independence, where 
our subject first attended school. His father and mother now moved to the adjoining- 
county and took up their residence on a farm, where they remained until 1846, when 
the family determining to emigrate, joined the party captained by Hon. Flam Brown 
of Contra Costa County, and with it came to California. His father was taken sick 
at Fort Bridger on the route, and was left behind; and his mother died and was buried 
at the Sink of the Humboldt. Mr. Allen and his party entered California at Johnson's 
Ranch, October 10, 1846, where they found the proprietor to be a rough sailor, dwell- 
ing in a dirty little hut, and surrounded by naked Indians — a fact which caused some 
confusion among, the ladies of the train. Continuing their journey they camped on 
the spot where Sacramento, the capital of the State, now stands. About a mile and 
a half up the American River, at New Helvetia, stood the hospitable inclosure of 
Sutter's Fort, where beef, flour, an'd other commodities were procured, the fresh meat 
and bread being highly appreciated, for they had been long desired. Here it had to 
be decided whither the party should permanently locate, the places receiving the great- 
est favor being the Santa Clara Valley, Napa, and Sonoma. Mr. Allen with his 
brothers and sisters elected for Santa Clara, to which place they at once set out in' 
company with Elam Brown and his family On arrival at the San Joaquin it was 
found necessary to swim the entire train across its turbulent waters. The journey 
was now continued to the rancho of Robert Livermore, and here, in October, 1846, 
Mr. Allen camped on the site of the prosperous town which bears the patronymic of the 
English pioneer. Following through the Sunol Valley, and passing the Mission of 
San Jose, they emerged on to the Santa Clara Valley, went through the Pueblo de 
San Jose and three miles further came to a halt at the Santa Clara Mission, where 
they located. Mr. Allen now enlisted in the military company raised by Capt. Charles 
M. Weber, the services of which are detailed in our chapter on the Military Occupa- 
tion of the northern portion of Upper California, and with it took part in all the stir- 



838 History of Alameda County, California. 



ring incidents of that campaign. In the year 1847 he met his father, whom lie had 
not seen since leaving him at Fort Bridger, and subsequently, with his brother-in-law, 
William M. Mendenhall, took up his residence on a ranch about six miles froin Santa 
Clara, which Mr. Allen, Senior, had purchased. Here our subject resided until the 
discovery of gold. As soon as this startling intelligence was announced, Mr. Allen 
immediately proceeded to the American River, and engaged in mining for a month, at 
the end of which time he returned to the ranch, he there with Mr. Mendenhall made a 
gold-rocker — the first seen in the State — and returned to the mines. Taking with 
him pack-mules he commenced selling goods in partnership with Warren lirown 
throughout the diggings, and remained there until the fall of 1848, when he returned to 
the farm in Santa Clara Valley. His father, who had remarried in Oregon and made 
his home there, now sent for our subject and his younger brother and sister to join 
him. After a rough and tedious voyage of fort\'-one days, fourteen of which 
were pas.sed on the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River on account of water being 
frozen to a depth of eight inches, and the voyage up the river made in a canoe, they 
arrived in Portland, when they proceeded to Salem. Mr. Allen's stay in Oregon was 
short. At the end of four months he returned to California and embarked in a mule- 
freighting business between Sacramento and the mines. During the winter of 1849- 
50 he bought cattle and wintered them at Cache Creek. In the year 1849 he and 
Jones Spect laid out the town of Fremont at the confluence of Feather and Sacra- 
mento Rivers. In 1850 he was appointed Sheriff of Yolo County by Governor Bur- 
nett, in which office he served two years. At this period, owing to the depreciation of 
property in Fremont, he lost a considerable sum of money, he consequently returned to 
Santa CI ira, while his brother-in-law, William M. Mendenhall, went into the stock 
business there. In the spring of 1853 these gentlemen moved into Contra Costa 
County, but in that fall Mr. Allen proceeded to Carson Valley to meet the immigra- 
tion for the purpose of buying horses, establishing his headquarters on Clear Creek, 
twelve miles below Mormon Station: but remaining here only a few weeks he went to 
Rag Town and there encountered Martin Mendenhall with his father and family. At 
this time Mr. Allen first met Miss Sidesia Mendenhall, the lady he afterwards made 
his wife. With Mr. Mendenhall our subject returned to Contra Costa County 
and purchased the farm in San Ramon Valley now owned by William W. Cox, where 
he remained three years, after which he bought a ranch in Tassajara Valle\-, where he 
engaged in stock-raising for three years more. He now sold out the majority of his 
cattle, retaining three hundred head of the best, and entered into a partnership with 
Elisha Harlan, and thus continued for three years further. Mr. Allen now transferred 
his habitation to Alamo, and afterwards to Martinez where he remained until the fall 
of 1861. At this time he moved to San Francisco with the intention of acquiring real 
estate there, but engaged in mining in Virginia City, Nevada, and Reese River. Dur- 
ing these last years Mr. Allen suffered much from sickness, and was consequently not 
as successful in accumulating the goods of this world as he otherwise might have been. 
He now engaged in the livery business, which he continued until 1865, when, disposing 
of it, he was appointed by Governor Haight Adjutant-General of Militia for the State 
of California, the functions of which office he discharged for three years. About this 
time Mr. Allen's sight oegan to fail him; he therefore repaired to Santa Clara for a 
three months' rest, after which, he returned to San Francisco, where he was pros- 
trated by asthma. To seek his health he came to Livermore, .Alameda County, where 
he has since resided, engaged in real estate operations. Colonel Allen was present in 
Me.xico during the Maximilian War. Mr. Allen's family consistsofone son, viz.: Fugcne 
D., born in San Ramon, Contra Costa County; Delora Belle, now the wife of Doctor 
Biddle, Healdsburg. 

Wa.shburne R. Andrus. — Was born in Farmington, Hartford Count)'. Connecti- 
cut, September 23, 1841, where he received his education and learned the carpenter's 
trade, at which he has always worked, save during seven years, when he served as 



Biographical Sketches. 839 



a policeman at Hartford, of which city he was finally elected Captain of Police. In 
this position he made an excellent record. Coming to California in the year 1873, he at 
first worked in the San Francisco Manufacturing Company's Works, but subsequently 
took up his residence in Oakland, where he followed his trade. The rise of the Work- 
ingmen's Party found him at his bench, prior to which he had been identified with the 
Republicans, but joining the labor movement he became one of the organizers of the 
famous Peralta Street Club. Elated by recent successes in electing State Senator Bones 
to the Legislature, they determined to take part in the election for city officials of Oak- 
land, and on February 19, 1878, at the nominating convention held in Germania Hall, 
Mr. Andrus received the nomination for Mayor, being elected to that high office by a 
majority of two hundred and ten votes, his opponent being William B. Hardy of 
Oakland. In 1879 Mr. Andrus was re-elected to the office by, strange to say, the 
same plurality, the citizens' nominee on the occasion being Major D. W. Standeford, 
one of the proprietors of the Oakland Planing Mill. While Mayor Andrus was in 
office he used his opportunity judiciously, while his two messages are official docu- 
ments that bear evidence of deep thought and a practical mind; indeed, so much was 
he thought of that he was appointed Secretary of the State Board of Railroad Com- 
missioners upon the organization of that department, and, notwithstanding a change 
in the Government, has been retained to perform the onerous and arduous functions' 
of that position with the second Board. 

F. A. Anthony. — Was born in Cayuga County, New York, May 14, 1846, and 
there resided until November, 1854. In this month Mr. Anthony, his parents, Wm. 
and C. C. Anthony, two sisters and a brother sailed for California via the Nicaragua 
route, and arrived in San Francisco in December of the same year. After a short 
time passed in the Bay City our subject and his parents moved to Santa Cruz and 
there he was in part educated. After serving his apprenticeship at the tinsmith's trade 
with his father, his schooling was continued in the Brayton School, Oakland. On his 
return to the home of his father, he engaged as hardware clerk to the successor 
of his father in business, which he followed until coming to Alameda County in 
December, 1869. He now settled in Livermore and commenced business in the old 
town of Laddsville, and in 1872 erected his present store buildings and opened the 
hardware emporium he now conducts. Mr. Anthony was the first Treasurer of the 
town of Livermore, and was the Town Clerk during the terms 1880-81 and 1881- 
82. He married in Santa Cruz, February 28, 1872, Miss Mary S. Newell, a native 
of the city of New York, and has no issue. 

LOREN B. Anway. — Was born in Seneca County, Ohio, January 14, 1829, 
where he resided until his coming to California, being previously engaged in farming. 
On May i, 1852, he left the Mississippi River in company with W. H. Parker, of 
Marysville, with a party of seventy-four persons in a passenger train and arrived in 
Yreka, Siskiyou County, August 7th of the same year. Having engaged in mining 
for six years he returned to Ohio in 1858, but, in 1861, came back to California and 
settled in Siskiyou County. Having maintained a residence there until March, 1864, 
he once more paid a visit to the Eastern States. The same year saw him back on 
the Pacific Coast, however, bringing with him a band of cattle. In 1865 he located 
in Alameda County on his present farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, 
where he is now engaged principally in fruit-culture and stock-raising. He has twenty- 
six acres of as fine an orchard, stocked with various kinds of fruits, as is to be 
seen anywhere. Mr. Anway has held the office of Roadmaster, while he has for nine 
years been an active and prominent member of the Eden Grange, of which he has 
served two terms as Master. Married in Ohio, June 23, 1859, Miss Fannie J. Horton, 
and has, Clayton L., Dora, Jay B., Mary, Katie. 

Fred. D. Arff. — Was born in Keil, Holstein, Germany, on the Sth of February, 
1822; and resided there with his parents until sixteen years of age, when he had a great 
desire for the sea. He led a seafaring life for sixteen years,sailing onvarious freight an J 



840 History of Alameda County, California. 

passengers vessels, and entered mostly all the principal ports on the continent. In 
1852, on the I ith of May, he arrived at San P'rancisco on the clipper ship Joint Stez^'art, 
and landed at long wharf on Commercial Street. At the time he landed he was 
penniless, but was fortunate enough to get free board and lodging for a couple of 
days. Soon after his arrival he went into the mining occupation. The first mine he 
entered was at Woods Creek, between Jamestown and Sonora, where he discovered 
from eight to ten dollars' worth of gold dail\\ He remained there si.x months, 
when he went back to San Francisco, where he again took up his old occupation 
for six months on a sailing ship, carrying lumber from Oregon to San Francisco. 
After leaving the latter ship he met an old mate of the John Stczvart, by the name 
of James Wood, who got him a situation in a store at the corner of Union and 
Battery Streets. At the end of twenty-three months he embarked in a draying 
business until 1856, when he came to his present place, comprising two hundred and 
eighty acres of land at Mount Eden. On the i8th August, 1857, he married a Miss 
Louise D. Liese, of Hesse-Cassel, Germany. Five children were the result of this 
union, of which two sons and two daughters survive. 

Capt. George Atkinson. — Was born at Mountville, Waldo County, Maine, 
September 26, 1836, being left an orphan at eleven years of age. On March 4, 1852, 
being then but sixteen years old, he went to Sj'racuse, New York, and there found 
employment in a drygoods store, where he continued five years, on the expiration of 
which time he moved to Lyons, Ionia County, Michigan, where he was engaged in a like 
business for two years. He then proceeded to P\dton, Whitesides Count}', Illinois, and 
after a year to LakeCity,WabashaCounty, Minnesota; he there engaged in the commis- 
sion business and resided until his coming to California. When the Civil War broke 
out. Captain Atkinson on April 26, 1861, enlisted in Company I of the First Minne- 
sota Regiment of Infantry, and leaving Red Wing on the 27th of May proceeded to 
Washington, where they were assigned to Franklin's brigade, and took part in the 
first battle of Bull's Run. Subsequently he was attached to Sedgwick's division of 
Simm's corps of the army of the Potomac, and was present in all the engagements 
until August 8, 1862, when he mustered out for promotion at Harris Landing, Vir- 
ginia. He now returned home, and on August 26th of the same year took command 
of Company G, Eighth Minnesota Volunteer Infantr)-, and with it proceeded to Fort 
Abercrombie, Dakota, where he was quartered for eighteen months under General 
Sibley in the first instance and afterwards under General Sully, their dut\' being the 
subjection of refractory Indians. In the summer of 1864 Captain Atkinson was 
detailed with two hundred men to proceed to the relief of certain emigrants who were 
held in check by Indians about two hundnxl miles west from Fort Rice, which duty 
being successfully carried out, they marched back to Siou.x City, Iov\a, thence to Du- 
buque, and then followed his regiment, which he joined at Murfrecsborough, Tennessee, 
and was appointed Brigade Inspector of the Third Brigade, I-'irst Division of the 
Twenty-third Army Corps, with which he remained until the close of the war, having 
been engaged in the great fights at Nashville, Franklin, and Murfrecsborough. After 
the battle at Nashville the corps to which Captain Atkinson was attached followed 
Hood to the Tennessee River, where the Captain sustained the well-earned reputa- 
tion of Minnesota troops for bravery on the field of battle, whence the\- were trans- 
ported to Washington, where they arrived in February, 1865. Here they embarked 
in transports for Fort Fisher and thence to Newburn, North Carolina, then following 
up the railroad to Kingston, and onward to Goldsboro' there joining Sherman's army, 
with which they proceeded to Raleigh, North Carolina, and finally halted until 
August, 1865, at Charlotte, in that State. On the 26th of the same month his regi- 
ment was mustered out of the service and returned home, he never having received a 
scratch, although being in the thickest of the fray in many a hot engagement. Upon 
his return to Minnesota, as we have already said. Captain Atkinson engaged in the 
c^immission business in Lake City, where he resided until 1872, when he embarked in a 



Biographical Sketches. 841 



grocery store in St. Paul, Minnesota, and there remained until November 1874, when, 
with his wife and family, he came to California and made his home in San Francisco. 
His first employment there was for one year in the Assessor's office, after which he 
entered upon his present position in the General Freight office of the Central Pacific 
Railroad Company. In 1876 he transferred his residence to East Oakland, and for 
the last four years has been secretary of the Cosmopolitan Mutual Building and Loan 
Association. Married in Lake City, June 7, 1866, Miss Maria Kellogg, a native of 
Pennsylvania, and has five children, viz.: Frank, Sue, Blanche, Nellie, Hardy. 

Nathaniel L. Babb. — Was born in Saccarappa, Cumberland County, Maine, 
January 14, 1837, where he received his education and resided with his father, who 
owned and carried on an iron and brass foundry. Was a molder and foundryman 
until starting for the Pacific Coast. On June 16, 1852, being then fifteen years of age, 
our subject sailed for California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and arrived in San 
Francisco per steamer Daniel Webster, on the 9th August of the same year, coming 
direct to J. B. Sweetser's farm, at what is now Centreville, Alameda County, where he 
continued until the fall of 1857, when he revisited his home in Maine. During his 
absence his parents had removed to Portland, where he spent the winter of 1857-58. 
In the following spring he returned to California and located on his present place, 
having previously purchased a hundred acres of land situated three miles west from 
Washington Corners, has there made many extensive improvements and resided ever 
since, with the exception of a trip, starting in April, 1863, and returning in October, 
the same year, to Washington Territory by the way of Carson, Humboldt, Snake, 
Burnt^ and Powder Rivers, back across the Blue and Cascade Mountains to- Eugene 
City, Oregon, thence back by stage road through California home. He went on horse- 
back, as a great part of the way there was not even a trail. He also made a visit 
to Arizona by Tulare Lake, Fort Tejon, Mohave River to Fort Mohave thence 
returning by San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and then the coast road home. Went 
with light spring wagon. His companions returned from Los Angeles by steamer, 
but he returned on horseback with as many of their animals as were able to stand the 
trip. They started in th-efall of 1863, returning in January, 1864. Mr. Babb occupies 
himself with general farming and running a threshing machine in the proper season. 
Beyond being one of the organizers of the Washington Township Pioneer Association 
and one of its charter members, Mr. Babb has held no office. Our subject also owns 
one hundred and sixty acres of land on the Patterson Pass road seven miles from 
Livermore, which he leases. 

Captain Thomas W. Badger. — The subject of this sketch, one of Oakland's best- 
known citizens, was born in Northampton County, Virginia, July 28, 1827, and is the 
son of T. W. and Margaret (Chearn) Badger. Having resided with his parents until 
he was fifteen years of age, he then commenced a seafaring life, which lasted until 
1849. In that year, so dear to every pioneer, our subject came to California and 
entered upon the navigation of those streams which before that time had known no 
more violent commotion than the ripple left by the native canoe, or the wake behind 
the whale-boat of the more advanced settlers. Settling in San Francisco, Captain 
Badger engaged in the shipping business, having several vessels employed not only 
navigating the coast and inner waters of California, but also in the Sandwich Island, 
Chinese, Australian, Mexican, and Japan trades. In the month of September, 
1857, he took passage, with his wife, in the ill-fated steamer Central America from 
Aspinwall to New York, during which, so bad was the weather experienced, she 
shipped green seas from figure-head to stern, putting out the engine-room fires and 
leaving the vessel a helpless wreck, to the mercy of the waves. The master and offi- 
cers were lost overboard, therefore Captain Badger took command of the craft, which, 
by his great experience, he kept afloat until relief was obtained from a Norwegian 
bark, who cared for the survivors. To his skill and management are due the saving 
of the remainder of the lives, two hundred of whom were duly taken from the wreck 
54 



84:^ History of Alameda County, California. 



four hours before she sank. On his landing in New York, the intrepid conduct of 
Captain Badger was rewarded by a committee of its citizens, with the presentation of 
a handsome silver trumpet, bearing the following well-deserved tribute: "Presented to 
Captain Thos. W. Badger, by the Central America Fund Committee, in token of their 
high appreciation of his conduct on board the steamer Central America, at the time 
of the loss of that ill-fated vessel. Petitia Perit, President; Lloyd Aspinwall, 
Secretary. New York, May 17, 1857." Remaining at the East until 1861, in that 
year he returned to California, and coming to Alameda Count)- purchased the beauti- 
ful dcDiesne which he has since transformed into one of the most beautiful public 
parks in the State. Early in 1872 he commenced building the large pavilion and pre- 
paring the ground ere thowing it open to the public. His improvements cost him 
between forty and fifty thousand dollars, but this immense outlay has been rewarded 
by perennial success. During the administration of Governer Haight be was called 
upon to discharge the functions of Pilot Commissioner for the port of San Franci.sco, 
and also under Governor William Irwin's administration he held the same office. 
At a still earlier date he was Marine Surveyor for one of the principal insurance 
companies in that city. He married, December 29, 1856, Mrs. Jennie A., widow of 
Captain Chas. A. Falkingburg, by whom he has no issue. 

J. Edward Baker. — Was born in Wyoming County, New York, June 24, 1849, 
and is the son of James and Nancy (Guffin) Baker. Receiving his education at the 
University of Rochester, he subsequently became a telegraph operator in the city of 
Buffalo, an occupation he continued until coming to California in the year 1871. 
After being engaged for a short time in the telegraph service in San Francisco, he 
transferred the field of his operations to Santa Clara Count}', and accepted a position 
in the San Jose Savings Bank, where he remained until 1878, when he was dispatched 
by Mr. Hinds to assist in the organization of the First National Bank at Alameda, 
in which he has since held the position of Cashier. He married April 17, 1876, Miss 
Carrie Packard, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and has two children, viz., Alice 
and Carleton. 

Hugh Bankhead. — Was born in Cumberland, Alleghany County, Maryland, 
April 22, 1846, and there resided until two years of age, when he was brought to 
Missouri, then to California, by his parents, arriving here at seven years of age. First 
settling in Plumas County, they abode there four years, when they moved to Honey 
Lake Valley, Lassen County, where they dwelt for a further period of six years. 
Here our subject worked on his father's farm until 1863, when he transferred his resi- 
dence to Oakland, and attended the College of California for three years. In 1866 
he engaged in the auction and furniture business, which he still continues in Oakland, 
at Nos. 911 and 913 Washington Street. Married in 1872 Miss Eva J. Weider, and 
has two sons, viz.: Malcolm Houston and David Boyd. 

Antonio Bardellini. — Was born in Lerci, Italy, and there spent his early 
life, having, when quite young, adopted the sea as a calling, and as such visited 
most parts of the known world. The year 1850 found him in California, and in San 
Francisco engaged in the fishing business for several years. After passing a good 
many more years in the mines, he went to Mexico, and embarked in the dry- 
goods business, and on his return once more tempted fortune in the gold-yielding 
canons of the Sierras. He once more, after this period, commenced fishing for the 
San Jose market, and in 1858 opened a general merchandise store at Mission San 
Jose, where he resided six years, when he came to Alisal, now Pleasanton, and opened 
the first hotel in that place, it being a portion of the present Rose Hotel, and then 
known as the Pleasanton Hotel. In the year 1867 he came to Laddsville, built a 
hotel there and conducted it for four years, when he purchased the ranch now occu- 
pied by Mr. Robinson, and set out the first vineyard in that locality. On the 
destruction of the hotel by fire in 1872, he continued farming until 1874, when he 
disposed of his farm and moved on to his present property, which had been pur- 



Biographical Sketches. 843 



chased by him some time previously, consisting of half a block on the corner of First 
and L Streets, in the town of Livermore, to which many extensive improvements 
have since been made, all of which have developed into the Washington Hotel, one 
of the leading hostelries in the prosperous town of Livermore. Married in San 
Francisco October 20, 1862, Maria Lometti, a native of Italy, and has four children, 
viz.: Joseph B., Corinne J., Furrello J., Emil A. 

Henry S. Barlow (deceased). — Was born in East Dougall County, Pennsyl- 
vania, July 19, 1820. Having served his apprenticeship to the miller's trade, in the 
year 1847 he proceeded to Iowa, and there followed his calling until starting for Cali- 
fornia in 1852. On arrival he at once proceeded to the mining districts, and after 
remaining there until 1854, in that year came to the Encinal of Alameda and 
embarked in agricultural pursuits. He subsequently tried his hand at teaming for a 
short time. Mr. Barlow had held the office of Constable for Alameda, as well as the 
position of School Trustee, and in 1863 commenced the erection of the Loyal Oak 
Hotel, where he died January 29, 1878. Married February 9, 1848, Miss Susan 
Keiser, a native of Bloomfield, Perry County, Pennsylvania, by which union there are 
four surviving children, viz.: Elizabeth C, Albert, David K., Mary J. 

W. P. Bartlett. — The subject of this sketch, for six years 'a resident of Liver- 
more, was born in New Portland, Maine, in 185;, and is consequently twenty-seven 
years of age. He completed his schooling at fifteen, learned the printing business, 
and worked for several years as a journeyman in Boston, Philadelphia, and San Fran- 
cisco, before becoming of age. In January, 1877, he resigned a lucrative situation in 
the last city, to engage in the newspaper business in this county, starting, with a 
very limited capital, the Livermore Herald, now a well-established and influential 
journal. Two years ago he added the real estate business to his newspaper work, in 
which his success has been without precedent in that section of the county. By this 
means, and through the columns of his paper, he has succeeded in bringing many new 
settlers to Livermore Valley. He was one of the first to make known abroad its 
resources, having written and published in 1878, a pamphlet of forty pages descrip- 
tive of its advantages, which obtained a large and wide circulation. He is an active 
member of the Pacific Coast Press Association, and aside from his regular literary 
work and business, an occasional contributor to the San Francisco press. Series 
of articles from his pen, on the scenery of the high sierras, published in the Chron- 
icle in June last, have been copied by numerous of the larger Eastern journals 
and in Europe, besides being quoted as authority by Omman's new guide-book to 
this State. He possesses a decided fondness for mountain scenery, and makes fre- 
quent trips through the Coast Range and Sierras, each of which adds to a fund 
of information, for use in subsequent literary work. He is, moreover, an active, 
enegetic business man, and an earnest worker for the best interests of every section of 
Livermore Valley. 

Richard Barron. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in 
this work, is the son of Edmund and Ellen (Helin) Barron, and was born in County 
Tipperary, Ireland, June 22, 1824. He accompanied his parents in 1834 on their 
emigrating to the United States, and with them settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where our 
subject resided until coming to the Pacific Coast in search of health. Starting from 
St. Joseph, Missouri, on May i, 1850, with wagon and horses, he made Hangtown, 
now called Placerville, in ninety days, where, selling his animals, he purchased a min- 
ing outfit and tried his luck in Hangtown Canon. Two or three days of gold-seeking 
were enough for him. He at once proceeded to San Francisco and commenced dray- * 
ing, which following, at the end of five years he abandoned and betook himself to 
Alameda County in 1855, where he located and began farming on his present estate, 
comprising seventy-five acres of arable land and fifteen hundred ot marsh-land. 
Is also in the business of shipping of freight and storage of grain and hay, and manufac- 
turing of salt, etc. Married August 5, 1852, Miss Mary Foley, a native of Ireland, 



844 History of Alameda County, California. 

and has five survivint,' children, viz.: Ellen, now Mrs. J. Scribner; Katie, now Mrs. T. 
Stratton; Emma, now Mrs. H. C. Martin; Richard, and James. 

William Barry. — Was born in Rochfort Bridge, Westmcalh, Ireland, October 
2, 1 83 1, and there resided until fourteen years of age. Afterwards he served two 
years in the office of a solicitor in Dublin, but getting tired of the musty tomes and 
crisp parchments of this "limb of the law," he shipped on boaid the Forest Monarchy 
bound on a voyage from Liverpool to New York, subsequently proceeding to St. 
John's, New Brunswick, whence he sailed for Greenock, Scotland; but on the passage 
suffered shipwreck on the Arran Isles, on the northwest coast of Ireland. The crew 
landed on the island of Inniskerragh, and stayed by the hulk for nearly a month. They 
soon separating, our subject found his way home after a weary walk of a hundred and 
eighty miles, and an absence of six months. Mr. Barry followed "a life on the ocean 
wave" for several years, during his cruises visiting nearl}- all parts of the world. In 
the year 1851 we find him in Australia, reaching Port Phillip in the first year after 
the gold discovery there, whence he sailed for South America, etc. On May 1, 1852, 
our subject arrived in the harbor of San Francisco with a cargo of coal from Valpa- 
raiso, but soon after left his ship and found employment with the Pacific Mail Steam- 
ship Company for one month. Mr. Barry next was for a short time engaged in 
Contra Costa County, working for William Castro. He then went to San Erancisco; 
and finally came to Alameda County July i, 1852, and obtained work from K. L. 
Beard and Millard Brothers, until 1854. In the summer of 1855 he started in the 
manufacture of grain-sacks in Centreville, in partnership with Richard Wilson, and in 
the fall of that year purchased the lot whereon now stands the store of Saltz & Co., 
on which a building was erected, and our subject opened a store of general merchan- 
dise. This business he conducted until 1857, when he sold out and embarked in 
sheep-raising, an occupation he abandoned in the fall of 1861, when, meeting with 
some serious reverses, he left the county for the first time since his arrival in it. Pro- 
ceeding to Monterey County, he there became superintendent of the extensive ranch 
of Colonel Hollister, where he remained until the summer of 1863, at which time he 
went into the employ of Searle & Wynn, when he was prostrated from sickness. 
On his recovery, Mr. Barry returned to San Erancisco, and in April, 1864, took charge 
of the ranch of J. B. Wynn, near Hollister, in whose employ he continued till the 
fall of 1866. He now engaged in the book business until 1869, in which year he 
returned to Alameda County, purchased his present place of fifteen acres, situated a 
mile and a half east of Centreville, and where he cultivates fruits and herbs. 

John Barton. — This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this work, is the son 
of Elijah and Hannah (Ward) Barton, and was born in Leicester, Worcester County, 
Massachusetts, September 13, 181 3. In 181 8 he removed, with his parents, to Kent, 
Litchfield County, Connecticut. Having received his education in the common 
schools of that place, at the age of nineteen years he obtained a clerkship in a mer- 
cantile establishment there, and remained until the year 1838. Being then twenty- 
five years of age, he removed to Buffalo, New York, and in 1839 embarked in 
business, which he continued six years. Eor the succeeding two years he resided in 
Cincinnatus, Cortland County, New York, following the like avocation, and then emi- 
grating to Richmond County, Ohio, there connected himself \\ ith the firm of P. B. 
Cornwall, and remained until he determined to try his fortune in the Land of Gold. 
On March 15, 1850, taking passage per steamer Clierokee, Mr. Barton sailed for 
Chagres, thence proceeding to Panama, he there boarded the Paitatna,a.nd anchored in 
'San Erancisco Harbor April 21, 1850. Like nearly all pioneers of that date, our sub- 
ject went to the gold-bearing regions. Eor the first two months he wielded the pick 
and rocker at Georgetown, El Dorado County; but this he soon abandoned, and 
returning to Sacramento in the month of October, embarked in the auction and com- 
mission business, on Eirst Street, between J and K Streets, under the style and firm 
of Barton & Boolden, subsequently known as Barton & Grimm. In the year 1855 



Biographical Sketches. 845 



our subject entered into the salt trade under the firm name of Barton Brothers, and 
in 1858 commenced the importation of that commodity from Carmin Island, opposite 
the town of Loreto, in the Gulf of California. On March 25, 1868, the Union Pacific 
Salt Company was organized, and the most extensive salt-making concern on the 
Pacific Coast established. After incorporation, the company purchased Rock Island, 
containing about one thousand acres and situated in Washington Township, at the 
dc'i>ouc/m re of A\3imeda. and Eden Creeks. In 1870 work was commenced, and in 1873 
it was so increased that employment was given to a large number of men. A his- 
tory of this industry will be found on page eight hundred and twenty-four of this work. 
On the organization of the Union Pacific Salt Company, Mr. Barton was chosen to 
fill the position of its President, an office he has since occupied. But this has not been 
the only enterprise on the coast with which our subject has been associated. He was 
one of the original promoters of the Sutter-street Railroad, San Francisco; in 1863 he 
became a director and a member of the Finance Committee of the Fireman's Fund 
Insurance Company, positions he now holds in that institution. In 1872 he located 
in Alameda, and in 1879 erected his present fine mansion in that town. In Mr. 
Barton we have another of those living examples of what a life of earnest industry can 
attain. His resolve "to be up and doing" has brought wealth and its adjuncts of 
comfort and freedom from care. "The whips and scorns of time" have passed him 
by, and at the "grand climacteric" we find him leading a peaceful and contented life, 
surrounded by the much-to-be-desired solace of a comfortable home and a happy 
family. Married October 14, 1858, in Buffalo, Miss Isabella Barton, a native of that 
city, by whom he has: William Ferris and Grace Thompson. 

Elias Lyman Beard (deceased), — The subject of this sketch was born in 
Lyons, Wayne County, New York, October 15, 1816, but when quite young was taken 
by his parents to Jackson County, Michigan, and in the following year to Peru, Miami 
County, Indiana, where he assisted his father who was a contractor, and later took 
contracts for himself, among the enterprises he was engaged upon being the con- 
struction of the Wabash and Erie Canal. In 1836 he settled in La Fayette, Tippe- 
canoe County, in the same State, where he was engaged in grain and saw milling, 
being shipper of the first load of grain on the above-mentioned aqueduct. Later 
he engaged in the pork-packing trade, and owned a stone quarry in that place, 
while to him is the honor of having shipped the first load of corn from the State 
of Indiana to the New York market. In 1844 he contracted to build for the Govern- 
ment, and saw to their completion the splendid docks of the Navy Yard at Memphis, 
Tennessee; after which, he returned to his home in La Fayette, and conducted his milling, 
quarrying, and mercantile pursuits, until he made up his mind to tempt fortune on 
the Pacific Coast. Leaving Indiana in February, 1849, he proceeded to New Orleans, 
and there took ship for Matamoras, whence he made the journey across Mexico to 
Mazatlan, at which place he secured a passage on board the Government boat 
Edith, among the passengers being Mr. Sam. Martin of Oakland, and arrived in 
San Francisco in May, 1849. After passing a month traveling through portions of 
California he finally settled at Mission San Jose in June of that year, and became 
largely interested with John M. Horner in land there. It was a bold venture at the 
time — this purchase of some thirty thousand acres — the Pico interest in the Mission 
Grant. The title to the land was so uncertain that it was a great risk to lay out 
money on it. Fences had to be made of wire, and the miles and miles required of it 
cost a great deal of money. Farming implements, too, were expensive, and the 
price of labor was very high. Of course the interest on money was high also, 
and the result of the farming experiment was considered at that time very uncertain. 
All fiour, as well as other supplies, were being imported from the East, and there 
were as yet no mills to grind the wheat in California, if it could be grown. But Mr. 
Beard was a man for large enterprises, and of indomitable courage, and in spite of all 
obstacles and risks he entered upon the business of grain and fruit raising on what 



846 History of Alameda County, California. 

then seemed to be a magnificent scale, and the result fully justified the soundness of 
his judgment, and demonstrated the agricultural capabilities of the country. In 
1852 he had si.x hundred and forty acres of grain that yielded, on the average, fifty- 
six bushels to the acre. His yield of potatoes was sixty thousand bushels, averag- 
ing, for the most part, three hundred and thirty bushels to the acre. According to 
the Rev. Dr. VVilley, in the Pacific of May 19, 1880, the size of these potatoes was 
something marvelous. It was common to find some of three pounds weight, and 
frequently those weighing from three to five pounds. He says: "I remember during 
one day at Mr. Beard's, when there were nine of us grown persons at the table, 
and a single potato, weighing four pounds, served us all, and there was plenty left 
for three persons who came afterward, and both the quality and the flavor were 
unexceptionable." The Mission orchard inclosure then comprised fifteen acres. Besides 
vines, fig-trees, olives, peach, and quince trees, there were in this orchard three hun- 
dred and fifty full-grown pear-trees. The yield of one of the largest of these trees 
was fifteen hundred pounds of fruit, the gross income from which was $400. The 
gross receipts from the vineyard in the year 1851 were $16,000. Having been joined 
by his wife, a son, and step-son, Mr. Beard, took up his residence on land purchased 
from Thomas O. Larkin, and from the produce of the old orchard acquired a hand- 
some competency. But such were his sanguine hopes of the future of California 
that he invested all his means in partial payments upon ranches, and the depression 
in values which soon followed swept away all his accumulations, and left him a poor 
man. In the year 1858 he took charge of the Mariposa estate in connection with 
General Fremont, but this undertaking proving a failure, he then contracted to pur- 
chase a mile square of land, embracing the now town of Salinas, expended largely 
in fencing, and put in a crop of wheat, but the season proved unfruitful, and he lost 
his investment. At the beginning of the Civil War he joined General Fremont at 
St. Louis, and distinguished himself for his energy and force of character by the 
rapidity and zeal with which he executed contracts for fortifying the city — contracts 
which amazed people by the brief time allowed to fulfill their requirements. In 1865, 
himself and his step-son, Henry G. Ellsworth, procured a perfected title, by patent 
from the United States, to nearly four thousand acres of land on the e.x-Mission of 
San Jose, and were again the possessors of a competency. But not content with this, 
his sanguine disposition led him into sundry enterprises, embracing an attempt to 
develop an oil-well at Matole, Humboldt County, and to open mines in various 
parts of the country. After speculations, all of which proved unsuccessful, he made 
an attempt to recuperate these losses by dealing in mining stocks, which finally 
swept away his entire fortune, and he died. May 8, 1880, so far as worldly goods 
are concerned, a poor man, leaving a widow, who is beloved by all who know her — 
a woman endowed with the finest social and tenderest womanly qualities of char- 
acter; and a son, a sketch of whose life is given below. Mr. Beard was the first 
President of the California State Agricultural Society, organized in 1854, and the 
first fair under his administration, in what was then known as the Music Hall, San 
Francisco, proved most satisfactory and prosperous. 

John L. Beard. — The son of the above, E. L. Beard, was born in La Fayette, 
Tippecanoe County, Indiana, June 18, 1845, and there resided until his coming to 
California with his mother in 1850. He lived with his father at the Mission San 
Jos^ until the year 1867, when he took up his abode on his present place, about 
two miles and a half from Centreville, where he is engaged in farming and fruit- 
raising. Married, and has two children, namely, Jessie and Eldridge L. 

Hon. James Beazell. — This well-known gentleman of Alameda County is a 
native of Pennsylvania. Born in Westmoreland County, October 30, 1830, where he 
resided until he attained the age of twenty-one years. He then came, via the Missis- 
sippi River, Gulf of Mexico, across Texas and Mexico, to California, arriving in 
San F^rancisco July 19, 1852; coming immediately to Mission San JosJ, where he 



Biographical Sketches. 847 



found employment for a short time at his trade of blacksmithing, and then went to 
Alvarado; and finally, in 1853, located in Centreville, where he carried on business 
until 1862, when he moved to Washington Corners, and in August, 1868, transferred 
his business to the thriving town of Livermore; and in 1878, in connection with his 
brother, erected their present shop on Lizzie Street, where they transact a general 
blacksmithing business, under the firm name of Beazell Brothers. In the fall of 
1875 Mr. Beazell was called from his anvil by the voters of Alameda County to 
represent them in the State Senate, a position he was re-elected to in 1876, filling all 
the functions of that high office to the satisfaction of his constituents and honor to 
himself In January, 1871, our subject was united in marriage, in San Francisco, to 
Miss C. W. Veirs, a native of Ohio, by which union they have two children, Ella B. 
and Jessie M. 

Benajah Benedict. — This much respected pioneer of Alameda County, whose 
portrait will be found in this volume, was born in Addison County, Vermont, Decem- 
ber I, 1825, and is the son of Jonas A. and Soloma (Towner) Benedict. His parents 
moving to Crown Point, Essex County, New York, when he was six years of age, 
there he received his education, grew to manhood, and resided on his father's farm, 
until determining to tempt fortune on the Pacific Slope. On April 20, 1852, he sailed 
in the bark Southerner, around Cape Horn, for San Francisco, where he arrived on the 
22d of October. It was not to loiter in that city that he had braved the dangers 
of the deep and made the wearisome voyage; no, he almost immediately went to the 
gold-producing caflons of the Sierras, but not finding there the riches that he had 
expected, he made his way back to San Francisco, and there remained until January 
II, 1853. At this date he first came to the Contra Costa, for Alameda County had 
not yet been created, and, locating in the vicinity of Union Cit}', embarked in farm- 
ing operations on the land at present owned by John Shinn. There he remained until 
October, 1853, when he removed to the Encinal of Alameda, and commenced agricult- 
ural pursuits on land now owned by Capt. R. R. Thompson, and upon which that 
gentleman has erected his handsome mansion. In December, 1854, he transferred 
the scene of his labors to Bay Farm Island, rented land from Mr. Cleveland, on which 
he farmed until 1856. In the following year he was associated with Mr. McDonald 
in tilling the soil, and in 1859 he erected and occupied the house in which he now 
resides. Mr. Benedict owns on the island about seventy-five acres of land, which is 
chiefly devoted to the raising of asparagus and hops, while he is largely interested in 
the latter industry with Jacob B. Shirk, in Washington Township. This enterprise 
Mr. Benedict has succeeded in bringing to a high state of perfection, and with the 
high prices ranging during the past year for that commodity the yield has added 
considerably to his already well-filled coffers. The benefits that he has conferred 
upon the small community of the Island are many. His advocacy and support of 
our public school system shows that he firmly believes that the only royal road to 
knowledge is by the early training of the young, and that it is the "mind that makes 
the man." Married, February 19, 1857, Mrs. Persis A. (Cleveland), widow of Chester 
Hamlin, who has two surviving children. 

Newton Benedict. — Was born in Rhode Island, September 15, 1825, and is 
the son of David and Margaret (Gano) Benedict. He received his education in his 
native place, and there resided until seventeen years of age, when he went to Boston 
and became connected with the Boston Daily Thttes newspaper, at that time the lead- 
ing daily morning paper in that city. Here Mr. Benedict resided most of the time 
until his departure for California. The father of- our subject was a distinguished 
divine of the Baptists, and was the historian of the denomination, an erudite article 
which will be found in extenso in the Encydopcedia Britaniiica. On March 4, 1849, 
Mr. Benedict sailed from Boston in the ship Charlotte by way of Cape Horn for the 
Pacific Coast, and after a voyage of one hundred and ninety-two days, with all its 
attendant discomforts, cast anchor in the harbor of San Francisco. Proceeding a 



848 History of Alameda County, California. 

once to the mining count)' of El Dorado, he there embarked in a mercantile business' 
which he continued until 1854. In that year he returned to San Francisco for a short 
time, and subsequently located in Todd's X'alley, Placer County — eighteen miles 
above Auburn, on the divide between the north and middle forks of the American 
River. Here he dealt in merchandise until 1862. He next passed four years partly 
in Washington Territory and in the State of Nevada, still being engaged in the same 
business, and in 1866 came to Alameda County, located in Oakland, and assumed the 
affairs of several fire and life insurance agencies. In 1867 Mr. Benedict filled the 
office of Recording Secretary to the State Legislature of California; performing its 
functions the last three sessions in the senate until the year 1879-80. In 1875, he 
embarked in real estate transactions which he now continues, being associated with 
James R. Capell, under the style of Benedict, Capell & Co., real estate agents, and 
notaries public, at No. 457 Ninth Street, Oakland. Mr. Benedict married, September 
14, 1853, Fanny S. Burrows, «('<? Sowlcs, a native of New York, and has: Anna H., and 
Harry G. 

Robert H. Bennett. — Was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in the year 1826, and 
is the son of John and Elizabeth S. Bennett. Having received his education in 
the ordinary schools of that city, he entered the counting-room of a grain commi.ssion 
house where he remained until 1849. On the 25th January of that year he sailed from 
Baltimore in the ship Jane Parker by way of Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he 
arrived July 21, 1849. Mr. Bennett and two others on landing pitched their tent on 
the site now occupied by the Clay-street Bank, and there established a mercantile 
store, which was carried on with much success until the ne\'er-to-be-forgotten May fire 
of 1850. Notwithstanding this disaster the business was immediateh' started under 
the style and firm of Bennett & Kirby, hardware and commission merchants, and con- 
tinued until July, 185 i. Mr Bennett now entered the commission and produce trade 
under the name of R. H. Bennett & Co., but in 1855, upon forming a copartnership 
with H. G. Blaisdell, ex-governor of the State of Nevada, the same business was car- 
ried on in the store-ship Stciglita at what is now the corner of East and Washington 
Streets. At the end of a year the firm resumed its old style of R. H. Bennett & Co., 
by which it is still known and highh- respected in San Francisco. In 1878 Mr. 
Bennett came to Haywards and took the warehouses there. He with his family were 
residents of Oakland between the )'ears 1864 and 1876, in which latter year they 
moved to Fruit Vale, where they at present dwell. Mr. Bennett is married and has a 
family of two children surviving. 

Augustin Bernal. — Was born in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California, 
May 25, 1848. His father, Augustin Bernal, who died June 19, 1872, was born at the 
Santa Teresa Rancho, in Santa Clara County, and was eight\'-seven years of age at 
the time of his demise. For more than twenty years he served as a lieutenant in the 
Mexican army, for which he received eleven leagues of land in the San Ramon and 
Livennore Valleys, known as the Rancho El Valle de San Jose, and which he divided 
equally with his brother Juan Pablo Bernal, and two sisters. As patented, the 
rancho contained fortj'-eight thousand acres, and extended from Suiiol Valley to 
Livermore. He was twice married, and left a widow and large family of sons and 
daughters to mourn his loss. He was much respected for his honest}', integrity, genial 
and generous disposition, while, he was an e.Kception to the general run of his 
countrymen. He was very careful and held on well to his property, and made it 
secure by dividing it among his children; the result is that the Bcrnals hold their 
ground on the original grant better than any other of the nativ'e families. When but 
an infant the subject of this sketch was brought by his parents to what is now known 
as Alameda Count)-, where he has since resided, at present owning an estate of eleven 
hundred and fifty acres, which he rents, and maintains a residence himself in Pleasanton. 
Married Miss Francesca Soto, a native of San Mateo County, by. whom there is no 
issue. 



Biographical Sketches. 849 



Dennis F. Bernal. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, as a proper representative of one of the earliest famihes to settle in Alameda 
County, was born in Pleasanton, in that county, April 8, 1856, and is the son of 
Francisco and Maria (Thompson) Bernal. When he was fourteen years of age he left 
California for South America, and having visited all of the principal ports on its 
Pacific Coast, at the end of five years returned to his birthplace on December 8, 1875. 
In the following month he' entered the Golden Gate Academy where he remained 
until November 18, 1878, and in January, 1879, commenced a course in a business 
college in San Francisco, from which he graduated on Christmas-day of the same 
year. Mr. Bernal then took up his residence in Livermore, but in August 1881 took 
a trip to Arizona and Mexico, where he visited the mining, districts of those States, 
and shortly after came back to California. On his return home he won the heart of a 
dark-eyed daughter of one of Alameda County's Supervisors, but a native of New 
York, to whom he was united in marriage in 1883. He has since taken up his abode 
in his beautiful residence in the town of Livermore, near which he has a large farm of 
very valuable land, on which there is a comfortable farm-house, with mill, barn, etc. 
Mr. Bernal also possesses some property in the vicinity of Pleasanton. 

JO.SE Bernal. — This scion of one of California's most ancient and well-known 
Spanish families, was born in what was then known as the Contra Costa section of the 
District of San Jose, October 20, 1823. Save during the time of attending the schools 
at Monterey, the former capital of California, Mr. Bernal has been always a resident 
of what is now called Murray Township, Alameda County — the place of his birth. 
Fuller remarks on the Bernal family will be found elsewhere. Our subject married, 
November 10, 1855, Alta Garcia Higuerra, a native of California, by whom there are: 
Ezequiel, Ezequies, Peryguino, Gonzaguia, Francisco, Emil, Manuel, Candido, Sedonia, 
Madronia. 

Elijah Bigelow. — Is the son of Elijah and Rebecca (Fisk) Bigelow, and was 
born in Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, September 9, 18 10. Here he 
resided until the year 1852, when joining in the human stream then turned towards 
California, he sailed from the city of New York, March 20th, and arrived per steamer 
California in the harbor of San Francisco, May 14, 1852. He at once embarked in 
the grocery and provision business on Front Street, and there continued three years, 
afterwards being thus engaged in other parts of the city in the same line of trade 
until 1863, when he crossed the bay to Oakland, and started in real-estate transac- 
tions, acquiring the first homestead in Oakland, it being situated at the corner of 
Market and Fourteenth Streets of the present day. Married, firstly, July 13, 1834, 
Emma McLachlan who died January 6, 1880; and secondly. May 15, 1882, Mrs. 
C. F. Bartlett. 

J. A. BiLZ. — Was born in Baden, Germany, January 7, 1837. When about 
twenty years of age, he emigrated to the United States, sailing from Havre, and 
arriving in New York July 3, 1857. After working at his trade for five years in the 
State of New York, and about nine months in Connecticut, he sailed from New York 
in April, 1863, via Panama, to San Francisco, landirig May loth of , the same year. 
For the first three months he worked in Benicia; afterwards he moved to San Jose; 
then to Mission San Jose, and subsequently in different places until the fall of 1865, 
when he came to Pleasanton, there being but five houses in the town at that time. 
Here he commenced working at his trade, which has steadily increased, until at the 
present writing he is the proprietor of a large wagon factory. To Mr. Bilz is the 
honor of building the first wagon in the Livermore Valley. He married in Centre- 
ville, March 28, 1869, Miss Catharine Ishinger, a native of Wiirtemberg, Germany, 
and has three surviving children, viz.: Helene, Selma, and Minnie; and one deceased 
named Charles. 

Ama.sa Wright Bishop. — One of the old residents and prominent citizens of 
Oakland is the gentleman whose portrait appears in this work. Mr. Bishop was born 



850 History of Alameda County, Califokma. 

at Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont, August i8, 1832; was educated for the 
Bar, and at the age of twenty entered the law office of the Hon. David E. Nich- 
olson. By the laws of Vermont, five years' reading in the office of an attorney is nec- 
essary before admission to the Bar, and only then upon a certificate and affidavit of 
good character, and thorough examination. IMr. Bishop pursued his studies in the 
same office for five years, practicing in the mean time in the Courts of Justices of the 
Peace in his own and neighboring towns, and was always very successful in his prac- 
tice. In 1S57 he was examined, and admitted an attorney of the Rutland County 
Bar. Always predisposed to literature, during his studentship he wrote more or less 
for the press; and in 1857, in connection with a schoolmate and student in the same 
■office, Philip H. Emerson (now, and for the past ten years United States District 
Judge of Utah Territory), he started a small paper, simply for arhusement, called 
The Local Spy, which created no little stir in the staid community as each weekl)' 
issue made its appearance. The paper was continued for more than a year, and until 
Mr. Bishop left for California, arriving in the Golden State early in 1859. He sought 
his fortune in the mines, as did nearly all new-comers at that time; but it did not 
require a great length of time to convince him, in the language of Leatherstocking 
that mining was not his "gift." He returned to Mary.sville, and for some eight or 
nine months devoted himself to mercantile business, in the saddlery and harness store 
of John W. Moore, Esq., one of Marysville's best citizens. Earl\' in January, i860, at 
the request of Mr. Moore, he went to Red Bluff, Tehama County, to take charge of the 
same business for his brother, C. A. Moore. While in Marysville he was a constant 
writer for the press, and after locating in Red Bluff, was a steady contributor to the 
Marysville Appeal, and also to the Red Bluff Beacon. At the solicitation of leading 
Republicans and anti-Le Compton Democrats, he gave up his position with Mr. Moore, 
and started the Semi-Weekly Independent at Red Bluff, the first paper issued oftener 
than once a week north of Marysville, and the first paper to take the dispatches — first, 
of the Pony Express across the Continent; afterwards the telegraphic dispatches. 
The first paper was issued August 14, i860. In the fall of i860 he was appointed 
Deputy District Attorney of Tehama County; and the District Attorney leaving the 
State soon after, he exercised that office until the ne.xt election. Tehama County at 
this time was one of the strongest of Democratic strongholds, only thirty-nine Repub- 
lican votes having been polled in 1859. At the Presidential election in i860, however, 
through the untiring labors of Mr. Bishop, and the influence of the Independent, this 
vote was increased to two hundred and forty-two for Abraham Lincoln, the balance 
of the vote being divided between the Douglass, Bell, and Breckinridge electors — the 
Douglass ticket receiving four hundred and ninety-seven votes; the Bell and Everett 
ticket two hundred and nineteen votes, and the balance going to the Breckinridge 
ticket. The ne.xt year, 1861, Mr. Bishop accepted the nomination for District Attor- 
ney from the Republican Convention, and worked with so much energy and persist- 
ency, visiting nearly every voter in the county, that he beat the nominee of the 
combined Democracy — Breckinridge and Douglass — by seventy-six votes. In 1862 
the Republican party carried the county, electing its full ticket. Such was the change 
in public sentiment, and the credit for that change was due, in a great measure, to the 
personal work of, and the paper edited and published by, Mr. Bishop. At the session 
of the Legislature of 1863-64, Mr. Bishop's services were recognized, and he was chosen 
Assistant Secretary of the Senate by acclamation, and served during the session. The 
same year the Democratic paper, the Beacon, succumbed, was bought by Mr. Bishop, 
and merged in the Independent. In 1S63, on the 7th day of November, Mr. Bishop 
married an estimable young lady of Red Bluff, Ellen M., the daughter of Captain E. 
G. Reed, the pioneer settler of the town, who located the town site, and built the first 
house, a hotel, at the steamer-landing. In 1865 Mr. Bishop sold his paper, aiid devoted 
his time to his profession, holding at the same time the office of Collector of Internal 
Revenue for the division including Tehama, Colusa, and Butte Counties. The people 



Biographical Sketches. 8r^l 



of Chico, learning that he had sold out his paper at Red Bluff, prevailed upon him to 
locate at Chico, and start a paper at that fast growing and prosperous town. He 
went to Chico in the fall of 1865, and started the Weekfy Courmit, editing the paper 
and practicing law up to May, 1869, when he again sold out his business, office, and 
dwelling, and moved to Oakland. In the summer he took a trip to his old home in 
Vermont, visiting many of the Eastern, Western, and Southwestern States. He 
returned in July of that year, and opened a law office in San Francisco. Never idle, 
always most happy when pressed with business, he could not sit down in idleness and 
wait for it to come to him; therefore, to fill up the time, he started the Masonic Mirror, 
which he edited and published for four years. In 1872 he was solicited by many prom- 
inent citizens of Oakland to purchase the Oakland Daily Transcript, and make it a 
stanch P..epublican journal. He listened to the advice and solicitations of friends, and, 
the old fascination seizing him, he bought the paper; and in building it up and placing 
it on a paying basis it cost him several thousand dollars — all he possessed, in fact — 
besides nearly breaking his constitution with severe labor, he doing the work of two 
and three men during the four years and a half he conducted the paper. In 1876 he 
sold his intere.st in the paper — having previously sold a half interest — and in the sum- 
mer of 1877, received the appointment of Superintendent of Bonded Warehouses at 
the port of San Francisco, which position he held until July, 1880. At the election 
of 1880 Mr. Bishop was elected City Justice of the Peace of the city of Oakland, and 
was re-elected to the same office, without opposition, at the election of 1882, which 
position he now holds. Mr. Bishop has always been active in politics, but he has 
.never stooped to deceive, or forfeit his integrity — ever holding that honesty should 
prevail in politics as well as in the business affairs of life. If he could not support 
a man, he was ever free to tell him so. If he does support a man, he does it with his 
whole might, mind, and soul. A friend he never forsakes, and if he has an enemy, it 
never troubles him nor disturbs his feelings. His motto has ever been, "Do ye unto 
others as ye would that others should do unto you." It would be impossible for a 
man to be active in politics, publish a strict, terse, incisive party paper, and not make 
enemies; nevertheless, Mr. Bishop has probably as few enemies as any man in Oakland, 
for the reason that he always avoided personalities, dealing wholly with principles, and 
not with men. But when he combats what to his mind are false doctrines and political 
evils and heresies, his pen is as sharp and effective as a two-edged sword of Milan 
steel. His literary works are all of a high order. A California romance "Kentuck," 
written by him while engaged in the arduous duties of editing the Daily Transcript, 
received the highest encomiums from the press throughout the Coast, as the best 
exposition of early California life ever given to the public — equal, and, as many 
asserted, superior to Bret Harte's best. Few persons in California have a more exten- 
sive acquaintance than Mr. Bishop, and those who know him best, most appreciate his 
integrity of character, firmness of purpose, honesty of motives, and upright life; while 
all admit his ability as a terse and forcible writer; a man of general information, well 
read in the law, a conscientious Judge, and a useful citizen. Such is a condensed and 
imperfect sketch of a few incidents and points in the life and career of Amasa Wright 
Bishop, who for fourteen years has been a resident of the beautiful city of Oakland, 
and a citizen of Alameda County. 

Joseph F. Black. — Whose portrait appears in this volume, was. born in Burling- 
ton County, New Jersey, April i, 1835, and there resided until he attained the age of 
eighteen years. On April 26, 1853, he sailed from New York on board the Crescent 
City for Panama, whence taking passage in the Golden Gate, he arrived in San Fran- 
cisco June I, 1853. Mr. Black located at once in Alvarado, Alameda County, and 
subsequently purchasing the farm now owned by S. P. Harvey, there prosecuted agri- 
culture until 1859. Disposing of the ranch in that year he moved to Dublin, Murray 
Township, followed farming on the Dougherty Ranch, and was the first, in point of 
fact, to till the ground in that locality. In 1863 he transferred his operations to the 



852 History of Alameda County, California. 



Bernal Rancho, where he has since engaged in raising grain. In 1866 Mr. Black pur- 
chased the interests of Juan, Raphilo, and Joaquin Bernal in the Rancho El Valle de 
San Jose, consisting of seven thousand .sev'en hundred acres, plots one, two, twenty- 
six, thirty-three, and thirty-four of which he has retained and laid subject to the 
plow. Mr. Black, besides his large grain-growing enterprises, has tJiirtj'-fivc acres of 
land planted with vines, now of two years' growth, being the first vineyard of any 
importance in the Livermore Valley, while he is la)-ing out in the same manner one 
hundred and fifty acres more this year, and building a series of fine wine-cellars. 
Mr. Black has also twenty-five acres in hops, which he has found a profitable venture. 
Has subdivided and sold this year over twelve hundred acres for grapes in subdivis- 
ions from seven to two hundred acres, and with the assistance of Charles A. Wetmore, 
Chief Viticulture officer, has succeeded in establishing on the Arroyo Valle what 
promises to be the best dry-wine district in the State. He married, in the residence 
of Greene Patterson, Alameda County, California, in the year 1865, Miss Mary K. 
Simpson, a native of Independence, Missouri, by which union there are five children, 
viz.: Mary, Kate, Joseph, Ellis, and Frank. 

William Clark Bl.\ckwood. — The subject of this sketch, who.se portrait 
appears in this history, is the son of Samuel and Mary (McMord)') Blackwood, and 
was born in Seneca County, New York, June 7, 1813, being the youngest of seven 
sons — no daughters. Having received a common school education and worked on a 
farm until the year i<S36, he emigrated to Michigan and settled near the town of 
Farmington, Oakland County, where he followed farming for ten years. In 1846 Mr. 
Blackwood embarked in the milling business in Wayne, in the same State, and there 
remained until starting for California. Making the journey by way of New Orleans 
and Chagres, he arrived in San Francisco b\' the steamer [^jiio>i, ]une 26, 185 1. 
After prospecting some months, in 'October of that year he came to the redwoods, 
which then stood uncut above Brooklyn, or East Oakland, where he remained until 
the fr)llowing January (1852), when he removed to Eden Township and began farm- 
ing, which he continued until 1878. Mr. Blackwood now gives his attention to fruit- 
growing, he having an orchardof si. xty acres under apricots, plums, prunes, etc. Married, 
firstl}', in September, 1835, Miss Elizabeth J. Woodward, who died in April, 1850, 
leaving four children, viz.: Samuel W., Sarah E., Mary F., and Clementine; and, sec- 
ondly. Miss Jane Evert, by which union there is one daughter named Lucy; and, 
thirdl}'. Miss Elizabeth Craig. His son was educated a physician and surgeon, and 
serv-ed as such with distinction in the Union Army during the Civil War, and was 
breveted a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army of the United States for distinguished 
professional services by President Johnson. He died October, 1871, in Peru, while 
professionally employed as Superintendent of Railroad Hospitals in that republic by 
the celebrated Harry Meigs. 

Robert Bl.\C0\V (deceased). — This gentleman, whose portrait will be found in 
our pages, was born in England, December 6, 1814, and resided there until he attained 
the age of twenty-five )'ears. In 1839 he emigrated to the United States, and settled 
in Illinois, in what was known as the "American Bottoms," opposite the cityof St. Louis. 
Here he maintained a residence until 1S42-3, when he moved and located in the out- 
skirts of St. Louis, there engaging in general farming and dairying, his business being 
to supply the inhabitants of the city with milk. On June 5, 1845, he was united in 
matrimony to Miss Helen Catharine Deering, a native of Germany, and four j'ears 
thereafter, in 1849, emigrated I'la the Isthmus of Panama to California. On landing, 
Mr. Blacow at once proceeded to the mines, where he remained until the fall of 1851, 
when he took up the homestead, now consisting of three hundred and fifty-eight 
acres, at present occupied by his widow. Immediately after locating his claim in 1853, 
Mr. Blacow returned to Illinois, where he had left his wife and three children, and fitting 
up an outfit crossed the plains to California, and took up his residence in their new 
home in Alameda County. Here he died December 22, 1873, leaving the following 
family: William, Alice, Mary, Alfred, and Richard. 



Biographical Sketches. 853 



Captain George William Bond. — Was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, 
July 19, 1804, where he resided until the year 1821, when, with his brother, who was 
a physician and an invalid, he made his first voyage to the West Indies. It was his 
parents' wish that he should study for the medical profession, but after a few months' 
trial, and death of his brother he gave up that study, and for several years after was 
engaged with his brother-in-law in merchandising, the West India trade, and in ship- 
building. On coming of age he gave up this business, and shortly after purchased a 
brigantine and commenced a seafaring life in earnest, principally in the West India 
trade. In the \^ear 1832 he married Frances Gertrude, the eldest daughter of Richard 
Carter, of Cheshire, England, and having sold his brig he again tried a mercantile 
life, but after a few years and not succeeding he gave it up and returned to a sea- 
faring life, which he followed until the year 1847, when, having lost his wife, while 
absent on the West Coast of Africa, he returned in 1848 to Nova Scotia. In 1849, he 
with four others, purchased and fitted out a brigantine and left Yarmouth for Cali- 
fornia, arriving at the latter place in July, 1850, having called at Rio de Janeiro and 
Valparaiso. After a voyage down south he sold his vessel, and in the year 185 1 went to 
arancho near Vallejo's Mills, on the Alameda Creek. In the spring of 1852 he went to 
the mines on the north fork of the American River, but returned in a few months, 
and in the fall of the same year, in partnership with Charles Hilton, erected at the 
place now called Centreville the first wheelright and blacksmith shops in the county, 
but the following year sold out his interest to James Beazell; from that time until i860 
he was engaged in various occupations with the late Captain Calvin Valpey, purchas- 
ing in the latter year a part of Agua Caliente Rancho, on which Captain Valpey 
resided until his death, but Bond continuing to reside on his property at Centreville, 
engaged in various occupations, and holding for several years the offices of Postmaster, 
Justice of the Peace, and Notary Public. In the year 1882 he, with his son Charles, 
purchased the well-known William Y. Horner Rancho, where he now resides w'ith his 
son, having rented his property at Centreville. He was married at Neston Church, 
Cheshire, England, on the 28th day of August, 1832, his wife dying on the 20th day 
of April, 1847, leaving five children: Eliza Carter (now Mrs. Bingay, residing at Sac- 
ramento); Sarah Gertrude (now Mrs. Vroom, residing at St. Johns, New Brunswick); 
Charles John; Maria (now Mrs. Pope, residing at Sacramento), and Annie Ritchie 
(now Mrs. Marston,- residing in Eastern Oregon). 

Christian Bothsow (deceased). — Was born in the Island of Alse, Denmark, 
August 6, 1825. Having followed the life of a sailor until he attained the age of 
twenty-one years, he then returned to his home, there remained two years, and after- 
wards learned the trade of ship-carpenter, at which he worked on board of different 
vessels until his arrival in California. First settling in Union City, near Alvarado, 
he there remained until 1852, when he located upon the farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres, where his family now resides. Married February 16, 1856, Miss -Jane 
Hendry, a native of Morayshire, Scotland, by which union there is a family of three 
children, viz.: Henry N., Anna Christina, and Harriet E. Mr. Bothsow died Novem- 
ber 20, 1879. 

William J. Bowen. — Was born at Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts, 
March 14, 1817, and at seventeen years of age entered upon a seafaring life, at which 
he continued thirteen years, his last voyage being made in the ship Edivard, in 
the year 1839, to a Peruvian port. At the end of this cruise he took up his residence 
in the Society Islands, where he was engaged for about five years in command of 
vessels plying in the South Seas. He then made an attempt to come to California,, 
in a vessel built there by himself, but owing to a disagreement with his partner the 
trip was abandoned, and the craft sold. He then shipped in the sc\iooxv&x Currency 
Lass, and after going to the Sandwich Islands, came on to San Francisco, and made 
an attempt to establish a lumber trade with Bodega, Sonoma County, but was not 
allowed to land the cargo in San Francisco, his vessel being under a French protective 



854 History of Alameda County, California. 

flag; he, therefore, returned to the Sandwich Islands, loaded for San Francisco once 
more, but on arrival found that the market was glutted, so he returned with his freight 
to the Islands. Mr. Bowen thence sailed to the friendly shores of the Societ\' Islands. 
Now came the discovery of gold in California, therefore he brought the Sackct}' Haivk, 
with passengers. He now engaged in the lumber trade with Bodega, and having had 
his craft driven on shore, eventually got her off after seventeen days passed in dis- 
charging her cargo, aided by Capt. Juan Smith and his Indians. The vessel was sold 
to a man named Phelps, who never paid for her, but some legal difficulty inter- 
vening, Mr. Bowen turned her over to the Justice of the Peace, and in May, 1849, 
betook himself to the mines, where for five months he was very fortunate. He now 
returned to the Bay City, purchased an interest in the brig Sabine, and in her made a 
voyage to Australia, and on his return suffered shipwreck on a reef at the Navigators' 
Islands. Here he was placed in command of a vessel that had been stolen in the 
harbor of Sydney, whither he returned with her. At this place Mr. Bowen married, 
returned to San Francisco, and took up his residence at Saucelito, Marin County. At the 
end of three years he removed to San Francisco, but si.\ months thereafter crossed 
to Ocean View (now West Berkeley), and in 1S53 built the first hotel in that place, 
in which business he remained twenty-three years. He is now engaged in the wood 
and coal business at the corner of Delaware Street and San Pablo Avenue. 

B. F. BraNNAN. — Was born in Jackson County, Indiana, August 8, 1833. In 
185 1 he went west to Tama County, Iowa, and was a resident of that State sixteen 
years. In 1867 he emigrated, via Panama, to the Pacific Coast, came to Alameda 
County, and located on the place now owned by. George Beck, about five miles north 
of Livermore. In 1878 he purchased his present homestead, adjoining that town, 
consisting of forty acres. Is married, and has two children. Florence and Maud. 

Jame.S a. Brewer. — Was born in Oneida County, New York, November 29, 
1834, where he received his schooling, and resided until the spring of 1852, being up 
to that time engaged in farming. In the season just mentioned he turned towards 
the west, and, proceeding to Wisconsin, was there employed in the construction of the 
railroad between Janesville and Monroe. At the end of eighteen months Mr. Brewer 
removed to Kansas, and there maintained a domicile until starting for California. In 
March, 1856, he essayed the arduous journey across the plains with horse-teams, and, 
coming direct to Alameda County, located at Washington Corners in July, 1856. 
Here he engaged in farming, an occupation he has since followed at that place. Dur- 
ing his residence in Kansas Mr. Brewer held the office of County Surveyor of Atchison 
County, which position he held until leaving for the Pacific Coast. Married, i ith of 
October, 1866, Mrs. Maria Ann (widow of J. R. McDavid, who was a well-known 
farmer of Washington Township, died June 21, 1861, and left four children, Volunia 
A., Julia L., Troy C, and John R,), and has two children, viz.: James M. and Henrj'C. 

Edward Brown. — Was born November 11, 1839, in Bridgenorth, England; 
was educated and lived in Wymondham, Leicestershire, until appointed to a position 
in a railway office in London, where he remained until March 29, 1863, at which 
date he sailed for New York. Very shortly afterwards he went into the service of 
the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, and in April, 1865, was appointed 
agent of that company for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1868 he organized 
the Lancaster Fire Insurance Company; capital, $200,000; and acted as its Secretary 
until November, 1871; when La Caisse Generale — a Paris Fire Office — established an 
American Branch, Mr. Brown was appointed Superintendent of Agencies. In Jan- 
uary, 1875, he was sent to San Francisco to establish a business upon the Pacific 
Coast for the said company. On May i, 1878, the firm of Brown, Craig & Co. — Mr. 
Homer A. Craig of Oakland being the other partner — was formed, their office being 
at No. 215 Sansome Street, where it has ever since remained. Mr. Brown resides in 
Alameda, is married, and has five children. 



Biographical Sketches. 855 



Hon. Lewis Henry Brown. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, is a native of Haywards, Alameda County, Cahfornia, was born March 
24, 1857, and is the son of George and Fidelia (Larabee) Brown. The father of the 
young legislator, whose name commences this short memoir, was born in the State 
of Maine, and in an early day made the weary and hazardous voyage to California 
in a small craft, coming through the rock-bound coast and tempestuous waters of the 
much dreaded Straits of Magellan. On arrival he located near Alvarado, and com- 
menced farming operations, but subsequently proceeding to the redwoods of San 
Mateo County, there stayed only a short time, and finally proceeded to the "Iron 
House" District, Contra Costa County, where he opened a store of general merchan- 
dise, and resided there until the spring of 1856, when he returned to Alameda County, 
located at Haywards, opened a mercantile business in a small building near Haywards' 
Hotel, and conducted it until 1880, when he sold his interest to his son, Lewis H. Brown, 
retiring from business on account of ill-health. Mr. Brown, Senior, died August 2, 
1880, at the age of fifty-six years. Our subject, Hon. L. H. Brown, was entirely 
educated at the common school of Haywards, his present position being both an 
honor to the institution wherein he received his training and the application for study 
which it proclaims for himself At the age of fifteen years he commenced business 
on his own account, first in insurance connections and afterwards in newspaper 
work. In two years from the start he was appointed to take charge of the agency 
of Wells, Fargo & Co., and likewise engaged successfully in the fruit trade. In 1877 
he formed a partnership with William G. Long, and purchased the store occupied by his 
father, but a few months thereafter Mr. Long seceding from the firm, his interest was 
bought by Mr. Brown, Senior, and the firm of George Brown & Son was established, 
they owning at the time half of the block on which the store is located. Being a 
native of the county, and, above all, possessed of strong sense and good business 
qualifications, it is no wonder that he received the Republican nomination by acclama- 
tion, which resulted in his election to the State Legislature as a member of the 
Assembly for Alameda County, on November 7, 1882, His record in the capitol is 
such as any one of more years may be proud, while his actions have received the cordial 
approbation of his constituents. In 1879 Mr. Brown was appointed to fill the vacant 
office of Town Treasurer of Haywards, to which position he has since been annually 
re-elected. In that year, too, he was elected a Trustee of the town of Haywards. 
He is a member of the Oakland Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and Master of the 
Masonic Blue Lodge of Haywards, and also Past Grand of the Lodge of Odd Fellows 
in Haywards; is also a member of the Knights of Honor, and as well as Past Worthy 
Chief of the Good Templars Lodge of Haywards. From the foregoing it will be 
gathered that Mr. Brown is foremost in all public and social institutions of his native 
town. His career is watched with interest by all who know him, while it requires no 
great seer to predict that in old age his brow will be decked with the laurel chaplet 
of fame, bearing the appropriate legend — pabnam qui meruit ferat. Married, Novem- 
ber 19, 1878, Miss Wiilitta Long, a native of Thdmaston, Maine, and has one son, 
viz., George Chester, now aged three years. 

Samuel R. Brown. — Was born in Upper Canada February 9, 1818, where he 
learned the miller's trade with his father in the town of Malahide. Here he resided 
until he became thirty-four years of age. Early in the year 1852 he sailed 
from New York for California in the ship Grecian, and after rounding Cape Horn 
came to an anchor in San Francisco Harbor August 12, 1852. Proceeding at once to 
the mines in Nevada County, he there remained but a short time, when, being attacked 
with fever, he was compelled for a time to abandon this occupation. The intervening 
five years, up till 1857, he passed in different parts of the State, and in November of 
that year came to Alameda County and found employment with Musser & McClure, 
and remained there until 1863. In that year he purchased his present hotel property, 
and commenced conducting the house of entertainment at Washington Corners known 



856 History or Alameda County, California. 



as Brown's Hotel. Here he at present resides. Married August 17, 1863, to Miss 
Mary Langton, a native of Ireland, and has two children, viz.: Silvia A., arid James W. 
Dr. BenjAxMIN Franklin Bucknell, (deceased). — Was born in the town of 
Hiram, State of Maine, in the month of October, 1821. Losing his father at the early 
age of five years, he was left with three sisters to the care of his mother; who, finding 
it difficult to support and properly rear so large a family, ga\e him isoon after his 
father's death), to her sister's husband, a farmer living in an adjoining town. The 
farmer with little regard to his tender years and delicate constitution, required very 
hard work from him, infant as he was, during the summer months, but allowed him to 
attend the public schools in winter. Being a good scholar and very ambitious; he 
determined to have a better education than it was possible to obtain where he was; 
he left his uncle, despite his efforts to retain- him, at the age of fourteen, and entered 
the Manual Laboring School in Readfield, Maine, where he reinained about three years, 
receiving some aid from two of his mother's brothers, residents of Readfield, and much 
kindness from the wife of one of his uncles, which he always remembered with great 
gratitude. When seventeen years old, he commenced teaching during the autumn 
and winter months, thcreb}- earning money to defray the expense of studying during 
the remainder of the year. When about nineteen he began the study of medicine 
with Dr. Potter of Waterville, but failing health, and the fear of consumption, inher- 
ited from his father, obliged him to seek a milder climate. He went to Savannah, and 
afterwards to Florida, teaching and still pursuing the stud\' of medicine. Three years 
later, finding his health much improved, he returned to New England and entered the 
Medical School at Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1846 and com- 
menced the practice of his profession soon after in his native town. The following 
year he w,is married to Miss Martha E. Lincoln of Cornish, Maine. The Doctor's 
ambition soon led him to seek a larger and more lucrative practice, and he went to 
take the place of a physician recently moved from Machias, Maine. Here he found 
an abundance of work, but his health never robust soon failed rapidly. He took a 
young physician as partner, hoping thereby to be able to remain, but a return ot' 
hemorrhage from the lungs again drove him to seek a more genial clime, and on the 
4th of November, 1S50, accompanied by his wife and sister, h-i sailed in the brig 
Agate bound for San Francisco. During the voyage of six months his health seemed 
quite restored, he having gained sixty-eight pounds in flesh, and on reaching San 
Francisco, April 24th, he concluded to commence the practice of his profession in 
that city. Six months later a return of his old pulmonary troubles convinced him 
that he could not long endure the cold winds of the bay. He visited Alameda County 
in quest of business, where the wind was said to be less severe; meeting with 
John M. Horner, he obtained from him the agency of a steamboat, which was to run 
daily from Union City (now Alvarado) to San Francisco and back, loaded with vege- 
tables and other produce raised by Mr. Horner, and the farmers in the vicinit)-. Here 
Dr. Bucknell established a post-office, got an appointment as Justice of the Peace; 
and besides attending daily to the loading and unloading of the steamboat, he 
discharged the duties of these offices, occasionally performing the marriage cere- 
mony for those who could not obtain a minister's services; in addition to all 
this he went to attend the sick whenever called, and as he spoke Spanish, he soon 
received calls to visit the afflicted in most of the Spanish families in that part 
of the county. In 1852 and 1853 he suffered so much from rheumatism, that he con- 
cluded to leave Alvarado and try the interior of the State, and he mo\ed to Marys- 
ville, but after living one year in the city, and another year on a ranch near the city, 
he was prostrated with malarial fever, and returned to Alameda County, this time to 
the Mission of San Jose, where he received much kindness from Mr. and Mrs. Ljman 
Beard; soon afterwards he purchased from Mr. Combs a farm of two liundred and forty 
acres, between Washington and Centreville, and in September moved into the farm- 
house which Mr. Combs had built for his own family, which was quite commodious 
and comfortable. During all these changes and wanderings Dr. Bucknell had been 



Biographical Sketchks. 857 

accompanied by his wife, and in this farm-house, Feb. 25, 1856, their first child, a 
daughter, was born. Her name was Frances. The doctor was exceedingly fond of 
this child, and after she attained the age of one year, she could be seen seated by his side 
during most of his rides about the neighborhood. In September, 1858, a second daugh- 
ter was born. About this time his mother, who had come to California two years 
previous, became an invalid, and died the following autumn. Her death was a great 
blow to the doctor, and his own health failed rapidl)- afterwards. Inherited consump- 
tion which for more than half his life he had been battling against, could no longer 
be kept at bay, and he sank beneath its power, dying April 19, i860. His wife and 
children remained upon the farm two years after his death. During the winter of 
1862-63 they were in San Francusco, where the youngest child fell a victim to 
measles, which was at the time prevailing as an epidemic. The following autumn 
Mrs. Bucknell with her only child went to New England to visit her mother, and having 
always felt great interest in her husband's profession, determined to study the same her- 
self The following winter she entered the Woman's Medical College in Boston, and 
three years after graduated. She intended to return immediately to California, but 
her aged mother was still living, and she could not make up her mind to go so far 
away as long as her mother lived, consequently she went to Portland, Maine, and 
practiced for three years in that city; her mother died about this time, and she 
returned to California, since when she has practiced her profession in San Francisco 
and Oakland. She is a member of the State Medical Society of California, also a 
member of the Alameda County Medical Society. Her present residence is No. 616 
Eighth Street, Oakland, which is also the residence of her daughter, now the wife of I. W. 
Reed. From her daughter Mrs. Bucknell has never been separated at any time since 
her birth except for about four months, soon after her marriage. 

DiEDERlCH BuHSEN. — The subject of this .sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Holstein, Germany, August 26, 1820, and is the son of Claus and 
Catharine (Rhoda) Buhsen. Having received his schooling, and had his home there 
until 1839, in which year he began a seafaring life, an occupation which brought him 
to the United States in the following year, where he was vicariously employed in 
coasting-vessels, and ocean-going steamers and ships until the year 1843, when, '" 
company with his brother Nicholas Buhsen, he embarked in the grocery and liquor 
business in the city of New York. There he remained till 1858, when, taking passage 
on the Star of the West, he sailed to the Isthmus of Panama en route for California, 
arriving in San Francisco per Golden Age, March 22, 1858. Proceeding to Sierra 
County he there prospected for a short time, and, upon the breaking out of the Frazer 
River excitement, went to British Columbia. He subsequently returned to California 
and farmed for a short time near Mount Eden, but eventually transferred his habita- 
tion to San Francisco, where he embarked in a general freighfing business, and con- 
tinued it until i860. He now opened a bakery at the corner of Broadway and Battery 
Street, in that city, but shortly afterwards transferred it to the corner of Pacific and 
Davis Streets. In July, 1864, purchasing property in West Oakland, Mr. Buhsen 
erected a small dwelling thereupon on the site of his present store, which was destroyed 
by fire in 1 876, when he erected his present place of business at the corner of Pine 
and Seventh Streets. Besides this establishment he owns considerable property in 
the vicinity. Married, August 26, 1848, Miss Anna Bockwaldt, by whom he has sur- 
viving two children, viz.: Eda, and A. Nicholas. 

Edwin E. Burdick. — Was born in Stonington, New London County, Connecti- 
cut, March 11, 1829, where he was employed on his father's farm, and a portion of the 
time at the blacksmith's trade until 1846, when he joined a wrecking-vessel, but she 
being lost off Cape Fear he was landed at Wilmington, North Carolina, where he 
commenced working at his trade, and stayed one winter. In March, 1853, he sailed 
from New York in the Crescent City to Aspinwall, and from Panama came to San 
Francisco in the Oregon, where he arrived on the 27th of the following month. After 
SS 



858 History ok Alameda County, California. 

a few weeks he proceeded to Grass Valley, but soon after came to Alameda County 
and obtained employment with H. K. VV. Clarke, on the place he now occupies. He 
then worked in different places and finally leased one hundred and thirty acres of land 
belonging to the South Pacific Coast Railroad, where he at present resides, being 
engaged in general farming. He is married and has five children, viz.: Abbie L., 
Edward F., Charles H., Henry H., Mary L. 

John F. Burdick, M. D. — Son of the Rev. James R. and Mrs. Anna (Babcock) 
Burdick, was born in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York, September 25, 1849. 
Having received his education in the Cornell University, in 1869 he entered upon the 
study of medicine at Ann Arbor, Michigan, whence he was graduated in 1872. He 
now returned to the county of his birth and commenced the practice of his profession, 
which he continued until 1876, when he came to Oakland, Alameda Count)', and 
practiced there until appointed by the Board of Supervisors Physician to the County 
Infirmary in December, 1878, a position he now holds. Married in March, 1882, Miss 
Carrie Hebbard. 

Will. H. Burrall. — Was born in Herkimer County, New York, May 4, 1835, 
and there resided until 1849, in which year he emigrated to Wi.sconsin and settled in 
Kenosha County, being engaged in farming there until 1854, when he removed to 
Winona, Minnesota, where he was engaged in the hardware trade; thence, at the end 
of three years, going to Illinois and teaching school near Chicago until 1859, when he 
emigrated to Nevada, and located in Virginia City, where he engaged in mining and 
the book and stationery business until April, 1874, at which date he removed with his 
family to Napa City, California, residing there until August, 1876, when he came to 
Alameda County, locating in Oakland, and embarking in the real estate busincs.s. 
He has been a notary public for fourteen years. Married in San Francisco in 1863, 
Miss Sarah A. Marsh, a native of the State of New York, then residing in Waukegan, 
Illinois, and has four daughters, viz.: Millie, Jessie, Lucia, and Belle; aged respect- 
ively, seventeen, fifteen, thirteen, and eleven; all born in Virginia City, Nevada. 
Their pnly son, Ralph, having died there in 1868. 

Fred. L. Button. — Born in Pontiac, Michigan, in March, 1856. In 1863 came 
to California with his parents, who, in the autumn of that year, settled in Oakland. 
Attended the primary and grammar schools of that city; in 1868, awaiting the estab- 
lishment of a high school, was for a few months in the office of the Daily Transcript, 
learning the printer's trade, and also attended the Brayton College School. Com- 
pleted the course of study at the High School and State University at Berkeley, 
graduated from this last institution in 1876, receiving the University gold medal for 
general excellence in scholarship and also the prize for the most meritorious scientific 
essay. Having at that time served a year as assistant instructor in mathematics under 
appointment by the Regents of the University, he continued in that position during 
the succeeding year. At the end of this time he commenced the stud)- of law in the 
office of Messrs. Vrooman and Davis; Mr. Vrooman then being District Attorney of 
Alameda County. Here he availed himself of the ample opportunities offered for 
acquiring extended practical experience in all branches of his profession, and in 1879 
was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. Soon after established a law office 
in Oakland, where, by his studious habits, careful attention to professional duties, and 
known personal integrity, he has built up a lucrative practice and taken a prominent 
position among the younger members of the Bar. 

N. B. BvRNE. — Was born in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, November 2, 18 17, 
where he resided until he attained the age of fourteen years, at which time he accom- 
panied his parents to New Madrid Count)', in the same State; there making his home 
until leaving for the Pacific Slope. In March, 1859, accompanied by his wife and 
four children, he started with ox-teams, and a drove of cattle, to cross the plains to 
California, finally arriving in Oakland, Alameda County, in the month of September 
of that year. A month afterwards he moved to North Berkeley and farmed 



Biographical Sketches. 859 



until 1873, when land there becoming too valuable for farming he removed to the San 
Joaquin Valley and engaged in a similar pursuit, and finding that unprofitable he, 
in 1880, returned to Berkeley and embarked in his present business of wood and coal 
dealer, on University Avenue. Married July 19, 1849, Miss Mary Tanner, a native 
of New Madrid, and has six children. 

Duncan Cameron. — The subject of this sketch is a descendant of a long line 
of Scottish chivalry, and belongs to that clan which claims Lochiel for its chieftain. 
He is the son of Samuel and Sarah (PuUen) Cameron, and was born in Canada June 
22, 1820. Receiving his early training in his native place and there residing until 
1838, in that year he went to Clintonville, Essex County, New York, and after a 
residence of ten months there, returned home, and subsequently removed to the State 
of Vermont. Our subject after a short time proceeded to the State of New York, and 
dwelt until the year 1845 at Ticonderoga, Esse.x County, at which time he took up 
his quarters in New York City and commenced boating on the Hudson River. Mr. 
Cameron next "went to sea" and while in the capacity of a sailor heard of the won- 
derful gold discoveries in California, upon which he determined to tempt that fickle 
jade, Fortune, at the mines. To this end he rounded the " Horn," and cast anchor in 
the bay of San Francisco, September 24, 1850, having twice suffered shipwreck on the 
voyage. The motto of this enterprising gentleman has ever been "to be up and 
doing;" losing no time, therefore, he shipped as a fireman for service on the Sacramento 
River, but making only two trips, he betook himself to terra firuia and embarked in 
the grocery trade. In January, 185 I, he moved to the Pacheco Valley (now Contra 
Costa County) and embarked in farming operations, but only remaining there a few 
months, returned to San Francisco and opened a saloon, which abandoning, he worked 
as fireman on a steamer plying between San Francisco and Sacramento. In that 
year (1851) Sacramento was visited by a great flood, a disaster to others which Mr. 
Cameron quickly turned to his own advantage. As long as the waters covered the 
face of the district our subject plied a boat along its inundated streets and on their 
subsidence he embarked in a draying business. Disliking the place on account of its 
unhealthfulness, he sought another location and pitched upon the little village of San 
Antonio, which now forms a portion of Brooklyn, or East Oakland, which place he 
reached by way of Martinez, on horseback. Here he started the first livery-stable in the 
place, with three horses, which he kept in a yard. The livery business prospered, and in 
1853 he built a large stable and had eight or ten horses. In about a year, however, he 
sold out, and in 1854, purchased a piece of property, and building upon it a residence, 
prepared to make that place his permanent home. About this time he bought the 
valuable block on which the post-office in Oakland now stands, and in 1854 espoused 
Miss Anne Lydia Maddox of Castro Valley, a native of the State of Illinois. In 1856 
Mr. Cameron started in the stage business in opposition to that run by McLaughlin, 
then a famous local line. In 1858 he bought a quantity of land for farming purposes, 
which, however, he partly disposed of in i86i. Previous to the real estate excitement 
of 1868, he purchased a tract of land north of the town of Brooklyn, or East Oakland, 
known as the Cameron Tract, for eighteen thousand dollars, which he disposed of 
within a year for fifty thousand dollars. Mr. Cameron has filled various public posi- 
tions from constable upwards. He has been twice elected to the Board of Supervisors 
of Alameda County, and has filled with credit the position of Public Administrator 
of the county for two terms. He has always taken an active part in politics, and 
was in succession a Whig and a Republican. His family consists of a daughter and 
son named, Nellie E., and Ashley D. An excellent portrait of this gentleman will be 
found in this volume. 

Edwin H. Campbell. — Is the son of S. G. and Elmira (Cook) Campbell, and 
was born in Westfield, Massachusetts, April 10, 1850, but when five or six years old 
was taken by his parents to Dixon, Illinois, where he resided until he attained the age 
of fifteen years. At that period of his existence he launched out to face the buffet- 



860 History of Alameda County, Calikornia. 

ings of the world. He followed different occupations up till 1870, when he came to 
California, located in Sacramento, and in 1874 removed to Oakland, where he has since 
been engaged in the wine and liquor business, and is at present the popular proprietor 
of the Galindo Billiard Parlors on Eighth Street. Married in 1879, Miss Annie Bain, 
a native of Minnesota, and has no issue. 

Tallcut p. Carey. — This gentleman is the son of L. H. and Lucy (Doolittle) 
Carey, and was born in Boston, Erie County, New York, April 1 1, 1828. His grand- 
father, Richard Carey, Ibught for seven jears in the ranks of the Revolutionary Army, 
and had a son who fell fighting for the liberty of his countr\' in the year 1 8 1 3, in a hand- 
to-hand combat with four Indians at the burning of Buffalo, New York. Our sub- 
ject resided with his parents until he reached the age of t\\ enty-three years, and there, 
in his native town, received his education. On January 7, 1852, he sailed from New 
York in the steamer Cherokee to Chagres, whence he found his way to Panama and 
thence took passage in a sailing-vessel, the brig Cliristiania, arriving in San PVancisco 
on the 7th April of that j'ear. Proceeding immediately to Chinese Camp, Tuolumne 
County, he there commenced mining, which, however, he abandoned a few weeks 
later for stock-raising in what is now a portion of Stanislaus Count)'. Here he 
remained until the year 1878, when, owing to failing health, he leased his range and 
came to Alameda County, locating at San Leandro. Mr. Carey's possessions in the 
two counties, Merced and Stanislaus, amount to three thousand acres of land. Mar- 
ried, December 23, 1856, Miss Elizabeth J. McGee, a native of Missouri, and has three 
surviving children, viz.: Lucy, Maggie, and A. B. 

Daniel S. Carpenter. — The present efficient and popular Tax Collector of 
Contra Costa County, was born in Newport, Herkimer County, New York, November 
18, 1 83 1. He resided on a farm and was educated at the common schools until 1852. 
March 5th of that year our subject with one cousin started for California, sailing from 
New York via Central America, arriving in San Francisco April 10th of the same 
year. Mr. Carpenter immediately proceeded to Sacramento to join a brother who had 
preceded him to this coast, and remained in the latter place until fall, when he pro- 
ceeded to Trinity County, where he engaged in mining for two years, meeting with good 
success. Mr. Carpenter next moved to Auburn, Placer County, and followed several 
occupations, at one time being Deputy Sheriff of said county, and afterwards engaged 
in tunnel-mining at Iowa Hill, where he met with financial reverses, and concluded to 
try agricultural pursuits and selected Contra Costa as his base of future operations. 
He first located in New York Valley, where he resided until dispossessed by the 
owners of the New York grant. We ne.xt find Mr. Carpenter located on the San 
Joaquin on the place now occupied by the Empire Mine, and engaged in the mining 
business for two summers. He then moved to a ranch six miles from Martinez, where 
he resided but a short time, and in the fall of i860 moved to where he now resides, at 
Clayton. Mr. Carpenter was Justice ol the Peace of Clayton for a term of ten years, 
and October 3, 1881, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors to the office of Tax 
Collector to fill the vacancy caused b}- the death of Mr. Shuej-. The subject of our* 
sketch was united in marriage in Clayton, November ig, 1863, to Miss Sarah F. Curry, 
a native of Missouri. They have eight children, viz.: William L., Charles B., Alice 
M., Nellie E., Daniel S., Myron E., Clarence M., and Annie F. 

H. K. Carter. — Was born in the town of Tully, Onondaga County, New York, 
March 32, 1826. In the spring of 1840 his father, Philip Carter, with his family 
moved to Fort Brewerton, town of Cicero, in the same county, and engaged in the 
business of tanning and farming, which he had previously carried on from the spring 
of 1849 until 1856. Mr. Carter engaged in tanning and the wood and lumber trade, 
but in the fall of the latter year his tannery was burnt, and meeting w ith heav\- losses 
during the following year in the great financial crash in the State of New "\"ork, he 
determined to try his luck on the Pacific Coast. Coming to California in the spring 
of 1858, he went to Olympia, Washington Territory, and there associating himself 



Biographical Sketches. 861 



with James Biles, built a tannery and was the first to introduce steam and machinery 
in that industry on the coast. In the fall of i860, he returned to San Francisco and 
opened a finishing and leather store which he continued until 1862, when he went into 
the stock and money brokers' business until 1864. A portion of this and the year 
1865, he passed in Oregon, and Washington Territory, buying wheat, potatoes, etc., for 
the San Francisco market. In the fall of 1865 he once more embarked in the tanning 
trade in San Francisco, which he abandoned in the fall of 1867, since when he has 
been engaged in the fruit and agriculture business, chiefly in Contra Costa and Ala- 
meda Counties. Married in Fort Brewerton, Onondaga County, New York, October 
21, 1852, Miss Hester A. R., daughter of Rev. E. D. Trakey, and has had two children: 
LeRoy T., and a daughter, deceased. 

Z. U. Cheney. — Was born in Cortland County, New York, July 20, ,1850. In 
the month of November, 1853, his parents sailing for the Pacific Coast, along with 
three sisters and two brothers, our subject was brought to California, via Panama, 
arriving in San Francisco, January 12, 1854. Coming direct to Alameda County Mr. 
Cheney, Senior, located on the land now owned by A. E. Rankin of Alvarado, while 
the subject of this sketch commenced his scholastic training, subsequently finishing at 
McClure's Military College in Oakland. In 1869 he proceeded to Carson City, 
Nevada, and found employment in a wholesale store, at the end of three years, how- 
ever, he returned to Alameda County and embarked in agricultural pursuits near 
Centreville, where he resided until March, 1880. At that time he transferred his resi- 
dence to Livermore, engaged in stock-raising, and thus continued until February 
1882, when he opened his present store for groceries, provisions and gents' furnishing 
goods at the corner of K and First Streets. Mr. Cheney married in Centreville, Ala- 
meda County, California, Miss Annie E. Caffall, a native of England, and has three 
sons, viz.: Charles, Lewis, and William. 

Anthony Chabot. — This gentleman, among the most enterprising of Califor- 
nia's citizens, whose portrait will be found in this work, was born and reared on a farm 
near St. Hyacinth, Canada, his father being a farmer. At the age of sixteen years 
he left home to face the world and engaged in various kinds of businesses with fair 
results until 1849, when he came to California and embarked in mining for about ten 
years in Nevada City with good success, being at the same time interested in build- 
ing ditches to supply the mines with water. In 1854 he built and was owner as well, 
of two saw-mills in Sierra County. In the year 1856 Mr. Chabot determined to 
abandon the mines for some other kind of life; he therefore proceeded to San Fran- 
cisco and commenced investigating into the possibility of supplying that city with 
water. Finding the scheme in every way most feasible, he at once entered into 
arrangements with John Bensley and A. W. Van Schmidt, to bring the waters of 
Lobos Creek into San Francisco. After much litigation about property and water 
rights, difficulties were eventually surmounted, and in 1858 the supply of water was 
commenced, and has since been continued. At the same time his mining and other 
business affairs progressed in a most satisfactory manner. In 1866 Mr. Chabot began 
to build the water-works to supply the city of Oakland, the liquid for which was first 
obtained from the Temescal Creek; in 1875, however, the waters of the San Leandro 
Creek were condemned, and from the lake that has been built there comes the main sup- 
ply, it being distributed through one hundred and twenty-five miles of pipe, and when 
finished will have a capacity of fifteen thousand million gallons, while should the neces- 
sity arise, it is in coritemplation to increase the supply from the water-shed in the vicinity 
of Pleasanton. Until 1875 Mr. Chabot was the sole owner of the water supply of Oak- 
land, but in that year he disposed of a portion of his stock, still retaining, however, 
upwards of one-half of the interest. In or about 1869, in company with Mr. McKenzie, 
Mr. Chabot built water-works for the city of San Jose; and about the same time con- 
structed those for the supply of Vallejo, which latter he still owns. Besides these he 
was engaged in many and various affairs; indeed, his life from his arrival in California 



862 History of Alameda County, California. 

has been one of unvarying business activity. He, at present, has large interests in 
the paper-mill at Stockton, San Joaquin County; the Judson Manufacturing Company 
in Oakland; the Pioneer Pulp Mill Companj* near Alta, Placer Count}-, where machin- 
ery is now being erected for the manufacture of box or card board made from wood 
and used for lining and roofing houses, book-covers, etc.; the Puget Sound Iron Com- 
pany, which is in successful operation about six miles from Port Townscnd; and he is 
now preparing a large tract of land in Washington Territor\- for the cultivation of 
cranberries; while he is still interested in mining, all of which have proved satisfactory 
investments. Mr. Chabot also took a prominent part in the founding of the Old 
Ladies' Home in Oakland, while his last gift to the city is the observatory now 
building on Lafayette Square, the telescope for which is being manufactured by Alvin 
Clark & Son, of Cambridgcport, Massachusetts, and which will be completed in or 
about the month of August, 1883. Through his life of ceasele.ss vigor Mr. Chabot 
has found time to exercise an unstinting charity; many are those whom he has helped 
with the " sinews of war" to aid them upw ards. He, perhaps, has done more than 
any of Oakland's wealthy citizens, to bring business enterprises to her; his energy 
has ever been devoted on the side of progress, and it is to him in no small degree 
that she now boasts the possession of two of the greatest industries on the Pacific 
Coast. His deeds will live in the future; on his works should be inscribed the motto 
Mofinvienhim cere perennins — A monument more lasting than bronze. 

Augustus M. Church. — This much respected pioneer of Alameda County, 
whose portrait appears in this work, was born in Allen's Hill, town of Richmond, 
Ontario County, New York, June 19, 1816, and is the eldest surviving son of Lovett 
and Sally (Boyd) Church. Having resided in his birthplace until 1831, in that year 
our subject launched forth to face the world, and first found employment in a hard- 
ware store in Canandaigua. A twelvemonth later he entered the post-ofifice as clerk, 
and the year after took charge of that office in Lockport, Niagara County, New York. 
In 1 834 he entered the bank of L. A. Spaulding in that place, where he remained two 
years. VVe next find him in the Canal Collector's office of Judge McKane, andin the 
winter of 1837-38 he proceeded to Chicago to take charge of and sell out a stock of 
goods for the Bank of Washtenaw, Ann Arbor, which completing, he proceeded to 
Ottawa, and was there interested in the construction of the Illinois and Michigan 
Canal, as well as in mercantile operations. In 1839 he moved to Berrien County, 
Michigan, where in May, he was joined in matrimony to Miss Ellen Cronkhite, a 
native of the State of New York, and that fall proceeded to Dubuque, Iowa, and 
embarked in a mercantile business in Bellevue, on the Mississippi, twenty-five miles 
below the first-named city. At this period the district was infested by a gang of 
horse-thieves and counterfeiters with a man named Brown as their leader, who were 
perpetrating their rascally actions and apparently without opposition. This defiance 
of law and order, however, the well-disposed citizens could not brook, therefore, on 
the morning of April i, 1840, a meeting of the inhabitants of the town and county 
was convened, when it was determined to resort to extreme measures to deliver them 
from, the depredations of this pestiferous crew. Brown and his gang fortified them- 
selves, but were captured after considerable resistance by about a hundred citizens, .who 
forthwith sent them out of the district down the mighty Lather of Waters on a raft. 
In these events Mr. Church took a prominent part, and afterwards, returning to Ber- 
rien County, opened a hotel in Whitmanville, Cass County, which he conducted for 
two years. In 1842 he transferred his habitation to St. Joseph, where, he combined 
trading with hotel-keeping until 1844-45, when he removed to Saint Mary's Rapids, 
and managed a hotel there for eighteen months. In 1847 he returned to St. Joseph 
and resumed his former business and there resided until the ever-memorable year of 
1849. Now, the slogan of gold was making itself heard from the shores of the Pacific 
to those of the Atlantic Ocean. Every one's eyes were turned to the metal-producing 
rivers and gorges of the Sierra Nevada.- Parties, both large and small, were being 



Biographical Sketches. 863 



made up to cross the unknown waste which lay between them and the terra incognita of 
Cahfornia, our subject was not to be behind-hand. Resigning the position of Chair- 
man of the Board of Supervisors of Berrien County, he in company with those two 
respected citizens of Alameda County, Lucien B. and Socrates Huff, L. C. Wittenmyer, 
the present able County Clerk of Contra Costa, A. P. Pinney and James M. Morton, 
both of whom are now deceased, left his home in the month of March, and started 
to cross the plains with three mule-teams. August 13, 1849, they arrived at Bear 
River and called a halt for short a time to rest, when they proceeded to the mines on 
the Yuba and Deer Creek. In October Mr. Church and his comrades moved to the 
north fork of the Yuba, and mined for a time at Goodyear and Michigan Bars; while, 
during this month, three of the party proceeded to the point where now stands the 
town of Downieville, Sierra County. Here Mr. Church's friends found the river low, 
set to work mining, and in the incredibly short space of six hours took out five 
hundred dollars' worth of gold. With elated spirits they returned to their companions 
then located on Goodyear's Bar, and with such prospects ahead the whole party deter- 
mined to locate there for the winter. The night they reached the desired and long- 
wished-for haven, it commenced to rain and snow, no work could be done, they there- 
fore left for Sacramento and passed the remainder of the winter on Rancheria Creek, 
cogitating on the uncertainty of things mundane. In March, 1 850, Mr. Church 
returned to the spot which was to deliver up to him prodigious wealth, all he found 
was a ruin-lined stream, devoid of present or even future hope, he therefore disposed of 
his claim, settled his affairs,found he had eighteen hundred dollars, and determined to 
return to his family and home. Ere starting on his journey, however, he proceeded to 
Goodyear's Bar to bid adieu to his friends there, and, for safety, gave his gold-dust to a 
man there who kept the store, trusting to receive it the next morning before taking 
up the line of march. On demanding it he was told that during the night it had 
been stolen. Judge of his feelings when he found that thus had been swept away his 
entire earnings, and he was forced to return to his home hardly a cent better off in 
monetary affairs than when he had left. It is satisfactory to know that the identity of 
the thief was afterwards fully established. He continued his journey homewards, how- 
ever, undeterred, passed the winter of 1850 with his relatives, and in the spring of 1851, 
in company with Socrates Huff, of San Leandro, returned to California. In the winter of 
1851-52, with some others, Mr. Church hunted in the hills situated at the back of 
Mission San Jose, from which expedition each of the party cleared three hundred 
dollars. In the spring of 1852 he located a trading-point, in partnership with Henry 
C. Smith, at New Haven (now Alvarado), from where he was elected to the Board of 
Supervisors in 1852-53, when Washington Township was a portion of Santa Clara 
County. While a resident of New Haven, Alameda County was created from out of 
portions of the counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara, and disposing of his inter- 
est to his partner, Mr. Church was elected the first County Clerk and Recorder of 
Alameda. He was connected with these offices, as chief and two years a^ a deputy 
for nine years. In the year 1867-68 he was associated with the late lamented John 
W. Dwindle as Representative from Alameda County, in the State Assembly; and 
in the year 1868-69, retired to his farm in Murray Township. In the last-named 
year he visited Healdsburg, Sonoma County, and met. in company with a daughter, 
such serious injuries from the upsetting of a Concord coach between that town and 
Calistoga, that he has been maimed and lamed for life. In the year 1870 he estab- 
lished himself in a mercantile business in Healdsburg, believing that that place would 
be the terminus of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, but suddenly a 
franchise having been granted to continue the line to Cloverdale, the commercial pros- 
pects of Healdsburg went to zero, and with it the trade fostered by our subject. He 
lost money, paid his debts, and returned to his ranch in Murray Township, where he 
succeeded his former partner, Henry C. Smith, as Justice of the Peace, and held 
the office for four years at Livermore. In 1877 he sold his estate and took up his resi- 



864 History of Alameda County, California. 

dence in the city of Oakland, being in KS79 elected Justice of the Peace for Oaklantl 
Township, an office he still holds with marked ability. Mr. Justice Church is among 
the most respected of Alameda's citizens. His integrity has never been questioned; 
his popularity is unbounded; while, in his official capacity, he may be said to exercise 
a felicitous tact in all his dealings with lawyers and litigants. He is a incmber of the 
Masonic and Odd Fellows' fraternity, as well as one of the Association of California 
Pioneers. He married in May, 1 839, Miss Ellen Cronkhite, a native of the State of New 
York, and has surviving a family of five children, viz.: Helen, now Mrs. Saulisbury, 
residing at Santa Ana, Los Angeles County, California; Sarah, now Mrs. Gill, residing 
near Santa Ana, Los Angeles County, California; William H., now a clerk in the 
post-office at San Francisco; Rod. W., now residing at Livermore, Alameda County, 
California; Lincoln S., now residing in Oakland, Alameda County, California. 

Alson S. Clark. — Was born in the township of Grass Lake, Jackson County, 
Michigan, March 6, 1836, and there resided on his father's farm until his coming to 
California. Leaving home on December 15, 1862, Mr. Clark proceeded to New York, 
and sailing thence via Panama, arrived in San Francisco during the first days of Feb- 
ruary, 1S63. Coming direct to Alameda Count}', he entered into agricultural pursuits 
for about three months, when he returned to his native place. In April, 1866, he came 
back to the Pacific Coast, and once more followed farming until January, 1876, when, 
with his brother, George Clark, he purchased the land and built the store where they 
now carry on a general mercantile trade. 

Henrv C. Clark. — Was born in Miami County, Ohio, December 26, 1831, and 
there resided until the year 1850, when he emigrated by way of the plains to Califor- 
nia, arriving after a tedious journey of six months. Locating in California, he there 
commenced clerking in a store, in Sacramento, and was so occupied until June, 1852, 
when he came to what is now Alameda County, and embarked in agricultural pur- 
suits near San Lorenzo. There he remained until January, 1853, ^^ which date he 
came to his present place in Brooklyn Township, \^'here he owns a fine residence, sur- 
rounded by five acres of land, and is engaged in speculating, farming, teaming, stor- 
ing, real estate transactions, and managing his line of schooners plying between 
Clark's Landing and San Francisco. Married October 15, 1868, Miss Josie S. Kim- 
ball, and has no issue. 

Barclay D. T. Clough. — Was born in Chatauqua County, New York, July 24, 
1822. He sailed from New York for California via the Isthmus, in March, 1850, 
arriving in San Francisco July ist of the same year. Mr. Clough commenced mill- 
building in the spring of 1852, continuing in that business in California, Pike's Peak, 
and Idaho, until 1865, at one time owning foundries in Calaveras and Tuolumne 
Counties. He came to Alameda County in 1866, and purchased a farm near Niles, 
engaging in fruit-culture, and here he still resides. 

William H. Cockefair. — Was born in Essex County, New Jerse\-, January 25, 
1833, where he resided until he attained the age of nineteen )-ears, and learned the 
trade of carpenter. Sailing from New York May 10, 1852, on board the steamer 
Northern Light, to Greytown. He thereafter crossed to the Pacific Coast by way of 
the Nicaragua route, and taking passage in the steamer 5. ^S'. Lewis, there being on 
board C. J. Stevens of Livermore, arrived in San Francisco July 7, 1852. Our sub- 
ject now came direct to Mission San Jose, and after working on a farm for six 
months, moved to the vicinity of Alvarado, and there engaged in a like calling until 
February, 1854, when he proceeded to Nevada County, and there engaged in mining 
for six months, when he returned for a short time to Alameda County. In the fall of 
1855, Mr. Cockefair transferred his mining operations to Indian Creek and Scott's 
River, Siskiyou County, for two years, finally coming to Alameda Count)', and 
worked at his trade for a year. In December, 1858, he moved to Arizona, and at the 
end of si.x months 'went on a visit to the Eastern States, with the intention of remain- 
ing, but longing for the sunshine of the Pacific Slope, in September, 1859, he married 



BOIGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 865 

and turned his face towards California. Settling in Alvarado, he there dwelt until 
1862, when he moved to Nevada, but two years thereafter came back to his favorite 
county of Alameda, and maintained a domicile there until 1876, at which date he 
proceeded to Oregon in the employ of the Government as constructor of light-houses. 
He remained in its employ some six years, at the expiration of which he found his 
way again to Alvarado, where he has since resided, following his trade of carpenter 
and builder. Is a member of the Washington Township Societ}^ of Pioneers. Mar- 
ried, September, 1859, Miss S. J. Ball, a native of New Jersey, and has two children, 
viz.: Ellen A. and Charles P. 

Homer A. Craig. — Was born in Farmington, Van Buren County, Iowa, Decem- 
ber 24, 1846, and is the son of George M. and Laura (Forbes) Craig. His parents 
moving to California by way of the plains, with ox-teams, in April, 1852, they arrived 
in Grass Valley, Nevada County, in the month of September of the same year, where 
they resided, save during the summer of 1854, which was passed in Forest City, 
Sierra County, until 1856. In that year they moved to Bear River, Yuba County, 
near where the town of Wheatland has since arisen, but which then was an immense 
stock range given over to large bands of horned cattle, huge elks, and other game. 
Here Mr. Craig, Senior, engaged in farming for about a year, whence he removed to 
the Feather River, Butte County, and there was employed in freighting and farming 
operations until 1861, in conjunction with our subject. In 1862 Mr. Craig, Senior, 
died, his wife's death having occurred in the previous year, when the gentleman of 
whom we write engaged in a grocery business until 1873, during three years of which 
he was agent for the Home Mutual Insurance Company of California. In the last- 
named year he joined the company's office in Oakland, and took the Alameda 
County agency, in association with J. F. Steen for about eighteen months, when, that 
gentleman seceding, Mr. Craig retained the office for six months longer, when the 
Alameda County Branch of the Company was formed, and our subject installed as its 
secretary. That position he filled until June, 1878, at which time, becoming associa- 
ted with Edward Brown, W. P. Thomas, and W. W. Haskell, in a General Insurance 
Agency business, the firm of Brown, Craig & Co., of San Francisco, was established, 
and now consists of Messrs. Brown and Craig, the interests of Messrs. Thomas and 
Haskell having been purchased by these gentlemen. The address in San Francisco 
is No. 2 1 5 Sansome Street, where they transact a business of about a quarter of a 
million of dollars per annum, being agents for some of the oldest companies in the 
United States, among them being Phoenix Insurance Company of Brooklyn, New 
York; Star of New York; Insurance Company of State of Pennsylvania. In Mr. 
Craig we have an exemplification of what a business aptitude combined with energy 
can attain; without these desiderata, no one may hope to reach to the position of 
honor in a community which this gentleman holds. He married, October 16, 1870, 
Miss Dora E. Posey, a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and has five children, viz.: Dora 
L., Homer T., Corydon M., Woodson L., and Wesley P. 

Addison M. Crane, Judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County — 
Memoir Written by Himself. 

I have been requested by the publishers of this book to allow my portrait to 
appear, and to contribute a brief memoir of myself Inasmuch as I was a pioneer in 
the settlement and organization of the county, and because the people of it have 
repeatedly honored me with positions of public trust, I deem the request a reasonable 
one, and my compliance with it appropriate. It would more accord with the usual 
custom that such memoir should assurne an impersonal form, but, since the informa- 
tion must necessarily be mainly obtained from myself, it would be only an affectation 
of modesty to shift the narrative from the first to the third person. I have concluded, 
therefore, to adopt the former mode. To begin with, I desire to disclaim all motives 
of vanity or self-laudation in what I may say, and to state that I simply aim to con- 



866 History of Alameda County, California. 

tribute something to the early history of Alameda County. In doing .so, I must nec- 
cessarily speak of myself and of my connection with public affairs. The life of every 
individual is made up of a succession of events and experiences. In the afternoon of 
life we recall the memories of childhood, of youth, and of early and mature manhood; 
and when one undertakes to write of himself the problem is one of condensation and 
omission. I shall therefore aim to make my narrative as brief as possible. I am 
descended directly from English stock transplanted to America in the seventeenth 
century. A glance at the birth and death record of my ancestors for two hundred 
years back shows that the family is imbued with strong vitality; and the history of 
individuals goes far towards establishing the fact that it is imbued also with good 
moral attributes. The record contains not one taint of conviction for a crime. I was 
born at the town of Litchfield, Herkimer County, State of New York, on July 2, 
1814. My grandfather, Isaac Crane, of New York, was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
War, and was a commissioned officer. In 18 10, before I was born, he died, at the age of 
fifty-seven — his life having been shortened by hardships incident to the war. M\' father, 
Henry Crane (who died in 1875, in his ninety-second year) was a country inn- 
keeper, carrying on a small farm of eighty acres in connection therewith, and also an 
ashery, or manufactory of potash. The family of my parents consisted of ten children — - 
eight sons and two daughters — of whom all but two of the sons yet survive. I was the 
third in the family. I early became accustomed to all kinds of farm-work; the burden 
of so large a family rendered necessary the strictest economy and industry, and at an 
early age the boys were expected to shift for themselves. At the age of fourteen I 
first left home, and went one hundred and fifty miles away to serve as a farmer's boy. 
I remained there six months, and then returned to my home. My opportunities for 
an education were limited mainly to the winter terms of the common school, which I 
managed, however, to supplement by academical instruction of about one year in all 
prior to my twenty-first year. These limited opportunities I aimed to improve to the 
best advantage. We had but few school-books in those days; but the pupils were 
made thoroughly to understand such as we had. At the age of seventeen I began 
teaching school, and continued to do so, winters, for the six succeeding years, receiv- 
ing the meager compensation of the times. This was a period of hard study with the 
constant accompaniment of manual industry. An interesting feature of it to me was 
the fact that the public hall in my father's house was the usual place of holding 
Justice's courts for the trial of contested cases. From my earliest remembrance I had 
witnessed these trials before juries, often contested by able law\'ers from Herkimer or 
Utica — such as the Fords, Hoffman, Judd, Spencer, and others. These early impres- 
sions may have given me a predilection for the law. I certainly enjoyed and was 
deeply interested in the contests. I may properly add that in my then legal infancy 
' I was imbued with greater respect and admiration for the jury s}'stem than I can 
conscientiously admit in my mature age. In the autumn of 1835, having emigrated 
to western New York, I entered the law office of Benedict Bagley, at Nunda — then in 
Alleghany County, but now in Livingston County — and in June, 1S37, received my first 
law license from the Alleghany Common Pleas Court. In July, 1841, I was licensed 
to practice in the Supreme Court and the Court of Chancery of the State of New 
York. In October, 1839, I married Miss Gertrude Ashley, and since then we have 
made the journey of life in harmony. I erected a house at Nunda, and we resided 
there until 1843 — my business as a lawyer being fairly remunerative. Here our two 
eldest children — a daughter and a son — were born. In the fall of 1843 I sold my 
property at Nunda, and removed with my family to Lafayette, Indiana, and there 
entered upon the practice of my profession. For the first two years I was a partner 
of Daniel Mace, and for the next two was a partner of Edward H. Brackett. We did 
pecuniarily well in our profession. In January, 1847, I was elected by the Legislature 
of Indiana, on the recommendation of the Bar of Lafayette, to the office of Judge of 
the Court of Common Pleas — a special court, created to relieve the pressure on the 



Biographical Sketches. 867 

Circuit Court, and having general common law and equity jurisdiction. This court 
during the four years of its existence, transacted nearly all the civil business of the 
county. It was abolished by the new constitution of Indiana, in 185 1. I have noted, 
with pardonable satisfaction I trust, that some of the decisions I then made, involving 
novel questions and original principles in jurisprudence, are quoted in recent text- 
books as the now accepted law. During our residence at Lafayette, four children — 
two sons and two daughters — were born to us. My memories of Indiana, and espe- 
cially of Lafayette, and my friends and acquaintances there, are quite vivid and very 
pleasant. If this could properly be elaborated beyond the limits of a mere outline 
personal sketch, it would give me great pleasure to record some of my recollections 
and impressions. During the winter of 185 1 I made a journey down the Wabash, 
Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, and returned. In the spring of 1852 I 
commenced my emigration overland to California, and followed an ox-team from 
May 6th to September 1st, at which date we arrived at Stockton. This period 
of one hundred and eighteen days of toil was full of incident, and of the hard- 
ship common to all overland emigrants, respecting which much might be said. I 
came immediately to this valley, and located at San Lorenzo — then known as Squat- 
terville — and engaged in farming with the design of abandoning the law; but my 
professional services were soon demanded, at remunerative compensation, and I again 
entered the legal arena. Since then I have been constantly devoted to the law, either 
at the Bar or upon the Bench. In 1853 Alameda County was organized out of por- 
tions of Contra Costa and Santa Clara. In April of that year the first election of 
county officers was held, the candidates having been nominated without regard to 
party. At this election I was elected County Judge, and held the office for four years, 
practicing in the meantime in the other State and in the Federal Courts. In 
October, 1853, my wife, accompanied by our six children, rejoined me after a favor- 
able passage "around the Horn," and we located on my farm near Haywards; and, 
with the exception of about one year, I have ever since then been a resident of 
Alameda County — thirteen years in Alameda, six years at Washington, and now in 
Oakland. During our residence in Alameda County three daughters were born to us 
— two of whom yet survive. In 1861 I was elected to the Senate from this county, 
being the first Senator elected after Alameda County became a separate Senatorial 
District. I served in the Senate two sessions, and during the latter was President /?v 
tern, of that body. On the 8th day of January, 1863, I participated in the ceremonies 
attending the breaking of ground at Sacramento, inaugurating the work of construct- 
ing the Central Pacific Railroad, and made the opening address on that occasion, 
which address was published in the papers of the day. In my Senatorial capacity I 
was diligent, and worked to improve the laws, and benefit society and the State. I 
introduced, amongst others. Acts to amend the laws relating to civil procedure; the new 
charter of the city of Oakland; the road law of Alameda County; and an Act to pro- 
hibit the carrying of concealed weapons. Subsequent observation convinced me that 
the last-named law had a powerful and excellent effect in reducing, the number of 
altercations and assassinations in California. Those were the early days of the war. 
The Legislature was composed almost exclusively of Union men, but there was in the 
State a large leaven of Secessionists, and public opinion was not so decided upon the 
slavery question as it became during the following year. Believing that slavery must 
fall before the Rebellion could be suppressed, and considering it the duty of Union 
men everywhere to strengthen the administration, I took occasion to address the 
Senate at some length upon the introduction of Union resolutions. I thought then, 
and now think, that I interpreted and expressed the sentiments of the voters of 
Alameda County truthfully as regarded the institution of Slavery; and venture to ex- 
tend this sketch by quoting briefly from that speech as follows: "At the foundation 
of all this lays that institution which has been the cause of this outbreak, as well as 
of all the other dangers that have even threatened our existence as a nation. An 



868 History of Alameda County, California. 

institution, sir, wicked in its inception, cruel, relentless and unpitying in all its 
forms, degrading alike to all classes, making honest labor a dishonor, merchan- 
dise of the bodies and souls of men, shutting out the light of the advancing civil- 
ization of the age, and reducing to mere chattels the laborers who till the soil. 
This institution of human slavery is the great black ulcer which has eaten the vitals 
of our national existence, through the ignorance and darkness which it carries in its 
train. Without this, and its attendant consequences, we should have had no rebellion, 
no war, no such attempt as now exists to overwhelm in blood and slaughter this 
great and free Government. And, sir, it was not in consequence of an\- threats which 
had been made against the institution that this sedition was stirred up. Xo, sir. The 
incoming Government had been faithful in all its acts to its protection. But the elec- 
tion had demonstrated that the power which the masterclass of the South had always 
held in the Government had departed from them forever; that the enlightened 
opinion of the North was against the further extension of this blighting curse, and 
that, although they could remain in the Union and enjo}' all their rights under the 
Constitution, yet they could no longer rule as absolutely as they had done in every 
department of the Government. Public opinion — I mean the enlightened opinion, 
not only of the North, but the civilized world — a power, sir, far in ad\-ance of its laws, 
and more potent than constitutions and compacts, had made itself felt even among 
the cotton-fields, sugar-plantations, and rice-swamps of the South; that power which 
goes forth as the precursor of revolutions — still, silent, noiseless — but resistless in its 
might as the whirlwind, unchecked in its poWer as the earthquake — I mean the 
enlightened sense of Christian civilization — had penetrated the Cimmerian darkness 
of every fastness where this great wrong existed. It then bee i me evident, and such 
no doubt was the fact, that slavery, however faithfully the constitutional guaranties 
might be sustained, could not hope to flourish or extend, or even to be respected in the 
continued connection of the South with the North, but, on the contrary, like any other 
relic of barbarism, must, by the mere force of such public opinion, grow less and less, 
until finally it should be extinguished and cease to exist. This was the Southern 
view, and I am not prepared to deny its correctness. Acting upon this view, the 
designing traitors who have brought this rebellion upon the countrj- resolved to break 
up the Union, to sever the links of the golden chain which has so long and brightly 
connected and bound together the sovereign States of this great confederacy, and to 
form a nation and government by themselves, peculiar among all the nations and 
governments of the earth, and which, in the language of the Vice-President, should 
have for its ''cliief and corner-stone, African slavery." This was what the)- resolved to 
do, and what they are now with arms and in battle attempting to accomplish. But 
in this they will fail. The attempt will prove futile. There is yet strength and power 
enough left in our Government to preserve itself The people are aroused. Legions, 
unapproachable in numbers, or power, or courage b\- any thing which can be brought 
to oppose them, are now striking thick and fast, and with resistless force, and the 
recent victories which, following in such rapid succession, have attended our advanc- 
ing armies everywhere show that the contest can be neither long nor doubtful. 
This great and irresistible host are going forth not only as an army of conquest, 
but of liberation, striking away the fetters with which the Southern masses have been 
bound, and canying freedom to those whose liberties have been crushed out under 
the iron heel of the worst despotism which has ever elevated itself over the liberties 
of a people. And, sir, that I may be understood, I will say, that however much I 
may and do detest the institution which has brought upon us this calamity, yet this 
war is not waged for its extinction or overthrow. Such was not the object for which 
it was inaugurated. But, sir, while I say this, and say it in all sincerity, I will further 
say that this rebellion must be overcome, and the integrity of the Union in all its 
parts must be restored and maintained at all events, at every hazard, and at any 
cost. Better, sir, a thousand times better, that every human life, and ever>' dollar of 



Biographical Sketches. 8G9 



material wealth, in whatever shape it may exist, over the whole of this rebellious 
territory, should be swept away as with the besom of destruction, than that this 
great Government, this last hope of freedom, should perish. No, sir, perish first all 
its foes, and let desolation blight their fairest possession; and if at last, and when 
all other means have been exhausted, it shall appear that this "chief corner-stone, 
African slavery," presents the final obstacle, why then, sir, in the name of my country, 
of freedom, of humanity, and of God, I would say let slavery go down, if so be that 
by this means, and no other, the emblem of our nation's greatness can again be 
elevated over all the land, with every star yet bright and unclouded, and all the 
stripes of freedom still there. And, sir, while it is true that this war has no such 
object in view as the abolition of slavery, it is not and never can be tortured into a 
a war for the protection of that institution. Like all other property and material 
things, negroes must take the chance of the contest. Before the grand army of the 
Union all obstacles to the end sought to be attained must give v/ay, and we shall not 
stop to inquire whether such obstacle be a negro, a traitor, or a jackass. If the 
rebellion can be subdued, and union, and peace, and a hearty and honest submission 
to the laws be restored, we will extend to and overall the same aegis of constitutional 
protection which they before enjoyed, and will trust that by the silent, slow, but sure 
operation of the advancing enlightenment of the age those States, by their own volun- 
tary action, will hasten to be rid of an institution which has always carried with it 
the curse which follows wrong. Again, sir, while we wage no war for abolition, there 
are hundreds of thousands, in and out of the army in the South, as well as the North, 
who would rejoice to see a peaceful solution, by which this great curse should be so 
effectually disposed of as never again to cast its hateful black shadow across the path- 
way of our future greatness, and who would not regret the event, should it, as one of 
the incidents of the war, receive forever its quietus, and be blotted from existence." 
I spent the winter of 1864-65 in Washington, D. C. While there I procured the 
passage of the Act to settle the title to the lands of the ex-Mission of San Jose, by 
which about thirty thousand acres of the land of this rejected Mexican grant claim 
was confirmed to the occupants of the land, embracing the largest portion of Washing- 
ton Township. While in Washington I was admitted to the Supreme Court of the 
United States, and argued an important land case. At the general election in 1879 I 
was elected to the office which I now hold. I know of nothing further to add to this 
brief sketch that would be of public interest. The work done by me in my official 
capacity must speak for itself I am conscious of integrity of purpose and motive. 
I have not the vanity to suppose that this brief memoir will immortalize my name 
or acts. In a few more years, at most, my mortal career must end, and should the 
children of some future age stumble upon this book amongst the rubbish of their 
grandfather's garret, it may excite their interest for a passing moment — perhaps only 
their amusement. 

Judge E. O. Crcsby. — The subject of this biographical sketch. Judge Elisha 
Oscar Crosby, was born July 18, 181 8, in the town of Groton, Tompkins County, New 
York. At Cortland Academy he received a fair English and Classical education. 
With James Leach, a leading lawyer of Central New York, he pursued the study of 
law, and in 1841 was admitted to the Bar of the County Court of Tompkins and Cort- 
land Counties. With Hon. E. G. Spalding, of Buffalo, he pursued his legal studies 
still further, and 1 843 was admitted to the Supreme Court of the State of New York. 
July 18, 1843, his twenty-fifth birthday, he was examined by the eminent Chancellor, 
R. H. Walworth, who signed his diploma as a solicitor in the Court of Chancery of 
the State of New York. In 1844 he went to New York City and formed a partner- 
ship with Hon. Abner Benedict, an eminent member of the New York Bar. Here he 
formed the friendship of the most distinguished lawyers of New York — Ambrose L. 
Jordan, James T. Brady, David Graham, Daniel Lord, and others. Through Chan- 
cellor Walworth he received his first official commission, Examiner in Chancery for 



870 History of Alameda County, California. 



the State of New York, which office he held for several years, and satisfactorily did 
he discharge the duties of the office, though it required a thorough knowledge of 
chancery practice and the rules governing the taking of testimon}' in equit}' cases. 
Sharing in the excitement caused by the discovery of gold in California, he sailed, on 
Christmas-day, 1848, for the new Dorado, bearing letters from Messrs. Howland & 
Aspinvvall, directing their agents to give Mr. Crosby every facility to reach California. 
On the 28th of February, 1849, he arrived in San Francisco. So soon, widely, and 
favorably did he become known, that he was selected as one of the forty-eight dele- 
gates (of whom but si.x; or eight still survive) who were sent to Monterey September 
I, 1849, to form a State Constitution, to bring order out of chaos, and found a new 
empire of civilization, the first upon the Pacific Coast. In this convention Mr. Crosby 
took an active and prominent part. As Chairman of the Finance Committee, and in 
organizing the judiciary' of the new State, Judge Crosby did most efficient, commend- 
able work. By hard, earnest, faithful work, the Constitution was soon ready to submit 
to the people for their ratification. At the request of the Sacramento delegation. Judge 
Crosby was appointed, by Governor Riley, Prefect of that large district. As such 
officer he was obliged to establish precincts, return the votes for two Congressmen, 
Governor, and all other State officers. So faithfully and promptly did he discharge 
his responsible duty that he established fifty-two precincts, had all the votes collected 
and expressed to Monterey to be counted December 1, 1849. He did this at a per- 
sonal expense of $1,400, which the State has never returned to him. During the first and 
second sessions of the Legislature Judge Crosby was a member of the Senate. He held 
the important, onerous position of Chairman of the Judiciar}' Committee, and largely 
assisted in organizing the judiciary system of the State. Though he often worked 
till two and three o'clock in the morning, he was always in his seat in the Senate 
promptly at 9 o'clock. The Senate journal, especially of the first session of the Leg- 
islature, shows, through his able reports, his faithful, important, successful labors in 
organizing the Supreme Court, District Courts, the adoption of the common law, etc. 
Remo\'ing to San Francisco in 1853, he successfully engaged in prosecuting Mexican 
and Spanish grants to lands before the United States Land Commission and the 
United States District and Supreme Court, on appeal. The archives of the United 
States Land Commission and the United States Courts show the e.Ktent and success 
of his labors. To prosecute appeals in the -Supreme Court, he was admitted an 
Attorney and Counsellor of the Supreme Court of the United States. By President 
Lincoln he was appointed Minister to Guatemala. From the President he received 
repeated thanks for the faithfulness and efficiency with which he discharged his duty, 
but especially for his important services as umpire to the Joint Commission, appointed 
by Great Britain and Honduras, to settle treaty stipulations for adjustment of claims 
growing out of the Protectorate of the Ba\' Islands of Honduras and the Mosquito 
coast and territory. From Great Britain and Honduras he received thanks for the 
able and impartial manner in which he discharged the delicate, responsible duties of 
that position. His health failing, he tendered his resignation to Secretary Seward, 
and went to Philadelphia for medical treatment. After three years he went to Plurope 
to study the world's older civilization in contrast with that of the new State, to found 
which, on the shores of the Pacific, he had given the energies and labors of the best 
years of his life. From Europe he returned to his beloved California, the best, most 
favored land, in his opinion, that the sun shines on. Some five years since, by a vio- 
lent cold settling in his eyes, and the subsequent maltreatment of a profes.sed oculist, 
he suffered the loss of the sight of the right eye, with the impairment of the other. 
By this terrible blow he has been obliged to discontinue his professional labors. 
With resignation and cheerfulness he discharges the duties of his present station in 
life, that of Justice of the Peace, with kindness and justice — a credit to his past life 
and the community where he lives. For years he has been a member of the Ethno- 
logical Society of New York, and has, from time to time, made contributions to its 



Biographical Sketches. 871 



literature, which have been pubHshed in the journal of that learned society. In the 
Masonic Order he is a Knight Templar. He is also a member of the Society of Cal- 
ifornia Pioneers, the Legion of Honor, and other benevolent associations. May his 
long, varied, useful life be continued many years among a people who can appreciate 
the fact that very few men now living in California have by hard, unselfish labor, the 
truest patriotism and zealous, intelligent devotion to duty, done more than Judge 
i Crosby to make the Golden State the most happy, the most prosperous, the most to 
be envied in the sisterhood of States. 

John Cushing. — The subject of this sketch whose portrait appears in this work 
was born on the east side of the Green Mountains, Bethel, Orange County, Vermont, 
September 28, 1832, and is the eldest child of Daniel and Hannah (Townsend) Cushing. 
When but one year old he was taken by his parents to Delaware County, Ohio, and 
seven years later to Kane County, Illinois, where his father was engaged in the manu- 
facture of fanning-mills and reapers. In 1846 death deprived him of his mother, and 
the home associations being thus broken, his father and our subject in March, 1 849, com- 
menced the arduous undertaking of crossing the plains to California. On the journey, 
Mr. Cushing, Senior, sickened and died, and with a heavy heart our subject continued 
his lonely way, arriving with his party at Sacramento, October i, 1849. On arrival 
he laid in a stock of provisions and took them to Bidwell's Bar on the Feather River, 
where he passed the winter of 1849-50, varying the monotony of the days by occa- 
sional prospecting. In the succeeding spring he moved his worldly possessions to 
Redding Springs, Shasta County,' thence to Weaverville, Trinity County, where he 
lived until the fall of 1851, established himself, and brought goods from Marysville. He 
afterwards for a time engaged in mining at Weaverville and for the winter of 1851 
returned to Shasta, but soon moved to Whetstone Bar, Trinity River. Mr. Cushing 
and his companions built the first cabin in that quarter. He then returned to Shasta 
County, and engaged in ranching on the Stillwater, until the spring of 1853, 
when he engaged with the firm of Tomlinson & Wood, wholesale grocers, at 
Shasta. In 1855 he entered into partnership with G. I. Taggart in the retail grocery 
business in Shasta City, which continued two years, at the end of which he associated 
himself with O. P. F~uller and erected a brick building, twenty by eighty feet, wherein 
he carried on the same business. The partnership with Fuller lasted one year, when 
he then joined C. C. Bush. In 1866 he disposed of his business to Bush & Carlson, 
removed to Roariiig River, or Cottonwood, and conducted a mercantile business for 
three years and a half, when, selling out, he came to Oakland in 1870, having first 
taken a trip through the State. In the spring of 1870 he purchased a half-interest in 
the business of R. McCrum, general grocers, where he remained five years, consolidat- 
ing, however, at the expiration of three years, with the firm of L. Bradley. In the 
following year Mr. Cushing sold out to J. J. Cadogan and retired from business for a 
twelvemonth. In 1876, in partnership with Andrew Ryder, the present County Clerk, 
Mr. Cushing once more engaged in business, and at the end of eighteeen months, pur- 
chasing the interest of that gentleman, he has since conducted its affairs alone. Mar- 
ried, March 22, 1862, Annette, daughter of N C. Farrington, of Orino, Maine, and has: 
Henry, Rosie, Charles, and George. 

L. H. Cutler, M. D. — Was born in Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, 
April 9, 1822, and there remained during the first six years of his life, at which time 
he was sent to Sharon, Litchfield County, Connecticut, for a further period of five 
years. He then joined his parents, who had taken up their residence in Rochester, 
and subsequently removed with them to Cleveland, Ohio, where our subject resided 
and received his early education. He next attended and graduated from the West- 
ern Reserve Medical College in 1846, and in the spring of the following year emigra- 
ted to Stephenson County, Illinois, where he commenced the practice of his profession. 
Leaving that State in March, 1850, for the Golden State, he arrived at Johnson's 
Ranch on the national holiday of that year, and proceeding to Nevada City, 



872 History of Alameda County, California. 

there dwelt and engaged in business in partnership with P. 1^. Fagan for two years. 
In the fall of 1852 he returned to Illinois, and afterwards took up his residence in 
Wright County, Iowa, with his family, and there made his domicile until 1872. Doc- 
tor Cutler's has been no ordinary life; indeed, it ma)' be said it has been one of 
extraordinar)- activity. In the year i860 he was elected to the State Legislature of 
Iowa for one term; in January, 1862, he assisted in the organization of the Thirty- 
second Reijiment, Iov\'a Infantry, and with this corps proceeded to the front as Cap- ' 
tain of Company A. He was subsequently transferred to the Ninth Regiment, as 
surgeon, and with it remained until mustered out of the service after the siege of 
Vicksburg. He then returned to his home in Iowa, and, in the bosom of his family, 
dwelt continuously there until he once more turned westward toward the Pacific 
shores. On arrival, he looked around for a spot on which to " pitch his tent," but 
where all places are so capti\'ating he found difficulty in making a choice. At length 
his .selection was made in Alameda County, in Februar)-, 1872, and in the following 
year his family joined him at Livermore, where he has since resided, practiced his 
profession, and conducted a drug-store. He married his present wife October 9, 
1875, Miss F. A. Keeler, a native of Medina, New York, and has thiee children, 
viz.: Charles C, George L., and Cora A. 

Robert Dalziel. — Was born in Scotland in the year 1836, and there resided 
until he attained the age of fifteen years, at which period he came to the United 
States, settled in Brooklyn, New York, and embarked in the gas-fitting business, 
which he continued until 1858, in which year he sailed round Cape Horn, arriving in 
California in March, 1859. Having worked for three months at his trade in San 
Francisco, he then moved to Sacramento, where he follo»ved his calling for five j-ears. 
At the expiration of that time he established himself in his present plumbing busi- 
ness in Oakland. Mr. Dalziel has now bought a one-third interest in the San Fran- 
cisco Brass Works, at Nos. 413-415 Mission Street, San Francisco, where all kinds 
of brass goods as well of ever)' manner of plumbing materials are manufactured. 
Married in 1863 Miss Agnes Smith, and has seven children, viz.: Andrew, Robert, 
Alexander, William, James, Margaret, and Anstruther. 

William E. Darcue. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, is the son of John and Eliza G. Dargie, and was born in San Francisco, March 
13, 1854. He received his early education in the public schools of that city, graduat- 
ing from the Union Grammar School and subsequentl)' attending the High School 
for a year. At thirteen years of age he secured the position of bill clerk to Armes & 
Dallam, wholesale dealers in wood and willow ware, with whom he remained a twelve- 
month. He now commenced an apprenticeship to the printer's trade in the office of 
the San Francisco Evening Bulletin, where he continued until 1875, during the time 
having gradually risen through the different grades of the composition-room and being 
finally transferred to the editorial-rooms as a reporter. At this time Mr. Dargie 
determined to secure a better education for himself, he therefore entered the State 
University in 1875, being at the same time engaged in special reportorial work for the 
Bulletin, with the emoluments from which he paid his expenses. During the vacation 
which followed the close of the Freshman's year, Mr. Dargie purchased a controlling 
interest in the Oakland Tribinie, and assumed the management of that journal July 
24, 1876. The changes made in the paper, and its progress to its present status 
among the leading dailies of the State have been noticed elsewhere, suffice it to say 
that Mr. Dargie's management has been eminently successful. On February 27, 
1883, he was appointed Postmaster of Oakland for a term of four )-ears, and his man- 
agerial experience has been brought to bear upon the routine of the new office which 
has already worked a decided benefit to the community at large. Mr. Dargie retains 
his interest in the Triluine, being still its manager. He married in San Leandro, 
December 15, i88i,Miss Erminia, eldest daughter of Miguel Peralta, a native of 
Alameda County, and has one son, William E., Jr. 



Biographical Sketches. 873 



Hiram Davis. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
was born in Genesee County, New York, March 2, 1830. At the age of nine years 
he was taken by his parents to Michigan, and in the following year accompanied his 
uncle, Samuel Holmes, to Hancock County, Illinois, where he received his schooling 
and resided until 1 847. In that year he emigrated with a company of Mormons to 
Council Bluffs, Iowa, and thence to Missouri, finally, in the spring of 1848, going to 
Salt Lake City, where he dwelt until 1849. Late in the fall of that year he started 
for California, and on arrival commenced mining in Mariposa County, which he con- 
tinued until 1850, when he came to Alameda County, and in 1854 purchased a farm 
near Alvarado, on which he resided until 1865, when he went to the Eastern 
States, but after a visit of eight months, returned and settled on Dry Creek, where he 
lived until the year 1870, at which time he moved to his present ranch. Mr. Davis 
owns one hundred and forty-three acres of land, and is engaged in general farming. 
He married in Michigan in 1856, Miss Martha Fairfield, a native of that State, and 
has nine surviving children, viz.: Martha A., born April 6, 1858; William Lee, born 
January 6, 1861; Mary L., born October 8, 1862; Sarah J., born June -18, 1864; Clara 
L., born November 7, 1871; Harriet R., born March 6, 1876; Edward R., born July 
8, 1868; Joseph M., born July 18, 1872; Frederick H., born December 15, 1879. 

Ezra Decoto. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in our work, 
was born in Lower Canada, September 2, 1833, and is the son of Charles and Mary 
(Gerbeto) Decoto. Having resided with his parents until fifteen years of age, he 
went to Hazardville, Connecticut, and worked there, afterwards becoming foreman in 
a cooper's shop for four years, at which time he started for California. Leaving New 
York, April 15, 1854, on board the Moses Taylor to the Isthmus of Panama, on the 
Pacific side per George Lazu, he arrived in San Francisco May i8th, and directly pro- 
ceeded to Alameda County, and commenced raising strawberries on the Encinal of 
Alameda, an occupation he continued two years, when he embarked in the business 
of raising potatoes in the same place. In 1858 he changed the field of his operations 
to San Leandro, and embarked in the cultivation of potatoes and the cereals, which 
he prosecuted for four years, at which time he removed to Haywards, and there 
farmed until 1867. Mr. Decoto then disposed of his property, and with his brother 
purchased three hundred and thirty-four acres from Jonah C. Clark, where he settled, 
and commenced farming. Here he farmed until 1871, when they sold two hundred 
and eighty-four acres to the Central Pacific Railroad, and reserved the balance, on a 
portion of which he now resides. In 1873 he purchased one hundred and ten acres, 
near Washington Corners, and disposed of it in 1881. Has been School Trustee for 
ten years. Married, August 21, i860. Miss Janet Lowrie, a native of Stirling, Scot- 
land, and has a family consisting of four girls and three boys, viz.: Charles, born June 
6, i86i,died February 20, 1869; Lizzie, born April 4, 1863; Mary, born May 8, 1S65;; 
Peter, born January 4, 1869; Janet, born February 14, 1871; Alvena, born June 25,. 
1873; Ezra, born February 6, 1876; Lewis, born June 20, 1868. 

Carlo Delmue. — Was born in Switzerland in 1854, and there resided with his. 
parents until he attained the age of fourteen years, when he emigrated to California,, 
landing in San Francisco in September, 1869. He at once proceeded to Suiiol, Ala- 
meda County, where he found employment on a farm. Four years thereafter he- 
started a dairy on the ranch where he now resides in Sufiol Valley, which he con- 
ducts in connection with several places in different parts of the county. 

Joseph Dieves — Whose portrait appears in this work — was born in Heimerz- 
heim, on the Rhine, Germany, August 24, 1816, where he received a common school 
education; served his apprenticeship to the cabinet-maker's trade, and resided until he 
attained the age of twenty-five years. He then was absent three years in Belgium, 
France, and Holland, during which he improved himself in the mechanical depart- 
ments of his trade, and on his return home worked at his calling till the y&3.r 1847, 
in which year he emigrated to the United States, settled in Boston, and resided there 
56 



874 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

until 1848, when he located near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and followed his own occu- 
pation combined with farming. In 1853 he came to the Pacific Coast, arri\ing in 
San Francisco on the 15th of April, and proceeding directly to the mines at Sonora 
City, there remained three months, at the end of which time he came to Alameda 
County, settled in the city of Oakland, and engaged in carpentering until 1856. At 
that period he opened the Eagle House, then the principal hotel there, situated on 
Second Street and Broadway, and there remained until i86l He then moved to the 
Three-mile House on the San Leandro Road, where he remained three years, after 
which taking charge of the Continental Hotel in San Francisco for three months. 
Mr. Dieves next took the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Oakland, and conducted it until 
1868, when he returned on a visit to German)-. On coming back to California he 
built on Ninth Street, Oakland, and subsequently purchased an interest in the Oak- 
land Brewery, a history of which will be found in its proper place. Married in April, 
1846, Miss Gertrude Gette, a native of Germany, and has two children, Joseph P., 
born January 2^1847; and Mary, born September 29, 1849. 

Hugh Dimond. — Was born in County Deny, Ireland, March 27, 1830. In the 
year 1844 he emigrated to the United States, first settling in the city of New York, 
where he served an apprenticeship as a machinist. May 12, 1850, he sailed in the 
Cherokee to Chagres, whence proceeding to Panama, he there took passage to San 
Francisco, where he arrived on the 22d June. Mr. Dimond at once proceeded to tr\' 
his luck at the mines, and continued that occupation in different localities until 1852. 
At this date he associated himself with C. D. 0'Sulli\an and W. V. Cashman in a 
mercantile business in Mariposa, and thus continued until 1862, when he came to San 
Francisco and embarked in the liquor trade. In 1867 he settled on his present prop- 
erty in Brooklyn Township. In 1872 married Miss Ellen Sullivan, who died 2ist 
April, 1877. His family consists of a daughter and two sons, viz.: Nellie, born in 
Geneva, Switzerland, August 2, 1873; Hugh S., born in Pons, France, 8th June, 1875, 
and Dennis S., born in Oakland, Alameda County, California, loth August, 1876. 

Hon. Mathew W. Dixon. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, was born in Kanawha County, West Virginia, March 28, 1828. In 1840 
he accompanied his parents to Jackson County, Missouri, and there resided until the 
year 1849, when, emigrating, he crossed the plains to California, starting on April Lst 
and arriving at Sacramento on the 28th September. Having mined at Hangtown 
(now Placerville) until November ist, he then proceeded to Santa Clara Count}-, where 
he settled near Mountain View, and purchased two claims, farming in that section 
until 1865. In that year he moved to the place on which he now resides, having pre- 
viously purchased it in 1861, and consisting of some three -hundred acres. Besides 
having engaged in grain-raising, Mr. Dixon also owns an interest in certain ware- 
houses in Milpitas, Santa Clara County, which were erected in 1868. In 1869 he 
was elected to the Board of Supervisors, and served two years; was elected to the 
Assembly from Alameda County in 1874 on the Independent ticket, being re-elected 
in 1876 by the Democrats. In 1882 Mr. Dixon was nominated for the Senate by the 
Democratic Convention by acclamation, and onl}- lost his seat by the paltry majority 
of forty votes. In Mr. Dixon we have one of those men, who, from small beginnings, 
has sprung into prominence by his own indomitable perseverance and unaided efforts. 
His motto through life has evidently been — to conquer or to die. His name is asso- 
ciated with all that is good; his official career has ever been without blemish, while in 
pri\-atc life he is deservedly honored by his fellow-citizens. Married, firsth-, July 21, 
1852, Miss Eliza Whisman, a native of Jackson County, Missouri, who died May 10, 
1866. By that union there are two sur\iving children, viz.: James K. Polk, and 
Rachael Emily. Married, secondly, October 7, 1866, Mrs. Rhoda A. Emmons, and 
has Hattie, Jennie G., and Mathew W., Jr. 

Martin Donohue. — Was born in King's County, Ireland, November 1 i, 1832, 
When seventeen years of age he emigrated to the United States, and resided princi- 



Biographical Sketches. 875 



pally in the city of New York and the Western States until April, 1865, when he 
sailed from the Empire City for California- via Panama. Having resided in San 
Francisco until 1868, he then moved to Alameda County, and locating near Dublin, 
there purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, which he lost after a law- 
suit lasting ten 3'ears, the title thereto being defective. Since that time Mr. Donohue 
has contented himself with leasing land, and is now on a ranch situated about two 
miles from Pleasanton, a portion of the Bernal Rancho. Married, and had two chil- 
dren, both of whom are now deceased. 

Hugh Dougherty. — Was born in County Tyrone, Ireland. In the year 1858 
he sailed from the green old isle to the United States, and proceeding to Philadelphia 
there sojourned for a short time. He then moved to Gloucester County, New Jersey, 
where he farmed until leaving for California. On March 25, 1865, he started by way 
of Panama for the Pacific Coast, and arrived in San Francisco on the i6th of April. 
He came at once to Alameda County, and found employment with John M. Horner 
at Mission San Jose for ten months, when he purchased the eighty-acre tract now in 
the possession of Mrs. John Taylor, and managed it for two years, at which time it 
was sold and his present propertj^ acquired, on which he settled February 3, 1870. 
From this land he was ousted through a defect in the title on June 3, 1871, since 
when he has rented it. His farm, which comprises three hundred and twenty-four 
acres, is situated five miles from Livermore, and there Mr. Dougherty devotes his 
time to general farming and stock-raising. He is married, and has a family of five 
children, viz.: John, Hugh, Alice, Mary, and Josephine. 

James W. Dougherty (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, one of the best 
known pioneers of Alameda County, was a native of the State of Tennessee. At 
seventeen years of age he emigrated to the State of Mississippi, and there resided 
until 1849, having held the onerous and responsible offices of Sheriff and County 
Clerk of the county of his residence. In the above-mentioned year he sailed from 
New Orlea'ns in the ship Humboldt for the Pacific Coast, but on arrival only stayed a 
short time in San Francisco. Having returned to his adopted State in the fall of 
1850, the month of March, 1851, saw him once more leaving New Orleans for Califor- 
nia, in company with Thomas D. Wells, now of Dublin, and several others. On 
arrival he proceeded to Sacramento, re-engaged in the business which he had started in 
1849, and there resided, conducting it until 1852. In the spring of that year, having 
been joined by his wife, he came to Alameda County, and with William Glaskins 
purchased the Rancho of Don Jose Maria Amador, then consisting of some ten thou- 
sand acres of land. Some time afterwards the interest of Mr. Glaskins was purchased 
by Samuel B. Martin, whose share was bought about six years ago (about 1876) by 
Mr. Dougherty. This estate is now in the hands of Charles P. Dougherty, his son, 
who resides in the old homestead of the Amadors in the village of Dublin. Mr. 
Dougherty died September 29, 1S79, leaving one son, named above. He was married 
in Tennessee, and had four children. 

Lorenzo Dresco. — Was born in Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia, Italy, Decem- 
ber 25, 1825, and is the son of George and Mary Ann Dresco. At the age of 
nine years he moved with his parents to the island of Sardinia, and there resided until 
he reached man's estate, when, in 1846, he proceeded to Genoa, whence he sailed to 
Montevideo in South America. He then proceeded in a small craft to Buenos 
Ayres, and remained thereuntil March 17, 1850, on which date he sailed for Califor- 
nia, rounded Cape Horn, and arrived in San Francisco Harbor July loth of that year. 
He immediately proceeded to Calaveras County, and afterwards to different mining 
localities, followed that occupation until 1863, when he transferred the scene of 
his operations to Mariposa County, and there dwelt until 1869, when, removing to the 
.White Pine district, Nevada, he engaged in mining and prospecting. In 1871 he 
came to Alameda County, and entered the employ of C. T. H. Palmer, of the Oak- 
land Street Paving Company, being foreman there for thirteen 3'ears, on the expira- 



876 History of Alameda County, California. 

tion of which he proceeded to Santa Clara County, and opened the Mount Hamilton 
Road. In January, 1882, he located himself in business at the corner of Broadway 
and Twelfth Streets, Oakland. Married -December 25, 1879, Miss Lydia French, and 
has no issue. 

Carl Duerr. — A portrait of whom will be found in this work, was born August 
9, 1824, in the judicial district of the town of Pforzheim, Grand Duchy of Baden. 
His parents were John K. Duerr and Emilie Katharina Duerr, ncc I-'inter. The 
father, who held an elective municipal office for many years, took an active part in 
politics, always supporting^ the most advanced liberal principles, soon experienced the 
displeasure of the higher government officers during the period following upon the 
close of the Napoleonic wars. With an inherent dislike to monarchical institutions, 
the beacon light of liberty in the far west had long ago attracted his attention. Carl, 
the subject of this sketch, was the second of four sons. After receiving a common 
school education, he entered a machine shop at the age of fifteen, attending twice 
every week one of those technical schools found in most German cities. He was 
employed during this time on the first railroad built through the valley of the upper 
Rhine. While working at the large machine shop in Zurich, Switzerland, 1844, he 
got news of his father's final resolution to carry out his long cherished plan of mak- 
ing the country of freedom his future home, though knowing full well that all the 
material benefits could only be in the future prospects of his children. Carl, upon receiv- 
ing the news, immediately returned home and devoted the remaining time e.xclusively 
to the further study of mechanical engineering. After a favorable voyage of thirty- 
two days across the Atlantic, he arrived in New York August 8, 1845. Newark, New 
Jersey.where several friends of the family were already located, was their objective 
point. The father, after a short residence in the town, bought a farm near Orange, 
New Jersey. Here the mother died in 1849, forty-seven years of age. Two of the 
sons being married by this time and the younger following the sea, the father being 
entirely left alone, disposed of his farm and spent the remainder of his days in New- 
ark, where he died in 1867, seventy-one years of age. Charles, immediatel)' after their 
first arrival in Newark, obtained work in a machine shop. At the end of one year he 
undertook, under the circumstances, the desperate venture of starting a machine shop 
on his own account. He did well beyond expectation. The news of the California 
gold-fields, however, soon had their effect on his sanguine and restless disposition. 
In the fall of 1849 the business that had been built with such energy and perseverance 
was sold out against the advice of his best friends. Steamer tickets were sold months 
ahead. On the 4th of April, 1850, he left New York for Panama, via the West 
Indies. After another stoppage of forty-five days, awaiting the steamer at Panama, 
he arrived in San Francisco July 11, 1850. For two years he was engaged in the 
city, mostly in building. In March, 1852, he went to Oregon by steamer, with 
L. Nusbaumer and others, returned by land, and arrived in the Sacramento 
Valley with a large drove of cattle in the fall of that year. On the 3d of 
March, 1853, through the advice of a friend, Fritz Boehmer, now residing in the town 
of Alameda, Charles Duerr came with him across the bay of San Francisco in a 
schooner, to locate a quarter-section of land for the latter, the identical place where 
now the town of Mount Eden stands. Being no practical farmer, the land was let on 
shares. In company with a friend, they started a shop, chiefly for the repairing of 
machinery. In 1855 he sold the possessory right to his land, and bought, together 
with L. Nusbaumer, another place on Dry Creek, in Washington Township. In the 
fall of 1857 the two jointly rented the estate of John W. Kottinger, in Murray 
Township, following sheep-raising and merchandising. Was appointed, 1858, a Jus- 
tice of the Peace for the unexpired term of John W^ Kottinger, resigned; in the fall 
of 1858 he was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors for Murray Township. 
In 1862, through the friendly assistance of J. West Martin, Esq., now mayor of 
Oakland, Duerr and Nusbaumer jointly acquired their first interest in the Rancho El 



Biographical Sketches. 877 

Valle de San Jose; subsequent purchases increased their interest to over three thousand 
one hundred acres. They made their permanent home on the " Arroyo de la Laguna," 
two miles above Sunol, near the Central Pacific Railroad. Mr. Duerr followed survey- 
ing for some fifteen years; was elected County Surveyor in 1871. The later years he 
devoted exclusively to the management of his own affairs. Was married last January 
to Lucia Diestel who came from Germany only a few years ago, and who faithfully 
shares with him the never ceasing cares of a rural- occupation. 

John Dugan. — Was born in Ross County, Ohio, March 2, 1838, but when 
eleven years old moved with his parents to Springfield, Illinois, where he learned the 
trade of painter and resided until he concluded to emigrate to California. On March 
8, 1859, having paid seventy-five dollars passage-money, he started from Pike's Peak, 
and veritably tramped across the plains to the Pacific Coast, walking alongside the 
wagons by day and sleeping under the clear cold sky by night. Such were the hard- 
ships that many endured to reach the land of gold. Arriving in Siskiyou County in 
September, 1859, he there resided until 1864, when he engaged in mining, and in 
that year proceeded to Nevada. On March 10, 1865, our subject started for Virginia 
City with a train of twenty passengers bound for Idaho City, in the Territory of that 
name. On March 27th, at 8 P. M., they were attacked by a party of Indians, and 
twenty-four head of horses were run off Next morning by daybreak Mr. Dugan had 
•everything in readiness to follow the Indians, and capture them if possible. Selecting 
four of the best men, as he thought, they started in pursuit, and after traveling 
about ten miles came to where the redskins had made a halt and killed and eaten 
several of the horses. Encouraged by the freshness of the trail, Mr. Dugan 's party 
pushed forward, intending to overtake them before they could cross the Jordan 
River. Following up the trail and passing through a rough and volcanic region, a 
halt was called, when it was found that two of the men had deserted. After follow- 
ing the trail for forty-eight hours, it was discovered that the Indians had stolen across the 
Jordan; therefore Mr. Dugan was forced to find his way on foot to Idaho City, where 
he arrived on May i, 1865. At the end of two months he returned to Virginia City, 
and on the journey assisted in the rescue of several families who were surrounded by 
Indians, at the head of Paradise Valley, on the Little Humboldt River, and there 
remained until the fall of 1865. At this time he came to California, followed different 
occupations, and in 1878 located in the town of Newark, Alameda County, where he 
was the first to purchase a lot, on which he built the Newark Hotel, a hostelry which 
he at present conducts. Married October 10, i860, Miss Mary Wheeler, a native of 
Missouri, and has three children, viz.: John L., William W., Edgar E. 

Henry Dusterberry. — Was born in Hanover, Germany, February 17, 1830, 
and is the son of Gerhard Henry and Mary Angeline (Husted) Dusterberry. Having 
been educated in the public schools of his native country, he there resided on his 
father's farm until the year 1847, when he emigrated to the United States. After a 
few weeks passed in New York he proceeded westward and commenced farm labor 
in Racine County, Wisconsin, which he followed two years. In the winter of 1849- 
50 he returned to New York, but in the spring went back to Wisconsin and was 
employed until March, 1852, as a teamster. April 14th of that year he started to cross 
the plains to California, being in company with two young men and having four yoke 
of oxen, wagon, and a couple of horses. Arriving in this State in the early part of 
September, Mr. Dusterberry at once entered into the occupation of mining in El 
Dorado County, and there remained at Cedar Ravine until the spring of 1853, at 
which time he moved to Grizzly Flat and there continued until the fall of 1854. At 
this period our subject first came to Alameda County and for the first year worked 
for Ed. Niehaus & Co. In 1855 he returned to Grizzly Flat and there spent portions 
of it and the following year, after which he returned to Alameda and his former 
employer, with whom he resided until the spring of 1857. He was subsequently 
variously employed, chiefly in farming transactions with Mr. Niehaus until July, 1863, 



878 History of Alameda County, California. 

when he purchased the place on which he now resides. Married September 25, 1863, 
Miss Ellen Faley, and has a family; viz.: Mary, Henry, Frank, Frederick, and Lizzie. 
Mr. Dusterberry has represented during two terms Washington Township on the Board 
of Supervisors, and is the present member from that district. 

N. D. DUTCHER. — Was born in Jefferson County, New York, March 15, 1850, 
where he resided for the first ten years of his life. On February 15, i860, he accom- 
panied his mother with one sister and two brothers to California b\- way of Panama, 
and arrived in San Francisco exactly one month thereafter. His mother having pro- 
ceeded to Castroville, Santa Cruz Count)', where her brother, H. W. Rice, resided, our 
subject lived with her there until the month of December of the same year, when 
she moved to Alameda County and located at Hay wards, where Mr. Dutcher was 
educated. In 1868 he came to Livermore and commenced learning the blacksmith's 
trade with James Beazell, but after nine months went to work with R. N. Caughill 
where he completed his apprenticeship. He now engaged in the employ of Allen & 
Graham as clerk in a general merchandise store for eighteen months, after which he 
served in the establishment of Charles Whitmore, for a year, when, on the opening 
of the house of G. W. Comegys — now the firm of Comcgys, Black & Co., he worked 
for him eighteen months. On November i, 1876, Mr. Dutcher entered upon the tin- 
smith and hardware business in the building now occupied by the Rcviczv office, and 
in September, 1879, moved into more commodious quarters located on Lizzie Street, 
where he is engaged in carrying on a flourishing trade. Has been Town Clerk of 
Livermore for one year. 

E. Dyer. — Was born on the second day of March, 1828, in the town of Sullivan, 
Hancock County, Maine. Son of Joshua and Elizabeth Dyer, natives of that State. 
His grandfather, Ephraim Dyer, for whom he was named, was a revolutionar)- soldier, 
was present at the battle of Hubbardton, at the battles of Stillwater and at the sur- 
render of Burgoyne, and also served under Washington and Lafayette, and settled in 
Maine shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War. The subject of this sketch 
spent his early boyhood on liis father's farm, was educated in the public schools and 
under private instructors, and could probably have entered an Eastern college had 
his means permitted. Was engaged in various employments, working in a ship-yard, 
school-teaching, surveying, etc., till the breaking out of the gold fever in California, 
and in the spring of 1850, at twenty-two years of age, having collected his available 
means, purchased a steerage ticket for that place, cabin tickets being beyond the reach 
of people of moderate means, and on the i 5th of June of that year, sailed from New 
York for Chagres on a steamship commanded by Lieut. Schenck, and after eight daj's 
arrived at Havana, where the passengers were transferred to a steamer of about one- 
half the size; Lieut. Herndon, commanding, and in four days arrived at Chagre.s. The 
transportation up the river was in the hands of Jamaica negroes, wliich they carried 
on by means of small boats, loading them, as a rule, within si.x or eight inches of the 
gunwale, piling the baggage up high, and seating the passengers on top of that. 
Having embarked on the river, about two hours after dark they encountered a terrific 
tropical thunderstorm. Umbrellas would collapse immediately under the weight of 
the descending water, and it required the utmost efforts at bailing to prevent the boats 
from sinking. The wild shouting of the boatmen to prevent collision, the terrific 
thunder, the pitchy darkness, only relieved by the vivid lightning, together with the 
sense of great personal danger, made it an occasion never to be forgotten. Finally the 
passengers all effected a landing about eight miles above Chagres, where the\' found 
shelter under an old rookery. At daylight they again started up the river, and in two or 
three days they landed at Golgona, whence he took land passage to Panama, distant 
twenty-seven miles. At that point hearing nothing of the steamer in which he was to take 
passage to San Francisco, and having contracted the Panama fever, he exchanged his 
steamer ticket for cabin passage in the British brig Guiiiair, which sailed in a few 
days, and after a long passage arrived at San Francisco on the 17th day of September^ 



Biographical Sketches. 879 



1850. Business here, of all kinds, was at high pressure. Hundreds of miners were 
arriving from the mines, the larger part of whom, however, were "dead broke;" but 
many brought large quantities of gold, which they freely spent at the gambling-saloons, 
which were running at full blast at nearly every corner of the streets. Many of these 
saloons were most gorgeous in their appointments. In many of them hundreds of 
thousands of dollars were in sight. Gambling was a mania which seemed to have 
seized all classes. Skilled labor was high, carpenters receiving from eight to twelve 
dollars per day; masons, from ten to fourteen. The wages of common laborers were 
comparatively low on account of so many miners returning disappointed from the 
mines and seeking work. Good board for working men was obtainable at ten dollars 
per week, with as good lodging as is now afforded to farm-hands by the majority of 
California farmers. No vegetables were furnished except potatoes, as all others were 
enormously high. Mr. Dyer stopped in San Francisco, engaged in various employ- 
ments about two months, and then took passage on a sloop for Union City, which was 
the embarcadero from whence nearly all vegetables raised in California were shipped. 
His object in going there was to get a chance, if possible, to engage in farming opera- 
tions on his own account. In two days the passage was effected. This was his first 
arrival in what is now Alameda County. He found that nearly all produce shipped 
here was raised by John M. Horner, there being, however, a few others who were small 
producers. He took conveyance on a lumber-wagon to Mission San Jose, ten miles 
distant. This he found to be a most lively place. E. L. Beard lived here, who, 
together with John M. Horner and Andreas Pico, laid claim by purchase, to the whole 
tract of the ex-Mission San Jose. Mr. Beard was carrying on farming operations to 
some extent, and to him Mr. Dyer applied for land to farm, but without success. In 
passing from Union City to Mission San Jose on the then traveled road, only one 
house, a Spaniard's, was to be seen. The whole country presented the appearance of 
a barren waste, dry and verdureless, from the city of San Jose to where Oakland now 
stands. No trees, except a few scattering ones on the creeks, which had been left by 
the browsing cattle, thousands of which roamed the plains, and it was a deep mys- 
tery to him upon what they subsisted, as, according to his Eastern e.xperience, the dried 
up grass strewn in every direction was utterly worthless. What a contrast between 
the country now and as it then appeared. On his way back to San Francisco, he 
made a detour, passing through the Horner Ranch, where he found them digging 
potatoes and shipping" them and other farm produce to market. Farm hands, potato- 
diggers, here were paid fifty dollars per month. When he reached Union City on his 
return, he found the opportunity which he so much coveted. A Mr. Cheney living 
near Horner's ranch, offered him his board, land, seed, feed, and team to carry on farm- 
ing operations, charging a rental of one-half for their use. He accepted this offer, 
but Mr. Cheney, upon the death of his wife, which occurred shortly after, found him- 
self unable to carry out his part of the agreement. It being then too late to seek 
another opportunity of that kind, which it was almost impossible to obtain among 
strangers, he engaged himself to J. M. Horner, to work on his ranch for one year in 
hopes that he might get another chance to farm by the end of his term. Mr. Horner 
had about one thousand acres inclosed, and cultivated, perhaps, one hundred and fifty. 
Produce that year had ranged very high, potatoes selling for ten cents per pound, cab- 
bage one dollar per head. Mr. Horner sold that year from about three-fourths of an 
acre, ten thousand dollars worth of tomatoes. His principal crop, however, was pota- 
toes which were selling at ten cents per pound. His total profit for that year must 
have been very large, indeed. He was the largest farmer in California by far, and was 
known throughout the United States as the great California Farmer. Contrast the 
magnitude of his farming operations then with the large farming operations carried 
on at the present time. The ranch work was performed by three classes: Americans, 
who generally did the teaming; Sonorenas, and Yaqui Indians, who did the digging 
and delving. This was another successful year for farmers, who were largely remuner- 



880 History of Alameda County, California. 

ated for their labor and enterprise. The desire for farming was greatly stimulated 
by these successes, more especially as it had been demonstrated that not the moist 
lands alone, such as those constituting a part of the Horner Ranch, were capable of 
raising potatoes. Mr. Horner made extensive preparations for extending his business 
outside his ranch limits, on other portions of the ex-Mission San Jose, and the 
Pacheco Rancho, near Alvarado; a part of which he had bought. He rented the.se 
lands on a certain share, generally furnishing seed, team, etc. Another opportunity 
for farming was again opened to Mr. Dyer, but was lost through the somewhat sharp 
practice of a prospective partner. It was again too late to get another opportunit)-. 
The fates were evidently against him, and he gave up any further attempt in that 
direction. Learning that large quantities of grapes were raised in Los Angeles, and 
could be bought very cheap owing to the extreme difficulty of shipping them to San 
Francisco in good order, where they bore a very high price, and remembering to have 
heard in his boyhood that grapes packed in sawdust, had been shipped from Spain 
and arrived in good order in the United States, he resolved to tr\- the e.xperiment on 
the Pacific Coast. Having entered into, partnership with William H. Graves, they 
went to Los Angeles, and finding the business such as it had been represented, rented 
a vineyard as the nucleus of their operations, depending mainly on buN'ing their 
grapes. In proper time Mr. Graves returned to San Francisco to superintend the 
buying and shipping of boxes and sawdust, while Mr. Dyer remained in Los Angeles 
to attend to the buying, packing, and shipping of the fruit. Returning to San P'ran- 
cisco after an absence of two years, he found the whole farming community of Ala- 
meda County involved in inextricable financial ruin. The year 1852, the first year he 
was in Los Angeles, was an exceedingly prosperous one with farmers. This com- 
pletely turned their heads. The larger portion of the land from the Mission San 
Jose to Union City was ploughed up and put in potatoes. The farmers exhausted 
the profits of the year before, and all the\' could obtain on credit to put in their crops. 
The yield was very good. Many could have sold their crops in the field, at largely 
renumerative prices, but they were looking for a bonanza. There was a perfect 
mania on the potato question. Very few sold, and most of the crop of Washington 
Township was piled up in cribs on the banks of Alameda Creek at L^nion City. The 
supply in California proved in excess of the demand three to one, and the most of 
these potatoes rotted on the banks of the creek, a total loss to their owners. J. M. 
Horner, who, up to this time, had been the financial and agricultural king and oracle 
of these parts, was also involved in the common ruin. Mr. Dyer having spent two more 
years at Los Angeles, returned to reside permanently in Alameda County. In 1858, 
being desirous of purchasing improved cattle in the \\'estern States, to drive to Cali- 
fornia, to explore personally the route over which the\- had to be driven, he took 
passage at Placerville August, 185S, in the overland stage, arriving at St. Joseph, 
Missouri, in forty days, being detained in Salt Lake City ten days of that time. He 
was the first through passenger across the continent, being the pioneer in that respect 
of the Overland Mail Line. Mr. Dyer, while in Illinois, married Ellen F. Ingall.s, a 
former resident of his native town, and second daughter of B. F. Ingalls, a prominent 
ship-builder in that portion of Maine. They returned by steamer to California in the 
fall of 1859, and settled at Alvarado. In 1861, after the election of Lincoln, he was 
appointed by Lieutenant Beale, United States Surveyor General, United States 
Deputy Surveyor, and was engaged in the Government survey's, under him and his 
successors twelve years, sur\'eying, in addition to other tracts, the lands lying on the 
eastern boundary of the State, extending from below Lake Tahoe nearly to the 
Oregon line, embracing the region about Lake Tahoe, Sierra, Honey Lake, and Sur- 
prise 'Valleys. In November, 1863, he was elected Captain of the Alvarado Guards, 
which position he held until the general disbanding of the military companies of the 
State, by Governor Haight, in 1867. He united with a company in 1870, in building 
a beet-sugar factory in Alvarado, which proved an utter failure, as the management 



Biographical Sketches. 881 



fell into incompetent hands. A second factory built on the same ground, under a 
different management has proved a success. In 1874 he moved with his family from 
Alvarado to live on a farm he had bought some few years before, near Altamont, 
Murray Township, and also to take charge of some landed interests that he held there 
in common with other parties. The method of summer fallowing, which was not in 
vogue here except on his own farm and in a very few unimportant cases, he made 
compulsory on the lands under his charge, where from being almost non-producing, 
they now raise under this method a fair remunerative crop. Many other farmers have 
followed the example, and summer fallowing, among successful farmers, in all places 
adapted to it, is now rather the rule than the exception. 

Ebenezer Herrick Dyer. — The subject of our sketch, whose portrait will be 
found in this work, deserves a high place in the history of Alameda County, for in 
the promotion of her resources, upon which her present prosperity and her future wel- 
fare depend, no man, among all those honorably mentioned in this work, has labored 
with greater zeal and more untiring energy. Coming here in the infancy of the 
county he was quick to see her necessities and her possibilities, and with the push, 
energy, and determination of purpose that have always characterized him, he has stood 
in the face of, to ordinary men, unsurmountable difficulties, and has succeeded in 
raising his own limited fortune to ample proportions, and in establishing an industry 
in our midst the possibilities of which, not only to our county, but to the whole coast, 
no human foresight can to-day set the bounds. The "Standard Sugar Refinery" at 
Alvarado is a monument to the success of Mr. Dyer, in the manufacture of pure sugar 
from the sugar-beet, the abundant product of our fertile valley. Millions of dollars 
are annually sent abroad for sugar, and the consumption is increasing at a rapid ratio. 
This success shows that push and energy are what are needed to make the business 
a success in this country, and to keep for our own people the millions thus sent abroad. 
The "Standard," under Mr. Dyer's management, yearly throws on the market one 
and a half million pounds of pure white sugar — not such as the early article manu- 
factured, but pure and well refined, equal to the best of cane. This work; this grand 
result, has been accomplished under the most discouraging conditions for man to 
encounter, and succeed. Failure has succeeded failure all over the United States, but 
Mr. Dyer, since he first became connected with the business, in 1869, has "stayed" with 
it, at times venturing his all upon its success, taking the stand that, with proper man- 
agement, and an understanding of the business itself, it might be made an abundant 
success. He claimed that our conditions of climate, our people, and our mode of 
doing business were not properly understood by the foreign sugar-makers that have 
heretofore generally had the management of this industry, and his success justifies 
those views. Standing as we do to-day upon the summit, and viewing the fruits of 
the energetic, strong, and pushing character of the subject of our sketch, we are lead 
to inquire the origin and life of such a man. Ebenezer Herrick Dyer was born at 
Sullivan, Hancock County, Maine, April 17, 1822; he descended from the Cushings, 
Sawyers, Thorndykes, and Dyers, who were among the first English colonists of New 
England. Ephraim Dyer, his grandfather, was a soldier of the Revolution. With an 
education afforded by the public schools of his youth, he was early thrown upon his 
own resources, which, with the stern teachings of New England life, soon developed 
his active mind and formed a symmetrical, energetic, and pushing character. He 
embarked in business in his native town as a merchant, which he soon enlarged so as 
to embrace the lumber business and the operation of the Sullivan Granite Quarries, 
which he conducted on a scale commensurate with his energy. While operating these 
quarries he furnished large quantities of granite for the Government in different parts . 
of the United States. Seeking a wider field he came to California, via the Isthmus, 
in 1857, and finding a promising new country, he returned in the fall of the same year 
for his family, consisting of a wife and two children. He arrived the second time in 
April, 1858, and settled at Alvarado, where he has since resided. He first engaged 



882 History of Alameda County, California. 

for a short time in stock-raising. In the fall of 1859 he was elected County Survcj'or 
of Alameda County, and re-elected in i86l In the latter year he was appointed 
United States Deputy Surveyor by Surveyor General E. F. Beale, and served in that 
capacity, under various Surveyors General, for about ten years. In 1869 he first 
became connected with the beet-sugar business at Alvarado, in connection with some 
of the leading men of our State. The first attempt at the business was not a success, 
its management being in the hands of Messrs. Bonesteel and (Jtto, two men brought 
out by the first company from Wisconsin, as "experts," to manage affairs. Mr. Dyer, 
although not a sugar-maker, or with any previous knowledge of the business, by his 
connection with this first attempt, gathered information which led him to believe that, 
under proper management, the new enterprise could be made to succeed; so strong, in 
fact, was he impressed with this idea, that, when the first company left, in 1871, for 
Soquel, he bought the factory buildings, with lands adjacent, with the expressed pur- 
pose of making a success where a failure had been, and regaining the. money he had 
lost in the first attempt. The repeated failures in the business heretofore throughout 
the United States made capitalists timid, and it was not until 1879 that Mr. Dyer 
succeeded in enlisting others in the enterprise with sufficient capital to make it a suc- 
cess. In 1876 he was chosen by the Second Congressional District of California as a 
delegate to the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati, Ohio, which he 
attended. At that time he traveled to the places of note in the East, with his family, 
taking in, of course, Washington and the Centennial Exhibition. In 1879 he suc- 
ceeded in forming the Standard Sugar Manufacturing Compan\% for the purpose of 
manufacturing sugar from beets, at the locality of the first attempt, at Alvarado. 
He was appointed and remains at present General Superintendent and Business Man- 
ager for the company. The name of the corporation is now the Standard Sugar 
Refining Company, and of its success it is hardly necessary to speak, but it may be 
mentioned that the earnings of the company last year were thirty-three per cent, on 
the amount invested. So much has energy, perseverance, and pluck accomplished, 
where failure was and had been predicted again and again. 

Harman Egger.S. — Was born in Germany, April 19, 1823, and was there edu- 
cated. At sixteen years of age he commenced to learn the trade of bricklayer, and 
in 1844 emigrated to the United States. Locating in Perry County, Missouri, he 
there passed the winter of 1844-45, ^'''d in the spring moved to St. Louis, where he 
worked at his trade for a time. In 1853 he crossed the plains to California with Mr. 
Blacow, and arrived October 2 1 St, settling at once on his present estate, comprising 
one hundred and ten acres. Married, in St. Louis in 1852, Miss Mary Durreng, a 
native of Germany, and has: Louis H., Edward H., Matilda, Frank, Alice, and Helen. 

Solomon Ehrman. — Was born in Lichtenfels, Bavaria, March 4, 1846, where he 
received a common school education, and afterwards finished his scholastic training 
at the Ftirth College. In May, 1863, he stirted for the United States, and first land- 
ing in Baltimore, there sojourned for two months. At this time he sailed for Cali- 
fornia, via the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San Francisco September 3, 1863. 
Coming direct to Mission San Jose he there joined his brother, Alax. Ehrman, but 
subsequently moved to Suisun, Solano County, where he was in business four years. 
Eventually returning to Mission San Jose, he there entered into partnership with 
Leopold Bachman, the latter of whom retiring on September i, 1880, was succeeded by 
A. Lebrecht, the style and name of the firm being Ehrman & Lebrecht. The history 
of this firm, which is very interesting, we give as follows: The original firm was 
founded in 1854, by S. Strauss, Leon Ehrman, and S. Bachman, under the firm name 
of Strauss & Co. They occupied an adobe building on the site of the present store. 
After about two years, Strauss withdrew. The remaining partners kept "Bachelors' 
Hall," Ehrman attending to the store while Bachman peddled with a wagon. While 
the latter traveled over th; country, he had many adventures, the details of which 
would b? interesting as illustrations of life in California before it had bcome so com- 



Biographical Sketches. 883 



pletely Americanized as in later years. Upon one occasion, a native Californian lord, 
desirous that his household should appear in raiment, ample as well as rich, asked the 
traveling tradesman what he would take for his entire stock. Upon being informed 
— a large enough price of course — the trade was immediately consummated, and the 
wagon emptied, the purchaser taking his chances as to the nature and style of the 
goods, and the seller returning to headquarters for another load. In 1864 they bought 
out the business and stock of Musser & McClure, and moved across the street into 
the place occupied by the latter firm, an adobe building on the church property. 
There was no change in the firm until 1868, when Mr. Ehrman withdrew, and his 
nephews, Max and Solomon Ehrman, were admitted to the partnership. On July 4th, 
they moved into the new frame building which they had erected on the west side of 
the street, at a cost of five thousand dollars. On the night of opening a grand ball 
was given by the firm. It was a magnificent affair, and probably the largest ball ever 
in the valle}'. Everybody was invited, and everybody came. Even the babies 
could not stay at home, and a considerable number of the drawers and shelves were 
utilized for cribs. In the great railroad accident at Simpson's Station, October 14, 
1869, Max Ehrman was killed. In December of the same year Mr. Bachman retired, 
and his brother Leopold, together with Charles Adler, were admitted to the partner- 
ship. Adler soon withdrew, leaving the business to Solomon Ehrman and Leopold 
Bachman, who continued under the firm name of Ehrman & Bachman until the late 
change, a term of nearly eleven years. Mr. Lebrecht, who succeeded Mr. Bach- 
man's interest, is a brother-in-law of Mr. Ehrman. He was formerly a resident of 
this State, but had lived in North Carolina. Married, December 11, 1870, Miss Lina 
Lebrecht, a native of Ni.iruberg, Bavaria, and has three children, viz.: Alfred M., 
Alexis, and Mattie. 

Frederick G. Eiben. — Was born in Germany, November 3, 1848, and there 
resided until he attained the age of seventeen years, at which time he emigrated to 
the United States, and settling in New York City, there followed the grocery business 
until his coming to California in 1876. Locating in Oakland, he opened his present 
store under the style of Eiben & Steen, the latter of whom retiring in 1878, A. J. Nor 
became associated with him in the concern under the firm name of Eiben & Nor, 
Oakland. Married, October 2, 1870, Miss Frieda Petersen, a native of the city of 
Lubeck, Germany, and has one child, Etta, born in West Oakland, November 29, 
1877. 

Robert William Elliott. — Born in Clay County, Missouri, August 9, 1831, 
where he was educated and resided until 1856. In that year he crossed the plains 
with ox-teams and a drove of cattle, and arrived in Solano County, California, in 
the month of August. Having settled, in the first instance, near Dixon, he embarked 
in the stock business, and followed it until 1865, when he turned his attention to 
general farming and the culture of the vine. He afterwards was for some time 
engaged, and is still interested, in coal-mining in Oregon. In 1873 he discontinued 
his operations in Solano County, and in the following year took up his residence in 
Oakland, where he has since resided. Married July, 1855, Miss Josephine B. Mc- 
Donald, and has: Adelaide McDonald, Mark L., and Richard H. 

James Emerson. — Was born in Swinton, Yorkshire, England, October 25, 1821, 
where he resided and followed farming until April, 185 1, in which month he sailed 
from Liverpool for the United States. Landing in New Orleans in May of that year, 
he soon proceeded up the Mississippi to St. Louis, but afterwards located in vSt. Clair 
County, Illinois, where he farmed until April 5, 1853, when, joining a train (among 
which were Robert and John Blacow and Herman Eggers and their families), he 
crossed the plains to California with ox-teams. Arriving at Mr. Blacow's ranch Octo- 
ber 20, 1853, Mr. Emerson started out to find work. After a year's service with Mr. 
Blacow, he leased land of Lyman Beard, and farmed until the fall of 1857, when he 
purchased the place opposite that now owned by Mr. Gallegos, where he remained 



884 History of Alameda County, California. 

until 1868, then selling out, he bought his present property, consisting of seventy 
acres, situated about a mile and a half from Centreville, where he is engaged in general 
farming and fruit-raising. Married in April, 1862, Miss Anna Eggers, a native of 
Germany; and has seven surviving children, viz.: Nellie, Annie, Louisa, Julia, Alice, 
Ralph W., George I. 

John M. Enolish. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Hagerstown, Washington County, Maryland, February 17, 1834, 
At the age of five years he was taken by his parents to Jefferson County, Western 
Virginia, and there received his education and resided until his leaving for California, 
in 185 I. On the 4th December of that year he sailed from New York on board the 
steamer Phyinetes, and proceeding by the Nicaragua route, finished the voyage in the 
Independence, arriving in San Francisco January 7, 1852. Mr. English at once set- 
tled on a farm near Centreville, Alameda County, which is now occupied by George 
Patterson, where he remained one season, when he moved to an estate on the San 
Lorenzo Creek, where he farmed until 1857, when he transferred the scene of his 
operations to the property where he now resides, purchased by his uncle, Samuel B. 
Martin, the tract so acquired being one league square. The portion occupied b)' Mr. 
English is situated two miles and a half north from Pleasanton, and comprises three 
hundred and twenty-five acres of fine land. In Mr. English we have one of nature's 
truest noblemen, a man whom it is an honor to know, and whom to know is to appre- 
ciate. Married in San Francisco, in 1869, Miss Leta, daughter of Captain Smith of 
Sonoma County, by whom he has four surviving children, viz.: Frederick, Genevieve, 
John, and Ada. 

Adam Fath. — Whose portrait appears in this history, was born in Bavaria, 
Germany, November 20, 1821, and there resided until he attained the age of twenty- 
five years, having learned the trade of shoemaker with his father. In May, 1846, he 
determined to emigrate to the United States; therefore, taking ship at Bremerhaven, 
he sailed to the "Land of the Free," and first found employment in Buffalo, on board 
a steamboat. In the following year he enlisted in the United States Army (Ord- 
nance Department), and, with his corps, proceeded to and took part in the Me.vican 
War, after which he came to the Pacific Coast; and to California with Captain C. P. 
Stone, who was detailed to establish an arsenal at Benicia (now Solano County). In 
the establishment of that post Mr. F"ath took part, and there was quartered for some 
time. May 27, 1853, being mustered out of the service, he then went to Fort Point, 
where he helped to land the first seven cannon, at the time of the Crimean War, in 
1854. Then he returned to Benicia and took charge of the Government stock, under 
Captain Cleary, Quartermaster, for two years. Then he betook himself to dairying, and 
so continued until 1859, when he transferred his location to Alameda County, and first 
settled on land now owned by Charles McLaughlin, about six miles from Liv-ermore, 
on the Azro Bayo. There he resided until the fall of 1864, when he came to Liver- 
more, took up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land — his pay for Army 
services — on which he now resides. Married in Vallejo, Solano County, California, 
in 1857, Miss Mary Feehely, a native of Ireland, and has six children, viz.; John A., 
Valentine, Mary M., Annie M., Frederick W., Louisa L. 

Antonio Fonte. — Was born in the Western Islands, in the year 1826, where 
he resided up till he attained the age of twenty years, at which period he commenced 
a seafaring life. This occupation he followed three years, two of which he passed in 
the East Indies. In 1851 he hied himself unto the Land of Gold. Settling in San 
Francisco in March, he obtained employment in a warehouse at Clark's Point, and 
there remained until the month of October. Mr. Fonte now engaged in the milk 
trade, carrying it across the bay from San Antonio (now East Oakland), to San Fran- 
cisco, in a whale-boat. While thus employed he made the acquaintance of the late 
James B. Larue, by whom, in the month of December, he was engaged as an assistant. 
At the end of two years and a half our subject started a boarding-house on the site 



Biographical Sketches. 885 



where now stands his store, which he carried on, save for four months during the years 
1855, lintil 1 86 1, when he built and opened his present establishment, which he still 
conducts, situated at Nos. 800 and 802 East Central Avenue, East Oakland. Married 
January 20, 1856, Miss Rosanna Lyons, and has five children, viz.: Henry, Maria, 
Joseph, James, Anna, .surviving. 

Samuel Francis. — This well and favorably known merchant tailor of Oakland 
is a native of Belfast, Ireland, born in 1846. He remained in his native country until 
1863, serving an apprenticeship the latter four years to the tailor's trade. In the 
above year he emigrated to Toronto, Canada, and two years later removed to Chicago, 
Illinois, and there resided until the fall of 1871, when he came to the Pacific Coast, 
selected Oakland as his future home, and opened up his present successful business 
at No. 1006 Broadway, where, after a residence of twelve years, through honesty, 
integrity, and strict business principles, he enjoys the confidence and esteem of the 
whole community in which he resides. Mr. Francis was united in marriage, Decem- 
ber 18, 1870 to Miss Jessie Douglass, a native of Canada. By this union they have 
one child, Frederick J. 

John L. Frese. — Was born in Bremen, Germany, April 15, 1831. Being not 
yet eighteen years of age, he emigrated direct to California, making the passage in 
the brig Express. On arriving in San Francisco he crossed the bay to the region 
then known as the Contra Costa, and located, in 1849, on what is now the line 
of Adeline Street, in the city of Oakland, on the place lately owned by Mr. Briggs, 
situated between First and Second Streets; it was called the Old Ranch. He there 
engaged in farming, and was the first to raise potatoes in what is now Oakland 
Township. In 1850 he moved to the place which went by the name of the "Old 
German Corral," which stood on land now defined as between Fourteenth and Six- 
teenth Streets, where he resided between six and seven years. He then moved up 
town to where the town site then was, and kept a restaurant and lodging-house or) 
Broadway. In 1865 he purchased his present property, consisting of four large lots, 
located on Railroad Avenue and Bay Street. Married in Oakland, in the fall of i860, 
Miss M. Weingthr, a native of Germany, and has two children: Carl J. and Louisa. 

J. Homer Fritch. — Was born in San Francisco, California, May 31, 1854, and 
is the son of George and Margaret (McKew) Fritch, the first of whom arrived on the 
Pacific Coast from St. John's, New Brunswick, in 1850, as the master of a ship, and 
the latter from Australia in the famous year '49. After passing from 1866 to 1868 in 
St. Mary's College, San Francisco, our subject entered the Oakland Collegiate School, 
and went through a full course of three years and a half under F. M. Campbell, the 
late State Superintendent of Public Instruction. For the next fourteen months he 
was in the employ of J. T. Millikin of San Francisco, after which he entered 
the service of R. D. Chandler, wholesale coal-dealer, having risen during his 
employment to the position of head book-keeper; then, in 1878, he commenced busi- 
ness in Oakland as importer and dealer in wood and coal. He married, November 
8, 1880, Miss Mary W. Lippitt of Petaluma. 

Elijah Foster. — Was born in Yorkshire, England, November 26, 1828,, and 
farmed there until February 2, 1850, when he sailed for the United States, arriving 
in New York, March 28th of the same year. Remaining in Geneva, New York, until 
December, 1853, he then took passage in the Northern Light, and crossing the con- 
tinent by the Nicaragua route, on the Pacific side, sailed in the Sierra Nevada, finally 
landing in San Francisco, December 31, 1853. A few days later he crossed the bay 
to Mission San Jose, and finding employment in Union City, there remained for a 
time. Mr. Foster next took a spell at the mines until the following summer, when 
he returned to Alameda County, worked at different occupations until 1861, and in 
that year purchased the place he now occupies, consisting of one hundred and twenty 
acres, situated near Murray's Landing, where he is engaged in general farming and 
stock-raising. Is married, and has one daughter, Mary A., and an adopted son. 



8S6 History of Alameda County, California. 

Philip J. Gerhardy. — Whose portrait appears in this work, was born at the 
Castle of Hardenberg, Hanover, Germany, February 22, 1841, and is the son of 
Prof H. Gerhardy, a graduate of Heidelberg: residing in his birthplace until 1S55, 
when he came to America on a pleasure trip, but on his arrival in New York, being 
so favorably impressed with the city, he concluded to seek his fortune in the New 
World, and immediately found emploj'ment in a large tea store, where he remained 
for three years. He then, in 1858, concluded to come to California, and with a com- 
pany of young men he came, via the Isthmus of Panama, from whence he sailed for 
San Francisco, and there found emplo}-ment in the Mint Market for about two 
months, \\'hen he started a similar business for himself, in which he was \'ery success- 
ful, making some $30,000 in sixteen months. He then sold out, and proceeded to 
the Russian River, where he engaged in the stock business; purchasing a large num- 
ber of cattle, he drove them to Sacramento, were he met with a serious loss in the 
drowning of most of his stock at the time of the flood in that cit)- in 1862. He 
then returned to San Francisco, and engaged in the butcher business, and thirteen 
years ago transferred his business to Oakland, and opened his present shop at 
Nos. 829 and 831 Broadway. As jjroprietor of the well-known San I'rancisco 
Market Mr. Gerhardy, in early times, has met with many reverses, but with a strong 
will and strict integrity he has surmounted them all, and is now in easy financial 
circumstances, and doing a prosperous business. With an exceedingly generous 
nature he lends a helping hand to all charities, and is highl}' respected by all who 
know him. At the age of forty years our subject was married to an estimable \-oung 
lady, the daughter of Elder G. W. Kinkada, a graduate of the Woodland College, 
Yolo County. 

William P. Gibbons, M. D. — Was born in Wilmington, Newcastle County, Del- 
aware, April 19, i8i2,and is the son of William Gibbons, M. D., and Rebecca (Donald- 
son) Gibbons. Having resided with his parents, and from them received a careful 
early training and education, he subsequently learned and followed the printing 
business for several years. Mindful of the necessity of a more liberal education, he 
also attended during this period medical and scientific lectures in Philadelphia, and 
became a member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, which institu- 
tion has ever afforded the best opportunities for study and investigation in every 
department of science. It was here that botany became a specialty, outside of his 
subsequent profession. Failing in health, he returned to the count}- of his birth, 
and farmed there until 1839, when he was induced to take charge of a seminary for 
young ladies, at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New \'ork, a position he held until 
1849. During his tenure of this office he assiduously devoted himself to the stud>- 
of medicine, and, by more than ordinarily close application, was enabled to graduate 
in the year 1846, in the Universit}' of the city of New York. In the last-mentioned 
year, aided by Messrs. Kelly and Pratt, two lights of the "fourth estate," Dr. Gibbons 
made a raid upon the ancient Lancashire School system in Poughkeepsie, and b_\- a 
series of well-planned and successful attacks carried war into the camp of the encm\-, 
overthrew the pernicious method of a b_\--gone antiquity, and succeeded in establishing 
the free school system, which has, far and wide, become a pride to our country. For 
four years the Doctor served as President of the Board for the management of this 
system, which he had been instrumental in creating, with the gentlemen above named. 
In the month of December, 1852, he sailed from New York, per steamer Uncle Saw, 
to the Isthmus of Panama, where he was attacked with cholera, then so i)re\alent 
among the emigrants, who were detained by thousands in that pestiferous climate. 
The Doctor sa}-s that he shall ever remember with gratitude the kindly act of the 
late W. C. Ralston, who carried him in his arms from the hotel to the beach, when he 
was so enfeebled by disease as to be unable to walk. It is trul_\- b\- such happ\' 
actions that friendships are cemented and recollections .ire perpetuated. From Pan- 
ama he sailed on the Cortes, Captain Crocker, on that memorably tiisastrous \oyagc. 



Biographical Sketches. 887 



during which fifty-eight of her passengers were buried in the ocean, as many 
more having succumbed to the cholera on the Isthmus; and shortly after landing, on 
January 3, 1853, he commenced the practice of his profession. This he continued 
until 1856, when he moved to Columbia, Tuolumne County, and lo! here the old 
Lancashire School system flourished like a green bay tree. To attack it was second 
nature with the Doctor; aided by a few citizens, in a little while the free school 
system was inaugurated, a brick school house was built, and accommodation provided 
for the instruction of two hundred children. Doctor Gibbons resided in Tuolumne 
Count}' until 1862, when he made a trip to Mono County, and finally took up his 
quarters in Aurora, Esmeralda County, Nevada; moving therefrom, however, in 1863, 
to Alameda County and town, where he has since practiced his profession. At the 
incorporation of the town of Alameda, in 1872, Doctor Gibbons was elected to the 
position of President of the Board of Education, and was mainly instrumental in 
the organization of the present school system for which that town-township is so 
deservedly famous. Married, March 5, 1835, Mrs. Mary Robinson, a native of New 
York City, .the ceremony being performed in the good old Quaker fashion, while their 
marriage certificate has on its face no less than one hundred and thirteen names. The 
family now surviving by this union consists of three sons, viz.: Robinson, Alfred, and 
William. 

William T. Gibbs. — Was born in Howard County, Missouri, June 6, 1829, and 
is the son of Frederick and Elvira (Fields j Gibbs. Receiving his early schooling, and 
having served an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade there, in 1850 he started for 
California by way of the plains and at once proceeded to El Dorado County, where for 
twenty-seven years he was chiefly engaged in mining, six years of which he filled the 
office of Justice of the Peace, and for several years was a Notary Public. In 1877 he 
took up his residence in Alameda County, and commenced his present business of 
blacksmith in Oakland. Mr. Gibbs has always been an active Republican, and is at 
present Chairman of the City Republican Central Committee of Oakland. Married, 
November 10, 1851, Cynthia A. Turner, by whom he has eight children, viz.: Elizabeth, 
Elvira, William T., Jr.,. Olive, Alice, Mary, Andy I., and George D. 

Col. E. M. Gibson. — Of the thousands of young men, who, at the outset of the 
Rebellion went promptly forward at the call of their country's distress, and who fought 
heroically through that contest for the supremacy of the Union and the preservation of 
national honor, there \yas no one who responded more enthusiastically to the call, or 
who bears more lastingly the evidences of service well rendered than the subject of this 
sketch. Col. E. M. Gibson. It is not that his heroism was of any more distinguishing 
quality than that of his comrades, for all were heroes; but that he was one of that 
vast army of patriots who proffered their lives for a bulwark against oppression and 
dissension, and, as such, won for himself the meed of praise that is befittingly 
ascribed to those both dead and living, whose sacrifices have ennobled the inheritance 
of manhood in this country. Colonel Gibson is a native of Hamilton County, Indiana, 
where he was born on the 13th day of June, 1842. His parents were natives of North 
Carolina, and were of the old Quaker stock. They reared their children in accord- 
ance with the strict principles of worth and integrity, which are the grand foundation- 
stones of that most pure and elevating faith. The grandfather of our subject was a 
Revolutionary soldier, and a pensioner to the day of his death for service rendered in 
that war. His grandmother on his mother's side was a near relative of the late E. M. 
Stanton, the distinguished Secretary of War. His father moved to Indiana while the 
country was yet new, and won for his family, by industry and thrift, a moderate com- 
petence for their support. Col. Gibson's opportunities for an education were neces- 
sarily limited, as the country was but poorly developed, and log school houses with 
benches, desks of slabs, with one end of the room devoted to a fire-place, greased paper 
for window-panes, and the rudest facilities for instruction — were as much a part of his 
early experience as of many another Western boy who has risen to positions of honor 



888 History of Alameda County, California. 

and trust, if not to fame. His success to-day is due to his own resolute and steady 
diligence, to an inherited practical talent and a manly integrity, the best patrimony 
ever bequeathed by parent to child. In the midst of the slaver)- agitation his father, 
true to the principles of his religion, cast his fortunes with the growing party of free- 
dom, and the son, while yet a boy, following in the footsteps, likewise formed an 
ardent attachment for the party of liberty and Republican ideas. At the age of 
eighteen, when the war broke out, he enlisted as a private soldier in Company A, 
19th Indiana Volunteers, and soon went with his regiment to Washington City, which 
was then menaced by the Confederate Army encamped within sight of the capitol. 
He served with his regiment in the Army of the Potomac, participating in the battles 
of Gainesville, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Mountain, Antietam, First and 
Second Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and many skirmishes and engagements, 
including Pope's celebrated retreat from the Rapidan River to Washington City, when 
the army was under fire for twenty-one consecutive days. F"inally, at Gettysburg, 
that contest which broke the backbone of the Rebellion, he fell at the head of his men 
in one of the first battles, with his right ankle so badly shattered by a grape-shot that 
amputation became necessary. It was thus that this youth, who went out in strength 
and vigor from his fond, early home, at the call of his country's distress, returned four 
years later scarred and crippled, and in suffering and experience veritably a veteran. 
Compelled by his disability to engage in an occupation of a professional character 
rather than in agricultural pursuits, which had been the delight of his early years, Col. 
Gibson chose the law. Returning to Washington Cit\', he spent two years in the 
Columbian Law College, at the end of which period he graduated with honor, and was 
admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. F"or six )'ears 
he was employed in one of the Executive Departments at Washington, during which 
interval he married. He came to this coast in 1870; practiced law in San Jose, San 
Francisco, and Oakland, and for the last three years has been District Attorney of 
Alameda County. How well and how faithfulh' he has discharged the duties of that 
office the public well understand and appreciate. Such are the leading incidents in 
the life of this patriotic citizen, who has always maintained an elevated standard of 
morality and political honesty. In 1882 he received the nomination of the Republican 
Convention for the office of Railroad Commissioner of the Third Railroad District, 
and made an active canvass of the southern half of the State, making forty-seven 
speeches in twenty different counties. He was defeated, as the State went over- 
whelmingly Democratic at the election, but ran about four thousand votes ahead of 
his ticket. He is now out of politics, and engaged in the practice of law in Oakland, 
and is living a quiet, happy life. His most amiable and excellent wife and three bright 
charming little daughters, are devotedly attached to him, and make his home on 
Jefferson Street one of the most happy in Oakland. He delights in stud\- and gives 
much time to reading history and literature, being a man of refinement and of a 
sympathetic nature and very temperate in his habits. 

J. C. GiLSON. — Was born in Rockingham, Windham County, \'ermont. May 23, 
1844. He received an elementar\- education in the common and academic schools of 
his own State, and subsequently spent about two years as a student in Amherst Col- 
lege. Mr. Gilson began teaching at the age of seventeen years, and successiveK' taught 
in the States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. From the latter State in 
the spring of 1869, he came to California and engaged in teaching in Alameda County, 
and continued in his. chosen profession until elected County Superintendent of Schools 
in 1877. Having served the county for a term of two years, he was at the following 
election re-elected for three years, but resigned the office in March, 1S82, to take the 
position of Superintendent of the Oakland cit)' schools. He is married and has two 
children. 

Hon. John Ragland Gla.SCOCI<:. — Was bom in Panola County, Mississippi, 
August 25, 1845; thence he removed, with his parents, to North Carolina, and after- 



Biographical Sketches. 889 



wards to Virginia. In 1856 he came to California, and from that time until 1858 
lived in San Francisco. In the latter year the family settled in Oakland, where Mr. 
Glascock entered the Durant School, then under control of the Rev. Henry Durant, 
the father of education in this State, the founder of the College of California, and the 
leading spirit in the formation of the University of California Under the influence 
of this wise and guileless old man Mr. Glascock was prepared for college, which he 
entered in 1861. He graduated in 1865 as valedictorian of his class. At school and 
in college he showed a quick and ready mind, and gave promise of intellectual ripe- 
ness, which promise his manhood has amply fulfilled. After graduation he read law 
in his father's office; but wishing for more advantages for legal education than our 
young State then possessed, in 1867 he went East, and entered the law school at the 
University of Virginia, where, by close application, he compressed a two years' course 
into one year. Returning to this State in 1S68, he was admitted to the practice of 
law by the Supreme Court, and immediately entered into practice with his father, W. 
H. Glascock, with whom he has remained ever since. In the spring of 1875 he married 
Miss Mary Wall, a daughter of Jesse S. Wall, a prominent citizen of Oakland. The 
result of this union has been two children, both having been born in this county. Mrs. 
Glascock is an intelligent and accomplished lady, well known through her literary 
work, and, particularly, as being the author of an interesting novel entitled "Dare." 
In the fall of 1875 Mr. Glascock was elected District Attorney of Alameda County by 
over eight hundred majority, being the first Democrat elected in the county for many 
years. He served the people faithfully and conscientiously, satisfying all by his integrity 
and good work, and, upon the expiration of his term, declining a second nomination, 
returned to the practice of law. In 1880, much against his inclination, the nomina- 
tion for Congress in the Second Congressional District was forced upon him by the 
Democrats of that district. He recognized the impossibility of success, but, true to 
his idea of duty, having accepted, he literally took off his coat and went into the fight;, 
and, though defeated, succeeded, through personal popularity, and a most thorough 
canvass, in very largely reducing the majority against him. In 1882 he was selected 
by the Democratic State Convention as a nominee for Congress from the State-at- 
Large by the handsome vote of three hundred and eighteen out of four hundred and 
fifty-seven members constituting that body. He made the most extended canvass of 
the campaign, speaking in almost every county in the State, and was elected by over 
thirteen thousand majority. During the campaign he earned a well deserved reputa- 
tion for oratory. He is a fluent and powerful speaker, drawing a crowd by his personal 
magnetism, and holding" them well. He is yet a young man, and a brilliant future is 
predicted for him in Congress. He occupies a high position at the bar as a good 
pleader and logical reasoner; and in politics, he stands forth as an incorruptible man, 
ever on the side of the people, and against special privilege and injustice. He is bold 
in enunciating his principles, and firm in maintaining them. Mr. Glascock is justly 
considered one of the leading young men of the State. Alameda has now the first 
representative, elected from her county, in Congress — one who is identified in every 
way with her interest, and alive to her welfare; a man upon whom she can fully rely, as 
a mother upon the strength and intelligence of her son. 

George Godfrey. — This old pioneer of the Golden State is a native of Wind- 
sor, Berkshire, England, and was born October 20, 181 5. The first twelve years 
of his boyhood were spent in his native village, when he went to London and 
first found employment in a coffee store, where he remained for two years. Our sub- 
ject then engaged in a saw factory, where he worked for the following eight years. 
In the fall of 1825 he enlisted in the reserve battalion Rifle Brigade, and was stationed 
at Dover, from whence he was ordered with his regiment to Halifax, Nova Scotia, 
where he remained some four years. Then purchasing his discharge, he came to the 
United States, and first located in Boston, Massachusetts, arriving there in 1846. 
Then he was employed on a lighter, unloading vessels, until the summer of 1849, 
57 " ■ 



890 History of Alameda County, Calii-(jknia. 

when he concluded to seek his fortune in the Golden State, and he accordingly took 
passage on board the Leopard. Coming via Cape Horn, he arrived in San Francisco 
June 14, 1850. Unlike most of the early Californians, Mr. Godfrey did not make his 
way to the mines, but located in San Francisco, and engaged in the laundry business, 
in which he was very successful; and, at the close of fourteen }'ears, with strict economy 
and close attention to business he found himself possessed of an ample fortune. 
He sold out his laundry, and a short time after opened a real estate office on Howard 
Street, San Francisco, which business he still continues. He is well known in San 
Francisco and Oakland as a man of the strictest integrity, and highly respected by 
all who know him. Mr. Godfrej- was united in marriage in Boston to Miss Jane 
Outhwait, and after a union of unalloyed happiness of thirt\--seven years, the}- were 
separated on the 24th of February, 1883, when, on the above date, his dearly belo\ed 
wife departed this life. Mr. Godfrey has ever since his arrival in Alameda County 
been a resident of West Oakland; but in the summer of 1883 he began the erection 
of an elegant residence on Market Street, between Ninth and Tenth, in which he will 
spend the remainder of his days in that comfort which alwa\-s follows a well-spent 
and prosperous life. 

Theo. Gorner. — The subject of this sketch came to California in the year 1866, 
resided in Oakland, Alameda County, until 1873, having settled there in 1871. Mov- 
ing to Livermore, he purchased the harness shops of George A. Beebe and C. N. 
Lewis, and in 1877 built his present establishment at the corner of First and J Streets, 
where he carries on a general harness and saddlery business. During the year 1878- 
79 he officiated as Town Clerk of Livermore. Ls married, and has four children, viz.: 
Dora, Katie, Walter, and Alma. 

Arthur James Greene. — Is the son of Ransome and Susan (Dyer) Greene, 
and was born in Willett, Cortland County, New York, February 19, 1857. Having, 
at the age of nine years, been moved to Cortland b}* his parents, he there attended 
the Cortland Academy, which leaving, he established himself in the drug business, 
which he continued until coming to California. In August, 1878, Mr. Greene located 
in Alameda, and opened his present drug store. He married, No\'ember 29, 1882, 
Miss Ella C. Megerle. 

Theodore Greene. — Was born in Willett, Cortland County, New York, May 
6, 1S47, and is the son of Ransome and Susan (Dyer) Greene. He resided in his 
birthplace, going to school, and laboring on a farm until his eighteenth )-ear, when he 
entered the Cortland Academ\-. After a two years' course, he commenced clerking 
in a drygoods store, and followed it three j^ears, when he began business for himself 
in Cortland, the County seat, with S. E. Welch, under the firm name of S. E. Welch 
& Co., which was continued until the departure of our subject for California, in 
1876. In April, 1877, he established himself in Alameda, where he now resides. 
Married, in 1872, Miss Adele Mehan, b\- whom he has no issue. 

Henry C. Gregory. — Is a native of the State of New York, having been born 
in Hudson, on the banks of the beautiful river of that name. His earliest j'ears, 
however, were passed in Schoharie County, whence, at eleven. years of age, he was 
taken by his parents to Sullivan County, where our subject went to school, engaged 
in mercantile pursuits, and resided until December 27, 1859, when he proceeded to 
New York City, and on January 3, i860, sailed for California, bringing with him 
one hundred and nine hives of bees, intending to sell them, and return. But how 
true is the axiom, that "the best laid plans, 'mongst mice and men, gang aft aglcy." 
Arriving in San Francisco on February 1, i860, he went to Marin Count}-, there bar- 
tered his apiary for two sloop-loads of fence-posts, which taking to Main Prairie, in 
Solano County, where after paying freight and expense of piling, the floods came and 
swept it all away; he then returned to the Bay City. In the spring of the year 
he came to Alameda County, learned telegraph operating, took charge of the office 
in Oakland, was two months later moved to San Leandro, and three weeks after 



Biographical Sketches. 891 

opened the office in Centreville, where he remained three months. At the expiration 
of this time he was transferred to Lake Tahoe, where he had charge of the telegraph 
office there for eighteen months; but now Mr. Gregory made up his mind to try his 
luck at the mines, he therefore proceeded to Reese River, Nevada; but finding, at the 
end of a twelvemonth, he had lost $3,000, he changed his camp to John Day River, 
and during the first year there made about $40,000; but the next year, through 
unprofitable investments — chiefly in the purchase of a ditch, for which he paid 
$4S,ooo, and two years after sold for $2, 000 — he lost all. He then, in 1865, came to 
San Francisco, and found employment with B. C. Horn, as traveling salesman. Two 
years later he opened a cigar store at the American Exchange, and at the end of two 
more years returned to Nevada, locating at White Pine, where he opened a tobacco 
business, being also engaged in mining for a twelvemonth. Mr. Gregory now returned 
to Centreville, purchased the store of C. J. Stevens, conducted the business there until 
1878, during which time he accumulated a good deal of money, and then selling 
out, bought the "Niehaus Ranch," and embarked in farming; but this property he 
has since sold, at the present time owning but fifty acres of the original purchase. 
While in business at Centreville Mr. Gregory held the office of Postmaster for 
eight years. We next find our subject conducting the New York Exchange, in San 
Jose, where he remained until his opening the Gregory House, at Centreville, one of 
the best hotels in the county, in connection with which he has a livery stable. Mr. 
Gregory has been twice married, and has three children, viz.: May, Amy, and George. 

Charles Hadsell. — The subject of this sketch is an old resident of Alameda 
County, having arrived within its boundaries before it was segregated ■ from the 
counties of Contra Costa and Santa Clara; is a native of Berkshire County, Massa- 
chusetts; born December 14, 1832, and is a descendant of the old Pilgrim stock, his 
father being born in the above State, November 5, 1804; and our subject is the second 
child of a family of five, two sons and three daughters. When but four years of 
age his parents moved to Chenango County, New York, where they remained for two 
years, and then took up their residence in Brown County, in the same State, where 
our subject resided until nearly eighteen years of age. September 3, 1851, Mr. 
Hadsell concluded to seek the land of gold, and accordingly took passage on board 
the steamer Illinois, via Chagres River, and after a weary journey on foot across the 
Isthmus of Panama, where he took passage on board the steamer Panama, and arrived 
in San Francisco, October 22d of the same year. On landing Mr. Hadsell, like 
most pioneers, immediately proceeded to' the mines in Tuolumne County, and 
embarked in mining until October 9, 1852, when he abandoned the mines and 
came to this county, first finding employment at Beard's Landing, in Washington 
Township, where he remained until the fall of 1853; when, after one year spent in 
Santa Cruz County, he finally located in Santa Clara County, and followed agricult- 
ural pursuits until the year 1862, when he moved to Suilol Valley, Alameda 
County, where he has since purchased a magnificent farm, on which he resides, 
honored and respected by the whole community in which he lives. Mr. Hadsell 
was united in marriage, April 16, 1868, to Miss Anna Maria Kolb, a native of Ger- 
many, by which union they have three children, viz.: Bertha A., Charles F., and 
Ann'ie M. 

LSRAEL BiDDLE Haines. — Whose portrait appears in this work, was born in 
Philadelphia, January 6, 1829, and is the son of Joseph and Achsah (Biddle) Haines. 
On account of being unfortunate in business Mr. Haines, Senior, put his son in the way 
of earning his own living at the early age of thirteen years. Commencing on a farm 
he there remained five years, when he returned home and served an apprenticeship to 
the carpenter's trade for four years and nine months, afterwards working as a journey- 
man for two years more. He then left his birthplace, and emigrating westwards made 
his first halt at New Albany, Indiana; at the end of four months he proceeded to St. 
Louis and there found employment for twenty-six months more, when he returned 



892 History of Alameda County, California. 

home to Philadelphia. April i, 1855, he sailed for California in the ship B. F. Hoxie 
and after rounding Cape Horn, arrived in San Franci.sco after a voyage of one hundred 
and fifty-two days. A few days after he came to Alameda County, and at once 
entered the employ of Mr. Black. A twelvemonth after he went to San Pablo, 
Contra Costa County, rented land and resided on it until October 16, 1862, when he 
settled in Alvarado, purchased his present place from J. G. Clark-, and has since main- 
tained a residence there. Married, March 9, 1870, Miss Charlotte L. Thompson, a 
native of Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, who was born in the same house in 
which General U. S. Grant first saw the light, and has the following family: Edward 
L., Robert T., Joseph B., Henry S., and Florence May. 

Caleb Scott Haley. — Son of Ebenezer Haley, was born in Yarmouth, Nova 
Scotia, February 16, 1833, was brought up on the farm, and received a common school 
education until December, 1847. At that time he left home to follow the sea, the usual 
occupation of the young men of that part of the province, it having been noted for the 
building and sailing of vessels for many years. His father coming to California in 
1849, by the desire of his parents he remained on the farm until October, 1852, when he 
determined to seek his fortune in California, went to Boston, Massachu.setts, shipped as 
seaman on the ship Whirhuind, Captain Burgess. Sailed November 11, 1852, arri\-ed 
in San Francisco, March 1 1, 1853, after a fine passage of one hundred and twenty days. 
Engaged in running on the bay of San Francisco for a short time, with Captain Ste- 
phen Larkins, now of Washington Township, in the schooner Sea Horse; he not liking 
that business, abandoned it, and came to the farm where he now resides, and which he 
afterwards purchased in company with his father in 1856. Returning to his native 
land in 1876, he married Miss Annie L. Barclay, daughter of the late Andrew Barclay, 
Esq., of Shelburne Co., Nova Scotia, October 3, 1876, and after a pleasant visit of 
three months in his native town, from which he had been absent twenty-four years, 
and which he found almost entirely changed, he felt that there was no longer any 
home there for him. After visiting the Centennial, and many other places of interest, 
he returned to California, bringing his fair wife to his old home, where he has 
remained since 1853, with the exception of that short visit. He has seen many 
changes during that time, and the greater part of his neighbors have either removed 
or died since he settled here. He has always endeavored to cast his influence on the 
side of truth and morality. Has two sons and one daughter. 

P^BENEZER Haley, Senior. — Whose portrait appears in this work, was born in 
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, March 11, 1801. His parents were some of the pioneers of 
that province, and he was brought up a farmer by them. He first married in 1821, 
and his wife died in 1824, leaving one son who was lost at sea in 1843. He was 
married to his present wife in 1832, and has five sons and three daughters, all of whom 
are settled on the Pacific Coast. He was among the first to leave his native land 
when the news of the discover}' of gold in California came to that country. He and 
eighteen others sailed from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, November 22, 1849, in the brig 
Mary Jane of eighty tons burden, laden with lumber consisting of house-frames and 
various other articles in that line. Among the fellow-passengers and co-operative 
owners was the late B. B. Redding, and several others who remained permanently in 
this State. Arrived here in May, 1850, after a passdge of one hundred and eight\-- 
three days, twenty-six days of which they were becalmed and placed on allowance of 
water, they finally reached the Gallepagos Islands, secured water and a lot of terrapin 
which they brought to this market. Went to the mines upon arrival, mined on the 
Yuba River at Downieville, Minnesota Flat, and in that locality, until November, 
1 852,. during which time he suffered many hardship.s, and his fellow-miner and brother- 
in-law. Captain Ebenezer Scott, died there in July, 185 i, and he himself was very sick 
at the same time, but finally recovered. He had the usual luck of the miners of that 
day, all of whom did not make fortunes. Upon arrival in Washington Township in 
1852, engaged in farming until May 1S55, returned to Nova Scotia with the intention 



■ BOIGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 893 

of passing the rest of his days on his farm in that place, but after remaining a few 
months sold his property and removed his family to California — all of them who were 
at home. One son being already here, and others away at sea who came afterwards 
from different parts of the world. In November, i8SS, settled on the farm where he 
now resides, with several of his children in the same locality. He is now eighty-two 
years of age, and with his estimable wife, a woman of much force of character aged 
seventy-four years, who has been his companion and helpmate for more than fifty years, 
lives under his own vine and fig-tree, loved and respected by all for his integrity, 
kindness, and upright character. 

Jonathan E. Haley. — This well-known gentleman of Washington township is 
a native of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, was born June i8, 1837, and is the son of 
E. Haley, whose portrait appears in this history. His boyhood until eighteen 
years of age was spent in his native place, part of the time on a farm and the last 
few years following a seafaring life. In the spring of i860 our subject shipped on 
board the Joliii Land bound for San Francisco, arriving in the metropolis in June of 
that year. He came direct to Washington Township, Alameda County, and first 
found employment at Mowry's Landing. He then found work in different places until 
1878 when he purchased his present valuable farm of one hundred and eight acres 
located one half mile from Newark, where he has since farmed with good success. 
Mr. Haley was united in marriage in East Oakland to Miss Harriet Keltey, a native of 
California; by this union they have been blessed with four children, viz.: Ralph W., 
Amelia A., Alice M., and May A. 

W. W. Haley. — Was born in Nova Scotia, March 31, 1840, and there resided 
until the spring of 1855, when he commenced following the sea, arriving home in time 
to accompany his father on his return journey to California, reaching Alameda County 
in the fall of that year, and settling on his father's farm. He first engaged on his 
own account for four years in the sheep business in Murray Township, at the expira- 
tion of which he returned to Washington Township and purchased a farm about half a 
mile from Newark, comprising ninety-two acres. October 16, 1868 he married Miss 
Anna M., daughter of Ashley Cameron of Centreville a native of La Calle, Canada. 
Continued farming up to the spring of 1882, when finding his wife's health failing fast' 
leased his farm and devoted his whole time to her, who after a brief illness died 
August 17, 1882, leaving a family of four children, viz.: Azner L., William W., Ida M., 
and Chester C. After losing his wife he sold a portion of his farm and bought the 
interest of S. B. Dodge & Co., in their general store in Centreville, where he now 
carries on business under the style of W. W. Haley & Co. Mr. Haley is a member 
of the Pioneer Association of Washington, Eden, and Murray Townships. 

John Hampel. — Was born in the city of Wetter Koin, Hessen, Germany, 
November 5, 1826, where he commenced to learn the blacksmith's trade at the age of 
fourteen years. On September 21, 1846, he sailed for the United States, and arriving 
in New York January i, 1847, went to work in Herring's Safe Factory, where he was 
employed as safe-maker for eleven years. Determining now to proceed to the Pacific 
Coast Mr. Hampel sailed from New York on April 17, 1858, and on the i6th of the 
following month arrived in San Francisco, crossing the bay to San Antonio (Brooklyn), 
where he resided four months. On October 12, 1858, he purchased fifty acres of land 
situated on the Moraga Road, Brooklyn Township, when it was nought but an unre- 
claimed wilderness, and neighbors were miles apart, and there took up his residence, 
for the first six years being engaged besides in working oxen. Here he commenced 
agriculture and reaped in the early years large crops, and has since maintained his 
dwelling on the place. He married in New York, May i, 1853, Miss E. Juenger, a 
native of Germany, and has: Henry F., born February 3, 1854; John W., born April 
13, 1856; Conrad F., born March 29, 1859; John H., born March 8, 1861; Katie E., 
born December 5, 1865; Mary L., born March 24, 1870. 



894 History of Alameda County, California. 

Lowell J. Hardy. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Watham, Massachusetts, July 3, 181 7, and is the son of Nahum and 
and Mary (Smith) Hardy, and there resided with his parents until the year 1839, when 
he moved to Indiana, there teaching school in the city of Madison for one season, 
when he returned to his native place, and there, July 14, 1842, married Miss Matilda 
Sproul. He now embarked in farming, and was thus engaged up till the time of his 
departure for California. Leaving home December 15, 1849, Mr. Hard}- took pas.sage 
from Boston, sailing January 25, 1850, and after voyaging around the Horn, came to 
an anchor in San Francisco Bay on August 6, 1850, the Rol> Roy having been consid- 
erably delayed on the voyage. Having comfortably located his family at a place then 
standing at the corner of Clay and Stockton Streets, San Francisco, our subject him- 
self proceeded to the mines, where he remained four months. He next worked at the 
carpentering trade at wages rating from eight to ten dollars per day, being so occu- 
pied until the month of October, 1850, when he purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of the Peralta Rancho, but did not obtain legal title for some fifteen years. 
This property is that on which a considerable porcion of the western part of the city 
of Oakland stands. Here Mr. Hardy has since resided, respected by all his fellow-citi- 
zens as an honest upright man. In 1866 he commenced dealings in real estate, which 
he still continues. He married in the year 1842, as we have said above, and was 
unfortunate enough to lose his partner by death on October 4, 1865. His famih' con- 
sists of Eliza J. (now Mrs. Holland); Lowell J., Mellium H. Married, secondly, 
March 30, 1870, Mrs. Mary A. Dillon, a native of Philadelphia. 

Andrew Jack.SON Hare. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, was born in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, October 15, 1838, and is the 
son of John and Katharine (Kiser) Hare. Losing his father when two j-ears old, he 
accompanied his mother to Reedsburg, in the same count}* and State, where he 
attended the common schools of the district, afterwards completing his educational 
course at the Vermilion Institute, in Hayesville, Ashland County, Ohio. At the age 
of eighteen years he returned to Reedsburg, and entered upon the profession of school- 
teaching, in the very hall where he had received the first rudiments of his scholastic 
training. In 1858, transferring the scene of his operations to Jeromeville, in Ashland 
County, he there entered the store of his maternal uncle, Simon Kiser, and during 
the year he was there engaged also perforrrted the duties of Deputy Postmaster. Mr. 
Hare now determined to try his luck on the sunny slopes of the Pacific; therefore, 
leaving Jeromeville, on February, 15, 1859, he proceeded to New York, there took 
passage on board the steamer Star of the West for the Isthmus, and continuing the 
voyage from Panama to San Francisco in the old John L. Stephens, cast anchor within 
the Golden Gate on March 17, 1859. It may be mentioned that the latter steamer 
took fire on the passage up the coast while racing with the opposition boat. Uncle 
Sam, but the conflagration was easily extinguished. On arrival ilr. Hare soon left 
the Bay City for the mines on Indian Creek, near Placerville, El Dorado County, 
where he remained until March, 1868, when he returned to San Francisco. While in 
El Dorado County he taught school during two terms in 1866 and 1867 at Rose Springs, 
and one term in 1867 at Clarksville. On arrival at the bay he was engaged in the 
lumber firm of J. W'. Hodgkin & Co., South San Francisco, as salesman and book- 
keeper, and aided to establish that business there. While a resident there, in 1870, 
he established and built South San Francisco Lodge, No. 212, F. and A. M., and is one 
of its charter members. In the last-mentioned year Mr. Hare established himself in 
the wood and coal business in South San Francisco, in which he continued until 
August, 1874, when he took up his residence in Decoto, Alameda Count}'. On Octo- 
ber I, 1874, he was appointed agent at that place for the Central Pacific Railroad 
Company, and as such remained until October 12, 1881, while on June 5, 1875, he 
was chosen to fill the position of agent for Wells, Fargo & Co., which he held until he 
resigned the railroad agency. On July 12, 1875, he was appointed Postmaster at 



Biographical Sketches. 895 



Decoto, and is still the incumbent of that office. In 1 874, when appointed agent for 
the railroad, Mr. Hare also took charge of the warehouse that had been erected 
at this point by private parties, and in 1878 he purchased the preponderating 
interest in the concern. I 1 1876 another warehouse was built by the same parties 
above mentioned, eighty by forty feet in size, and, leasing it, it has been periodically 
added to until it now has a capacity of thirty-five thousand sacks of grain. In 1879 
he constructed the large warehouse, fifty by two hundred feet in dimensions, with a 
capacity of fifty-five thousand sacks, while in the fall of 1882 he put up yet another, 
forty by sixty feet in size, with a capacity of fifteen thousand sacks, making four 
warehouses in all, with storage room for seven thousand tons of grain. On July 4, 
1878, he opened the first store in Decoto, and conducted it until February 12, 1881, 
when he sold the stock in trade to Beckwith Brothers. In 1880-82 he con- 
ducted the Dry Creek picnic grounds, situated near Decoto, and in 1882 established 
his barley and feed mill, which is now in operation, the product of which he ships 
to Oregon and other places on the coast. In 1874 he commenced his dwelling-house, 
and has since added to it until he has now an elegant and commodious residence. 
Mr. Hare is a member of the A. O. U. W., I. O. C. R, I. O. O. F., and is a Knight 
Templar, being also Worshipful Master of Alameda Lodge, No. 167, Centreville, and a 
member of the San Jose Commandery. It will thus be inferred from the foregoing that 
Mr. Hare is possessed of remarkable energy and much administrative capability. His 
work speaks for itself; his honor has made him respected, while his dealings have 
earned for him more than an ordinary share of the world's goods. Married, at Rose 
Springs, El Dorado County, September 29, 1864, Miss Ella Rebecca, daughter of J. 
VV. Hodgkin and Calista N. Goodsell (Hodgkin), a daughter of Captain Goodsell, of 
Vermilion, Ohio, now of San Leandro, Alameda County, and has three children, viz.: 
Charles A., born at Rose Springs, El Dorado County, January 18, 1867; Emma E. 
born in South San Francisco, October 21, 1869; Laura E., born in South San Fran- 
cisco, March 15, 1873. 

Walter W. Haskell. — Was born in West Gloucester, Massachusetts, January 
26, 1846, where he remained until he attained the age of sixteen years, when he went 
to Salem, in the same State, there engaged as a clerk in a grocery store, and remained 
two years. Next moving to Lynn, he became a clerk to E. W. Osborne & Co., and 
subsequently went to St. Louis, Missouri, on a six months' visit. Mr. Haskell now 
located in Smoky Hill Valley, town of Salina, Saline County, Kansas, and became 
interested in a section of land with T. F. Oakes, the present Vice-President of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad Company. In October, 1868, he left Kansas for San 
Francisco, where he arrived November 27, 1868, and at once entered the employ of 
Kohler & Chase, but at the end of a year he proceeded to Carson City, Nevada, and 
became salesman with John G. Fox, in a general variety store. January 25, 1882, he 
married Miss Clara F. Osborne, of San Francisco, and, residing in Carson until June, 
1872, he then came to Alameda County, engaged as clerk for C. R. Bowen, in a 
general mercantile business on the southeast corner of Park Street and Webb Avenue, 
Alameda, with whom he remained until the closing out of the businesss in 1874, and 
continued with his successor, A. S. Barber, for a twelvemonth thereafter. Mr. Haskell 
now entered the store of F. Boehmer, in the town of Alameda, for a year, when he 
accepted the offer of going into the insurance business as special agent for the Ala- 
meda Count}' Branch of the Home Mutual Insurance Company of California, his 
field being the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa. Here he remained until 1876, 
when he became one of the firm of Brown, Craig & Co., as General Fire Insurance 
Agents, at No. 215 Sansome Street, San Francisco. In July, 1881, he accepted the 
position of city agent of the Travelers' Life and Accident Insurance Company,now 
doing business at the southeast corner of Pine and Montgomery Streets, a position he 
yet occupies, while he is a resident of Alameda County. His family consists of two 
children, viz.: Lola Lee and Edmund. In 1875 Mr. Haskell attended the golden 



896 History of Alameda County, Calii-ornia. 

wedding of his parents, celebrated at the old homestead, when the family of ten 
children, save one, were present. In our subject we have a man of strict business 
tact and integrity, circumstances that have won for him the confidence and esteem of 
all with whom he has been brought in contact; indeed, he is as favorably known as 
any man of his age on the Pacific Coast. 

FoRDYCE H. Hawley. — Was born in Ferrisburg, Addison Count)-, \'ermont, 
February 27, 1838, where he chiefly resided until he reached the age of twelve years, 
at which time, his father coming to California, he made his home with General S. P. 
Strong, of Vergennes, X'ermont, where he remained until he attained the age of six- 
teen years, when he went to Potsdam, New York, to engage in business with his 
uncle, Berlin Price, who was one of the owners of the Bank of Potsdam, New York. 
He remained there until his twentieth year, then going to Chicago, where he entered a 
dry goods house. Accompanied by his brother, Henry A. Hawley, on December 20, 
1859, he sailed from New York for San Francisco by way of Panama, where he 
arrived January 14, i860. Mr. Hawley at once proceeded to Butte County, and sub- 
sequently to Plumas Count}', where he was engaged in quartz-mining fifteen years. 
In 1880 he took up his residence in the town of Alameda, but concluding not to 
remain inactive, he commenced the erection of the Bank of Livermore February 13, 
1882, which is a fine two-story brick building erected at the corner of Main and Lizzie 
Streets. The bank was opened to business March 26, 1883. Mr. Hawley was mar- 
ried in New York City to Dr. Homer Bostwick's daughter, on January 1, 1883. 

William Hayward. — This much respected early settler, whose portrait appro- 
priately finds a place in this work, was born in Hopkinton, Middlesex County, Mas- 
sachusetts, August 31, 1 81 5, and resided on his father's farm at that place until he 
grew to man's estate. In 1836 he proceeded to Georgetown, Essex County, in the 
same State, and finding employment in a shoe factor}- there, remained about ten 
years. On April 23, 1849, Mr. Hayward sailed on board the steamer Unicorn — the 
the third of that kind of craft intended for the San Francisco and Panama route — 
a British vessel, and steaming through the Straits of Magellan, arrived at Panama, 
where the Union Jack gave place to the Stars and Stripes, under which ensign the 
vo}'age to San Francisco was completed, where the}- arrived August 31, 1849. A few 
days later our subject proceeded to the mines at Mormon Island, but shortly after 
moved to Missouri Bar, whence he went to the North Fork of the American River, 
where, as he quaintly observes, he "mined as long as his money lasted," a remark that 
does not point to much success. While located in the vicinity of Auburn, Mr. Hay- 
ward and several others associated themselves together for the purpose of changing 
the course of the North Fork of the American River, but the enterprise proved woe- 
fully disastrous to the members, and caused the return of our subject to the city of 
San Francisco in the fall of 1850. He next proceeded in search of a location in the 
southern mines, but not finding one suited to his taste, he commenced a return jour- 
ney, accidentally struck the Livermore Valley, followed it, and what are now called 
the San Ramon and Pacheco Valleys, to Martinez, and thence to San Francisco. 
Here he contemplated upon the country through which he had passed, and was 
amazed at the luxuriance of the wild oats that grew on valley, hill, and mountain. 
He saw that hay-making would be an industry of no mean pretensions in the future; 
therefore, purchasing a couple of scythes, he made his wa}- to the pro.ximit}- of where 
the village of Dublin now stands, and there worked for a while. Mr. Hayward now 
determined to make towards the bay, and coming through the Polamres Carton, 
there decided to settle. Pitching his tent, he made his arrangements for a per- 
manent location, but receiving intimation from William L astro that he had taken po.s- 
session of his property, he was requested to move on. Castro, however, suggested to 
him to proceed further down the vallc}-, where he would find land he could occupy 
with impunit}', and this he did, finally settling on the site of the present beautiful town 
of Haywards, erecting his tent on the space now occupied by a portion of A Street, 



Biographical Sketches. 897 



between his hotel building and that owned by him directly opposite. In the spring 
of 1852 he commenced the building of the Haywards Hotel, one of the first hostel- 
ries to be put up in the county. To this he has since added, until it now has one 
hundred rooms, and is the resort, during the summer months especially, of a continu- 
ous succession of guests. The whole section of country was then known by the 
name of San Lorenzo, called so after the Rancho, but on the establishment of a post- 
office at this town, it was called Haywards in honor of our subject, and as such is it 
still known. Mr. Hayward has always followed farming, in connection with the 
management of his hotel, while to him is the credit of having made many of the 
best roads in Eden Township, especially those leading into the town, better than 
which no other county in the State possesses. Not a few of these arteries of commu- 
nication were constructed at his own private expense, while the town bearing his 
his name owes much of its present and prospective prosperity to his energy and fore- 
sight. He has on two different terms served the county as one of its Board of 
Supervisors, where his practical views were ever of service, while his quiet demeanor 
and sterling worth have earned for him an enviable popularity among his fellows. 
Married, firstly, at Hopkinton, Massachusetts, in 1838, Miss Louisa Bartlett, a native 
of that State, who died in 1840, leaving one. daughter; and, secondly, in Haywards, 
April 5, 1866, Mrs. Rachael Bedford, a native of Lafayette, Indiana, by whom he has 
two children, viz.: Mary E. (now Mrs. S. P. Pope of San Francisco), and William M. 
Col. John C. Hays (deceased). — One by one the pioneers of California drop 
off, and soon nothing will be left but their memory and the few items gleaned from 
their lives and preserved in works such as the "History of Alameda County." It is 
not proposed to give in the following sketch any connected history of the life and 
exploits of the brave man who fell into that "sleep which knows no waking" on 
April 28, 1883. His busy life and countless deeds of daring require an abler pen 
and more extensive record in order to their proper representation. What we produce 
has been chiefly culled from the Oakland Daily Evening Tribune and the San Fran- 
cisco Morning Call. The story of his honorable career in Texas, Mexico, and Cali- 
fornia would fill volumes, for he was ever in the midst of times " that tried men's 
souls," ever conspicuous as a leader where danger threatened, and when the success of 
an enterprise depended on personal bravery as well as calm judgment. Our readers 
must be content with a few isolated instances of these qualities that have come to 
notice, and have not, many of them, appeared in consecutive form before. John 
Coffee Hays was born on January 28, 18 17, at Little Cedar Lick, Wilson County, 
Tennessee. His birthplace was quite close to "The Hermitage," so well known as the 
residence of General Jackson, and originally part of the Hays property. Fort 
Haysboro, in the same State, was built by John C. Hays' grandfather, who also dis- 
tinguished himself in the Indian wars against the Creek nation, under General Jack- 
son. Harmon Hays, his father, also fought with distinction under the same General, 
and rose to the rank of an officer. John C. Hays received a common school educa- 
tion, and at the age of fifteen left home for Mississippi, where he joined a party sur- 
veying the swamp lands in that locality. At that time Texas was the objective point 
of all adventurous, daring spirits, and it presented irresistible attractions to the mar- 
tial spirit of young Hays, and in 1837, when he was nineteen years of age, he joined 
the United States Army on the Brazos River, shortly after the battle of San Jacinto. 
He took service as a private, and his daring qualities soon singled him out as fitted 
for the perilous position and duties of a spy. At that time the usages of civilized war- 
fare were almost unknown, and were wholly unrecognized by the fierce Comanches and 
Cherokees, and the savage Mexican guerrillas, and this made the life of a spy espe- 
cially dangerous and responsible. The first historical mention of John C. Hays (then 
captain) we find is in Yokum's History of Texas, where, describing the operations of 
the scanty handful of Texan rangers against guerrillas from the other side of the Rio 
Grande, the author says: "One of these bands of Mexicans, under Ignacio Garcia, 



898 History of Alameda County, California. 

was met on the 7th of April, 1841, about ten miles from Laredo, by Captain John C. 
Hays, in command of a company of twenty-five scouts. After a short contest the 
enemy retreated, leaving three killed and three wounded. Captain Hays pursued the 
fugitives so closely that he took twent}'-five prisoners, without the loss of any of his 
command. He made an official report of this fight April 14, 1841." " These scouts," 
the author adds, " under Captain Ha>'s, were very useful and efficient in protecting 
the western frontier from Mexican and Indian incursions." The next affair in which 
Captain Hays is mentioned as being concerned was near San Antonio, from which 
place, while in command of only fifty men, he drew out the Mexican forces under 
General Adrian Woll, two hundred cavalry and six hundred infantry. Haj-s fell back 
on Salado Creek, east of San Antonio, where Caldwell was well posted with a force 
of about two hundred and twenty men, and in the action that ensued the Texans 
gained a complete victory. The adroit manner in which Captain Hays drew the 
enemy into the fight is regarded as a good piece of generalship. Colonel Hays used 
to relate with some gusto the story of a raw young Tennesseean who had joined 
General Sam Houston's army, when the Te.xan revolution was under full headway, 
and the Mexicans had invaded the country. It was in one of the first battles that 
took place, and was certainly the first big fight the young Tennesseean had ever seen. 
Where the hostile forces came in conflict there was a large patch of half-grown grass, 
and the Te.xans, anxious to take advantage of all the cover at hand, dropped out of 
sight at the first fire of the enemy. To the green Tennesseean the noise of musketry 
seemed like Pandemonium broke loose, and when he saw every one of his fellows 
drop as if killed, it was too much for him, and he let go everything and put out as 
fast as his legs could carry him. In his haste and fright he ran across Sam Houston, 
who hailed him and wanted to know why he had left the field and where he was 
going. "Home, jist as quick as I kin git. They're all down, all killed. Saw 'em 
drop." "Who do you mean?" "Our side; our fellow.s. Mexicans killed 'em all, fust 
go-off." "Young man," returned the old General, sternly, "make haste home. You've 
no business here. Go home and cross your blood with the Bowies." The Colonel 
possessed presence of mind in an eminent degree, as the following instance will prove. 
When quite a young man he was engaged as a surveyor in locating land-scrip issued 
to the soldiers in the war of 1812. It was wild land, somewhere in Tennessee or 
thereabouts; at any rate. Colonel Hays had need of quite a force of men to oppose the 
Indians, who roamed in numbers all over the country. George Work, who was the 
first sheriff of Sonoma County, in this State, and who was shot and killed by a man while 
in the act of arresting him, used to tell the story. In company with Colonel 
Hays, he had gone out early one morning to reconnoitre the redskins, when suddenly 
they found themselves ambushed by a large party. It was then a ride for life. An 
Indian who rode a fleeter horse than the others gained on the fugitives, and shot 
Work's animal under him. This was a critical moment; but the Colonel was equal 
to the emergency. He called out quick, and sharp, "George, take my horse, and lasso 
the first Indian who comes up." The Colonel dismounted and took a position where 
he was partly screened by projecting rocks. Work was in his place in the saddle, 
and in a twinkling had noosed the Indian. At the same moment the Colonel sent a 
ball through his heart and, as he fell out on the off side, with a bound like a panther, 
he was in the Indian's place, and both Work and himself rode rapidly out of danger. 
The relation of these exciting -events seems slow when compared with the actual 
rapidity of movement. It was no doubt in scenes similar to these where Colonel Hays 
got his early reputation as an Indian scout and fighter. Young Hays was between 
seventeen and twenty \'ears of age when he left Tennessee for Texas, and having 
spent a good deal of his time with the Delaware Indians, he was quite familiar with 
nomadic life and habits. He had not been long in the new territory before a hunting 
party was made up by the Delawares for the interior of New Me.xico, along the course 
of the Pecos River. Young Hays made one of the party, as woodcraft was at this 



Biographical Sketches. 899 



time, his sole occupation, and he was quite as much at home in "the timber" or on the 
prairie as any Indian of them all. The party soon arrived at the hunting-grounds, 
and were meeting with success in trapping, when one day a Delaware came into camp 
with the news that a marauding party of Comanches, following the trail from New- 
Mexico into Chihuahua, had surprised himself and trapping comrade, whom they 
killed. He escaped and came with the news. The plan adopted by the hunting 
party was to fix a point for rendezvous, while, in an area of leagues about it, the traps 
are set, which at stated periods are visited by the hunters, who generally go in 
couples. When this area is pretty well trapped over, the rendezvous is moved farther 
on and the same operation repeated. It was on one of these visits to the traps that 
the Comanches surprised the Delaware and his fellow, and took a scalp. On hearing 
the report the Delawares at once made ready for pursuit and revenge. Hays, who 
had cast in his lot with them, could not remain behind. The Comanches were well 
mounted. They are called the "horse Indians," as they are nearly always astride of 
their ponies, and avoid the brush in favor of the open country. They will not follow 
an enemy into the timber, but will hover around for days to catch him in the open. 
The Delawares were soon afoot and on the trail of their enemies, following them with 
that dogged purpose of revenge that is never satisfied, except by blood. The Colonel 
told very graphically the story of that long journey, with the never-tiring, swinging 
trot, of which, not having tribal instinct to sustain him, nor being actuated by a 
thirst for blood, he soon grew tired and became footsore. Nevertheless he held his 
pace, side by side, with his red-skinned companions. They neared the banks of the 
Rio Grande on the third day, in the cool and gray of the morning, and after a stealthy 
reconnoissance discovered their Comanche foes — numbering about one hundred and 
twenty — in a bend of the river. Their horses were picketed, and their owners reposing 
in fancied security, as they had set no outlook. The time and opportunity for attack 
were propitious. With a sudden war-whoop, the small band of Delawares sprung upon 
their foe. The crack of the rifle was followed rapidly by the crunch of the tomahawk, 
and before the surprised Comanches were fully aware of the sudden death that had 
fallen on them, eighty had bitten the dust. The rest took to the river and sought to 
reach the opposite side, but many of them were shot while in the water. Very few 
escaped. It was a scene ghastly with blood and death, and the uninitiated white boy, 
yet to be hardened in similar adventures, grew sick with the slaughter. Indian 
braver}? and the white man's courage are the same qualities, but differing in manifesta- 
tion. All the Comanches' horses and the plunder they had gathered in the New 
Mexican raid fell into the hands of the victorious Delawares, and when later in the 
season a division of the spoils, as. well as the profits of the hunt, was made, each of 
the seventeen Indians besides young Hays, was comparatively rich. The share in 
goods and money was nearly $500 a head. Hays was successively attached to the 
commands of Colonel Smith and Colonel Barnes in guarding the Mexican frontier, 
and fighting the Indians, and under both officers he distinguished himself for his 
courage and skill. Early in the campaign young Hays was with Colonel Smith and 
a few daring men on a scouting expedition near Teredo, a Mexican fort on the Rio 
Grande, two hundred miles southwest from San Antonio. Their party did not num- 
ber more than twenty-five, and some eighty Mexicans made a sortie from the fort. 
The little band of Americans retreated with the Mexicans in full pursuit, and took up 
a position in the chaparral. The Mexicans surrounded them, and demanded their 
surrender, threatening vengeance on them when captured. Colonel Smith disregarded 
the insolence of the pursuing party and received their fire, which did no harm. The 
Mexicans dismounted and ventured within forty or fifty yards of Smith's men. The 
men had never before met the Mexicans or been under fire, so that there was a moment 
of suspense as to their action under these trying circumstances, but when Smith gave 
the word of command their destructive fusillade struck terror into the Mexican ranks. 
About twenty were shot dead on the spot and the remainder broke and fled, but the 



900 History of Alameda County, California. 

majority of them were captured and all their horses fell into the hands of the Ameri- 
cans. Colonel Smith did not lose a man. Such was the training Colonel John C. 
Hays received. Colonel Karnes then formed a company to fight the Indians, and 
young Hays was one of the first to join. Their antagonists were chiefly the Comanche 
Indians, who fought against all parties. Shortly afterward Haj's was cmp!o\-cd in 
surveying government grants to soldiers on the western streams of Texas, and, in the 
u isettled condition of the country, it was necessary that each surveying party be 
accompanied b\^ a guard of soldiers. These were often placed under the command of 
Hays, and in the first of his expeditions he and his party were taken prisoners by the 
Cherokee.s. His four or five men were surrounded b\' the Indians and the)' sought 
safety in flight. They would have escaped had it not been that their movements 
were impeded by a little boy who was unable to keep up, and compelled them to halt. 
The savages, under pretense of friendship, were allowed to come near, and then declared 
the little band prisoners. Hays told his men under no circumstances to give up their 
guns, and the succeeding da\- he learned through a negro of his part)' who understood 
the Cherokee language, that the savages were being pursued by a band of Comanches, 
and further that they feared the unerring aim of the prisoners, who stubbornly refused 
to give them guns. Moreover, they dreaded that the massacre of the prisoners would 
bring on them an avenging pursuit from San Antonio. This knowledge gave Hays 
confidence, and he boldly demanded the release of his party, and he solemnly assured 
the Indians that he would kill the first man who repeated the attempt to get posses- 
sion of their guns. The horrors of the situation were such that one man of his party — 
a brave man, too — found his hair turned from black to gra)' in a single night. Never- 
theless, on the second afternoon the Indians made a proposition that the surve\'ors be 
released on signing a paper testifying to the friendh- character of these Indians. The 
captives agreed, and were released. The famous Texas Rangers were organized in 
1840, and John C. Hays, then twenty-seven years of age, was commissioned to their 
command by the Te.xas Congress. In this responsible position, his bravery, skill, and 
sagacity became proverbial. Once, shortl)- after the organization of the Rangers, he 
had started out on an expedition with about twelve men, and in the Canon de Ubalda, 
he came unexpectedly on twelve Indian scouts, who were three or four miles distant 
from their main body. He rode his part)- quickly down on the Indians, until within 
sixty or seventy \ards of them, when they fled to a thicket, where they took shelter 
behind three oak-trees and a log. Captain Hays dismounted his men and surrounded 
the thicket. Then with two men he plunged in to fight th(; Indians. The first 
discharge of arrows killed one of his men and badh' wounded the other. Hays 
was himself wounded in the finger, and he helped his wounded comrade out of 
the thicket to a place of safety. Then with a double-barreled shotgun and a 
pistol he returned to the thicket. Waiting his opportunit)-, and when three of the 
savages had come within fifteen feet of him, he discharged the two barrels of his gun, 
killing an Indian with each. Reserving his pistol for an emergenc)-. Hays crept out 
of the thicket, and, taking a Yager rifle, went back to the desperate encounter. For 
three hours he thus carried on the fight. The arrows of the enemy fell thick and 
fast around him, but the density of the bush and his constant changes of position ren- 
dered them harmless. Whenever an Indian presented himself for an instant, the 
unerring bullet of Hays' rifle laid him dead, until all but one of the savages had fallen. 
This sole survivor was armed 'with a gun, and proved a formidable opponent. This 
Indian lay concealed behind a log, while Hays remained in the obscurit\- of the thick 
underbrush, and managed to cover his foe. In an unguarded moment the Indian 
raised his head from behind the log, and two muffled shots rang out as each fired at 
the same moment. The Indian's bullet grazed Captain Hays' shoulder, but the other 
bullet went home — the Indian was killed. The Indians' horses were taken, and the 
scouting party of Rangers returned safely to camp. From 1836 to 1842, after the 
defeat of Santa Ana, no concerted invasion occurred; but in the latter year General 



Biographical Sketches. 901 



Woll advanced on San Antonio with one thousand five hundred veteran troops, accom- 
panied by artillery. Major Hays was in the town when the summons came to surren- 
der, but his Rangers were far away, and he could only organize a hasty army of about 
sixty fighting men. With these he repulsed the first attack of the Mexicans, but it 
was plain to be seen that no successful resistance could be made against the over- 
whelming numbers of the enemy. Consequently, when the Mexicans sent in a flag of 
truce, demanding the surrender of Hays to them, and promising immunity to the 
citizens, the Major, accompanied by a companion, left San Antonio, passing through 
the enemy's lines in disguise. He then sent his companion for re-enforcements, him- 
self remaining in the vicinity, reconnoitering the Mexican position and watching their 
preparations. In eight days two hundred men arrived, and were successfully placed 
in the town, unknown to the attacking forces. The next day, by a shrewd strategic 
device, the Mexicans were drawn into battle, with such disastrous effect that at night 
they beat a hasty retreat. Hays having been re-enforced by a force of three hundred 
men from the Colorado settlements,, began an active pursuit, which, after several 
encounters, finally resulted in the battle on the Solado, and a complete extirpation of 
the Mexican soldiery from Texan soil. In the Mexican War Colonel Hays distin- 
guished himself under General Taylor, especially at the battle of Monterey, where he 
commanded a .corps of Texan troops who led the van and contributed materially to 
the success of the American forces on that occasion. He was afterwards transferred 
to the command of General Scott, and when General Santa Ana surrendered, the 
prisoner was consigned to the care of Hays, in recognition of the prominent service 
rendered by the troops under his immediate command in effecting the surrender. In 
1849 Colonel Hays crossed the plains to California, and arriving in San Francisco, 
found that city in a chaotic condition — overrun by the boldest and most dangerous 
criminals the world has ever produced. The first election for county officers in San 
Francisco took place April i, 1850. The principal office to be filled was that of Sheriff, 
for which there were three candidates. Colonel J. Towns was the regular Whig nomi- 
nee; Colonel J. J. Bryant the nominee of the Democratic party, and Colonel J. C. Hays 
was selected by the people as an independent candidate. Bryant was a famous gam- 
bler, with plenty of money, and it soon became apparent that the contest was really 
between himself and Hays, the dashing Texan Ranger, as he was then called. Col- 
onel Bryant, a man of fortune, determined to spare no expense or exertion to secure 
his election. He was proprietor of the most extensive and best conducted hotel in 
San Francisco, known at that time as the Bryant House, formerly the Ward House, 
which was a great resort for politicians, and where hundreds of the Colonel's pre- 
tended friends and real supporters enjoyed his generous hospitality. A band of music 
was daily stationed on the balcony of the hotel, after the nomination of its proprietor; 
free lunches were served up in the spacious saloon; and on the day of the election the 
building was literally covered with flags, while the finest liquors were served at the 
bar gratuitously to all who chose to call. On Saturday afternoon, March 29th, the 
friends of Colonel Hays held a mass-meeting on the plaza, and, after several spirited 
addresses, formed in procession, headed by music, and paraded the principal streets, 
cheering and being cheered by multitudes of spectators, as they passed along. The 
Bryant Democrats also made a splendid display on the plaza the same evening. 
The election on the ist April was conducted, as may be imagined, with more than 
usual spirit. At noon it was evident that Colonel Hays was the people's favorite, and 
this incited the Bryant party to increased effort, and they succeeded temporarily in 
retrieving their candidate's fortunes. But in the midst of the excitement Colonel 
Hays, mounted upon a fiery black charger (he was a splendid horseman, Texas and 
Mexico having been his schools) suddenly appeared. The sight of the Texan hero, 
as he sat bareheaded and unattended upon his charger, took the people by surprise, 
and soon the heavens were rent by applause, deadening the sound of trumpets and 
drums, and reaching the islands of the bay and its further shores. A description 



902 History of Alameda County, California. 

written at the time says men crowded around him on ever}- side, some seizing the 
bridle, others clinging to his clothing and stirrups, and each anxious to obtain a grasp 
of his hand. The noise and tumult terrified the spirited beast he rode, which reared 
and plunged among the enthusiastic crowd, though the animal was so admirably man- 
aged that no injury was done. When, at length, the rider gave him the rein, he 
dashed into and along the adjoining streets, followed by loud huzzas and vivas at every 
spring. This settled the business. The Colonel had 'witched the crowd b>' noble 
horsemanship. Bryant's friends gave up the struggle, and the Texan Ranger was 
elected by an over«'helming majorit)'. Talking about this affair in after years, Col- 
onel Hays, in his usual modest way, always asserted that he had no design in visiting 
the plaza as he did. The only object he had in coming to the polls was to learn how 
the vote stood. He had mounted a horse for convenience, not for display; but the 
enthusiasm of his friends gave life to an idea which he had not conceived, and in this 
case, as in many other experiences of life, an important issue hinged on a trifling 
circumstance. Colonel Hays was re-elected at the next annual election, September 3, 
185 I, and held until 1853, when William R. Gorham was elected. As an instance of 
Sheriff Hays' faithfulness to his official duty, regardless of public opinion, and bravery 
in fulfilling it, his action in the case of Samuel Whittaker and Robert McKenzie may 
be mentioned. These were two criminals who were executed on the 24th of August, 
1851, by the first Vigilance Committee. Owing to the interference of the authorities, 
the Committee had a more difficult task than they expected in bringing Whittaker 
and McKenzie to justice.' Hon. John McDougal, Governor of the State, although he 
had previously approved the citizens' movement as a needed assistance in dealing 
with an exceptional condition of society, thought proper on this occasion to i.ssuc his 
proclamation warning "all good citizens" against the acts of the Committee; and on 
the morning of the 21st, before sunrise. Sheriff Hays and one of his deputies, armed 
with a writ oi halwas corpus, issued upon the affidavit of Governor McDougal himself, 
boldly entered the Vigilance Committee's rooms, took the men named (who had already 
been tried by the legally constituted authorities and condemned for burglary, robbery, 
and arson), and returned them to the county jail whence the Committee had taken 
them. It was thought the Sheriff was aided by treachery on the part of the citizen 
guards; but he took his men in defiance, as it was his duty to do. The Committee after- 
wards recaptured and hanged them, as mentioned. The case of the Nczv Orleans may 
be remembered by some. This steamship had been attached for sixt\--five thousand 
dollars, and lay moored at the old Long Wharf Captain Ned Wakeman, who had been 
the hero of more than one escapade in running steamers off under a Sheriff's nose — 
the most notable one being in New York Harbor — itched to get away with the Nexv 
Orleans, and, once on blue water, to snap his fingers at all Sheriffs and their legal pro- 
cesses. Sheriff Haj-s was wary. Sixty-five thousand dollars were at stake, and it 
stood hjm in hand to keep his eyes open. One evening a messenger came running 
into his office, out of breath, and said: — 

"Something wrong going on down at the wharf. Colonel." 

"What about?" 

"The Orleans. Steam's up. It looks to me as if she was going to take a trip." 

It did not take many moments for the Sheriff to reach the scene, where he found 
a sailor meddling with the moorings. 

"Let that line alone," commanded the Colonel. 

"Who are you?" asked the sailor. 

"I'm the Sheriff of the county. Get away from there as quick as you can." 

The sailor reported the state of affairs to Captain Wakeman, who thought he 
could do what the seaman filled to accomplish. He came forward for the purpose. 

"Wakeman," said the Sheriff, slowl)-, "you must let that line remain where it is." 

"Suppose I choose to cast it off, what then?" 

"I will kill you," returned the Sheriff, in a low tone and the same e\-en \nice, hut 
there was no mistaking the look in his eyes. 



Biographical Sketches. 903 



The two men — Gre^k joined Greek — about equally matched in resolution and dar- 
ing, looked steadily in each other's face for about a minute, Wakeman with his hand 
on the hawser, and the Sheriff with his on the butt of his pistol. " I believe you 

would, by 1 " said the captain at last. The steamer remained at the wharf. 

During Colonel Hays' incumbency of the shrievalty, December, 1851, Indian trouble 
began in the southern part of the State, and the confederated Indian tribes menaced 
the white settlers so seriously at the time that they applied for aid to General Hitch- 
cock, commanding the United States forces in California. He accordingly sent as 
many of his troops as could be spared, and authorized the raising of two companies 
of mounted volunteers. Great excitement prevailed in consequence of this permis- 
sion and the previous alarming news. Numbers hastened to enroll themselves in the 
proposed companies; but, to the disappointment of many applicants, a selection of 
those offering could only be received. The two companies were placed under the 
respective commands of Colonel John W. Geary and Captain Daniel Aldrich, while 
Colonel John C. Hays was appointed to the command in chief Later intelli- 
gence from the south was to the effect that in the face of this armed preparation, 
the Indian difficulties had been arranged, and the volunteers were not called on. 
There was lively work for Colonel Hays and the volunteers in the spring of i860, 
when the Pah Utes, numbering about three thousand warriors, made a formidable 
disturbance in the now State of Nevada; but it proved to be a good deal of a tem- 
pest in a teapot after all. The Indians were maddened by the horribly brutal action of 

a man named L , who kept a stock ranch on Van Dusen River. This man had an 

Indian boy in his employ, who occasionally would go off to visit his relatives, and his 
absence so incensed the ranchero that he visited the family one morning and mur- 
dered every member of it, putting the victims on a rude raft of logs, which he directed 
to " W. H. Mills," and started it down the river. Mills was opposed to the ill-usage of 
the Indians, much less their indiscriminate slaughter. Winnemucca called his war- 
riors to the field, to revenge the rancher's atrocity. He had, according to his own 
account, about three thousand men, while the volunteers under Hays numbered six 
hundred. There was a good deal of scare among the settlers of the Carson River 
country about Winnemucca's movements, and an appeal to the public made May 31, 
i860, says: "The volunteers now in the field are our main reliance for conquering a 
peace." The population of Virginia City at the time was about one thousand. An 
account of the transactions of that period gives a slightly ridiculous phase to the cam- 
paign, and says when the volunteers left Virginia City for Pyramid Lake May 26th, 
there were more officers than privates. On the 30th of May Colonel Hays, with five 
hundred men, had a brush with the Indians near William's old station, in which seven 
Pah Utes were killed and three volunteers wounded. The Cromwellian method was 
strong in Colonel Hays, It is recorded of Oliver that when he was tra ning his Iron- 
sides he used them daily to look after, feed, and dress their horses, he taught them to 
clean and keep their arms bright, and have themselves ready for service; to choose 
the best armor and arm themselves to the best advantage. Upon fitting occasions, 
and in order to inure their bodies to the service of the field, he also made them sleep 
together on the bare ground, and one day before they actually met the enemy, tried 
their courage by a stratagem. Leading them into a pretended ambuscade, he caused 
his seeming discovery of danger to be attended by all the circumstance of actual war. 
Terrified at which about twenty of the troops fled; and these Cromwell immediately 
dismissed, desiring them, however, to leave their horses for others who were not so 
easily scared. The parallel, relatively, in Colonel Hays' case is that when the volun- 
teers for the " Washo War," as it was called, offered to place themselves under his 
command, he accepted the leadership, but on condition that they give him complete 
control, and obey orders as implicitly as though he were empowered to shoot down 
the disobedient. They agreed to those terms, and for several days before they took 
up the line of march, he subjected them to incessant drilling and other military exer- 



904 History of Alameda County, California. 



cises. He would not move until the men had a fair practical knowledi^c of military- 
discipline, and could receive orders without being confused. Cromwell's false ambus- 
cade is also paralleled by an amusing test to which the Colonel put some of his 
officers. While sitting around the camp-fire one evening, he slylx' and unperccived 
hid among the glowing coals a can of fruit, which, on becoming heated, burst with a 
stunning report. At the same time the Colonel shouted, " Injins ! " and gave the reg- 
ular Delaware war-whoop. The effect waselectricaj Everybod)' sprang to their feet, 
and some stood their ground bravely; but two or three of the group rushed wildly 
into the sage-brush. One of those who beat a hasty retreat was afterwards a member 
of the San Francisco Board of Brokers and is now enjoying his otiiiin cunt dig. in New 
York, passing rich, and perhaps, occasionall)', fighting his battles o'er again when his 
achievements cannot be discounted by facts. The history of the Washo War, with 
which Colonel Hays was so intimately connected, has never been written in full. 
A public meeting to consider the situation, to aid the volunteers in the field, and 
relieve settlers harassed by the Indians, was held at the Merchants' E.xchange June 
I, i860, and Messrs. R. Meacham, Harvey S. Brown, S. P. Dewey, A. Fonda, R. G. 
Eells, H. F. Teschemaker, Colonel A. B. Perkins, Charles Hosmer, Captain J. B. 
Olney, and George O. Whitney — well-known names of the time, many of whom have 
now passed off the stage of action — were appointed a committee to collect subscrip- 
tions to purchase provisions for Colonel Hays' command, who were fighting and 
starving at the same time. Josh. P. Havens had written Governor Downey that the 
troops had no credit and no money, and desired permission to pledge the credit of 
the State for provisions and transportation. The Gox'ernor refused, as he had no 
authority in the premises. So the "army" had to get along the best way it could. It 
numbered about four hundred and fifty men, when it rendezvoused at Camp Hays, 
May 24, i860, on the Carson River, about twenty miles below Carson Cit)', the officers 
in command were Colonel John C. Hays; Second Lieutenant-Colonel E. Sanders; 
Major Charles S. Fairfa.K, Acting Adjutant-General; Major B. S. Lippincott, (Quarter- 
master; Captain McNeesh, Assistant Quartermaster; Major R. N. .Snowden. Commis- 
sary-General, and Dr. Perkins, Surgeon. Besides the four hundred and fifty \olunteers 
there were about one hundred and sixty-four United States troops, artillery, and 
infantry, under command of Captain Stewart, Third United States Artillery. Dr. 
Keeney was surgeon to this command. Captain Treadwell Moore, A. O. M., and the 
well-known Ned Byrne, Quartermaster's clerk. General Josh. Havens, Captain Lip- 
pitt, Frank Soule, and other prominent San Franciscans, were with it as volunteers. 
Colonel Hays and Captain Stewart acted in concert, though their commands were 
distinct. They marched up the eastern side of the Carson River to a fort, then 
across the river to the valley of Pyramid Lake, where something like an action 
took place, and the names of Richard Snowden, Major Ormsb\-, Henry Meredith, and 
a few others who fell in this war, are to this day remembered with regret by their 
friends. Alameda County and the city of Oakland owe much to the enterprise and 
energy of Colonel Hays, who, at an early day, began to take a deep interest in the 
welfare and prosperity of the community. When Colonel Hays in 1852, began to 
direct his attention to this side of the bay, the site of Oakland and its suburbs was 
controlled as a vast ranch, by Vicente Peralta, under a Spanish grant. Squatters 
were, however, beginning to crowd in, and Peralta, perceiving that under the loose 
laws governing the rights of land-holders, he could not long withstand these encroach- 
ments, accepted a proposition from Ha}'s, Caperton, and others, by which all the dry 
land north of the estuary and south of Lake Merritt passed into their hands through 
a bona fide sale, the title of which has been fully recognized and confirmed by the 
United States Government, and upon which all right, title, and interest of present 
holders are based. The southern portion of the city was speedih' improved by 
Colonel Hays, and, being divided into building lots, was sold at a handsome profit. 
After retiring from the office of Sheriff, Colonel Hays took up his residence on this 



Biographical Sketches. 905 



side of the bay, where he resided continuously ever since, engaging in various 
profitable enterprises and materially assisting the community in its onward progress. 
Shortly after he came to Oakland he was appointed Surveyor-General for California 
by President Pierce, and discharged the duties of the office with his usual ability, and to 
the complete satisfaction of the citizens generally. He always figured prominently in 
Democratic politics, having been a delegate to nearly every State Convention and a dele- 
gate in 1876 to the National Democratic Convention at St. Louis, when Samuel J. Til- 
den was nominated for the Presidency. The wife of Colonel Hays is descended from the 
Calverts of Maryland, her maiden name being Susan Calvert. They were married at 
Sequin, Texas, and have two children, John C. Hays, Jr., and a daughter, Elizabeth, 
fifteen years of age. Colonel Hays was a brother of General Harry Hays, a promi- 
nent Confederate officer, and afterwards a lawyer in New Orleans, where he died. 
His sister was the wife of Major R. P. Hammond of San Francisco. She died in 
1882. Colonel Hammond, whose death occurred several months ago, was a nephew 
of Colonel Hays, as is John Hays, at present a resident of San Francisco, the latter 
being a son of General Harry Hays. He also left relatives in the Southern States. 
His residence near Piedmont, where he died, is one of the most beautiful in the State. 
It is located at the base of the verdure-clad hills of the Coast Range, in a quiet nook, 
secluded from the bustle and turmoil of that busy world in which this hero so long 
maintained a gallant and successful career. Lordly oaks surround a handsome build- 
ing, and exquisite art has been made an assistant in adorning the natural beauties of 
the scene. It was meet that one who has braved the storm of battle, struggled 
actively, and with giant force, against tremendous odds, and transmitted to posterity 
a name famous in the annals of his country and honored by his fellow-men, should 
sink to rest amidst such a scene as that which surrounded the spot where he died. It 
was a sweetly appropriate finale to the stirring, thrilling drama of his life that the 
melodious songs of birds should be his requiem instead of the hoarse shout of armed 
foemen, that the warm sunshine should flicker through the curtains of the death- 
chamber to greet his fading vision which had so often witnessed the lurid blaze of 
battle. It was fitting that the veteran should sink to sleep as a child on its mother's 
breast, that the hero should pass peacefully, calmly to his eternal rest, surrounded by 
his family and devoted friends, regretting his death, yet proud of his career, his 
manhood, and his honored position among men. 

Thou little know'st 
What he can brave, who, born and nurst 
In Danger's paths, has dared her worst ! 
Upon whose ear the signal- word 

Of strife and death is hourly breaking, 
Who sleeps with head upon the sword 

His fevered hand must grasp in waking. — Moore. 

Timothy Hayes. — Is a native of County Cork, Ireland, and emigrated to the 
United States when nineteen years of age. First settling in New York, he there 
resided ten years, when he removed to Wayne, Pennsylvania, and engaged in farm- 
ing until starting for California. In January, 1869, he made the journey by railroad 
to this State, but shortly after returned to the Eastern States for his family, who' 
came back with him in the following year, when he purchased his present farm of 
four hundred and forty acres, situated a mile and a half from Livermore, where he is 
engaged in general farming and stock-raising. Is married and has a family of thirteen 
children, viz.: Margaret, John, Thomas, Frank, Helen, Mamie, James, Agnes, Theresa, 
Gertrude, Timothy, Joseph, William, and Alice (deceased). 

William Hayes. — Was born in Stafford County, New Hampshire, August 21, 
1 81 5, and is the eldest son of Isaac and Nancy (Palmer) Hayes. Having resided in 
his native State until he reached his twenty-second year, during which time he 
attended school, and learned the carpenter's trade, afterwards v/orking at it in Man- 
chester, New Hampshire, Newburyport, and Boston, Massachusetts. For a few years 
58 



906 History of Alameda County, California. 

he went southwards, and in the winter of 1841 located in Key West, I'^lorida. In the 
following summer, however, he returned to Boston, and there carried on a sash and 
blind trade until leaving for the Pacific Coast. From that port ho sailed, February 12, 
1850, to Aspinwall on board of the Cherokee, and on the Pacific side on the old steamer 
Tennessee, finally arriving in San Francisco, April i 5th of the same year. He at once 
commenced working at his trade, and followed it until the spring of 1851, when he 
came to the Contra Costa (now Alameda County), and worked for John M. Horner, 
first in his mill, and afterwards on the steamer Union, plying between Alvarado and 
San Francisco. In the summer of 1852 he took up his present ranch, and that fall 
erected a small dwelling-house, and commenced farming in earnest, an occupation he 
has since continued, his farm consisting of one hundred and sixty acres. Married, 
July 27, 1845, Adeline, daughter of Aaron and Elizabeth (Horner 1 Watson, and has 
no issue. . 

Comfort Healey. — Was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, June 28, 1838, and 
at thirteen years old shipped for four years, going to many of the chief foreign ports. 
At the expiration of that time we find him in Boston, Massachusetts; and subse- 
quently proceeding to New York, thence sailed, April 22, 1856, in company with his 
sister and brother-in-law, on board the George Laiv, to Aspinwall. The journey 
across the Isthmus is one that can never be effaced from his memory; it was that 
on which the crowded train left the rails, and one hundred and ten souls were hurled, 
at one fell swoop, into eternity, our subject and his relatives being among the wounded. 
This catastrophe necessitated a return to Aspinwall, where he was detained three 
months with his broken legs and ribs. On having sufficiently recovered, he was taken 
in a wheelbarrow, and once more shipped on the cars for Panama, whence he sailed 
on the steamer John L. Stephens, arriving in San Francisco during the latter end of 
August, 1856. Coming direct to his father's residence, near which has since sprung 
up the town of Newark, Alameda Count)', he there resided until the breaking out of 
the F"razer River excitement, in 1858, when he proceeded thither, and remained a 
year. In 1859 he went to Monterey County, and for four years was engaged in boat- 
ing there; after which he returned to Alameda County, and embarked in farming and 
threshing. In 1877 he purchased his present homestead, adjoining his father's dwell- 
ing. Mr. Healey has been a Road Overseer for six years, and is at present a trustee 
of the Newark School District. Has been twice married. His present wife, whom 
he espoused August 4, 1870, is Mary G., daughter of Capt. Isaac Thomas Mott, Amer- 
ican Consul at Mazatlan, at the opening of the Mexican War, and afterwards agent 
for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company at Benicia, where Mrs. Healey was born. By 
this union there are four children, viz.: Ethel G., Lauren E., Stella T., and Nora L. 

William H. High. — Was bom in Wake County, North Carolina, March 14, 
1820, and is the son of Alexander M. and Elizabeth (Ray) High. He resided with 
his parents until he attained the age of nineteen years, when he went to Alabama, 
and engaged in farming in Perry County. Continuing there until the \-ear 1844, 
he returned to his native State. On the breaking out of the Mexican War he 
joined the North Carolina regiment, but soon after entered the pay department, 
under Major Gastin H. Wilder, as clerk, and continued in that capacity until the 
close of hostilities, when he returned to his home in Raleigh, where he arrived 
July 4, 1848, but remained in the service until he obtained his discharge. Mr. High 
subsequently engaged in mercantile operations until 1850, in which year he was 
elected to the distinguished position of Sheriff of Wake County, an office he held 
up till 1865, a period of nearly sixteen years; after which he betook himself to 
agriculture, and so continued until 1872. He now started for California, arrived in 
the harbor of San Francisco, March 27, 1872, and crossing the bay to Alameda 
County, took up his residence in the cit}- of Oakland, where he has since resided. 
Since Mr. High has been in the State he has confined himself chiefl\- to mining 
operations. Married, March 14, 1849, Miss Amanda M. Royster of Raleigh, North Car- 



Biographical Sketches. 907 



olina, and has seven surviving^ children, viz.: Wm. H., Jr., Ehzabeth (now Mrs. W. J. 
Pettigrew, Jr.), Rebecca (now Mrs. C. E. Carleton), Hattie (now Mrs. V. C. Ruyster), 
Alexander Z., Gavin D., and Geddy H. 

Otis Hill. — The subject of this sketch is a native of Niagara County, New 
York, and born September 21, 1821 ; resided in his birthplace, until his coming to Cali- 
fornia, where he learned the cooper trade, which he followed until the fall of 1855, 
when he started, via the Nicaragua route, for California, coming into San Francisco, 
January 4, 1856. Mr. Hill came direct to Alameda County, locating at Hay wards, 
and first found employment on the place now owned by Henry Marlin for one 
year. He then purchased a farm in Castro Valley, where he resided until 1859, 
when he located on his present valuable farm of fifty acres, one and one-half miles 
north of Haywards, where he has one of the finest fruit farms in Alameda County. 
Mr. Hill is an intelligent, honorable, and upright gentleman, and highlj' respected by 
all who know him; was united in marriage in the State of New York, August, 1848, 
to Miss Rebecca Richie, a native of the above State, by which union they have one 
son, Oscar Levy. 

Daniel Billings Hinckley. — This gentleman and old pioneer is the son 
of Seth and Antise R. (Gorham) Hinckley, and was born in Hardwick, Worcester 
County, Massachusetts, February 15, 1829. Losing his father at the age of twelve 
years, he went to live with his grandparents for four years, when he proceeded to 
Bangor, Maine, and learned the trade of iron molder, at which he served until starting 
for the Pacific Coast. On November 28, 1849, sailing from Cherryfield, Maine, in 
the bark Belgrade, he rounded Cape Horn, and cast anchor in the bay of San Fran- 
cisco, May 28, 1850. This was one of the vessels of which there were so large a 
number, in the days of "forty-nine," that were purchased in the Atlantic cities and 
brought out by "companies," to be sold on arrival. Upon the landing of our subject 
in the metropolitan city of the Pacific Coast, he at once, with his brother, secured 
employment in the Pacific Iron Works, then situated in that part of San Francisco 
known as the Happy Valley. There he remained until 1852, when he became a part- 
ner in the concern, and has since continued in the iron trade. But, in 1854, the Pacific 
Iron Works were sold to E. B. Goddard, when Mr. Hinckley paid a visit of eighteen 
months duration to the Eastern States, when he returned to the Bay City. In 1857 
he commenced a foundry and machine shop on Davis Street, San Francisco, under 
the style and firm of Hinckley, Highwenter & Field (the Fulton Foundry), and con- 
tinued interested in its concerns until the year 1859, when he transferred his labors to 
the firm of Hinckley, Worth & Field, who established themselves on the site on First 
Street, San Francisco, now occupied by the flour-mill of H. Davis. Here he con- 
tinued until 1862, when he purchased his partners' interests and carried on the busi- 
ness by himself until 1865, i.t which time Charles Marshutz was admitted a partner, 
with whom he' continued in business until 1877, since when the firm has been 
Hinckley, Spiers & Hayes. This establishment is located on Fremont Street, between 
Howard and Folsom Streets, and as a criterion of its magnitude we may mention that 
business is annually done there to the amount of over $1,000,000, while its pay-roll 
foots up to the large amount of $20,000 per month. In 1868 Mr. Hinckley took up 
his residence in Fruit Vale, Alameda County. Married, December 4, 1859, Louise, 
daughter of W. L. Wheeler of Kennebec County, Maine, by whom he has three sons, 
viz., Harry G., Edward R., and Frederick W. 

Samuel Hirshberg (deceased). — Arrived in the city of Oakland in 1852, when the 
then town of Oakland contained less than three hundred inhabitants. He commenced 
his business career in this county by engaging in the dry goods and clothing business. 
He was actively engaged in this branch of trade for nearly thirty years in our midst, 
and by fair and honest dealing established for himself an untarnished reputation and 
a spotless name. In 1862, in conjunction with Hon. Samuel Bell McKee, now on the 
Supreme Bench of California, he built the two-story brick block on Broadway, between 



90S History of Alameda County, California. 

Third and F"ourth Streets, thus early in the history of Oakland giving evidence of 
his enterprise and desire to contribute to the material advancement of Oakland's 
interests. In 1854, when Empire Fire Company, No. i, was organized by Col. John 
Scott, Mr. Hirshberg was among the first to come forward to sign the roll and con- 
tribute liberally towards the support and maintenance of the first and primitive fire 
organization established. In 1866 he gave further evidence of his business enterprise 
by investing several thousand dollars in the Pacific Soap Works, of which he was the 
principal shareholder and manager. In 1 881, by reason of failing health, he retired 
from business, and on the 6th day of January, 1883, at the advanced age of sixty-five 
years he departed this life. Mr. Hirshberg was a man universally respected in the 
community in which he lived and his funeral was one of the largest that ever took 
place in Oakland. The immediate cause of death was inflammation of the bladder. 
Mr. Hirshberg was twice a candidate for public office on the Democratic ticket, and 
though running largely in advance of his ticket, Oakland being strongly Republican, he 
was defeated. In 1862 he organized the Hebrew Benevolent Society and was made 
its first President. He was born in Exin, Prussia, and in his youth was appointed 
Secretary to the Burgomeister of his native town. He was thoroughly educated in 
English, German, and Hebrew literature. At a later period he taught German, and 
Hebrew at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was at the time of his death 
Grand President of the order of B'nai B'rith of the Pacific Coast. He was one of the 
pioneer members of Live Oak Lodge, No. 61, Free and Accepted Masons, and was 
also a member of Oakland Chapter No. 26, Ro}al Arch Masons. He left a wife, Mrs. 
R. Hirshberg, a son D. S. Hirshberg, at present Under Sheriff of Alameda County, 
and a daughter, Mrs. George Mosbacher. The many virtues and manly traits in the 
character of Samuel Hirshberg will live long. in the memories of the pioneers and 
residents of Alameda County. 

William Holtz. — Was born in German}-, September, 21, 1829, and there 
resided until he came to the United States in 1852, when proceeding direct to Califor- 
nia he arrived in San Francisco in December of that year. There he was variously 
employed until 1858, when he opened a grocery store in San Francisco, and remained 
in that business until 1869, when, selling out, he took up his residence at West End, 
Alameda, where he built a grocery store and established that trade there, conducting 
it until 1882, when he sold out to his son. Mr. Holtz is at present engaged in the 
Real Estate and Insurance business there. He has served for three jearsas a Justice 
of the Peace, and three j'ears as a School Director. Married, September 19, 1858, at 
San Francisco, Miss Auguste Benn, a native of Germany, and has two children, viz.: 
Fred and Johanna, aged twent)'-three and twenty-one, respecti\ely. 

John B. Hortenstine. — Was born in Washington County, Virginia, May 19, 
1852, but when two years of age was moved by his parents to Clay County, Illinois, 
where he resided until 1870, in which year he proceeded to the Territories, and in 
April, 1874, arrived in California, locating near Pleasanton. In 1875 he entered the 
employ of M. B. Lander & Co., and two years thereafter, purchased an interest in the 
firm, which is now known as Hortenstine, Storer & Co., of Pleasanton, engaged in 
general merchandising. Married, April 15, 1880, Miss Luella Hay, a native of Cali- 
fornia, and has one daughter, named Ethel. Both his father's and mother's family 
are identified with the early history of this country, they having settled in Virginia 
and Tennessee before the Revolution, in which they took part. 

Socrates Huff. — This worthy and well-known pioneer settled in Alameda 
County in the long ago time when it formed a portion of Contra Costa County. We 
have much pleasure in presenting to our readers a portrait of this estimable gentle- 
man. Socrates Huff is the son of William and Pleasa (Garver) Huff, and was born in 
Crawford County, Ohio, July i, 1827, and two years thereafter was taken by his 
parents to St. Joseph, Berrien County, Michigan, where he lost his mother in the year 
1830. Here under the genial influences of the breezes from Lake Michigan, our sub- 



Biographical Sketches. 909 

ject grew to man's estate, being there grounded in scholastic lore, and acquiring the 
rudiments necessary for fitting him to face the battle of life. About New Year's 
Day, 1849, letters were received in the town from California corroborating the excit- 
ing intelligence of the discovery of gold in the previous year, therefore, Mr. Huff at 
once set to work to form a party of his companions and townsmen to proceed to the 
golden shores of the Pacific in search of the precious metal and to become rich in one 
gigantic bound. To compass the long and dreary journey across the plains, mules 
were purchased in Indiana, wagons in Chicago, and provisions in St. Louis, and in 
Februarv, 184.9, the party — composed of Socrates and L. B. Huff, L. C. Wittenmyer 
(now of Contra Costa County), A. M. Church, James M. Morton (deceased), and A. 
P. Pinney (deceased) — started up the Missouri River on their way to the "land of 
promise." At the outset of their travels they commenced to encounter the dangers 
of the trip. When sixteen miles below Council Bluffs, the stea.mer " Dacota," whereon 
our subject voyaged, sank, and all was lost save mules and wagons. Refitting, how- 
ever, at this point the route was continuous, by way of the old emigrant route to Salt 
Lake, and finally entered California by the Truckee route, arriving at Bear River 
August 12, 1849. Mr. Huff now tried his hand at mining, but at the end of two 
weeks abandoned the pick and rocker, and moved to Sacramento, where he engaged 
in business, but only for a short time, when, his health being poor, he sought a more 
genial climate. Mr. Huff now proceeded to Mission San Jose, where he remained in 
the employ of H. C. Smith until March, 185 1, when he paid a visit to the Eastern 
States. Returning to the Pacific shores in the following August, our subject pur- 
chased a vessel and put her on the line between Alvarado and Stockton, a trade he 
conducted until November, 1852. At this period, Mr. Huff once more returned to the 
Eastern States, and was married on February 14, 1853, to Miss Amelia Cassidy, a 
native of Pennsylvania, after which he proceeded to Iowa, and on May ist of the same 
year, started for California, with a large band of cattle and horses, which he drove 
direct to Green Valley, to the farm now occupied by Hon. D. N. Sherburne. Here 
Mr. Huff resided until 1857, in which year he transferred his residence to Haywards. 
Eighteen months thereafter he proceeded homewards with his family, but returning 
in December 1859 he settled in San Leandro, where he has since resided. Mr. Huff 
has ever been alive to tlie requirements of citizenship, and when he has felt duty call, 
he has been foremost to obey. In 1863 he was elected to the high office of Treasurer 
of Alarneda County, a position he held four years, while at the same time he was 
engaged in mercantile business in Carson City, Nevada, and continued in this business 
until 1870. Besides being now engaged in real estate transactions he is and has been 
since the founding of the Union Savings Bank of Oakland one of its directors. He 
has always taken an active part in politics, and in 1880 was delegate at large to the 
National Convention, at Chicago, that nominated James A. Garfield. Mr. Huff is a 
gentleman respected by all classes of the community in which he resides, as his 
unswerving rectitude of purpose and undeviating honesty make him a man to be 
trusted and honored. His family consisted of seven daughters, viz.: Ida, Jennie, 
Katie (deceased), Nellie, Carrie, Mamie, and Laura. 

William Henry Harrison Hussey. — The subject of this sketch, whose por- 
trait appears in this volume, was born in Olive, Noble County, Ohio, August 28, 1840. 
His father, Asa Hussey, married Mary Cunningham, both of Augusta, Maine, and to 
them were born seven children, namely: Samuel, Simon, Susan, Sally, Charles, Wil- 
liam (our subject), and David. Sustaining the irreparable loss of his mother when 
but thirty-two years of age, the future life of the family, so carefully fostered by his 
father, was changed. The children were kept together on a farm, and in the log- 
cabin which served the purpose of a school, they there received their early scholastic 
training, and as they grew older started out to do battle with the world. The two 
sisters married and settled in the county of their birth. In 1854 the father and two 
youngest boys removed to the State of Iowa, improved a prairie farm in Delaware 



910 History of Alameda County, California. 

County, and there dwelt together until 1S58. Having obtained permission from his 
father, in the month of April of that \'ear, our subject started for California. On his 
way to New York he passed a month in Chatauqua County, and finally sailed from that 
city in the steamship Star of the West by wa\' of Panama for San Francisco, where he 
arrived June 3, 1858. The beauties of the Bay City, which he had heard so extensively 
lauded, and one night passed in the "What Cheer House," at once created a desire 
for the rural districts to arise in his breast; he, therefore, without further delay, took 
passage to V^allejo, Solano County, and there sought and obtained emjiloyment on a 
ranch not far from that city, the property of Welcome F"owler, a gentleman generous 
and kind. Late in that year Mr. Hussey visited the redwood forests of San Mateo 
Count)', whence he proceeded to Sacramento, returning subsequently to Solano 
County, and going to Mr. Fowler, who had meanwhile taken up his residence in 
Green Valley. Here Mr. Hussey improved the opportunity by attending .school dur- 
ing the winter under Professor George W. Simonton. The spring and summer of 
1859 he passed on a farm in Solano County. At this time the fever for mining sud- 
denly dictated a change of life. Mr. Hussey therefore betook himself to Rich Bar, 
Feather River, Plumas County, but a short lesson of ill-luck brought him back to the 
valleys in company with Samuel Kitto, Captain Hansen, and Gus Campbell (a brother 
of the Hon. F. M. Campbell), and a Newfoundland dog, the pet of Rich Bar. This 
was a severe journey. In crossing the mountains our subject and his companions 
encountered a snow-storm that quickly obliterated all traces of the trail; they there- 
fore left the highlands and followed the course of the North Fork of the Feather 
River, only leaving it at Shore's Bar to ascend the mountain in the hope of finding a 
trading-post of some kind, but the storm which still raged in the hills with unabated 
fury, defeated their purpose and forced a return to the river's bank. Thus five days 
and nights were passed in the Sierra Nevada, poorly clad, with nothing to eat save 
poor " Poison" — which was the dog's name — who was sacrificed to satisf\' the cravings 
of his masters. On the morning of the sixth day they struck the Yankee Hill Flume 
whence they traveled to Cherokee Flat, thence by stage to Oroville, afterwards 
to Sacramento, and finally to Vallejo, where Mr. Hussey found himself comparatively 
at home. Here he was variously employed, and took part in the troubles that 
occurred on the Suscol Rancho in i860. But soon a wider field for his operations 
was to show itself, and one which was not only to test his loyalty to his country but 
also his courage and endurance. The War of the Rebellion, which had been inaugu- 
rated by the firing on F'ort Sumter, April 12, 1861, created a desire in Mr. Hussey's 
breast for military distinction. He had learned something of a soldier's duties as a 
member of the Vallejo Rifles, an independent organization then commanded by Capt. 
J. B. Frisbie, and resolved to "go for a soldier;" the opportunity to proceed to the 
seat of war, however, did not offer itself until the fall of the year 1862, at which time 
the "California Hundred" was recruited by Capt. J. Sewell Reed. In the month of 
November our subject was enrolled in San Francisco, and on the iith of Decem- 
ber the company sailed for New York, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, 
where they landed Januar\- 4, 1863. They immediately took the route for Readville, 
Massachusetts, where the\' went into camp, and were mustered into the .service of the 
State as Company A, Second Massachusetts Cavalry. On the 12th of Februarj- the 
First Battalion, Major Caspar Croninshield commanding, departed for Gloucester 
Foint, opposite Yorktown, Virginia, where our subject and his company went into 
camp, being assigned to the command of Major-General Keyes. Here they were 
detailed on picket and patrol dut\' for a short time, with an occasional skirmish with 
General Wise's men, who were encamped a few miles out on the Richmond road. Mr. 
Hussey was here instrumental in making the first capture of the notorious guerrilla 
captain, Allen, and his two orderlies at the Backhouse plantation near Lower Guinea. 
He served in the Department of the Peninsula until May 23d, when the battalion, in 
company with the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, Colonel Spear commanding, took 



Biographical Sketches. 911 



transport at Yorktown for White House Landing, whence they marched to Hanover 
Court House, captured a rebel supply-train, burned the bridge over the South Anna 
River on the Fredericksburg and Richmond Railroad, after two hours hard fighting, 
killing and taking prisoners some seventy-five of the Fifteenth South Carolina 
Infantry. Here Gen. William E. Lee^ — a nephew of Gen. Robert E. Lee — a cavalry 
officer who had been wounded at Fredericksburg, was captured. Our subject now 
returned to White House Landing, where General Dix had concentrated his forces, 
and afterwards marched with General Getty's division to Hanover Junction, and on 
the evening of July 4th engaged the enemy, withdrawing after a sharp artillery duel, 
and joining General Dix at White House Landing. Mr. Husscy's company now took 
transport for Washington, joined his regiment at Centreville, Virginia, under Colonel 
Lowell, and during the remainder of the year served in the Department of Washing- 
ton. On January I, 1864, he went into camp at Vienna, Fairfax County, Virginia, 
with the Thirteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of New York Cavalry, but here the 
service performed was unsatisfactory owing to the fact that the country was infested 
with General Mosby's command, who carried on a guerrilla warfare. They were all 
well-mounted, and being among friends could not be brought into open battle, but 
would strike at dead of night upon picket posts, or lie in ambush for favorable oppor- 
tunities to fall upon small and isolated detachments. On January 24th William E. 
Ormsby, of Company E, deserted his post while on picket duty and joined Mosby's 
Guerrillas, but on the 6th of February was captured by his former comrades while 
leading an attack near Aldie. On being taken into camp he was tried by a drum-head 
court-martial, sentenced to be shot, and suffered death on Sunday, the 7th, in the 
presence of the brigade. On the 22d February, while Captain Reed was returning 
from a scout with about a hundred men, he fell into an ambuscade of Mosby's men, 
near Danesville, and with twelve men were slaughtered, Captain and Lieutenant Man- 
ning and fifty-five men being taken prisoners. Early in June Mr. Hussey marched 
with his regiment into the wilderness with an ambulance train, and brought off a 
number of wounded that had been left there after the battles of the 5th and 6th of 
May. On the loth of July they were ordered to Washington, and took a prominent 
part in the defense during the rebel invasion of Maryland. In the many engage- 
ments that followed, the command suffered severely in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
while for some twenty-five days during the month of August they were under fire. 
On the 25th Capt. Charles E. Eigenbrodt was killed while leading his company in a 
charge near Charleston. ^ This gentleman was a brave and gallant soldier, highly 
esteemed by both ofificers and men. He was an old resident of Alameda County, and 
many of its citizens remember him for his kindness of heart and his patriotic devo- 
tion to his country. On September 9th General Sheridan organized the Middle 
Military Division, better known as the Army of the Shenandoah Valley. The 
Second Massachusetts Cavalry was assigned to the Reserve Brigade of the First 
Cavalry Division — familiarly known as General Bufort's old command — composed of 
the First, Second, Fifth, and Sixth Regiments of Regulars. Colonel Lowell, of the 
Second Massachusetts Cavalry (Mr. Hussey 's regiment) being given command of the 
brigade and General Merritt being placed in chief command of the division. The 
Second and Third Divisions of Cavalry were commanded by , Generals Custer and 
Wilson, and formed the Cavalry Corps under General Tarbet. On the 19th of Sep- 
tember a general advance of the army was made, encountering General Early's forces 
at Opequan Creek, where a hard day's fighting was begun, and ended just at dark with 
a glorious victory at Winchester. By why particularize; suffice it to say that Mr. 
Hussey took part in all the general engagements of that splendid campaign, from 
Winchester to Waynesboro. On July 19th he was commissioned a Second Lieuten- 
ant, and the regiment being short of officers, took command of Company C. He had 
his horse shot under him at Waynesboro when charging, and was wtjunded at the 
battle of Cedar Creek, on October 19th, by a Minnie-ball in the left shoulder, which 



912 History of Alameda County, California. 

now- entitles him to a pension of ninct\'-six dollars per annum. Having been carried 
off the field and the ball extracted, in company with some fi\e hundred wounded, 
our subject was sent to Sheridan's Field Hospital at Winchester, where he lay on the 
ground for four days; thence he w-as sent to Martinsburg, on the Hallimorc and Ohio 
Railroad, and after a month proceeded to Armory Square Hosjjital in Washington, 
and finally to the Annapolis rendezvous in Mar\-land. Having by this time suflR- 
ciently recovered to travel, Mr. Hussey now requested an order to join his regiment, 
which was accorded, and on reaching camp at Stevenson's Station, Virginia, was granted 
sick leave of absence to visit his relations in the Western States. On recovering from 
his wound our subject reported for dut\' at Rcmanat Camp, near Harper's Ferry, 
where he was detached as Acting Quartermaster and Commissary for the Sixth and 
Seventh Michigan Ca\'alry stationed at Point of Rocks, Mar\'land, and it was not until 
the close of the campaign that he rejoined his old brothers-in-arms at Appomattox 
Court House. With his regiment he proceeded to Washington for the Grand Review 
in which it took part. On April 29, 1865, Mr. Hussey received his commission as 
First Lieutenant of Company I, and on the i6th of June was promoted t<5 the rank of 
Captain. This is but a summary sketch of our subject's part in the great war; to 
e.\emplify that his was no carpet soldier's lot, we would state that among the princi- 
pal engagements in which he took a part were: South Anna Bridge, Ashle)''s Gap, 
Danesville, Aldie, Fort Stephens, Rockville, Poolsville, Summit Point, Berryvilie, 
Charleston, Haletown, Opequan, Winchester, Luray, WavMiesboro, Tom's Brook, and 
Cedar Creek. Mr. Hussey was discharged at Fairfax Court House, Virginia, July 20, 
1865, the regiment proceeding to Boston, Massachusetts, where they were mustered 
out of service. So soon as a settlement with the Ordnance and Quartermaster's 
Department could be made, our subject returned to Ohio, his nafive State, and for a 
few months attended the Beverly Academy, and subsequent!}- entering the Ohio Uni- 
versity at Athens there studied for a year. He now embarked in school-teaching for 
a short time. On January i, 1868, he was united in marriage to Miss Abigail, 
daughter of Edward T. and Ann Wa)', of Noble Count}-, after which he moved to 
Cherry Valley, Illinois, in the month of April, where he taught school for a few month.s. 
In the spring of 1869 we find Mr. Hussey once more in California, and entering the 
Civil Service was one of its members until February i, 1883, save two years pa.ssed 
in San Joaquin and Solano Counties. On the last-mentioned date he resigned his 
position as Impost Bookkeeper of Customs to engage in the manufacture of blasting- 
powder known as the Excelsior Powder Company, whose office is at No. 3 California 
Street, San Francisco. Mr. Hussey has always been identified with the Republican 
part}- and has ever taken an active part in politics. He is a young man }-et and has a 
brilliant career before him, as his honesty, industr}-, rectitude of purpose and high prin- 
ciples entitle him to. He now- resides at No. 667 Thirty-fifth .Street, Oakland, and 
has been blessed with a family of six children, tw-o of whom. Simon Otho and Thurza 
Beatrice, were called away at an early age. There remain to Mr. and ]\Irs. Hus.sey 
four children; Abbie Mabel, Ida Benicia, Willie \\'ay, and ]\Iinnie Ethel, the twoeldest 
of whom are attending the public schools of Oakland. 

JAME.S Hutchison. — Was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, May 24, 1S24, and 
there served three years apprenticeship with his father to the trade of nursery- 
man, residing with him until he attained the age of eighteen years. After passing 
four years in several nurseries in different parts of the " land of brow-n heath and 
shaggy wood," he crossed the border to England, and entered the service of the Earl 
of Limerick at Dutchen Park, Hampshire, as head gardener, wdiich position he occu- 
pied eighteeti months. He now returned to Scotland and became foreman of the 
Princes .Street Gardens, Edinburgh, and held that appointment six months, when he 
commenced to entertain the idea of emigrating. In the spring of 1847, he sailed for 
the United States, and first locating in Westchester County, New York, there followed 
his calling for three years. Mr. Hutchison now moved to New Jersey, where he took 



Biographical Sketches. 913 



charge of a most extensive private garden until March 1852, about which time he 
sailed from New York in the steamer Pioneer, via the Straits of Magellan, and landed 
in San Francisco, August 20, 1852. He immediately found occupation in a garden at 
the Presidio, but at the end of two months changed to conducting a flower establish- 
ment at the corner of Lombard and Kearny Streets, where he remained nearly a year. 
In the fall of 1853, purchasing land in Alameda, he there embarked in the nursery 
business, and laid the foundation of his present enterprise. In 1863 he came to 
Oakland, established himself at the corner of Ninth Street and Broadway, and in 1864 
purchased the land at the corner of Twenty-sixth Street and Telegraph Avenue, com- 
prising three- acres and a half, where he has planted an extensive nursery. In 1877 he 
acquired his present property at the corner of Washington and Fourteenth Streets, Oak- 
land, where he has a fine conservatory and floral seed and nursery depot. Married in 
Alameda 1855, Miss Elizabeth L. Sanborn, a native of Crown Point, New York, and 
has no issue. 

William B. IngersoLL. — Was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 31, 1834, 
and is the son of William and Serena (Sargent) J ngersoll. At the age of ten years 
he went to live on a farm, and was subsequently variously employed until the year 
185 1, when he commenced to acquire and afterwards followed the carpenter's trade 
until he was twenty-four years old. He then learned to be a photographer in the 
city of Boston, an occupation he followed until coming to California. Married Mrs. 
Annie F. Forest, of Lynn, Massachusetts, April 6, 1859. Left Boston for California 
September 26, i860. Arrived in San Francisco February 23, 1861. He there followed 
his calling until 1865, when he crossed the bay and established his business in Oakland 
November, 1865, on Broadway betweeen Third and Fourth Streets; afterwards moved 
to Sixth Street, between Broadway and Franklin, thence in November, 1868, to his 
present location, No. 1069 Broadway. Mr. Ingersoll's family consists of an adopted 
daughter named Rowena. 

Hon. Daniel Inman. — Was born in East Tennessee, in the year 1827, 
■ but v/hen only nine years old was taken by his parents to Illinois, settling near 
Quincy, Adams County. Here he attended the common schools and learned farm- 
ing. In 1846 he commenced to acquire the cooper's trade in Quincy, and in 1847 
engaged in that trade on his own account, continuing it for two years. In April, 1849, 
he started for California with ox-teams, by way of the plains, and on arrival mined for 
a few months, when he opened a boarding-house in Sacramento in a canvas house 
that cost three thousand dollars, and which was ruined on account of the flood. 
Returning to the mines to retrieve his fallen fortunes, he there remained until 1853, 
when he embarked in sheep farming for a year at Danville, Contra Costa County. 
Mr. Inman now went to the mines, where he stayed until 1858, when he returned to 
his farm at Danville, and there resided eight years. Selling now his farm, he pur- 
chased his place in Livermore Valley, where he has since resided. In 1863 he con- 
tested the office of Sheriff of Contra Costa County with J. J. McEwen; in 1867-68, 
was elected to the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County; and in 1869, was elected 
to the Legislature over the Republican candidate. In 1873 he was defeated for the 
Legislature; in 1877 was again defeated. In 1878 was elected a Delegate to the 
Constitutional Convention; and in 1880 led the forlorn hope again to defeat for the 
House of Assembly, being again defeated in 1882. Married November 16, 1863, in 
Danville, Contra Costa County, Miss Josephine Jones, and has seven children. 

Harry Inwall. — Was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 20, 1840, and is the son 
of John H. and Elizabeth (Koster) Inwall. Having resided in his birthplace until 
the year 1862, he then enlisted in Company I, Second Ohio Cavalry, from which 
corps he received his honorable discharge at St. Louis, August 8, 1865. He now 
proceeded to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he opened a liquor saloon, which he conducted 
until 1868. At this time he came to California, and settled in Sacramento, where he 
was employed in the Golden Eagle Hotel until 1874; he subsequently came to Oak.- 



914 History of Alameda County, California. 



land and was with J. J. Hanafin until 1878, when he o])encd his present place of 
business known as the Sacramento Exchange. Married in Indianapolis, in 1867, 
Miss Ann Hanlin, who died in April, 1878. Married, secondly. Miss Mirza Beatty in 
September, 1882. 

Hon. John P. Irish. — Editor of the Oakland Times — is a native of Iowa City, 
Iowa, and was born January i, 1843, son of Captain E. M. Irish, an old sailor who visited 
San Francisco Bay in 1820, when only the old Mission Dolores marked where the metrop- 
olis now stands. Jno. P. was a member of the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and P'ourtcenth Gen- 
eral Assemblies of Iowa and also of the e.\tra session which formed and adopted the 
present code of that State; was a Regent of the State University of Iowa; and was a 
Trustee of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home of that State. Was candidate for Congress 
in 1868 and 1872, and for Governor in 1877. Came to California in April, 1882, and 
removed his family to Oakland in September of that year. 

Aaron J.ACOBS. — This well-known and popular merchant tailor of Oakland is 
a native of Prussia, Germany, born May 3, 1852. At the early age of ten years he 
began to learn the tailor's trade with his father, where he remained for five years. 
He then proceeded to Dresden, and entered a cutting academy, from whence he 
graduated in the art of cutting in one year. In May, 1866, he sailed from Hamburg 
for America, arriving in San Francisco in June of the same year, where he found 
employment at his trade until 1870, when he removed to Ukiah, Mendocino County, 
where he engaged in business for himself for five years. He then came to Oakland 
and opened a similar establishment on Broadway until 1878, when he sold out stock, 
and entered the employ of J. Tobin, of San P"rancisco, until March i, 1882, when he, in 
partnership with his brother, H. Jacobs, opened their present merchant-tailor store at 
No. 1062 Broadway, and are recognized as among the leading men in that line of 
business in the city of Oakland. Mr. Jacobs is married and has two children, viz.: 
Mollie and Sam. 

John William Jamison. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be 
found in our pages, is the son of John and Vermelia (Edgar) Jamison, and was born 
in Washington County, Missouri, February 25, 1828. Here he received his early 
schooling, and resided, engaged in farming, until 1852, in which year his parents 
cros.sed the plains to California, our subject himself making the journey by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama. Arriving in San Francisco on the 6th August, Mr. Jamison at 
once proceeded to Placer County, and there embarked in mining, which he followed 
until October, when he abandoned the search for gold, and, coming to Alameda 
County, settled in the beautiful valley at the foot of the Contra Costa Range, and fol- 
lowed farming until 1854. He now returned to mining, the place of his operations 
being Clear Creek, Shasta County, and there remained ten months. In Jul)- 1855 he 
came back to this county and settled permanentl)' on his father's farm, where he 
resided until the fall of 1859, when he located on his present place, consisting of one 
hundred and twenty-five acres. Here he has since resided, respected by his fellow- 
citizens. Married, October 17, 1861, Miss Helen J. Hamilton, a native of Lawrence- 
burg, Indiana, by which union he has four surviving children, viz.; William, Homer, 
Helen L., and Lillian Mabel. 

F. C. Jarvis. — Was born in Ellsworth, Hancock County, Maine, September 11, 
1832, and is the son of Commodore Joseph R. Jarvis, U. S. N. Having resided at his 
birthplace until the year 1846, he was taken by his parents to Portland, New York. 
In 1850, he commenced a seafaring life and followed it until the spring of 185 i, at 
which date he came to California. His first employment was weighing ha\^ for Ritchie 
& Stearns in Sacramento, and at the end of a year proceeded to the mines, and was 
there engaged until 1857, when he went to the P^razer River, being absent about 
twelve months, when he returned to San Francisco and commenced coasting, which he 
followed until settling in Alameda County in 1865. Married in 1873, Miss PLmma 
Wiley, and has Olivia, Evelyn Otis, Emma Carr. 



Biographical Sketches. 915 



Howard S. Jarvis. — Son of Edward Scott Jarvis and Elizabeth (Sparhawk) Jarvis, 
was born in Hancock County, March 28, 1836, where he resided until 1853, in which year 
he came to California and located in Tuolumne County, where he engaged in mining 
and farming until 1S60. From that time until 1867 he mined in Nevada and this 
State, when he entered into partnership with his cousin in Alameda. Married on 
December 3, 1872, Miss Maria R. Reeder, by whom he. has: William Pepperrell, 
Charles Fitz, Neva T., and Elizabeth S. 

William H. Jessup. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
history, was born in Fayette County, Indiana, August 2, 1820, where his parents 
were engaged in farming. In 1829 he moved with them, and settled near Indian- 
apolis, the newly established capital of the State, where with the combined efforts 
of the father and an older brother, they opened a small farm in the dense forest of 
beech, maple, walnut, and oak. Finding the clearing of such land too severe a task, 
his father sold out and removed to the northerly end of the State in 1833, and set- 
tled in the then wild but lovely prairies in La Porte County, where the charming new 
town of the same name had just been laid out. Here in this lovely place the family 
made what they supposed a permanent settlement. Here he was apprenticed in 1834 
to Levy Decker to learn the blacksmith's trade, serving an apprenticeship of four 
years. After mastering all that could be learned in those primitive days in that trade, 
he quit it for the time being and served one year at wagon-making. Quitting this, he 
started to learn the carpenter's trade, the one that he had always had a desire to 
learn. During this period of six years his father had filled several offices of trust. 
The name of John Jessup was known all over that section, and honored and 
respected wherever known — genial, kind-hearted, and true to his friends, ever ready to 
accommodate and aid them with his name. All old settlers will remember how 
high speculation ran all through the West from 1835 to 1837, and how the country 
was flooded with worthless wild-cat money, and how in the latter year the crash came. 
Being a heavy indorser, he went down with the general crash. Discouraged with the 
prospect of re-establishing their former standing, the family held a consultation and 
decided to seek a home farther west. Gathering the remains of the wreck, the father 
left for Wisconsin, where he finally settled in the then small town of Milwaukee, 
where, he soon after moved the family. The subject of this sketch and his older 
brother started with a small band of horsesfor the central portion of Illinois, arriving in 
Springfield on the day of the inauguration of President Harrison. Shortly after dis- 
posing of the horses, the brother joined the family at Milwaukee. But young Wm. 
H. remained in Springfield, where he completed his trade of carpenter, working on 
the new capitol and State bank, which were then in course of construction. But here 
again misfortune attended the efforts of our subject, as the failure of the bank swept 
away all his savings, but, nothing daunted, he persevered, and obtained a position as 
deputy postmaster in Rochester, Illinois, through the intercession of the lamented 
Lincoln, who manifested a deep interest in and friendship for the young stranger. 
After holding this position about a year, he again took up his trade of carpenter, and 
to still further advance himself in the useful arts, he served one year at the cabinet 
trade with John Gibson, in Logan County, Illinois. At the constant solicitation of 
friends, he joined the family at Milwaukee, in the dead of winter, on horseback, in, the 
winter of 1843-44, crossing the prairies north of Peoria through a blinding 
snow-storm, in company with a party in wagons and sleighs, three of whom were 
frozen to death. But he, being young and vigorous, and being inured to all the hard- 
ships of rough frontier life, escaped with slightly frozen feet. Soon after his arrival 
in Milwaukee he engaged in his business of carpenter and joiner, taking contracts for 
buildings in that rapidly growing city. The following summer he became acquainted 
with and married Miss E. M. Goelzer, an estimable lady, of German birth, who has 
proved a faithful and loving wife and an attentive and affectionate mother. Seven chil- 
dren were the result of this union, two born in Milwaukee, one son and a daughter, 



916 History of Alameda County, California. 



the latter dying in infancy. Everything moved on .snnoothl)' until the winter of 1848 
-49, when the whole country was agitated by the wonderful .stories told of the 
rich gold discoveries in California. The contagion of the gold fever was general. 
Young Jessup couldn't resist, and straightway made preparations for the newly dis- 
covered gold-fields, but found it impossible to get ready for the following spring's 
emigration, and with ma,ny regrets he was forced to bid his friends good-by, after 
accompanying them several miles on their way, with the promise to meet them in 
California the ne.xt year, a promise which he made good. Selling out the following 
summer and fall, he was fully prepared for an early start the ne.xt spring. Form- 
ing a co-partnership with Joseph Pollock and John Davis, the party had a splendid 
wagon and outfit built, ready for starting. And on the 19th of March, 1S50, 
he bade good-by to his disconsolate little family and sailed to Chicago by steamer, 
as at that time there were no railroads, with his party, there to take the canal- 
boat for the Illinois River; thence by steamer to St. Joseph, where the party 
bought mules and horses. And on the 4th of May they crossed the river, 
and struck out over the beautiful level plains of Kansas, that seemed to terminate 
only at the setting sun, with as fine a four-mule team and as complete an outfit as 
ever crossed the plains, and with two good saddle-horses. Before leaving St. Joseph 
the party took a passenger who was to assist in camp duty, besides paying two hun- 
dred dollars for his passage. They were also joined by the wife of one of the part- 
ners, Mrs. Pollock, which gave to the party a home-like, domestic appearance. They 
resolved on the start to keep themselves aloof from large parties, and take their leisure, 
that they might get their stock through in good condition, which proved a wise 
precaution. Mr. Jessup, being an e.xpert with the rifle, as all frontiersmen were in the 
early settlement of the West, was selected to do the hunting for the party, and was 
released from all camp duty, except night-watch in the vicinit\- of roving bands of 
thieving Indians, and his unerring rifle kept the party and many a hungry emigrant 
abundantly supplied with fresh meat. The buffalo, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, 
hare, and sage-hen all had to pay tribute — always hunting on foot, frequently 
remaining out all night, constructing covers of sage-brush, making his meals of hard 
bread and dried buffalo-meat, meeting with many adventures and hair-breadth 
escapes with Indians and wild animals, in one instance only escaping the scalping- 
knife by a strategy learned among the Indians themselves. The distance traveled on 
foot by Mr. Jessup while hunting would more than equal the entire distance across the 
plains. Coming by the way of the South Pass and Sublette's Cut-off, down the Hum- 
boldt, through the Carson Canon, they arrived on the summit of the Sierra Nevadas 
on the memorable day when California was admitted into the glorious Union. When 
the summit was reached the entire party took off their hats and gave three hearty 
cheers, not that they knew that they were in a newborn State, but that they knew 
they were in California, and near the end of that long and toilsome journey, filled 
with so many dangers and privations. They arrived in Hangtown (now Placerville) 
on the I ith of September, 1850, where the party broke up and divided their property 
and parted good friends, each to pursue his own course, Mr. J. fell in with a party of 
young men — Frank Lick, afterwards Supervisor of Milwaukee, Wm. Bals, and James 
Dewey — all of Milwaukee. With those three he formed a company to engage in 
placer-mining, which they followed with varied success until the following spring, 
when the terrible May fire of 1857 startled the whole Pacific Coast, and even the 
East, and created a great demand for all classes of mechanics. Mr. Jessup left his 
party on the receipt of the news and started for San Francisco, bu\ing a .set of tools 
on the way, arriving in time to see what remained of the great city of adobe houses, 
board shanties, and canvass tents, enveloped in the smoke of the smoldering ruins. 
The morning after his arrival he obtained work at twent\'-fivc dollars per day, for a 
few days, of a Mr. Shaw, a contractor, but those wages could not be expected to last 
long, so he engaged to the same gentleman for the season for ten dollars per day. 



Biographical Sketches. 917 



About a month passed, when the June fire came and swept away all that had been 
accomplished, together with nearly all the stock of goods taken from the store-ships 
and the greater amount of surplus building materials that remained after the May fire. 
Mr. Jessup lost all his earnings and tools, and his employer was a heavy loser, and to 
help him out his men gave him all the aid in their power, but he had finally to sus- 
pend; and here Mr. Jessup lost all his wages, only drawing enough to pay expenses, 
sending but little to his family, and paying fourteen dollars per week for board. The 
following fall he obtained a job of the late Capt. J. B. R. Cooper to goto Monteiey 
at eight dollars per day, where he worked until the spring of 1852, when he returned 
to San Francisco and sent for his family, who arrived June 16, 1852, he working on 
his own account. Many of the buildings erected by him are still standing in San P~ran- 
cisco. After the arrival of his wife and child he engaged with the late B. R. Bucke- 
lew to build the now defunct California City in Marin County, returning to San Fran- 
cisco January I, 1853, where he worked at his trade until November, when he received 
an appointment from General Allen to take charge of the Folsom Street plank road, 
which position he held until' it was about to be opened to the public, when he 
left that place, in the latter part of 1857, and took a contract to put up buildings 
for the Government at the Presidio. All his savings were judiciously invested in 
land, which was steadily increasing in value, until the spring of 1858, when the excit- 
ing news of the wonderful discoveries of gold in British Columbia stirred up anew 
the gold fever, and San Francisco was dead, and Frazer River was the new Dorado. 
Mr. Jessup, seeing that everything was at a stand-still in California, although not losing 
confidence in it, thought he could do something in the new field, while things were 
in this state at home; but his experience was no exception to that of others, 
resulting in loss of time and money, and suffering untold toil and hardships. He left 
San Francisco for Victoria in company with his cousin, John Rogers, in June, 1858, 
arriving in Victoria July ist, and remaining in that city till the latter part of that 
month, he formed a party of fifteen to work together in the wonderful gold-fields of 
the upper Frazer, taking passage for the party on the steamboat Umatilla, on her 
first trip up the Frazer and through Lake Harrison — the first steamboat that ever dis- 
turbed the waters of that placid lake. He was present at the dedication of the new 
town of Port Douglas, located at the head of the lake. Here the party expected to 
have found canoes in which to transport their supplies up the Dilute, or Harrison, 
River, but the Indians having left for the lakes and taken their canoes with them, Mr. 
Jessup was forced to procure an Indian guide to go up the river to the Dilute Dakes to 
obtain canoes, which was finally accomplished with the greatest difficulty, as the 
Indians were becoming very much dissatisfied at the invasion of so many whites, and . 
nothing but the lack of fire-arms and ammunition prevented an outbreak. After 
obtaining five forty-foot canoes, Mr. Jessup started on the return down that terrible 
river, with Indian guides in three canoes, who by a preconcerted plan ran the 
canoes close to the shore, when each Indian leaped out and took to the woods, 
and left the party to their own resources, and it was with the greatest difficulty that 
Mr. Jessup prevented the party from firing upon the fleeing redskins. The intention 
of the Indians, evidently, was to leave the guidance of the frail craft to inexperienced 
hands, who knew nothing of the dangers of the river, and so go over the falls and to 
inevitable destruction, and as it was, the party reached the cascade in one-fourth the 
time they expected, and nothing but a miracle saved the entire company from instant 
death, by running close in shore and leaping to the rocks. Three of the canoes were 
saved by throwing the tow-line to some friendly Indians on the shore; the other two 
canoes went over the falls and were dashed to pieces. The passage of near sixty 
miles was made in the incredible space of two hours and twenty minutes. In the 
ascent of the river the party endured the greatest hardships, wading in the ice-cold 
water of the river coming down from the snow-capped mountains, chin-deep, towing 
their heavily laden canoes after them. At the head of the river (Dilute Dakes) the 



918 History of Alameda County, California. 

party abandoned the boats, divided the supplies, which amounted to three hundred 
pounds to the man. This had to be packed across a forty mile portai,'e, by each, 
with what assistance he could get from an occasional Indian. The mode of doing 
this was to divide each man's load into three parts, carrjMng the first forward a quar- 
ter or half a mile and putting it down, then returning after the second, alwa_\'s leaving 
one man to guard the pile at each end of the route. Crossing lakes Lcaton and 
Anderson on heavy log rafts, striking the Frazer at the mouth of Bridge River, 
where arriving, Mr. Jessup learned that the threatened Indian outbreak, on the 
lower Frazer had occurred, and all communication cut off, and the most startling 
reports of Indian massacres were received, and the Bridge River Indians were in a 
high state of excitement, and onl)- the bold stand of the well-armed and sturdy intruders 
prevented an outbreak. After prospecting the section of the country in strong par- 
ties, in the immediate v'icinity of the camp, and finding no paj'ing mine, and at the end 
of nearly a month news wa's received of the suspension of hostilities, and Mr. Jessup 
sold out his stock of provisions and tools, and with three of his part\- started on his 
return home down the Frazer, on the 29th of September, arriving in San Francisco 
about the middle of October, after passing through the roughest experience of his 
rough life, and a heavy loser. On his return he started to improve his property, to 
make good his losses, building tenement-houses In 1863 he engaged in the manu- 
facture of matches, starting the Eureka Match Factory. At first he met with poor 
encouragement from the trade, as the importers of San Francisco were handling the 
Polac, or Geneva, match, and having a large stock on hand, would not aid him in intro- 
ducing a home article, but on the contrary put every obstacle in the way of success. 
Mr. Jessup warned them he would yet have the trade, that Polac could no longer 
monopolize the match trade on this coast, and that he was bound to succeed or lose 
$20,000, and that he would suppl)- their customers for one year free of charge if they 
would not aid him in the introduction of his manufacture, and so keep the money in 
the country. They laughed at him for presuming to buck against the importers of 
San Francisco, and Polac, a man who employs six thousand hands. He replied 
that if Mr. Polac employed si.K hundred thousand hands, he could no longer 
sell his matches in this market. Mr. Jessup then took in two partners, \Vm. B. 
Williams and Wm. H. Finch, and putting in new and improved machinery, ran the 
factory to its full capacity, sent wagons out, scattering their goods broadcast over 
the country, giving away thousands of gross. This soon began to tell on the trade. 
and in less than one )'ear there was but little call for the imported match, and inside 
of three years the importation ceased, and the importers were forced to close out their 
unsalable stock at ruinous prices. In the mean time the factory prospered under the 
efficient management of Mr. Jessup until an unfavorable ruling of the Commissioner 
of Internal Revenue, at Washington, forced them to shut down the factory. The 
unfavorable ruling was to allow the importer to sell imported matches in original 
cases without stamps, to be stamped by the retailer when offered for sale. The effect 
of this ruling would be to allow great quantities of matches to pass into the hands of 
large consumers without stamps. Mr. Jessup sent a long communication to the 
Commissioner, setting forth the working of the order and the hardship it would work 
on home industry. On the receipt of this communication, the Commissioner tele- 
graphed immediately to have all matches stamped. At this time the Eureka factory 
was consuming from eight to ten thousand feet of lumber a month, and their stamps 
were running from five hundred to a thousand dollars a week. This piece of manaeu- 
vering took the last hope from the importer, and Mr. Jessup had the field to himself until 
the Chinese and unscrupulous white men saw a chance of making money by evading 
the high stamp duty on matches, procuring children and women to sell their illicit 
manufactures all over the countr\-, which made the business less profitable. In 1865 
Mr. Jessup sold a one-fourth interest in the factory to Flam & Howe, retaining a one-half 
interest, Mr Finch having withdrawn. In that year the company- met with a severe 



Biographical Sketches. 919 



loss, in the burning of their factory, with about fifteen thousand gross of matches, not 
saving a dollar from the ruin. In the winter of that year also Mr. Jessup met with a 
heavy loss by being flooded out, and his beautiful house and property on the corner 
of Twelfth and Folsom Streets almost destroyed by the building of a sewer by the 
city authorities, for the purpose of draining Hayes Valley. Failing to finish the 
sewer before the wet season, the heavy rains of the following winter swept down over his 
property carrying everything movable before it. Mr. Jessup brought suit against the 
city for damages, which «'as persistently contested on both sides for thirteen years. 
Mr. Jessup obtaining a judgment, a new trial was granted, and again he received a judg- 
ment, which was finally affirmed by the Supreme Court. After reconstructing his 
house and greatly improving it, he again met with a heavy loss in 1870, by fire. Just 
as his house was completed and being furnished, it was burned, with a large amount of 
property. The loss was about $23,000, partly insured. As his home was destroyed, Mr. 
Jessup thought it would be a good time for him to visit his friends at the East; so, 
after an absence of twenty years, with his wife and eldest daughter, he made a 
visit to them, remaining eight months. Returning on the 5th of August, 
1 87 1, he immediately set to work to reconstruct his house, which was finished the 
following winter. In 1873 he sold out his entire interest in the match factory (which 
had been conducted by Mr. Williams) to Elam & Howe, as the business had become 
less profitable. Mr, Jessup then cast about for some more remunerative business. Find- 
ing a fine millsite in Lake County, he closed a bargain and bought the Martinez 
Flouring-mills, of four run of stone, took them down and moved them to the new 
site, where he erected the finest country mill on the coast, three miles west of Middle- 
town and near Anders Springs, on the Lakeport road. Mr. Jessup took in a partner, 
one Russell Stevens, a good mechanic, and excellent mill man, who had no money, 
but a pocketful of recommendations from business men of San Francisco, giving him 
a one-half interest, to be paid for out of the profits.. He subsequently bought the 
Cobb Mountain Saw-mills with sixteen hundred acres of timber land, putting this 
man Stevens in charge (with a one-half interestin both mills) until he himself could 
settle up his business in the city and take charge in person. But before this 
could be accomplished, Stevens had, by conspiring with others, involved the whole 
business to such an extent that it was impossible to extricate it, coming at a period 
when money could not be obtained on any security, at the time of the suspension of 
of the Bank of California. Mr. Jessup commenced an action of injunction against 
Stevens, demanding an accounting, had him arrested for fraud and contempt of court. 
He got out of jail on false affidavits and jumped on board the Mexican, then lying at 
the wharf with steam up, and was off to Mexico, with all the funds of the concern. 
This proved the most unfortunate speculation of Mr. Jessup's life, losing nearly 
$25,000 by the transaction, involving him in total ruin. In order to pay off the debts 
incurred he sold every foot of property he owned, amounting to over twenty thou- 
sand dollars, which did not yet clear him, leaving him, with but -his hands and good 
health, to start anew with. Undaunted, he was ready to fight over the battle of life, 
when a still more severe loss befell him, and one that was forever to affect the 
remainder of his hard and eventful life, in the loss of a beloved and lovely daughter, 
just budding into womanhood. He no longer desired to make San Francisco his 
home, and by the assistance of a good friend he was enabled to procure his 
present home in this county, encumbered with a debt of $16,500, without a dollar to 
stock the place with, or to support his family until the next year's crop came in. 
With a brave heart and determined to win or die, he left his old home that he 
had occupied for twenty-three years (and in which five children had been born and 
reared), to seek the peace and retirement of the country, and to adopt horticulture as 
a profession — a business he always had a taste for, and one that he was eminently 
fitted for by nature. He immediately took a leading part in the horticulture of the 
State, is an active member of the State Horticultural Society, a member of Eden 



920 History of Alameda County, California. 

Grange; he is referred to as authority on horticultural matters. Keeping up an 
extensive correspondence on horticultural concerns, his correspondence extends from 
Oregon to Texas. He also has contributed extensively to the press of the Coast. He 
is a regular contributor to the Pacific Rural Press, and an occasional contributor to 
the Rural Californian, at Los Angeles, the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco 
Bulletin, W-a.Y\\ -ax As, Journal, Willamette /vrrwt'r, Portland, Oregon; and a good article 
of his is published in the State Agricultural Report of iScSi. Many of his effusions 
have been republished by other papers in the State, and to his untiring efforts antl 
faith in the future importance of the fruit industry of the coast, is due in a great 
measure the impetus given to the horticultural interest of this State during the past 
four )'ears. 

John Johnson. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in the city of Hamburg, Germany, March 14, 1818, and when an 
infant had the misfortune of losing his father, mother, brother, and a sister, in the 
burning of a distillery which his father owned, Mr. Johnson, then in the cradle, being 
saved by the courage of his elder sister, with whom he dwelt until he attained the age 
of thirteen years. At this time he commenced a seafaring life, shipping as cabin-boy 
on board the brig Louise Field, o{ Hamburg, and made his first voyage to Hull, Eng- 
land, where he took a cargo of coal for Flensburg. On November 23 1831, he 
suffered shipwreck in the Skager Rack, the arm of the North Sea, between Denmark 
and Norway, where all on board were lost save our subject and Fred. Olsen, the latter 
of whom, clinging to the gallant-mast, and the former to the maintop-gallant-mast, 
were tossed about in the cold and tempestuous sea for upwards of twelve hours. 
Being ultimately picked up by a pilot-boat, they were landed at Frederickshaven, 
whence they begged their way, through some five feet of snow, sometimes being 
obliged to sleep in it, and occasionally finding the poor shelter of a barn, to the city 
of Flensburg, where, Olsen dying from cold and exposure, Johnson was taken charge 
of by his Consul and sent to Hamburg, where he arrived January 20, 1832. He now 
engaged in the coast trade until March, 1833, when he shipped on a voyage to Green- 
land, in the O. Roakcol, when six thousand seals, a whale, and one polar bear were 
captured, on the latter of which our subject whiled away the time b}- practicing the 
taxidermist's art. On getting back to Flensburg, he once more shipped in coasters 
until the whaling season, when, in March, 1S34, he made another voyage to the high 
latitudes, in his former vessel. In September of this year he made a voyage to New- 
castle, England, for coal, and on March 18, 1835, started in the ship Has. Home on a 
whaling cruise, when they reached as high as seventy-si.x degrees north. On this 
voyage they took a shipwrecked crew off the floe, that had been on the ice for eight 
days. In October, 1835, he made a trip to the island of St. Thomas, West Indies, 
loaded with sugar, and returned in February, 1836. In the following month he sailed 
from Eckenfur, on another whaling voyage, when eight thousand seals and two 
whales were captured, returning August 12th of the same year. On April 2, 1837, 
he returned to the island of St. Thomas, was attacked with }-ellow fever, sent to 
the hospital, and left behind. On recovering, he shipped in the schooner lovio, 
November 9, 1837, and, after leaving port, found he was to take part in the slave 
trade. Proceeding to the west coast of Africa, they there took on board two hundred 
and forty negroes, with whom they returned to St. Thomas, the trip occupying six 
months, and being attended with man)' dangers. In May, 1838, having taken a cargo 
of sugar on board, Johnson sailed for New York, and thence proceeded to Valparaiso, 
and afterwards to the Chincha Islands, where, loading guano, they sailed for New 
York, and arrived April 5, 1839. His next voyage was to Paraguay, three hundred 
miles up the Rio de la Plata, where, loading a cargo of native wood, they returned to 
Montevideo. At this time war was raging between Paraguay and the Argentine 
Republic, and when on a journey some hundred miles up the river with the ship's 
boats to procure fresh water, they were attacked by t\\ o large launches, and a severe 



Biographical Sketches. 921 



fight ensued, Johnson and his party ultimately getting" clear without damage. After 
making some trips to that locality, our subject returned to New York, where he 
arrived April 12, 1841. In December of that year he shipped in one of the Black 
Ball line of clippers for Liverpool, and when two days out was struck by a squall that 
nearly tore the masts out of her; but rigging some gear, however, they returned to 
New York, where they arrived four days after they had set sail. After repairing, on 
March 2, 1842, another start was made, and the voyage across the Atlantic success- 
fully accomplished. After another round trip in this line, Johnson proceeded to Bos- 
ton, and there shipped in the Prince of Wales, in 1843, bound to Calcutta, East 
Indies, and thence to London, England. He now went to Liverpool, and on Sep- 
tember 9, 1844, signed articles for another voyage to Calcutta, on board the BoJinty 
Hall, and arrived February 27, 1845. Our subject kept in the East India trade until 
1847, when he proceeded to Russia, and lay four months in the ice at Cronstadt, after- 
wards returning to Boston, where he arrived in March, 1848, subsequently making 
trips to St. Malo and Boston. In 1849 he sailed in the ship Louise Field for Cali- 
fornia, and in 1850 first entered the Golden Gate; and, after working as a stevedore 
in San Francisco for some time, went across the bay to where the city of Oakland 
has since sprung up, and there commenced burning charcoal. He thence went to 
Mount Eden, there took up his residence, and, embarking in salt-making, has since 
been largely engaged in that occupation. In the winter of 1852 he commenced hunt- 
ing; and, among exploits too numerous to mention, on one occasion came to close 
quarters with a grizzly, which, after severely wounding, he finally killed, But it is 
unnecessary to follow further Mr. Johnson's adventurous life. He has had hair- 
breadth escapes in every part of the world. When but a youth, we have seen him 
shipwrecked; in the perilous voyages to the Arctic seas we have followed him; and in 
the far-away Straits of Malacca he was attacked by Malay pirates. Out of all these 
"tight places" he has come with credit. He is now quietly ensconced at Mount Eden 
Grove, where he maintains an unstinted hospitality, living a retired life, and sur- 
rounded by the comforts he so well deserves. Married, July 4, 1855, Miss Augusta 
Lorentz, a native of Hanover, and has two children, viz.: August and Sophia. 

Andrew Jones. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Seneca County, New York, October 12, 1837, where he resided, 
save one year, until he came to California in the month of October, 1869, embarked 
in farming with his brother, and now owns thirty-five acres of land and leases one 
hundred and eighty acres more; employs about seventy-five men during picking sea- 
son. He is engaged in the cultivation and manufacture of pickles. Married, April 
27, 1858, Miss Jane C. Greene, and has three surviving children, viz.: Nellie (now Mrs. 
M. J. Fontana), Edna, and Mary. 

Edmond Jones (deceased). — This gentleman, the brother of the above-named 
Andrew Jones, was a Quaker by birth, and born at Janetta, Pennsylvania, in the year 
1820. After carrying on a dairy business near Philadelphia, in 1853 he emigrated to 
California, and on arrival began a draying business, but soon after engaged in the 

pickle trade with Baker, in San Francisco. In 1856 he came to Alameda 

County, embarked in farming operations near San Lorenzo, and there resided until 
1864, when he removed to the ranch where his brother now resides. He died Decem- 
ber 31, 1878. 

Michael J. Keller. — Was born in County Cork, Ireland, September 29, 1844, 
and there resided and served a regular apprenticeship to the dry goods trade. In 
April, 1868, he sailed for San Francisco, and arrived in the following month; he then 
proceeded to Sacramento, where he found employment in a drygoods store for a 
short time. He subsequently opened a store in Marysville, and there resided eight 
years. After spending two years in San Francisco, in March, 1878, he came to Oak- 
land, entered the employ of Miller Brothers, continued with their successors, and in 



59 



922 History of Alameda County, California. 

March, 1879, opened his present shirt manufactory and store at No. 1007 Broadway. 
Is married and has one child, named George M. 

Charles A. Klinkner. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this work, is the son of John and Catharine (Hermann) Khnkncr and was born in 
Ausen, Germany, June 25, 1852. When our subject was onl}' two years of age his 
parents emigrated to the United States, and on arrival proceeded to Iowa and located in 
the town of Cascade. Here his father followed the shoemaker's trade, while Mr. Klink- 
ner attended school. At the early age of eleven years he entered a mercantile estab- 
lishment in that place, subsequently removing to Worthington, where he remained 
three years. For a year previous to his coming to the Pacific Coast he followed farm- 
ing. August 19, 1872, he started for the Golden State, arriving in San Francisco on 
the 28th of that month. He first found employment in the auction house of Van 
Shaack, on Kearny Street, where he remained eleven months, at the expiration of which 
time he proceeded to Solano County, followed farming for four months, and sub.se- 
quently started and continued a huckstering trade throughout the country for two 
years. In the fall of 1875 he engaged in and laid the foundation of his present pros- 
perous business, in canvassing for Hollister & Co., and at the end of one year opened a 
factory at No. 103 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, for the manufacture of rubber 
stamps. Here he prospered until he found his quarters too limited, when, in 1878, he 
moved to his present place of business at No. 320 Sansome Street, San Francisco, 
where he is engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of rubber stamps — a business 
that with small beginnings has grown into one of vast proportions. Married in Vaca- 
ville, Solano County, November 23, 1875, Miss Catharine Parke, a native of Alameda 
County, and has three children, viz.: Charles A., Frederick G., and Herman. 

Ernest F. Kohler. — Born in Hanover, Germany, January 16, 1842, and there 
was educated and resided, being with his uncle in a distillery until he attained the 
age of seventeen years. He then emigrated to the United States, and arrived in 
New York September 3, i860, where he resided until coming to California in Decem- 
ber, 1 86 1, landing in San Francisco on Christmas Day of that year. At the end of a 
twelvemonth he embarked in agricultural pursuits on Sherman Island, where he 
remained until June, 1868, when he returned to New York on a visit. In the month 
of August of the same year he came back to California, and engaged in wine-making 
in different localities until 1878, when, in September of that year, he purchased his 
present ranch of three hundred and twenty acres in Contra Costa County, on which 
he has a vineyard and orchard sixty acres in extent. Mr. Kohler is engaged in the 
wine and liquor business at No. 1502 Seventh Street, Oakland. Married, in San 
Francisco, Miss Matilda F. A. Klussmann, a native of Mecklenberg-Schwerin, Germany, 
and has: Frederick, Matilda, and Henry. 

Lewis Knox. — Was born in Licking County, Ohio, August 20, 1829, and is the 
son of Titus and Margaret Ann (Sinnolt) Knox. At the age of seven j-ears, his 
parents moving to Delaware County, in the same State, our subject resided there 
until April, 1852, when he started for the Pacific Coast and landed in San Francisco 
on May 13th, He at once proceeded to San Josd and continued farming there until 
1857, in which year he returned to Ohio, where, June 23, 1857, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary Allen, a native of Franklin County. On the ist July following, 
accompanied by his bride, Mr. Knox once more turned towards California, and on 
arrival settled at Haywards, where he lived until 1861, when he came to his present 
place, consisting of one hundred acres where he is engaged in general farming and . 
fruit-raising. His family consists of three sons and a daughter, viz.: Owen, EUie (now 
Mrs. Lynch), Harry, and George. 

William Kno.X. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
was born in Licking County, Ohio, July 9, 1823, and there resided for the first thirteen 
years of his life. He then moved to Delaware County, in the same State, where he 
lived with his father upon a farm up to 1846, afterwards entering into the occupation 



Biographical Sketches. 923 

of driving cattle, an employment he continued until the spring of 1850. On March 
1st of that year he removed to New York and with seven companions sailed therefrom 
on the Empire City for the Isthmus of Panama, thence by sailing-vessel to San Fran- 
cisco. The latter part of this voyage was attended with difficulties which culminated 
in the suicide of the master of the ship and her patting back. In Panama our subject 
worked for two weeks in a restaurant, and finalh' paying three hundred dollars for a 
passage-ticket on board of the old steamer Isthmus, arrived in San Francisco, July 12, 
1850. Proceeding at once to the mines on the Yuba River, Mr. Knox there worked 
until the following year, 185 1, when he transferred his habitation to San Jose, and in 
the fall embarked in farming operations, which he successfully continued up till the 
autumn of 1853, at which time he paid a visit- to the scenes of his youth in Ohio. 
There purchasing a band of sheep he drove them across the plains to Santa Clara 
County, where he arrived in the month of October, 1854. Mr. Knox now engaged in 
sheep-farming, making his home in that historic county until the fall of 1856, when 
he came to Alameda County, located in the vicinity of the place where he now resides 
and there followed sheep-raising until 1873. In the year 1864 our subject revisited 
his childhood's home in Ohio and brought back with him to California a band of 
horses, while once again, in 1869, he turned his steps eastward to revisit the land of 
his youth he loves so well. Mr. Knox is now the possessor of property aggregating 
eight hundred and forty acres and acquired as follows: In the fall of 1864 he purchased 
a plot of land at San Lorenzo, Eden Township, comprising one hundred and four 
acres; in 1867, he bought a half-section of land in Murray Township; and again, in 
1873, 3- ranch of three hundred and sixty acres also situated in Murray Township, 
while the farm on which he now resides he acquired in 1861, and it is at present under 
general grain and fruit cultivation. Mr. Knox married in Franklin County, Ohio, 
June 23, 1857, Miss Rhoda L. Greenleaf, a native of Middlebury, Vermont, who died 
December 16, 1882, by which union there have been born seven children, only three 
of whom survive, viz.: Milo, William, and John-. 

John W. Kottinger. — The subject of this sketch is the youngest son of 
Anthony and Rosa (Koenig) Kottinger, and was born in Austria, November 24, 1820. 
When nine years of age he was sent by his parents to the city of Vienna, the capital 
of Austria, where he received that education which leaves him a scholar of great 
erudition. At the age of twenty-two years he entered the family of Prince Charles 
Lichtenstein as private tutor, where he remained until November, 1845, in which year 
he went to Switzerland. In 1846 he crossed the Atlantic to New Orleans, and came from 
there with George D. Prentice to Louisville, Kentucky, with whom he was connected 
until February, 1847, while that gentleman was editor of the Louisville Journal. 
Mr. Kottinger subsequently resided in different portions of the United States, and 
ultimately sailed from New York to Rio de Janeiro, Valparaiso, etc. finally arriving 
in California, September 16, 1849, on the Hamburg bark Adelgiinda. After a sojourn 
of six days in San Francisco our subject proceeded to the Pueblo de San Jose, where 
he opened the first school taught there. From January, 1850, he acted as interpreter in 
the different courts of Santa Clara County, until October, at which time he purchased 
a band of cattle and drove them to the mines for sale. This done, he returned to San 
Jose and entered into partnership with District Attorney Sanford, being admitted to 
the practice of law in the spring of 185 1. In the fall of that year he came to what is 
now Alameda County and settled at Pleasanton, then commonly known as Alisal 
frorri the many sycamore trees in that vicinity. For an account of Mr. Kottinger's 
doings we refer the reader to the history of Murray Township. In Januar)^, 1852, he 
was joined by his family, and then entered into the business of stock-raisng, which he 
followed until the year 1857, at which time he removed his residence to San Francisco 
and embarked in the real estate business. In 1862 he returnd to Alameda 'County, 
where he has since residsd. Married, April 27, 1850, Senorita Maria R. Bernal, and 
has a family of nine children surviving, viz.: John, Franklin, Alfred, William, Rosa 
Eva, Annie, Maggie, and Martha. 



024 History of Alameda County, California. 

Joseph Lancaster. — The .subject of thi.s sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, England, November 24, 1842, and there 
passed the first twelve years of his life, having attended school in that town. After 
serving an apprenticeship of seven years at his trade in a large establishment at 
Batley, he then worked as a journeyman tailor until 1863, when he sailed from Liver- 
pool for the United States. Landing in New York, after a short time he j^roceeded 
to Newburgh, but a few weeks subsequently, in the month of October of that year, 
enlisted in Company A, 115th Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, Colonel 
Simmons, commanding, and at once proceeded to the .south, joining his regiment at 
Beaufort, South Carolina, where it was then stationed — the 1 1 5th was a part of General 
Seymour's command, which made a campaign in Florida early in 1864 — taking part 
in the engagement at Olustee, Florida, where he was wounded, and still bears the scar. 
He was then invalided for three months, after which, first having a short furlough, 
he rejoined his regiment before Petersburgh, Virginia, where it took an active 
part in the siege, and he made the assault on the rebel lines with his corps, when 
the mines were exploded under the enemy's works on the 30th of July, called the 
Bloody Battle of the Crater. He next proceeded with his battalion to Point of Rocks, 
on the north side of the James River, where, in a charge on the rebel's lines, he had 
the third finger of his right hand shot away at the middle joint; he next proceeded to 
Fortress Monroe, and a few weeks later was shipped to the North. On recovering 
from this last wound he returned to Newburgh in the fall of 1864, and two months 
thereafter paid a visit of a few weeks duration to Canada, whence he found his way 
to New Bedford, where shipping on board the Sophia Thornton, whaler, he sailed 
around Cape Horn, via the Sandwich Islands, to the Arctic Seas. He was there 
captured by the rebel cruiser Shenandoah, which destroyed every vessel she overhauled. 
The crews being eventually paroled, they were sent to San Francisco, and 'twas thus 
that our subject found himself in California. In July, 1865, he arrived in the Bay City, 
and finding employment at his trade with Francis Dixey, on Washington Street, there 
remained a year, after which he started in business on his own account on California 
Street, near Montgomery, and after several moves, finally, in January 1880, took 
up his present location at No. 531 California Street, San Francisco, where he is 
engaged in a large and prosperous merchant-tailoring business. In 1871 he purchased 
land and built his present residence on Encinal Avenue, Alameda, where he enjoys 
the well-earned comforts of a happy home. Married, January 13, 1869, Miss Eliza 
Richards, a native of England, and has five children, viz.: Charlotte E., Susan H., 
Joseph L., Harold L., Bessie M. 

A. G. Lawrie. — Was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1827. He came to San 
Francisco in the year i860, establishing himself as a Searcher of Records in San 
Francisco and Virginia City, there remained until 1865. In that year he proceeded 
to Alameda County in the like occupation, where he has since maintained a contin- 
uous residence. Mr. Lawrie has had a long experience in his business, and takes 
rank among the leading searchers of records in the State. His office is situated at 
the northeast corner of Broadway and F"ifth Streets, Oakland. 

Richard Lehrbass. — Was born in Prussia, Germany, October 13, 1853, and 
there resided with his parents until he attained the age of sixteen years. He then 
commenced learning the brewery business, which occupation he followed until he 
.emigrated to the United States. Landing in New York on November 1, 1872, he at 
once proceeded to Detroit, Michigan, and there worked at his calling until the spring 
of 1 875, when he moved to Connecticut, then to Ohio, and in the spring of 1876 came to 
California, arriving in San Francisco in the month of July. Here he was employed 
in a brewery until the following June, when he moved to Oakland, Alameda County, 
and found occupation at the same trade. He subsequently engaged in the bottled 
beer business, and finally purchased the saloon at Market Street station on Seventh 
Street, Oakland, where he is now engaged in business. 



Biographical Sketches. 925 

Columbus R. Lewis. — Was born in Jefferson County, New York, July 17, 1838, 
and is the son of Grandison and Mary (Choffee) Lewis. At the age of sixteen years 
he left home, and commenced clerking in Oswego, New York, where he remained 
until i860. In that year he emigrated to California, and after passing two years at 
the mines in Inyo and Tulare Counties came to Oakland, in 1862, and worked at his 
trade of carpenter. He was the first fireman of the Central Pacific Local Train. The 
three following years he passed in a mercantile house, and in 1868 commenced a 
commission business which he still carries on. In March, 1880, he was elected to the 
Council of the City of Oakland, and still is in the performance of the responsible 
duties attendant on that office. Married, September 22, 1869, Mrs. Florence Hunger- 
ford, a native of New York, and has one child, viz.: Arthur, and two step-daughters: 
Kirkie and Nellie Hungerford. He has identified himself with the growth of the city 
of Oakland by the erection of a permanent brick building on Washington Street, and 
may be said to be one of the pioneers of Oakland City. 

Capt. James Mortimer R. Lewis (deceased). — Was born in Mount Vernon, 
Virginia, in 181 2, and was a son of Thomas Lewis, an officer of the Revolutionary 
Army. When young our subject was placed with his uncle. Wash. Roby, and received 
his early schooling in Washington City. He then entered the United States Navy, 
serving under such gallantheroes as Commodores Perry and Farragut. Having sur- 
mounted the intervening grades from Ensign to Captain, in 1837 he was dispatched 
to the Pacific Coast, and as early as the fall of that year had anchored off Goat Island. 
Continuing in the Navy until 1842, he then entered the mercantile marine, and was 
for eight years on the route between New York and Liverpool. In 1849 he made a 
voyage to California, and returning to New York, sailed thence to Liverpool, as 
officer of the ship 5/'«r of the West. On his return he became a benedict. Until 
1853, he ran on the route between New York and Havre, and in June of that year 
launched the clipper ship Young America, and sailed round the Horn to San Francisco. 
On arrival he entered the employ of the Pacific Mail Company, and was on the route 
between San Francisco and Nicaragua. In October 1855 he returned to the Empire- 
City, but subsequently sailed again in the ship Adelaide, Captain Wakeman, for the Bay 
City, where he joined his wife, who had left New York a few days subsequent to his 
departure, and coming via Nicaragua, had preceeded his arrival by some time. 
Captain Lewis now took up his residence in San Francisco, but remained in the 
employ of the Pacific Mail Company, plying between the Coast ports until 1858, when 
on account of declining health he made Centreville his home. Taking up his resi- 
dence there, April 20, 1858, with his wife, a few months later the erection of the hotel 
now conducted by Mrs. Lewis, was commenced, it received the name of the United 
States, and there the veteran captain resided up to the time of his death. In 1865 he 
took up a ranch on the San Joaquin, which his widow now owns, January 15, 1873, 
the captain was gathered to his fathers, after a long and patient illness. He lies 
buried at the Mission San Jose, and over his grave has been erected a handsome 
monument by his sorrowing relict. Married in New York City, Octobers, 1850, Miss 
Bridget J., daughter of Edward and Mary (Forristall) Wall, of Carrick Bay, County 
Waterford, Ireland, by whom he had two children, now deceased. 

William M. Liston. — Was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, July 31, 
1813, and at ten years of age was taken by his parents to Wayne County, Indiana, 
where he received his education and resided on a farm for eight years. Proceeding in 
1 83 1 to the then territory of Michigan he was for six years engaged in trading with 
the Indians in Berrien County, and for two years subsequently carried on the trade of 
butcher there. On December 31, 1838, he left Michigan, and going to South Bend, 
Indiana, there passed three years as clerk in a lawyer's office, afterwards engaging 
in the lime trade. In June, 1846, he returned to Michigan, located at St. Joseph, and 
being in poor health recruited for the next eighteen months, at the end of which time he 
purchased a saw-mill and conducted it until November 30, 1850, but his establishment 



926 History of Alameda County, California. 

being consumed by fire, after settling his affairs, he found himself with just sufficient 
money to take him to California — the Land of Gold. On June i, i<S5i, he started 
with his wife and child for New York, and there taking passage in the steamer Prome- 
tliiis, sailed for the Isthmus of Panama. On the Pacific side he made the vo\'age in 
the Sea Bird, but being extremely ill he was put ashore at Monterey. After a few 
weeks in that ancient city he made the journey northwards and arrived at Mission 
San Jose, July 29, 1851, and was for twenty-seven weeks in the employ of Henry C. 
Smith. He was afterwards engaged in the building of a warehouse for the same 
gentleman at Alvarado, after which he moved to San P'rancisco, and for a few months 
conducted the old Montgomery House, situated on the thoroughfare of that name 
between California and Pine Streets. Like ever\'body else Mr. Liston took a turn at the 
mines, but one day's work was sufficient to prove to him that it required a maximum of 
toil to produce a minimum of gold, he therefore returned to Alvarado and worked for 
wages on a farm until the fall of 1852. He thenembarked in a grocery business, in a build- 
ing now vacant, located on Minden Lane. At the end of eighteen months he went into 
the stock business which he followed until the fall of 1861, when once more hard fate 
dealt unkindly with him. Undeterred, however, he once more essayed hotel-keeping, 
and opened the Brooklyn House on the ground where he is now located, and con- 
ducted it four years. Mr. Liston next engaged in staging from Warm Springs to 
Haywards, San Leandro, and Oakland, remaining thus occupied until 1872, during 
which he had the contract for carrying the mail from San Leandro to Centreville, 
which last he held until 1861. In the month of October of that year he opened the 
Alvarado Tavern, which he at present conducts. Besides being a Justice of the Peace 
for Washington Township, he is also a member of the local Pioneer Association. 
Married in Michigan, November 18, 1847, Miss Catherine Kelly, a native of Canada, and 
has three surviving children, viz.: Maggie (now Mrs. W. F. Ingalls), Mary (now Mrs. 
D. C. Owens), and Jonathan J. 

Robert Livermore (deceased). — This old pioneer, after whom is named the 
fertile Livermore Valley, in which stands the prosperons town also so called, was born 
in Bethnal Green, London, England, in the year 1799, and there remained until 1823, 
when he entered the naval service of Great Britain, taking part in several notable sea 
fights, being for some time on the South American Coast under Lord Cochrane, after- 
wards Earl of Dundonald, when that famous Admiral was in command of the Peruvian 
fleets. He subsequently entered the merchant service, and while serving in that 
branch of the marine service came to Monterey in the year 1820. He soon after took 
to a shore-going life, and proceeding to the Pueblo de San Jose, there became 
acquainted w^ith his future partner Noriega. Having worked for some time in the 
vicinity of the pueblo on the ranch of Juan Alvirez and there acquiring the Spanish 
language, he soon became a great favorite among the Mexicans, his fair hair and cap- 
tivating manners making him especially liked among the gentler se.x. Not long 
after he removed to the Rancho Agua Caliente, or Warm Springs, where he stayed 
with the family of Higuera, and quickly finding favor in the eyes of one of the 
daughters of the house, secured her for a companion through life. We next hear of 
Robert Livermore in what is now the Suiiol Valley where building an adobe resi- 
dence he located and entered upon the raising of stock and the cereals. He was here 
joined by his old comrade Noriega, and with him developed the idea of securing a 
rancho in the neighboring valley, then a wilderness of wild oats and chaparral and 
the home of large and small game. In 1S35 he settled on the Las Pocitas Rancho, 
in Livermore Valley — the grant being secured in 1835 — and subsequently purchasing 
the interest of Noriega, there resided until the day of his death, which occurred in 
February, 1858. His estate he left to his wife and eight children. Robert Livermore 
was essentially a good man and true, and was of that grit of which the proper pioneer 
is made. His hospitality was unbounded, his open hand and heart knew no stint, 
he died as he had lived, respected by all who knew him. A volume could be written 



Biographical Sketches. 927 



upon his many virtues, let it be our duty to here, as well as in other portions of this 
work, perpetuate his naftne in the annals of Alameda County. 

Robert Livermore. — This gentleman, whose portrait will be found in our 
pages, is the eldest son of the above distinguished pioneer and is the worthy son of a 
worthy father. He was born in Santa Clara County in the year 1840, and there 
remained until 1847, when he came to his father's Rancho, now_ Livermore Valley. 
Here he has resided ever since. Up till 1868 he was engaged in stock-raising, but in 
that year he embarked in the cultivation of the cereals, an occupation he still con- 
tinues. His education he received at the colleges of Benicia and Santa Clara. In 
Robert Livermore we have one of nature's noblemen whose word is his bond, and 
whose instincts place him beyond a paltry act. He is respected by every one for his 
own sterling worth as well as for the name he bears, while as a friend, happy is he who 
can claim that tie of amity. He married, November 25, 1861, Senora Teresa Bernal, 
and has six children, viz.: Isabella, Victoria, Charles, Katie, Nicholas and Delphina. 

Maas Luders. — Was born in Holstein, Germany, January 27, 1837. At the age 
of fifteen he commenced a seafaring life and after six years of a "life on the ocean 
wave" with all its concomitant disadvantages he found himself in New York Harbor. 
On July 26, 1858, he shipped on board the Mary Brighaiii from Savannah, Georgia, 
bound via Cape Horn to San Francisco, California. In the Bay City Mr. Luders 
arrived November 11,-1858, and now trying a shore-going life became to Alameda 
County and first found employment for six months in Washington Township, then 
with Cornelius Mohr, Eden Township, until September 15, 1861. In this year Mr. 
Luders rented land near Haywards and resided on it until 1865. In 1863 he rented 
a portion of the Dougherty Ranch, which he farmed while residing in Haywards. 
Finally, in the fall of 1865, he came to the place where he now lives, about two and a 
half miles west of Livermore, where he has been engaged in farming extensively up to 
the present time. In 1881 he purchased a tract of land of Wm. M. Mendenhall; a 
portion of the Rancho El Valle de San Jose, also a part of the Santa Rita Ranch, 
where he intends to make his permanent home in the future. He married November 
21, 1872, Maria Hagemann, also a native of Holstein. The family consists of a step- 
son named August Hagemann. A portrait of Mr. LiJders will be found in this work. 

John L. Lyon. — Was born in Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence County, New York, 
April 7, 1842. Was educated at the High School of chat place and there resided until 
he attained the age of nineteen years. He then entered the army. On the day after 
the fall of Fort Sumter he enlisted as a private for six months, afterwards, however, 
enlisting for two years in Company A, Sixteenth New York Volunteer Infantry, and 
serving with his corps in all the principal engagements of that sanguinary conflict. He 
was with the Sixteenth at the first and second battles of Bull's Run, the seven days' 
fight on the Peninsula, the first fight at Fredericksburg at Antietam, and at the 
second battle of Fredericksburg, eighteen battles in all, in many of which he carried 
the national colors, and as a matter of course was always in the thickest of the fray, 
while his "hair-breadth 'scapes" are to be counted by tens. While at Salem Heights 
he received three bullet holes through his pants and had his haversack shot off, while 
two of the stars were carried away by bullets out of the banner he bore. On Septem- 
ber 29, 1862, he was promoted to be a sergeant of his company. On January i, 1863, 
he was told off as permanent color-bearer of his regiment, a distinguished but 
hazardous position he occupied until the expiration of his time, when he brought home 
the bullet-riddled flag and presented it to Governor Seymour. On May 22, 1863, 
receiving his honorable discharge, he returned home to Ogdensburgh, and in that 
town, Potsdam, and Watertown recruited a full company for the Fourteenth Heavy 
Artillery, with which he proceeded to Albany, but did not receive his commission as 
Captain on account of having taken a rather prominent part in the Valandingham 
Indignation meeting, to which> Governor Seymour sent a friendl}' communication. 
Thus, not only was he ofificiallv shelved, but never received a dollar towards paying 



928 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

his expenses in raising the aforesaid company of artillery. Returning to Ogdens- 
burgh, September 19, 1864, he stayed there only a short time,'and soon proceeded to 
Syracuse in search of employment as a clerk, armed with a laudatory letter from Mr. 
Preston King, recommending him as "a young gentleman in whose good character, 
integrity, and good qualities the writer, who had known him from boyhood, had the 
fullest confidence." This gentleman was a prominent citizen of Ogdensburgh, and had 
been for sixteen years the Representative from St. Lawrence County. Finding a 
position in Syracuse he there remained about six months, when he proceedeii to St. 
Joseph, Missouri, and embarked in the lumber trade, organizing during the year he 
resided there the first fire company in the town, and becoming foreman of the Iroquois 
Hook and Ladder Company. Mr. Lyon now returned to Brooklyn, New York, and 
entered the brick and lime business, being associated with the firm of Reeve & Co., 
for a year, when, upon the dissolution of the partnership, our subject carried on the 
same business for a period of seven years. During the panic of 1872, Mr. Lyon was 
one of its victims, therefore, having lost all, he turned towards California to retrieve 
his fortunes. Sailing from New York, December i, 1872, he arrived in San Fran- 
cisco on January 2, 1873, and commenced an auction business under the style and 
firm of Chamberlain & Lyon, at No. 539 California Street. This partnership was dis- 
solved at the end of a twelvemonth, and the style became Lyon & Fowler, the two 
gentlemen being associated until the removal of our subject to Oakland. In August, 
1876, he then established the now well-known house of Lyon & Kinsey, at the corner 
of Washington and Ninth Streets, and at the end of three years leased their present 
extensive establishment at Nos. 912 and 916 Washington Street, Oakland, where they 
carry on a general auction business in all its branches. Mr. Lyon holds the several 
offices of F"irst Vice-President of the Home Protection Association of California; 
Vice-President of the Home Protection Association of the city of Oakland; and 
President of the Board of Trustees of the First Baptist Church of Oakland; Pres- 
ident of a mutual insurance society, known as the National Temperance Relief 
Union; Trustee in the Cosmopolitan Mutual Building and Loan Association; Director 
of Young Men's Christian Association; and ex-President of Oakland Reform Club; 
and, as a reformer, an incident occurred at the Republican State Convention (of which 
he was a delegate in the fall of 1882), which is told of him. Some two or three hun- 
dred delegates were smoking in the hall, when Mr. Lyon arose and addressing the 
Chair, said: "Mr. President — If I understand it aright, the Republican Party is a party 
of reform, and if we expect to accomplish anything in that line we must set the 
example; and as I look about me to-day I would take this to be a Democratic Con- 
vention did I not know to the contrary. Now, Mr. President, tobacco is a poisonous 
weed. It was the Devil that sowed the seed. It robs the pockets. It spoils the 
clothes. It makes a chimney of a man's nose. Therefore, Mr. President, I move that 
smoking be strictly prohibited during the balance of the session of this convention." 
Which motion was carried unanimousl}-, amid great applause. He is also a member of 
Lyon Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and a member of the Patriotic Sons of 
America. Married in Fayetteville, Onondaga County, New York, October 12, 1864, 
Miss Mary E., only daughter of Julia A., Parker, a native of that State, by which 
union there are two sons, viz.: William P. and Edward C. A portrait of Mr. Lyon 
appears in this work. 

William Havward Mack. — The youngest son of Elisha Mack, Jr., who at 
the time was engaged in the mercantile business in West Tro\-, New York. William 
H. was born August 23, 1812. When about two years old his parents moved to 
Albany, New York, where his mother died March 4, 18 19. He was then sent to 
Plainfield, Massachusetts, to his mother's parents to be educated. When he was ten 
years old his father remarried, and the two sons returned to him at Albany. His 
father at this time was very extensively engaged in the wholesale produce and pork- 
packing business. William, when about sixteen years old, was offered a fine situation 



Biographical Sketches. 929 

by Wm. Gay, a wholesale and retail drygoods merchant; this offer was made with the 
understanding that he should be taken as a partner when he became familiar with the 
business; but the father objected to the business, a great disappointment to the son, 
who was of a very active business turn of mind. When he was just coming of age, 
he one day asked his father what time of day he was born; upon receiving the answer, 
" About two o'clock in the morning," he replied, " Then I will not sleep another night 
in your house." He soon got a situation on a steamboat plying between Albany and 
New York. When navigation closed for the season he got a situation in Stamoix 
Hall, where there was a large d'ining-room adjoining the ball-room. When there was 
a ball, he had the entire management of the dining-room, setting and decorating the 
tables sometimes for three hundred at a sitting. Upon the reopening of navigation, 
he resumed the steamboat business. He was married October 13, 1836, to Miss Anna 
Shonts, a farmer's daughter, born near Saratoga Springs, New York. February 11, 
1838, he bought out his brother, who was a grocer. This business he conducted until 
the close of 1848. In 1845 and 1846 he draughted and superintended tJie erection of 
a block of buildings for Mrs. Dudley, who donated the Dudley Observatory to the city 
of Albany. During this time he made a mold for running cornice, of an entirely 
new plan, by the use of which over two-thirds of the material was saved, as used by 
the old st3'le of mold. This new mold was in time adopted all over the United 
States. Had he taken out a patent on it, he would probably have made a large for- 
tune. At the same time that he was engaged in this work, he had three large stores 
in different parts of the city, employing six clerks during the busy season, yet doing 
all the buying himself When he concluded to come to California,' he spent an entire 
year settling his large business. He sailed on the steamer 6'/^^(5, February 15, 1850, 
taking a steerage passage, as he said, to harden him for the expected rough experi- 
ence of California. The passage was very severe, making the passengers extremely sick. 
Fortunately he had taken the wise precaution to put his system in good condition 
before embarking, so that he experienced little suffering. He therefore offered his 
services to the physician in taking care of the steerage passengers. His offer was 
gladly accepted, and he did good service, which was so well appreciated that the second 
day out he got a state-room, and took his meals at the captain's table. Being of a 
social disposition he soon won the good-will of the cabin passengers, and was treated 
by the officers as one of their number. At Havana. he was invited to go ashore 
with them. At Chagres they engaged small boats to convey them to Gorgona, and 
pack-mules from there to Panama. Detained there a month they reached San Francisco 
April 29, 1850. He had shipped goods on the ship Solon, which ran afoul of a rock 
in the Magellan Straits, and much of her cargo was thrown overboard, and the 
remainder taken from the sinking vessel to a French bark and brought to San Fran- 
cisco. He tried mining for two months, but was not successful. After this he engaged 
on a steamboat plying between San Francisco and Sacramento. This seemed his 
favorite and proper business. He received the income of the table and berths, mak- 
ing a profit the first four months of one thousand dollars per month. This run of 
good-fortune ceasing, he engaged in the same work at a salary. October 10, 185 i, 
he took passage for Albany, to bring his family to California. Six out of seven of 
his children were dead, the sur\dving child, a daughter, was brought to California, 
May 27, 1852. He again followed steamboating for a time, and then bought the 
Rhode Island House, succeeding very well until the Corporation ordered a sewer to be 
run through the street, requiring the building to be raised fifteen feet, when he sold out 
January 3, 1857, he started with his family for a ranch near Mowry's Landing, Alameda 
County. He had bought this ranch of a squatter, but it was inside a large inclosure 
where wild cattle were pastured, and he soon grew tired of the place. He then 
opened a store at the Landing, and soon established a fine business. As it was very 
difficult to get out to the stage road and to church in the rainy season, he built a store 
and dw^elling at Washington Corners, where he now resides (June i, 1883). The 



930 History of Alameda County, California. 

second year after the San Jose Branch Railroad was completed, he took the agency 
at Washington Corners, and also the Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express, doing the work 
for two years with entire satisfaction, relinquishing it to enable his only son to become 
a machinist. March 17, 1873, he was appointed Postmaster, an office he yet holds, 
administering its duties with the most .scrupulous fidelity. Of his thirteen sons and 
daughters only three survive at this writing, children who are a pleasure to their 
parents. His kind-hearted wife, a worthy partner, is still apparently in the best of 
health, her motherly face, a familiar feature in the village post-office. ^Ir. Mack in 
person is of medium height, slender, and still active as a boy. Age does not seem to 
dim his eye or make his step less elastic, and at the age of seventy-one his cheery 
voice and quick movements are the remark of his friends, and the best of arguments 
in favor of a busy life with temperate habits. He is a kind father and husband, and 
his house is a happy home. In all public affairs he is among the readiest to take up 
his share of the burden. On public holidays he is the first to fling the banner of his 
country to the breeze. He is a village social and business factor, thoroughly identi- 
fied with all the local interests. Just and exact in his dealings; genial and kindly in 
his feelings; he is a good representative American, one of the thousands of whom our 
country may be proud, and to whom we may look in confidence that her institutions 
will be sustained. A portrait of this gentleman will be found in the following pages. 

Frederick Malley. — Was born in Prussia March 23, 1842, where he resided 
until the spring of 1866, there learning the boot and shoe maker's trade, and following 
it in his native land until that time. He served in the Fifteenth Infantry for three 
years, and through the campaign of 1864 against Denmark, when he sailed from 
Bremerhaven for the United States. After passing a few weeks in the city of New 
York, he proceeded to Philadelphia, but shortly afterwards moved to New Jersey, and 
located at Egg Harbor City, Atlantic County. At the end of four months he 
changed his residence to Buffalo, New York, where he stayed twelve months, and 
then took up his abode in Boston until February, 1868. At that date he sailed for 
San Francisco ina Panama, where he arrived April i, 1868, and engaged in the shoe 
making business until the fall of the same year. In the month of October he located 
in Dublin, Alameda County, and engaged in his proper calling, continuing it until 
December 27, 1869, when he came to Livermore, and commenced a boot and shoe- 
making business in Laddsville. After the fire of October, 1 87 1 he removed to Livermore 
proper, where he continued in the same business. In the fall of 1881 he built the 
three storied edifice known as Malley 's Building, where he now carries on his busine.ss, 
which of late years has been very much enlarged — carrying a large stock of fancy 
goods and doing a prosperous trade. Mr. Malley married, August, 9, 1868, Miss 
Minnie Strecker, a native of Germany, and has four children: Matilda M., George W., 
Frederick A., and William. He is one of the oldest and best known business men in 
this section. 

I. N. M.\RK, M. D. — The subject of this sketch was born in Ross County, Ohio, 
December 26, .\. D. 1822, making him now just si.xty years of age. He is so well 
preserved that he looks to be about fifty. He is remarkably hale and hearty, weighing 
usually two hundred and forty pounds, measuring six feet five inches in height, and well 
proportioned. When about ten years of age his family moved to I-'ayette County, 
Ohio, near the flourishing town of Washington. Here he grew to manhood. About 
the age of fifteen he showed a wonderful taste for books. He bought all of them 
he was able to, and borrowed all he could, and read all the spare time he had. He 
went from home and studied all the branches taught in the public schools at that 
period. He then returned home and commenced teaching. He showed so much tact 
in managing his schools and imparting instruction, that he was requested to open a 
select school in Washington, which he did, and taught for some time with great accept- 
ability. It was while teaching this school he began to exhibit considerable talent as 
a ptihlic spc.i':cr. He was often called upon to address the people upon a variety of 



Biographical Sketches. 931 



subjects. He generally acquitted himself honorably. When he was about eighteen 
years of age he was persuaded to join the Annual Conference of the M. E. Church. 
He immediately entered upon the arduous duties of a clergyman, and was sent his 
first year to Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio. Here he had a large congregation 
of very intelligent people to provide for. Being young, he had to apply himself by 
night and day, but having an excellent constitution, he stood it well, and the year 
closed honorably. He then traveled and preached five years more, filling excellent 
appointments, the last of which was at Athens, Ohio. Here he labored so hard and 
preached so much that he contracted a sore throat, which compelled him to retire from 
the regular work of the ministry. About that time he was married to the daughter of 
Judge D. McLain, of Washington, Fayette County, Ohio. The union was a happy 
one. That was in the year 1849. The Judge was a man of great wealth. Soon 
■ after this happy marriage the Doctor turned his whole attention to medicine. In the 
fall of 1850 he went to Columbus, Ohio, and connected himself with the Starling 
Medical College. Here he made such rapid advancement that he was urged by some 
of the faculty to remain in the school and become one of the professors; however, he 
thought best to decline. He came back to Washington, continuing to pursue his 
studies until September; he then moved to .Stanton, Ohio, a beautiful town about four 
miles from Washington. In just two weeks from the day he commenced keeping 
house his beautiful young wife sickened, and in one week more she died. So sudden 
and unexpected was the shock that for a time the Doctor was almost paralyzed. She 
left a little daughter some five months old. What to do he scarcely knew. Stay 
there he would not. As soon as he had provided a home for his child he left the 
home of her birth, and never after returned, because, he said, he could not bear to see 
the place where he had enjoyed so much happiness, and also where he had suffered so 
much grief It was a fearful struggle, but no doubt it was for the best, as his subse- 
quent history will prove. In the spring of 185 1 the Doctor settled in Houston, Ohio, 
and immediately entered on the practice of his profession. For ten years he worked 
hard, but during that period, say in the year 1853, he became acquainted with the 
youngest daughter of Judge W. W. Cecil, who resided on a farm near where 
he practiced. The friendship soon culminated in a matter of love; so December 15, 
1853, the Doctor and Miss Annie Cecil were married, the next day after she was 
eighteen. The union was a happy one. Mrs. Mark is still living, beloved by every 
one who becomes acquainted with her. She still shows marks of her former beauty, 
although she is now forty-seven years of age, and has suffered for years with that 
incurable disease, asthma. In the spring of 1 861, owing to that fearful malady, the 
Doctor and his family started across the plains for California. Leaving St. Joseph, 
Missouri, on the 8th of May, 1861, they landed at lone City on the 24th of Septem- 
ber, quite a trip with a sick wife. What is remarkable, Mrs. Mark had not an honr's 
sickness on the plains — asthma all gone, and for some years after that long, tedious 
trip she showed no signs of it. Shortly after his arrival in the State he made a trip 
to Sacramento, and while there found the Conference of the M. E. Church in session. 
He was prevailed upon to become a member of that body, which he did, and for three 
years went back to his old profession. He labored very acceptably in Campo Seco, 
Columbia, and Centreville, in this county. In all these places he made many warm 
friends. At the expiration of his term at Centreville he went back to the practice of 
his profession, and in the spring of 1865 he came to Pleasanton, where he has 
remained ever since. The Doctor has built a nice home, where he has ever been 
ready to wait on the public. There is one thing to be observed, that he is a close student, 
and keeps himself well posted in his profession. He has not accumulated wealth, for 
that is not his nature. His hand and heart are always open to help the poor and suf- 
fering; he turns no 'one away from his office that applies to him for medicine or med- 
ical advice. He has got hundreds of dollars on his books he never expects to 
collect. There is another thing to his credit, he is strictly temperate. He keeps him- 



'J32 History of Alameda County, California. 

self away from bar-rooms; and when he returns from his professional calls he applies 
himself closely to his books, of which he has an excellent collection. As an evidence 
of the esteem of the neighborhood in which he has lived so long, he has filled the 
office of Justice of the Peace, when his present term has been completed, thirteen 
years. It is well known, however insignificant the office may appear, that it is rather 
a difficult position to fill. It is not certain that any other man in Alameda County has 
occupied that position as long as the Doctor. There are some peculiar traits about 
him different from those of th° majority of our officials. He ever tries to discourage 
litigation. If people get into a lawsuit, he is not to blame. His advice is invari- 
abl\- to settle, to keep out of law. There is little doubt that he has saved 
Alameda County hundreds of dollars. The District Attorney (and who has a 
better chance to know ?) says the Doctor has caused him less trouble and cost 
the county less money than any other Justice in it. All his decisions lean to 
the side of mercy. If any one deserves the name of Justice of the Peace, he 
certainh' does. Now, this biography would hardl)' be complete if a few more 
items were not added. As a citizen, a parent, a husband, the Doctor has but few 
superiors. He is a man of strong convictions. You never hear him advocate any 
skeptical notions. He believes the religion of his fathers is good enough for him, 
and, until he is shown something bettei', he will adhere to that. He alwa\'s, by theory 
and practice, encourages good morals. He thinks life is too short to fritter away on 
vain speculations and Utopian ideas. While at present and for j'ears he has not been 
connected with any religious organization, he is friendly to all, and from his habits 
and every-day life, you would not know but what he was a strict church member. 
The value of such men in a community cannot be overestimated. They often 
silently mold the characters of others. It sometimes appears to the writer of this 
short sketch that Providence has something to do in determining the location of indi- 
viduals. It would not do to place all the best men in one community. The Doctor 
has five children living — four in this State, and one daughter in Washington, Fayette 
County, Ohio: Helena Elizabeth, born April 7, 1850; Sallie W., married to J. A. 
Rose, residing at Pleasanton, and born April 29, 1857; W. C, born August 11, 1862, 
now living in Sacramento; Prank C, born November 14, 1864; Cecil, born November 
14, 1867. The Doctor's children are all very much attached to their father. Only 
a few days ago his son Willie, now living in Sacramento, in a letter to him, wrote the 
following language contrasting his life with others: "When your time comes to go, a 
feeling of peace and contentment ought to rest with you, for you have lived an 
upright life and done your best for us all." This tender language discloses a kindly 
feeling between father and son. It is worthy of imitation. Children usually cannot 
bestow too much honor on their parents. There are many other incidents connected 
with the history of the Doctor that had to be left out for the want of space. His 
portrait appears in this work, and the Doctor supplied this sketch. 

Earl Marshall (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, was born in Burlington County, New Jersey, in the month of December, 
1799. There he resided until the year 1836, when he moved to Pennsylvania, and 
engaged in teaming in Philadelphia for some time. He was afterwards a se.xton in 
Monument Cemetery in that cit)'. In 1846 he came to California around Cape 
Horn, on the ship Brooklyn, arriving on the 31st of July, and in the spring of 1847 he 
proceeded to Mission San Jose, and there, purchasing some milch cows, sold the 
lacteal fluid at twenty-five cents per quart. After the discovery of gold Mr. Marshall 
did a large trade in butter and milk with the mines, until the year 1850, when he 
settled on the present place and erected the house now occupied by his widow, where 
he died June 7, 1881. He married, September 11, 1828, Miss Letitia Dorsey, who 
was born in New Jersey, December 1, 1799, and had no issue. 

Phineas F. Marston. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this work, was born in Danville (now Auburn), Maine, February 10, 1813, and is the 



Biographical Sketches. 933 



son of Simon and Mary (Frast) Marston. During the first twenty years of his life, 
he resided under the family roof-tree, passing his winters learning the carpenter's 
trade, and his summers working on the farm. In 1833 he proceeded to Bangor, 
Maine, where he obtained employment as a journeyman carpenter, and remained until 
1838, when, on account of a panic, he moved with his chest of tools to Brunswick, in 
the same State. Here he found work in putting together a house of worship to be 
erected at Waldoborough, to which place he proceeded to aid in its construction. 
Returning, on its completion, to Brunswick, he completed the "shop-w^ork" for another 
such structure to be put up at Rockland, on Penobscot Bay, after which he made 
H'olton his headquarters, and there assisted in building the Hancock Barracks. Our 
subject next erected a flour-mill for Shepard Gary, whence, at the instigation of Cap- 
tain Babbett, he was placed in charge of a gang of thirty men, to erect the Commissary 
Buildings and general Infantry Barracks. We next find erected a very elaborate 
dwelling for Mr. Winslow, High Sheriff, at Woodstock, after which he was employed 
on the erection of barracks at Fort Kent, on Fish River, near Madawaska. Having 
completed these various undertakings, Mr. Marston returned to Bangor, where he was 
variously engaged in his own professional sphere. Subsequently embarking in a gro- 
cery business, he thus was occupied for two years, when he was called upon to erect 
the new railroad buildings at Bangor, for the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad Com- 
pany, that being the first depot of any importance in the town. He also superin- 
tended the construction of the Unitarian church in that place. He continued in that 
class of employment until 1858, when he decided to try the Pacific Coast. Making 
the trip by way of the Isthmus of Panama, in the steamers Star of the West on the 
Atlantic and Golden Gate on the Pacific side, on arrival in San Francisco, with his 
wife and four children, he at once commenced erecting houses for himself in that city, 
in company with his brother, Sylvanus B. Marston. His old friend, Colonel Babbett, 
was at this time at the Presidio; he therefore at once placed our subject — knowing 
what manner of man he was — in the responsible position of superintendent of con- 
struction of the barracks which were then being erected at that post, at Black Point, 
and at Angel Island. This occupation lasted three years. On its expiration he was 
called upon by Colonel R. S. Williams, Light-house engineer, to assume the superin- 
tendence of buildings in connection with this department. The first of these to be 
constructed was in Washington Territory, on the sand-spit at Point Angelis. Mr. 
Marston was next engaged in such work on the coast and on Puget Sound; then he 
superintended the building of the light-house and fog-signals on Point Reyes, after- 
wards performing the like duties at Pigeon Point, at the same time building the dwell- 
ing-house and fog-signal station on Point Ano Nuevo Island. In 1874 he erected a 
dwelling and fog-signal at Point Montara. In 1867 he took up his residence at Fruit 
Vale, Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, where he embarked in fruit-culture, at 
which place he has since resided. Married, in 1840, Miss Susan E. Fisher, who died 
in 1864 By that union he has: Frank A., Cordelia, Harriet, and Phineas. Married 
secondly, in 1865, Mrs. Mary F. Pray, by whom there is no issue. We cannot close 
this brief narrative of a long and active life without testifying to the sterling worth of 
its subject. During his lengthy employment on government works he was no con- 
tractor, but merely received a monthly moiety as a reward for close application. His 
unflinching honesty has placed him at a green old age in the enjoyment of well- 
earned comfort. 

John Mathews (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, was born in County Meath, Ireland, on the 27th June, 1817, where he 
resided until he was thirty years of age. In June, 1847, having married Miss Anna 
McEvoy, he came to the United States, settling in Boston, Massachusetts, and there 
remained for six years and a half In 1854 he set sail for California, and in Novem- 
ber of the same year, located on the place where his widow now resides, purchasing a 
"squatter's title," where he lived until his death, on August 21, 1882. Possessed of a 



934 History of Alameda County, California. 

broad mind and excellent judgment, every movement he made added to his gains, 
until at the close of his life he had a very large competency, consisting of an estate of 
between seven and eight hundred acres of some of the finest land in Alameda County, 
besides propert)' in the city of San Francisco. It can truly be said of Mr. Mathews 
that in life he was a man appreciated by his fellow-citizens for his integrity of charac- 
ter, while in death he is mourned as the kind husband and father. He left a family 
of five children, viz.: John, Mary, Sarah, Katie, and Peter. 

Peter Mathews (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, was born in County Meath, Ireland, in the year 1821. This county 
is known by the name of Royal Meath, it having been the scat of the kings of his- 
toric Tara. Here Mr. Mathews spent his youth, under the care and guidance of good, 
industrious parents, who shaped the conscience of the child in virtue and that pure 
simplicity of faith which characterized him in after life as a man. Scarcely had he 
attained the age of responsible boyhood, when he showed a tact and aptitude for 
business, especially that business so peculiar to County Meath. He thought at even an 
early age that he should go out and do for himself. He went into the cattle business, 
trading between Ireland and Great Britain, until he left Ireland for America, in 1849. 
He spent nine months in Salem, Massachusetts, and then, following the train of his 
business thoughts, moved West, coming to California direct, and then on to the mines 
in 1850, where the flush of business invited him. Four years he spent in the mines, 
moving hither and thither to grasp more surely the proverbial fortune of the gold 
regions of California. Not being as successful here as his quick mind suggested he 
ought to be, he came down from the mountain regions to the Sacramento Valley, and 
here he engaged in the more congenial occupation of stock-raising. This was more 
profitable by far, and he continued at this until 1856, when opportunity offered to again 
vary his pursuit in business life, and so he came to Alameda County, and engaged in 
farming in Oakland Township. For nearly twenty years he ran most successfully 
here, and made considerable wealth — so much so that in 1875, when he went into 
mining stock speculation, few men in Alameda County could count inore tens of thou- 
sands of cash in gold, not to speak of his real estate. He was identified with some of 
Oakland's banks, and many business enterprises. In 1875 his investments in stocks 
yielded a great deal of money, until he was one of the most wealthy; but later years, 
and declining stocks reversed the tables a good deal, as was the case with, alas! too 
many others, .^t no time was Peter Mathews other than a rich man since his arrival 
in Oakland until his death. He was a worthy citizen, a good neighbor, and true to 
every social, civil, and religious principle. The subject of our sketch married in 1854, 
Miss Mary Dunnigan, whom he left a widow by his much mourned death, at his resi- 
dence on San Pablo Avenue, on the 20th day of January, 1879. He left to his good 
wife all his property, consisting chiefly of the home farm of two hundred acres on San 
Pablo Avenue, in Oakland, as well as a farm in Santa Vnez, Santa Barbara Ccjunty; 
several houses and lots in Oakland, many thousands of dollars in stocks, promissory 
notes, etc. Although he carried an immense load of mining stocks, still he raised 
mortgages to go heavier into them to retrieve his losses; and so when he died his 
widow found many entanglements, all of which, by close business habits, prudence, 
and economy, aided by the industry of her children, she has, it may be said, cleared, 
without losing ten thousand dollars worth of the original property bequeathed by her 
husband. Mr. Mathews left behind him a name for honesty, industry, and truth. 
Plight children survive their good father, their names being: Mary Alice, Charles E., 
Peter A., John L., Annie E., Jgseph VV., Teresa C, and I-^rancis E. The favor in 
which the memory of the esteemed father is held b\- the communit}' of his acquaintance 
bids God's speech to his children, and makes every one pleased to learn that the good 
widowed mother is linking the present with the original financial successes of her hus- 
band, in her beautiful home on San Pablo Avenue. The name of Peter Mathews has 
already an honored place on the historic records of Alameda County, and hence the 



Biographical Sketches. 935 



biographer and compiler of this history has no apology to offer, except to hope that 
the universal respect and esteem, mingled with the many regrets that overshadowed 
his bier, may be the lot of those he left behind him. 

August May. — Was born in Hessen, Prussia, May ii, 1831, and there resided 
until he attained the age of eighteen years, at which time he moved to Bremen, and 
thence sailing to New York, he there embarked in the butcher business. In the 
spring of 1852 he took passage on the North America for California, and, coming by 
way of Cape Horn, arrived in San Francisco in the month of July of that year. He 
engaged in the butcher's trade there until October 24, 1854, when he came to Alva- 
rado, Alameda County, and entering into partnership with A. Main, continued in the 
same business, until 1874. In the mean time he purchased his farm, and to it has 
added since until at present he owns about one thousand six hundred acres, located in 
the vicinity of Alvarado and Decoto. In 1876 Mr. May paid a visit to the Centennial 
Exposition at Philadelphia, and since his return to the Pacific Coast, has been living 
in Alvarado (his property being leased) on the fruits of a well-spent life. Married, 
September 27, 1862, Miss Sophia Platte, a native of Germany, and has four children, 
viz.: George, August, Jr., Bertha, and Henry. 

George May. — Was born in County Derry, Ireland, in the year 1819, and at 
eighteen years of age emigrated from Belfast to the United States, but suffering ship- 
wreck on the voyage was landed in New Brunswick, whence he sailed for Quebec, and 
remained there a few months. He then proceeded to Michigan, and after a short 
time went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided until leaving for California. He 
left Cincinnati on December 19, 1848, and New Orleans January 16, 1849, in the 
bark Florida. He crossed the Isthmus, and taking passage in the brig Belfast on 
the Pacific side landed in San Francisco May 15, 1849, and two months thereafter 
went to the mines, but not being very prosperous there he abandoned that enterprise, 
and returning to the Bay City proceeded to the Moraga redwoods, where he worked 
for five months. He then for the next three years occupied his time between the mines 
and San Francisco, until he was joined by his family, when he embarked in farming 
operations in Castro Valley, now Alameda County, on the property now owned by 
the Atherton estate, and there remained ten years. In May, 1864, he purchased his 
present valuable farm, consisting of three hundred and sixteen acres in the Livermore 
Valley, about two miles east from the town, where he has since maintained his domi- 
cile, owning several other tracts of land besides. Married in Cincinnati, 1840, Miss 
T. C. Botton, a native of England, and has nine children, viz., Annie (now Mrs. G. F. 
Bangs), Mary (now Mrs. McNeil), Laura (now Mrs. I. Horton), Isabel May, Wash- 
ington G., Emmie, Joseph, Lillie, and Ada. 

Hugh Bernard McAvoy. — Was born in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Janu- 
ary 22, 1853, and is the son of Bernard and Isabel! (Gallagher) McAvoy. He came 
to California with his parents in 1858 and resided in Alameda County until he attained 
the age of fourteen years, when he moved to San Francisco and attended St. Mary's 
College, from which he graduated in 1870. He then entered the undertaking estab- 
lishment of Flannagan & Gallagher in that city, where he remained until April 11, 
1875, when he opened his business at No. 873 Washington Street, Oakland. 

Frederick P. McFeely. — Was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, March 22, 
1840, and is the son of Edward and Susan (McCloskey) McFeely. At the age of 
eleven years he accompanied his parents to Erie County, New York, and at the 
proper age commenced serving his time as a machinist in the city of Buffalo, 
where he was employed for several years in Shepherd's Marine Engine Works. 
Subsequently he proceeded to Middletown, Orange County, where he connected 
himself with the manufacture of horse-shoe nails. In 1874 he removed to Cortland 
County, along with the works which had had been transferred to that place, 
and there resided until coming to California. Mr. McFeely is now located in busi- 
ness in San Quentin. Married, November 15, i860, Miss Eliza O'Brien, and has six 
surviving; children. 



936 History of Alameda County, California. 

Andrew J. McGovern. — Was bcrn in Albany, New York, October 27, 1852, 
and there resided until the year 1868. He then sailed from New York to San 
F"rancisco, where he arrived December i6, 1868, and first found em|)loyment as office- 
boy in the Second Street House. A short time after, however, he entered the service 
of G. W. Clark & Co., in the wall-paper business, and there continued for seven years. 
He then came to Oakland and commenced his present establishment at No. 1157 
Broadway, under the style of Van Amburgh & McGovern. At the end of ten months, 
however, he purchased the interest of his partner, and a few months later associated 
himself with James Cahill, and in December, 1881, opened his extensive premises, No. 
1060 Broadway, under the firm name of McGovern & Cahill, dealers in carpets, paper- 
hangings, window-shades, etc. Married, in 1879, Miss Mary Carey, and has two 
children, viz.: Francis Andrew and Genevieve. 

Peter McKeany. — The subject of this sketch, and a well-known business man 
of Livermore is a native of Ireland, where he resided until about seventeen years of 
age. He then concluded to seek his fortune in the land of the free, and consct[ucntly 
came to America, spending the first five years of his residence in the United States in 
Boston. He then concluded to come to California. Coming via Aspinwall and 
Panama, he arrived in San Francisco April 14, 1859. Staying but a short time in the 
metropolis, he went to San Jose, Santa Clara County, where he found employment in a 
hotel until in 1862, when he returned to Europe, and after a residence of four years abroad 
he again returned to America and to the Golden State, this time locating at San Jose 
Mission, and embarking in farming until 1871, when he moved to the then young town 
of Livermore and opened a meat market in the building now occupied by Church & 
Scott's drug-store. Three years later he purchased bis present property on Union 
Street, opposite the Livermore Hotel, where he is engaged in the general butcher and 
stock business. Mr. McKeany is married and has three children, Maggie, Grace, and 
Kittie. 

Andrew J. McLeod. — Was born in Gallia County, Ohio, January 5, 1837, where 
he was educated, and resided until he attained the age of seventeen years, he, however, 
having had the misfortune to lose both his parents when very young. At the above 
epoch he started with his uncle L. P. Gates, for the Pacific Slope. May 2, 1854, 
they crossed the Missouri River, and commenced the arduous undertaking of crossing 
the plains with ox-teams. After many difficulties they arrived at Mission San Josd 
in the month of October of that year. Our subject now engaged in farming near 
where the town of Centreville stands, where he remained three \'ears, until compelled 
to take a year's relaxation on account of ill health. Mr. McLeod next went into 
business in Centreville for si.x months, when he became proprietor of the American 
Exchange Hotel there, and conducted it until 1866, at which time he sold out, moved 
to Washington Corners and built the Union Hotel, now kept by Mr. Brown, in that 
place. Six months afterwards, disposing of this hostelry, he returned to Centreville 
and embarked in the livery business, which he sold at the end of one year. A twelve- 
month later Mr. .McLeod moved to Livermore, pre-empted a portion of the land on 
which the town now stands, known as the McLeod Addition, and there in the fall of 
1869, engaged in a general mercantile business with Henry Meyers, under the firm 
name of Meyers & McLeod, in the structure known as the Bank E.xchange Building, 
recently burned down, this being the first store started within the corporate limits of 
the town of Livermore, but outside of Laddsville. At the end of two )-ears Mr. 
Meyers sold his interest to Mr. Anspachcr, the firm now becoming Anspachcr & 
McLeod, and two years after the interest of the first named was purchased by our 
subject, who then took into the business George C. Stanley, who in turn closed out 
in 1877. Mr. McLeod was appointed postmaster of the town of Livermore, in 1869, 
and held the office until January, 1882, while he has also been Assessor of Murray 
Township, to which position he was elected in 1879, 1880, and 1882, and holds that 
office at the present time. Married, in Centreville, November, 1859, Miss Delia 
Foley, a native of Ireland, and has: Norman, Mamie. Colin, Annie, and Leah. 



Biographical Sketches. 937 



Philip H. McVicar. — Was born in Nova Scotia, July. 7, 1857, and there resided 
until the year 1875, when he came to California. In March, 1882, he purchased from 
P. C. Heslep, the blacksmith shop and woodwork department, located on Railroad 
Avenue, Livermore, where he carries on a large business in every branch of his trade. 
Is married and has one child. 

William Meek (deceased). — This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was the model farmer of Alameda County. His residence was at San Lorenzo, 
and his ranch extended towards Haywards more than three miles. He left Van Buren 
County, lovi'a, on the first day of April, 1847, and crossed overland to Oregon City, 
where he arrived on the 9th day of September, the same year, with a large party of 
immigrants. Among Mr. Meek's effects was a wagon loaded with fruit-trees and 
seeds. This constituted the first lot of grafted fruit-trees on the Pacific Coast. There 
were seedlings already in the country, introduced by the Hudson's Bay Company. 
Locating at the town of Milwaukee, on the Willamette River, five miles from Portland, 
he went into the nursery business in June 1848, with H. Lewelling, whom he had 
known in Iowa. In the fall of 1848, he went to the California gold-mines with an ox- 
team, and remained till the following May. The party he came to California with, 
made the first wagon track from Oregon to California, passing through the Modoc 
country, and skirting its lava-beds. On his return to Oregon he continued fruit- 
growing and lumbering till December, 1859. That year he sold out in Oregon, and 
removed to San Lorenzo, in Alameda County. His first purchase of land was four 
hundred acres of H. W. Crabb. This land originally belonged to the Soto grant. 
He subsequently bought one thousand six hundred acres more, which made two 
thousand acres. At first he devoted his attention to grain-growing and general 
farming. He managed his land with skill, and followed a system of rotation of crops. 
No man ever bestowed more care and attention on his land, or experimented more 
successfully. He built a water-reservoir in the foot-hills, about three and a half miles 
from his home, the water is conducted in pipes through his lands for irrigation, and 
general purposes. Mr. Meek was elected County Supervisor for four terms, com- 
mencing in 1862. He was a native of Ohio, and had reached his sixty-fifth year at 
the time of his death. He left a wife and five children, one of whom is married. 

Martin Mendenhall. — Was born in Greene County; Ohio, in the year 1828, 
and there dwelt with his parents until they moved to Cass County, Michigan, in 1834. 
Here he resided and worked on his father's farm until March 5, 1849, when he started 
for California with ox-teams by way of the plains, arriving in Sacramento on the 9th 
September of the same year. Hei^e meeting his brother William M. Mendenhall, they 
moved together to the Santa Clara Valley, where they stayed until March, 1850. Our 
subject now started for the mines at Chinese Camp, near Sonora, Tuolumne County, 
' and after laboring there four months left in disgust to rejoin his brother in Santa 
Clara. At this period Mr. Mendenhall went into raising and trading cattle. In the 
fall of 1852, he returned to Michigan, but the following March saw him once more on 
the way across the plains to the land of gold, accompanied by his newly made bride. 
They arrived in Santa Clara about the middle of September, 1853, and our subject 
resumed his former occupation of stock-raising. In 1854 Mr. Mendenhall moved to 
San Ramon Valley, Contra Costa County, where he engaged in agricultural and 
pastoral pursuits for eleven years, at the end of which protracted term he sold out and 
came to his present place in Livermore Valley, where he rears excellent horses and 
cattle, and raises good crops. In February, 1853, he married Miss Malvina Dolora 
Knapp, by whom he has had a family of five children, only three of whom survive, 
viz.: Clara, Julia, and Dora. 

William M. Mendenhall. — ^This veritable pioneer of California, whose por- 
trait appropriately finds a place in the " History of Alameda County," was born in 
Greene County, Ohio, April 22, 1823, and is the son of William and Sarah (Peterson) 
Mendenhall. His forefathers were English, and came to this country with the famous 
60 . 



938 History of Alameda County, California. 

William Penn, to whom was granted what are now the States of Pcnns\-lvania and 
Delaware, in the year 1681; the ancestry of his mother was German. The father of 
our subject was born in the year 1794,10 Tennessee, and died December 19, 1870, 
while his mother, who is now eight\'-four years old, is with her son, Martin Menden- 
hall, near Livermore, having passed, by fourteen )-ears, man's allotted span of three- 
score years and ten. The spot where William M. Mendenhall first saw the light was 
within five miles of the little town of Zeno, and there he passed the first seven years 
of his existence, being surrounded by all of nature's most natural charms, and even 
at that tender age, brought up to feel upon self-reliance as the foremost instinct. In 
October, 1831, his family moved to the Territory of Michigan, then a wilderness com- 
posed of dense forests and virgin prairies. Here the frontiersman's handicraft was 
needed; the ground had to be cleared for the receipt of crops, and thus did he become, 
under the eye of his parent, a practical tiller of the soil. Here he received what 
education the country then afforded, and resided until he attained the age of twenty- 
one years, dividing his time between an agricultural life and the less monotonous one 
of hunting in the primeval wilds which hemmed him in on every side. But the cry 
of Westward Ho ! kept ever ringing in his ears; to that cardinal point tended his 
inclination. To him the untracked wilderness was a home; therefore, when it became 
known that a company was being formed with the Pacific Coast as its destination, 
Mr. Mendenhall made up his mind to face the vicissitudes of the journey to the 
ultima tlttile of the American continent; consequently on July 3, 1845, leaving St. 
Joseph, he crossed Lake Michigan to the little town of Chicago, thence b\' stage and 
river to St. Louis, Missouri, and onward by steamboat up the Missouri River to Inde- 
pendence, ten miles west of where, on the bank of Hickory Creek, he pitched his 
tent, there being with him L. Hastings, N. B. Smith, H. C. Smith, H. Stebbins, H. 
Downing, and a Mr. Locher, who had joined him at St. Louis. Remaining here in 
camp, they essayed to augment the strength of their company with recruits, but 
these they found difficult to persuade; some of the people had never heard of Cali- 
fornia — indeed, many doubted the existence of such a place — and were sceptical as to 
if Mr. Mendenhall and his party knew of that which they spake. On August 17, 
1845, the party, consisting of thirteen men all told, broke camp, and at noon had 
their faces turned towards the Golden West. On the completion of the first hundred 
miles of the journe}-, they were stayed b}- the swollen waters of the Caw River, and 
how to cross it became the question. But three alternatives were left them — to swim, 
to wait, or to return; eleven chose the first, and two took the " back track." This 
stumbling-block overcome, the journey was continued to the South Platte, where one 
of the number joined a party of hunters from Fort Laramie, leaving ten of them to 
pursue their journey of two thousand miles, through an untracked main, and peopled 
with roaming bands of hostile Indians. When about two hundred miles west from 
the Kaw River, cautiously traveling and keeping a sharp lookout the while, an object 
was observed to their left, between them and the horizon. The question was, what 
could it be? Some said, the stump of a tree, others ejaculated the dread word, 
Indians ! When proceeding to ascertain what it actualK' was, it announced mortality 
by making signals, and as they halted the figure approached, and proved to be a 
white man of some five and twenty years of age. He was almost in a state of 
nature. What had once been a shirt, hung about his body in shreds, while his nether 
garments were worn to ribbons that hung suspended from his waist, his legs and feet 
being innocent of protection or cover. Slung from his shoulders was a powder-horn; 
in his waist-band he carried a knife, while in his hands he bore some frogs. He was 
too weak and faint from want of food to talk, therefore he was fed. Such was his 
joy at meeting with members of his own race that it was some time ere he told his 
tale. It was thus: During the spring of 1845 he had started from civilization with 
some emigrants bound to Oregon, but when they had got as far as Fort Laramie, he 
with two others, became discouraged, and turning back homewards, on the third night 



Biographical Sketches. 939 



were attacked by Indians and his companions murdered, while the redskins stole their 
horses and their guns. How he had escaped was a marvel. He lay concealed in a 
thicket until the hostiles had taken their departure, and thereafter wandered about, 
subsisting on frogs that he had caught. At last, after nine days, he found himself 
face to face with his own countrymen. His tale being told, every inducement was 
offered him to proceed to California, but to no avail; his dejection was complete; he 
said there was not money enough in the whole United States to induce him to turn 
westward again. He was furnished with provisions, and left to continue his 
" wandering woe." He bore the traces of having been a fine-looking man, and was a 
native of the State of Illinois. His name he gave, as also his father's address, and 
Mr. Mendenhall, after his arrival in California, informed the latter by letter of the 
plight in which he had found his son, but never afterwards heard either of the father 
or the wanderer. Our voyagers now continued on their way, but they had not gone 
far when all but two of them were attacked with fever and ague, but nothing dis- 
couraged, they pushed on, traveling by day and keeping guard by night, until they 
arrived at Fort Laramie, where they had a ten days' rest, and were able to get some 
other provender than the buffalo-meat and other game on which they had been forced 
to subsist for some time. Leaving Fort Laramie, they proceeded onwards, and at Fort 
Hall laid in some groceries at fifty cents per pound — rice, sugar, coffee, etc., all at that 
one price. After a few days here, our heroes were once more on the route, and tak- 
ing the old Truckee road to the Humboldt, followed that stream to its sink, where 
their provisions, which were intended to last them into California, perceptibly dimin- 
ishing, the party were placed upon rations. Here, too, one of the horses was stolen 
by Indians, when our subject and Hastings started in pursuit, and about four 
miles from camp came upon a party of Indians, twenty in number, who this solitary 
couple compelled to surrender their property. In the interval of .their absence, how- 
ever, the main body had' gone forward, leaving Mendenhall and his comrade 
to camp on the plain, dig a hole wherein to light a fire, and set it ablaze by 
discharging their rifles into the pile. The next day they started betimes to over- 
take their companions, and on coming up to their camp about three miles from the 
Truckee River, found neither man nor beast in sight. The fact was that the ani- 
mals had scented the sweet waters of the Truckee at three miles distance and 
had stampeded thither to slake their parched throats. To both man and beast this 
clear cold stream gave new life and nerved them all for further trials. Like the 
"chosen people of God" on Jordan's banks, our party remained for some days on the 
margin of the Truckee and pondered upon the Israel they had left behind them. Here 
they enjoyed themselves hunting, fishing, and otherwise, and in one of these excur- 
sions Messrs. Mendenhall and Hastings discovered the Sink of the Truckee. At the 
expiration of three or four days, and at the time of breaking camp, they were visited 
by a party of Indians, who offered their services as guides through the defiles of the 
Sierra Nevada, but fearing treachery these were made to accompany them for half a 
day, when they were turned loose. Fortunate was it for them that this precaution 
was taken, for the hills were full of redskins who were only waiting a signal to put 
them to death. The journey from the head-waters of the Truckee, was one of extreme 
hardship and danger, snow being so deep only from five to fifteen miles per day could 
be accomplished. At the sheet of water now known as Donner Lake, they found 
they had but four pints of flour remaining, and the country destitute of game. Press- 
ing necessity was their companion, therefore, upon consultation, it was determined that 
H. C. and N. B. Smith, Hastings, Locher, Downing and Semple should go on a hunt- 
ing and foraging expedition, leaving Mendenhall to take charge of the pack and the 
two sick men, Nash and Crosby. With his charge our subject journeyed on, and on 
the first night camped on the summit of the Sierras, and proceeding, came upon the 
head-waters of the Yuba and camped on the identical ground occupied the year 
previous by the late Martin Murphy and his party. This stream they followed for 



940 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

six days, during which thc\' suffered keenh'from want of food, indeed during the last 
four days neither bite nor sup had passed their hps. Mendenhall now went ahead 
and at the head-waters of Bear River, from an old oak-tree gathered some acorns 
whereof he and his party partook, and thus alla>'ed the pangs of hunger. They now 
got out of the region of snow and into the grassy slopes of the California foot-hills. 
On the fifth night out succor came, for they were met by N. B. Smith and Downing 
with provisions. The ne.xt night found them at Johnson's Ranch, where they pur- 
chased the quarter of a beef, cooked and demolished the whole of it. The following 
day found them at Nicholson's, on the Feather River, where that individual kept a sort 
of house of entertainment, but who inhospitably refused them anything to eat; how- 
ever, meeting Samuel Neil, from Sutter's Fort, the\' were advised by him to shoot a fat 
cow or take possession of the premises, the latter of which they did, when the proprie- 
tor supplied them copioush", if grudgingly, with jerked beef. Thence they proceeded 
to Sinclair's Ranch, some three miles from Sutter's Fort, at which place they arriv-cd 
on Christmas-eve of the year 1845, where they sat down to the first "square meal" that 
they had had since leaving Missouri. Here they met a Mr. St. Clair, who had a 
dwelling about fifty yards from Sinclair's house. After some trouble with the Indians 
the party arrived at Sutter's Fort, and found employment at various places until 
March, 1846. At this time Mendenhall and the two Smiths proceeded to Verba Bucna 
(San Francisco) in Sutter's launch, where they had some difficulty in getting a pass- 
port, but through the agency of the British Consul, they crossed the bay to where 
the city of Oakland now stands, and from thence started on foot for the San Antonio 
redwoods, but meeting two Spaniards their passports were demanded, which not being 
able to produce they were frightened awa\- with the fire-arms of the party. They ulti- 
mately got to the redwoods, however, and there engaged with a Frenchman for some 
time in making shin'gles and sawing lumber, but this not .meeting with the views of 
the irate Dons, twenty soldiers were brought into the redwoods to oust them. Men- 
denhall and his party, however, believing discretion to be the better part of valor, 
secured what horsjs they could, with their effects, and beat a hasty retreat over the 
mountains into the valle}' of the San Joaquin. They now found that stream swollen, 
but their effects had to be transported to the opposite bank, a hazardous undertaking, 
that was carried out by our subject and N. B. Smith, who swam the river each si.K 
times. That night they camped on what is now known as French Camp, near Stock- 
ton, and the following morning pushed on to the security of Sutter's Fort. At this 
period what is known as the "Bear Flag War" broke out, and with that small band 
Mr. Mendenhall marched to Sonoma, and took part in the stirring events described in 
our chapter on that subject. Then came the declaration of war between the United 
States and Mexico, and the recruiting of Fremont's famous California Battalion, with 
which our subject served, he being of Captain Ford's company. With it he proceeded 
in their pursuit of General Castro as far as the Colorado desert, and upon returning 
to San Diego there learned of a threatened rising of Indians in the vicinit}- of Sutter's 
Fort. Ford's company was thereupon embarked on the United States ship Coiii^^rcss, 
Commodore Stockton, to quell the contemplated outbreak. The_\' were landed at 
Monterey, whence they marched to Sutter's Fort, and found the Indians far from 
bellicose. They nearly all were Itors dit combat from sickness. Mr. Mendenhall's first 
visit to the Livermore Valley was on this march, when the troops camped on the 
ground where now stands the residence of Robert Livermore. At Sutter's the com- 
pany remained a few days, then took up the line of march, antl finally camped on 
Cosumnes River to await the arrival of General Fremont. While here, our subject 
applied for and obtained leave of absence to proceed \.o Johnson's Ranch to meet 
\\'illiam Duncan, a friend of his, with whom he returned to Sutter's l-'ort. He now 
concluded, with some immigrants, to locate at Stockton and commence farming, for 
which purpose he proceeded to Sutter's to obtain grain, but changing his mind he 
went to Verba Buena and there opened a bakery in partnership with Duncan, 



Biographical Sketches. 941 



but two or three months thereafter he became sick and was confined to the house 
for upwards of a month. At this time the Spaniards were becoming restless and 
threatened a general uprising, therefore for safety all the foreigners betook them- 
selves to the ships lying at anchor in the harbor. Mr. Mendenhall, however, 
was too ill to be moved, and with nought save his trusty rifle and revolver to 
protect him, was left alone to await the general massacre. The alarm, however, 
proved a false one, and upon quiet being restored Mr. Mendenhall started 
for the Pueblo de San Jose by way of Alviso, and thence to Santa Clara, where 
he was appointed Commissary to the forces then assembled there to repel any attack 
from Sanchez and his predatory band who were raiding that section of the country. 
There he served in that capacity until April, 1847, on the i8th day of which he 
espoused Miss Mary, a daughter of David Allen, Alcalde Burton performing the 
ceremony, it being the first marriage of Americans that ever took place in the three 
counties of Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and Alameda. Mrs. Mendenhall is also a 
pioneer of pioneers. She came across the plains to California in the company 
of Hon. Elam Brown of Contra Costa County, with her father, who was left sick 
at Fort Bridger, but in the spring went on to Oregon; at the Sink of the 
Humboldt she lost her mother, and being the eldest of the daughters took 
charge of the children and brought them safely to the Pacific Coast. Upon his 
marriage our subject removed to San Jose and there resided with his father- 
in-law for three months on the Ynigo Ranch. In June, 1848, he went to the mines 
on American River near Sutter's Mill, but at the end of three months transferred the 
scene of his operations to the mines of Tuolumne County, where he commenced trad- 
ing with the Indians, bartering clothes for gold-dust. He then returned to Santa 
Clara, and disposing of his property went to Oregon from San Francisco in the brig 
Anita. After a very rough passage of forty days he arrived in Astoria, where they 
were confined to a store-house on account of measles having broken out among the 
children on board ship. At the end of three weeks he proceeded to Portland, con- 
suming four days in the trip, and then went to the residence of his father-in-law, about 
twenty miles from that now rising city. In the following spring Mr. Mendenhall 
raised a company and with thirty wagons made the journey to California, arriving at 
Sacramento, which had then become a bustling camp, in July, 1849. Settling in the 
town of Suttersville, a place he had helped to survey, he there remained, engaged in 
teaming, until October, when he returned to San Jose, but being unable to find a 
house there, he came to the Pulgas redwoods to procure lumber and shingles. With 
these he built a house in the redwoods. In the spring of 1850 he moved to the Santa 
Clara Valley and located a piece of land not far from the Mission, where he embarked 
in stock-raising, adding to his stock, one hundred and four head of wild horses by 
capturing them on the San Joaquin plains in July 185 1. Selling out in February, 
1853, he moved to Sycamore Valley, Contra Costa County, on the place now owned 
by Hon. Charles Wood, and there stayed seven years, dealing largely in stock, at one 
time driving no fewer than one hundred head of horses into Oregon. In 1862 he dis- 
posed of his interests in Contra Costa County, and moved his stock to the Livermore 
Mountains, twelve miles south of where the town of that name is now situated, where 
he fenced in some fifteen or twenty thousand acres of land, and followed stock-raising 
there till 1864, when a dry season occuring he lost about forty thousand dollars' 
worth of cattle and horses. In the fall of 1865 he took up his residence in the San 
Ramon Valley, in the like occupation, but, at the end of three years, purchasing the 
interest of Thomas Hart in the Bernal Rancho, and that same fall six hundred and 
fifty acres of the Santa Rita grant, from J. West Martin, he took up his abode on the 
latter and assisted in building the first school house in Livermore Valley. At the 
end of a twelvemonth he bought a house and lot in Santa Clara County, whither he 
removed his family on account of the advantages offered for tuition there, where he 
remained ten years. In 1866 he acquired his present valuable farm of six hundred 



942 History of Alameda County, California. 

and eight acres, on which a larger portion of the town of Livermore is situated. In 
1869 he had the town surve\-ed and platted, and through his efforts has sprung 
up one of the most prosperous interior towns of California. Soon after he donated to 
the Livermore College the land on which that institution stands, while he also gave 
an entire block for public school purposes. Besides many other gifts of a similar 
nature he gave thirty-two acres in order to secure the railroad depot to Livermore. 
During the winter of 1876 he erected the elegant mansion in which he now resides. 
Mr. Mendenhall still leads an active life. He is especially interested in the breeding 
of Angora goats, having as many as twelve hundred of them on his range, while he 
attends to his agricultural and pastoral interests with much attention, but by no 
means makes a toil of a pleasure. It is men such as he that have made the United 
States what it is. He has a family of nine surviving children, viz.: James M , Lizzie 
(now Mrs. C. H. Lindley of Stockton), Emma (now Mrs. Black of San Francisco), 
Ella, D. Archer, William, Oswald, Ascey, and Etta. Of the original ten that crossed 
the plains with Mr. Mendenhall from Missouri, only two now survive, namely our sub- 
ject and N, B. Smith of Contra Costa County. Stebbins was killed in Los Angeles; 
Nash died in the mines in 1848; Dr. Semple died in Bcnicia; L. Hastings died in 
the Brazils; H. C. Smith died in Livermore; while Crosb\', Locher, and Downing 
returned to the Eastern States. 

George S. Meyer. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in 
this work, is the son of Samuel and Katharine (Newkom) Meyer, and was born in 
Saxony, Germany, January 21, 18 12. Having received a common-school education 
and learned the butcher's trade in his native country, in the year 1843 he emigrated 
to the United States, and commenced working at his calling in Baltimore. In 1846 
he joined Stevenson's Regiment and with it came to California, landing in San Fran- 
cisco March 22, 1847, and remaining in the corps until it was disbanded in Monterey, 
in October, 1848. Mr. Me\er now went to the mines at Angel's Creek, where he 
engaged in the search for gold until December, 1849, after which he proceeded to San 
Francisco, whence he sailed on January i, 1850, for New York, taking his gold-dust 
on arrival, to the mint at Philadelphia to have it coined, the out-turn being four thou- 
sand dollars. March 20, 1850, he espoused Miss Sophia Proeger, when he returned 
to California and opened the Philadelphia House, on Pine Street, San F"rancisco, 
which he conducted until June, 1853. At this date he settled at Mount Eden, Ala- 
meda County, where he bought a squatter's claim of one" hundred and si.xty acres on 
which he resided until October, 1S81, when he made his home in the city of Oakland, 
where he is now enjoj-ing the fruits of a well-spent life, honored and respected as an 
upright, honest citizen. His family consists of two sons and two daughters, viz.: 
George A., Henry H., Matilda (now Mrs. Martin), and Amelia. 

Tho.ma-S Wale Millard. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be 
found in these pages, was born in Somersetshire, Elngland, October 24, 1820, and 
there resided until he attained the age of twenty years, having served four years in 
the National Provincial Bank of England. In the }-ear 1840, accompanied by his 
parents, one brother, and five sisters, Mr. Millard crossed the Atlantic to the United 
States, and thence proceeded to Canada, where his father and mother still dwell. At 
the end of two years, having visited England on business for his father, our subject 
accepted a situation as book-keeper in New York, where he continued until 1852. In 
the fall of that year he started for California via the Nicaragua route, and arrixed in 
San Francisco during the month of Noxcmber. Proceeding at once to the vicinity of 
where we now have the village of Centreville, in the spring of 1853 our subject and 
his brother planted two hundred acres of land with potatoes, the property being that 
of Elias L. Beard, from which they received a large yield, and where they resided 
three years. In the fall of 1855 Mr. Millard purchased the farm he now occupies, 
then comprising one thousand acres, and embarked in general farming. In 1856 
he planted a vineyard, and has now fifty acres under bearing-grapes, being also 



Biographical Sketches. 943 



engaged in general farming. Mr. Millard was appointed by Governor Haight a 
Notary Public, which position he still occupies. He married in Alameda County, 
October 4, 1857, Miss Caroline David, a native of Philadelphia, and has five children, 
viz.: Thomas, Lewis, Augustus, Albert E., and Julia V. 

Albert Miller. — Was born in Germany in the year 1828, and resided there 
until 1848, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In that year he came to the 
United States, and after sojourning at the East, came by way of Panama to Califor- 
nia in 185 1. He engaged in business in San Francisco until 1864, when he retired. 
Mr. Miller has since been president and director of several financial and other corpo- 
rations, and is now the President of the San Francisco Savings Union. He took up 
his residence in Oakland in 1877. He is married, and has a family. 

Captain Anthony Milton. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait 
appears in this work, was born in the Azores, Portugal, March 29, 1823, but at eleven 
years of age came to the United States, and settled at New Bedford. In that pros- 
perous and busy seaport he grew up, with the ships of many nations around him, and 
following the example of hundreds of his fellow-townsmen, adopted a life on the ocean 
wave as a profession, and followed it in all parts of the world, until he found himself 
in California in the year 1865, when he purchased his present property in Alameda 
County, and took up his residence there. Here the worthy Captain has time to cogi- 
tate upon the mutability of things mundane, and have pass before him in vivid 
procession the personal recollections of stirring scenes full of adventure, and enjoy the 
fruits of a well-spent life. Married in September, 1867, Miss Alicia Healey, a native 
of Ireland, and has two children living, viz.: Manella, and Joseph P. 

John L. Mitchel. — The subject of our memoir, of whom an excellent portrait 
appears in this history, is a native of the Golden State, born in Sacramento, April 
17, 1 85 1, and is now in his thirty-third year, and, although still young, is one of the 
most energetic and leading spirits in the business circles in the beautiful little town 
which he has selected for his future home, Livermore. Remaining in his native city 
and attending the common schools until fourteen years of age, our subject then 
undertook the task of doing for himself, being employed in a telegraph office at Sac- 
ramento, from thence transferred to San Mateo, and from thence found employment 
in the telegraph office of Visalia, Tulare County. After a few months' sojourn in that 
place, he was transferred to Woodland, Yolo County, opening the first telegraph office 
there; when, after a short residence, and in the employ of the Western Union 
Telegraph Company, he returned to Sacramento. In 1867 we find Mr. Mitchel in 
the telegraph office at Stockton, San Joaquin County, but subsequently transferred 
to the engineer corps at that time building the Western Pacific Railroad, and in that 
capacity he helped to construct the Livermore tunnel, on the completion of which he 
was attached to the construction party as telegraph operator. On the finishing of 
the hne of the Western Pacific Railroad our subject was placed in charge of the 
station at Midway, where he served for one year; but the business of that hamlet 
being of too small importance for a man of Mr. Mitchel's ability, he was promoted in 
September, 1870, to the agency at the flourishing town of Livermore, which is at 
present one of the most important stations on the line between San Francisco and 
Sacramento. Here, in the capacity of station-agent and Wells, Fargo & Co.'s agent, 
the gentleman whose name appears above has labored for the past twelve years, 
with the utmost satisfaction to his employers and the public alike. Mr. Mitchel is 
truly a self-made man; through his own exertions he has placed himself in the front 
rank among the business men of the community in which he lives, having thrice been 
elected a town trustee, and his counsel is always sought on any scheme for the welfare 
and advancement of the business interests of Livermore, while he is a prime mover 
in public imprf)vements and charitable matters. He is also the representative of the 
Home Mutual and several other prominent insurance companies for Murray Town- 
ship, and a leading member and officer in the Masonic, Odd Fellows, and other fraterni- 



944 History of Alameda County, California. 

tics. In August, 1872, Mr. Mitchel was united in marriage, in San Francisco, to a 
most estimable \'oung lady. Miss Cora B. Belleau, a native of that city, bj' which 
union the\' have three children, viz.: Maude, Tottie, and Mabel. 

J.VMES MOFFITT. — Was born of Scotch-Irish parentage, in the cit\- of New York, 
March 17, 1831, where he received Jiis early education and resided until his fifteenth 
year. At that early period of his career he shipped on board the frigate Savaiina/i, 
under Commodore Sloat, Captain Mervin commanding, and sailed for California in 
1846, arriving in Monterey in the same year. He remained on board the Sdi'aiiiKih 
until 1849, when he was honorably discharged at San Francisco, after which he 
betook himself to his profession of engineer on the waters of the coast until 1859, 
when he established his residence in San Francisco, continuing in the same occupa- 
tion until his settlement in Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, where he still 
resides. Feeling that his services might be useful to the country in the then emer- 
gency of war, Mr. Moffitt joined the State Militia in 1862, and served with it until 
peace was declared, but only in this State, the services of his corps not having been 
called for beyond its boundaries. He was also a member of the Union League and 
Minute Men, and was honorably discharged by Governor Low. Mr. Moffitt has been 
identified with the Fire Department from his youth up to the present time. In 1841, 
when only ten years old, he joined the old Volunteer Fire Department in New York, 
as torch-boy, so continuing until 1845. I'l the mean time he found emplo}-ment in 
the Novelty Machine Works, at the dry dock, foot of Tenth Street, on East River, 
where he acquired the profession of engineer, and was subsequently employed in the 
old Knickerbocker, Vanderbilt, and Bay State, until his departure on the frigate 
Savannah for California. As early as 1851 he joined the Volunteer Fire Department 
in San Francisco, and' served in Companies Two, Eight, and Ten, during his resi- 
dence there. He was also one of the founders of the Volunteer Fire Department in 
Oakland and Brookhm, and continued an active and efficient member until the 
organization of the present paid department in 1878, since which time he has been 
conspicuously identified with the new organization, and has been several times elected 
to the chief offices of the department. He is now the oldest active member of the 

B'igade living in Alameda County, and is serving in, the capacity of the 

P^ast Oakland Department. In 1859, while residing in San Francisco, Mr. Moffitt 
was married to Miss Margaret Mulgrew, and is now blessed with the following-named 
sons and daughters: Frank J., now a Deputy Sheriff of Alameda County, and a 
popular journalist; Mary, Maggie, Martha, Elizabeth (deceased), Joseph, Emma, 
George, Harry, and Nellie. All these, like their parents, are fine examples of physi- 
cal perfection, and vigorous young men, women, and children, and constitute as 
happy and pleasant a family as can be found in the whole land. Mr. ]\Ioffitt resides 
on Fourteenth Street, near Thirteenth Avenue, in East Oakland, surrounded by a 
loving family, in the enjoyment of the good-will and respect of a communitj' in 
which he is a liberal and public-spirited citizen. After forty years of active and 
well-spent life, he still seems to be in the prime of manhood, and like Longfellow's 
" Village Blacksmith," "a mighty man is he, with large and sinew\- hands, and tlie 
muscles of his brawny arms are strong as iron bands." 

Charles J. Mongelas. — Was born in the department of Savoy, France, 
November 21, 1824, and there resided until he attained the age of twenty-one j-ears, 
when he went to Paris. He was for two j'ears a school-teacher. He was engaged as 
book-keeper in a hardware store for two years, and afterwards obtained a like position 
in the Orleans Railroad Company, and there remained until June, 1852. At this 
time he sailed in the ship Magellan, via Cape Horn, to San Francisco, where he 
arrived January 9, 1S53. A few months thereafter he proceeded to Negro Hill Mine, 
near Folsom, and followed mining there, in El Dorado, on the American River, in 
Yuba, Nevada, and Placer Counties, in the latter of which he conducted the Wash- 
ington Hotel, at Willsontown copper mine, and also engaged in farming, grape- 



Biographical Sketches. 945 



raising, and silk-culture. In October, 1865, he enlisted, at Marysville, in Company 
B, Seventh California Volunteer Infantry, Captain A. Gibson commanding, in which 
he served eighteen months, one year of which time he was in the garrison of Tucson, 
Arizona, being discharged on his return at the Presidio, San Francisco, April 26, 
1866. After farming and mining until the fall of 1877, he came to Oakland, and was 
five years book-keeper in the store of Mr. Bocquerez, after which he engaged in the 
wine and liquor business in the Valdez Block, on the corner of Sixth Street and 
Broadway. Mr. Mongelas is a member of Lynn Post of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and in 1881 presented that fraternity with a handsome banner. He 
belongs to the Order of Chosen Friends, Lincoln Lodge, No. 48. He is unmarried. 

Abraham Bruyn Montross. — Was born in Moscow, Livingston County, New 
York, August 2, 1822. At the age of thirteen years he was taken by his parents to 
White Pigeon, St. Joseph County, Michigan, and there our subject received his 
schooling and resided until starting for California. Late in February, 1849, he joined 
a joint-stock company that started for California on March 5th, with teams, etc. On 
March 20, 1849, leaving his home on horseback, he made his way to St. Joseph, Mis- 
souri, where he overtook his company, of which G. W. Peacock, now of Washington 
Township, Alameda County, was a member. Proceeding across the plains and com- 
ing via the Carson Route, our subject arrived at Ringgold, El Dorado County, Septem- 
ber 28, 1849. After engaging in mining at this and other localities until August, 
185 1, at that date Mr. Montross and three companions descended the Sacramento 
River from Shasta, the object being to ascertain its navigability between that point 
and Sacramento Cit}'. The expedition being crowned with success, during the month 
of November, with two of his exploring companions, he purchased an interest in the 
stern-wheel steamer Orient, then running between Colusa and Sacramento. She was 
the first steamboat to reach Red Bluff, Tehama County — in January 1852. In the 
spring of 1852, being in ill-health, Mr. Montross disposed of his interest in the steam- 
boat, and for two years retired from active participation in business. In the month 
of January, 1856, however, he came to Alameda County, and located near where 
Decoto now is, where he resided until 1858. He now engaged in sheep-farming, and 
in 1865 moved to his present property, comprising one hundred and fifty-six acres. 
Married, in 1873, Mrs. Sarah McCalvy, a native of Scotland, and has no issue. 

VOLNEY Delos Moody. — Was born in Rodman, Jefferson County, New York, 
August 15, 1829, and is the son of Ransome G. and Elmira (Bacon) Moody. Having 
been taken when five years of age by his parents to Michigan City, Indiana, he there 
resided si.x years, and subsequently removing to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there received 
his education, and dwelt for nine years, two years of which he was employed in a 
store, and during the last year of his residence was engaged as a contractor on the 
streets of that city. On March 28, 1849, Mr. Moody, his father, mother, one sister, 
and three brothers started to cross the plains with ox-teams, ina Salt Lake City, to 
California. At the City of the Saints they branched off, and were one of the first 
parties to enter this State by the Southern Route. Having arrived in San Bernardino 
County in the latter part of December, they continued their journey to the Pueblo de 
San Jose, finally locating in the Pulgas redwoods, San Mateo County, where our sub- 
ject was among the first to engage in the lumber industry to any extent there. At 
the end of a year he came to Oakland and purchased a saw-mill, about three miles to 
the east of San Antonio, which he conducted three years, when, in 1853, selling out 
his stock and leasing the mill, he returned to Milwaukee, purchased a band of horses, 
and drove them across the plains to California. In 1854 Mr. Moody once more 
returned to the East, and, purchasing cattle in Wisconsin, sent them across the plains; 
and at Newark, New Jersey, purchased carriages and had them shipped to this coast. 
He now paid a visit to his birthplace, and on May 3, 1854, was married to Miss Ade- 
line Wright, a native of Jefferson County, New York. He then returned with his 
bride, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, to San Jose, where he resided until 1866, 



946 HisroRV of Alameda County, California. 

being engaged in the lumber, flour, and cattle business. In the fall of the year last 
mentioned he disposed of his interests there, and, rernoving to San Francisco, 
embarked in a mercantile trade, which he continued nine years. In 1874 he conceived 
the idea of starting a bank in Oakland, and with a few "good men and true" of that 
city, in 1875, organized the First National Bank, of which, in January of that \"ear, he 
was elected the President, a responsible and distinguished position wliich he still holds. 
In 187s Mr. Moody built his residence. No. 564 Fourteenth Street, Oakland, where he 
now resides. He has a family of three children, viz.: William C, Nellie E., and Jessie 
L. (now Mrs. W. F. Blood of Oakland). 

Capt. John Milton Moore. — This worthy gentleman is the son of John and 
Elizabeth (Whitesides) Moore, and grandson of Captain James Moore, in after life a 
pioneer of Illinois, having been born in that State as long ago as the year 1750. He 
was born July 15, 1810, in the old block-house on the Moore homestead, about a mile 
and a half from the site of the present town of Waterloo, Monroe County, Illinois, 
where he received a meager early education, but the best the schools of that date 
could afford, and resided amid the scenes incidental to the early settlement of the far 
West, until the year 1831, when he made his first business speculation, his brother 
James uniting his fortunes with him in a flat boat expedition to New Orleans, with a 
cargo of hogs and corn, the trip down the river occup\'ing a month. Having realized 
handsomely on the venture, they returned home, and the following spring found them 
preparing to meet the dangers of the celebrated Black Hawk War. At this time our 
subject was mustered into the service in what was known as the odd battalion of the 
Illinois Militia, called into requisition by the Governor of the State, in which he was 
appointed color-bearer, April 28, 1832, and remained with the corps until it was mus- 
tered out. He then enlisted in the company of Captain Snyder as a private in the 
ranks, and served until this company was also mustered out of service. On his return 
to the more peaceful avocations of life, at the close of the Black Hawk War in the 
autumn of 1832, our subject was married to Miss Lucretia Stone, of Massachusetts, 
and a portion of the homestead tract being set apart to him, as was the custom in 
those days, he at once entered upon the quiet and pastoral life of a tiller of the soil. 
In the following year, in company with his brother James and his uncles, Enoch, and 
Milton Moore, Sr., and who had each a contract for the surveying and running of 
township and section lines of Government lands throughout the northern part of the 
State, joined the surveying expedition. This arduous undertaking accomplished, the 
party returned to their respective homes, while Captain Moore settled down to his 
former avocation of farming, and making occasional trips to New Orleans with prod- 
uce. Upon the breaking out of the Mexican War, in 1846, our subject, in connection 
with Hon. J. E. O'Melveny, William Starkey, and Austin and Thomas Jones, raised 
a company of ninety-four, rank and file, and were mustered into service for the term 
of the duration of the war, on July 15, 1847, at the city of Alton, under the name of 
Company G, of the Si.xth Regiment of Illinois Infantry, under command of Colonel 
Collins. Mr. Moore was chosen Captain of the company. We have not the space to 
■follovwour subject through the different scenes of the Mexican War; suffice it to say 
he was always found where duty called him, and upon the close of hostilities returned 
to his home in Illinois. In the spring of 1853 the natural inclination of Captain 
Moore for adventure not being sated, and having, in common with many others, 
become inoculated, so to speak, by the California fever, he commenced the neces.sary 
preparations for a long farewell to his native State — in all probability a life-long one. 
Disposing of his landed and personal property, and investing in stock, at that time 
valuable in the new State of California, about March 15, 1853, he, in company with 
his brother, William W. Moore, and several other families, bade adieu to their birth- 
place, relatives, and friends, and started on their long and arduous journey across the 
plains. After a five months' trip he arrived in Sacramento, where, leaving his family, 
he made something of a tour through the State, and finally settled in the beautiful 



Biographical Sketches. 947 



valley of San Jose, on the shores of the bay of San Francisco, and where he resided 
for nearly a quarter of a century. In the latter part of 1876 Captain Moore removed 
to San Francisco, where, 'after ministering to his sick brother, William W. Moore, 
with such acts and words of love and kindness as he best knew how, and having seen 
all that was mortal of his loved brother in their last resting-place 'neath the spreading 
oaks of San Lorenzo Cemetery, he cast about him for a new location, deciding upon 
the city of Oakland as his future home. There were born to the Captain and his wife 
four children, two of whom died in infancy, in Illinois. Two, who accompanied him 
to California, the eldest, a daughter, died in the spring-time of her life, while the 
remaining son was called away just as he had completed his legal studies, and had 
the world before him. 

W. W. Moore. — Was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, February i, 1838, and 
there received his early schooling. At the age of thirteen years he shipped in the 
United States Navy, and served five years arid nine months, after which he made 
several voyages in the merchant service in Vanderbilt's line, running between New 
York and Havre, France. Shipping afterwards in Boston in the employ of Robinson, 
Wiggins & Co., of that city, and subsequently with Silva, and J. J. Sparrowhawk, he 
made a trip to the coast of Africa in the bark Hazard, and in her returned as cabin 
passenger at the end of fourteen months. After a three months' stay at home, he left 
for California, arriving in San Francisco May 7, 1859. His first employment there 
was driving a coach for the International Hotel, and was present during the alterca- 
tion which ended in the Broderick-Terry difficulty. In 1859 he proceeded to southern 
Oregon, where he served as Deputy Sheriff under James Hendershott. In March, 
1 86 1, he left there, and coming south took up his permanent residence in Oakland, 
Alameda County. His first occupation was brick-making, at the head of the bridge 
on General Williams' unimproved property, for J. O. Minor, at which he continued 
two years; he next drove an express wagon for Wingate. In 1863 Ed. Newlands 
broughc a hack to Oakland, which Mr. Moore drove for the first three months; he then 
married, purchased the hack aforesaid, and has continued in the business ever since. 
Mr. Moore is an ardent worker in the ranks of the Democratic Party, and was a prime 
mover in the organization of the Hancock Fire Brigade of Oakland. He is an active 
worker in the Independent Order of Chosen Friends of the Pacific Coast; he is now 
the District Deputy of Alameda Co., he is also a Past Chancellor of the Knights 
of Pythias, Liberty Lodge, No. 35. He married Miss Maggie Cassidy, a native of 
Ireland, in 1863, and has the following family: five children, three boys and two girls. 

Francis D. Morin. — Was born in St. Gregoire, County of Nicolet, Canada, 
January 20, 1822, where he was educated, and resided on his father's farm until the 
year 1836. At this time the political horizon in Canada was overcast, and fearing an 
outbreak, our subject removed to the United States, settled at Worcester, Massachu- 
setts, and there learned the trade of tanner and curer. At the end of five years he 
moved to Vermont, and started a tannery at North Hero, Grand Isle County, in which 
business he remained until 1S54, when he emigrated to California, via Panama, arriv- 
ing in San Francisco, March 22d of that year. Proceeding immediately to Nevada 
County, he there was engaged in mining until 1857, when, coming to Alameda County, 
he became foreman in the tannery of D. C. McGlynn, in the town of Alameda, a 
position he held until 1858. He now moved to San Leandro and started a shoe shop, 
but disposing of this in 1861, he turned his attention to dairying, in which he has con- 
tinued up to the present time. He also owns a fine five-acre orchard. Mr. Morin 
was elected Justice of the Peace for Eden Township in i860, and still performs the 
functions of that oflfice. In 1878 he was elected to be a School Trustee and after 
serving three years was rechosen in 1882 to fill the position, being also clerk to that 
Board. Married in San Leandro, 1862, Miss Kate Doenan, and has two children, viz.: 
Frank J., and Hercules A. 



948 History of Alameda County, California. 

Perry Morrison. — Was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, October 6, 1818. 
At the age of si.x years he \va.s taken by hi.s parents to tlie vicinity of Indianapolis, 
where he was brought up, and resided on a farm until 1839. At this time he accom- 
panied his parents to Louisa Count)', Iowa, and there engaged in farming, in the 
mean time losing his father in 1843. In March 1847, in company with a train of 
eighteen wagons, with whom were Mr. Meek and L. Stone, at present residents of this 
county, they started with o.x-teams to cross the plains to Oregon, to which term 
///(;(7;''«z'/« they proceeded by way of Fort Hall, and arrived in Oregon City, September 
7, 1847. The country was at that time, as it is to-day, the perfection of a timber 
country, and nearly all who arrived there at that time commenced the felling of trees 
and the manufacture of lumber. On arrival Mr. Morrison engaged in sawing logs, 
and such like employment, until September 1848, when, hearing of the discovery of 
gold, he laid down the saw and ax, and betook himself to California antl her prolific 
gold-fields. Arriving on Feather River in October, 1848, he followed mining, which 
abandoning in August, 1849, he came to Alameda County, then the Contra Costa, and 
located his present valuable homestead, then pointing to but little comfort, but now 
developed into one of the most splendid places in the township in which he resides. 
Married, firstly, in Tipton, Iowa, Miss Mary Davis, a native of Ohio, who died shortly 
after her espousal; and secondly, in San Francisco, Miss Martha Hastings, a native 
of Hartland, Vermont, by which union there were three children, only two now sur- 
viving, viz.: Samuel, and George P. 

William Mortimer. — Was born in Yorkshire, England, May 11, 1845, and is 
the son of William and Mary (Hirst) Mortimer. Having resided at his birthplace 
until he attained the age of twelve years, his parents emigrated to the United States, 
and settled in Ithaca, Tompkins County, New York, where our subject was educated 
and resided until 1865, having also learned telegraphy. In this last-mentioned year 
he accepted a position in the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad, where 
he remained until 1869, when he became agent for the Union Pacific Railroad at 
Sherman. Here he resided until he came to San Francisco in 1872, urnler engage- 
ment to the Central Pacific Railroad Company. After a month in the general office, 
he was at his own request installed in the agency at Niles Station. In 1876 he began 
a warehouse business at Washington Corners, which was burned September 3, 1880, 
but this he rebuilt, and soon took J. E. Warmsle\- into partnership. October 15, 1880, 
he purchased the warehouses at Niles, and has since been conducting both places. 
Married September 9, 1868, Miss Mary E. Warmslc)-, and has three children, \'iz.: 
Florence J., Frank, and George. 

Origin Mowry. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in -Providence County, Rhode Island, July 3, 1825, where he learned 
the trade of mason, and resided for a portion of the time on a farm, until starting for 
the Pacific Coast. In the month of Februar}', 1846, his father, mother, and brother 
Rinaldo, accompanied by our subject, took passage in the historic ship, the Ihvohlyn, 
and after a voyage occupying si.x months, arrived in San Francisco in the month of 
August, among the passengers being .Simeon Stivers, Mr. NichesUs, and Mrs. Marshall, 
all residents of Washington Township. After being employed fi)rashort time in San 
Francisco, Mr. Mowry moved to Saucelito, near Mount Tamalpais, and there 
worked one winter. He was subsequently variousl\- employed in different places, 
until the discovery of gold in January, 1848, when being then the owner of a small 
sloop, he found profitable employment in conveying passengers to Sutter's Fort. 
Afterwards he took a turn at the mines himself, and for two months worked with 
considerable success. In the fall of 1848 he went to Murphy's Diggings, at the back 
of Stockton, two months thereafter returning to San Francisco. Mr. Mowry now 
took a trip to Valparaiso and back, and while absent purchased a stock of merchan- 
dise, which he disposed of on his return to San Francisco with considerable profit. 
Previous to these e.xciting times, however, our subject and his father had taken up 



Biographical Sketches. 949 



two fifty vara lots in San Francisco, which are still owned by the gentleman of whom 
we write. They are situated respectively at the corner of Broadwaj' and Powell, and 
Vallejo and Powell Streets, and are at present most valuable pieces of property. In 
1850 Mr. Movvry located the place on which he now resides in Alameda County, 
comprising four hundred and twenty-five acres, on which with the march of advance- 
ment he has made vast irnprovements. Here he has surrounded himself with all the 
comforts his long life so well deserves, while his well-known kindness to the needy in 
early days, is reaping for him the great luxury of being highly respected and appre- 
ciated by the community in which he dwells. He also owns one hundred and sixty 
acres at Washington Corners, and a like quantity near Warm Springs. Also over 
one thousand acres in Fresno County, on the San Joaquin River, under fence and 
fine location, while he is engaged in adding to his already great wealth by agricultural 
and pastoral pursuits. He married May i, 1854, and has four children, viz.: Marion 
L., Joseph C, Frederick W., and Abbie A. 

Thomas W. Mulford. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this work, was born in Long Island, New York, April 26, 1829, and is the son of 
Edward and Charity (Smith) Mulford. Here our subject attended the common 
schools of the disti'ict and resided until the famous year of '49, having learned the 
blacksmith's trade. When the discovery of gold had become known on the Atlantic 
Coast it became the custom for a number of young men to form themselves into an 
association for the purpose of mining in California under a set of rules and regulations 
for their guidance. On February 5, 1849, our subject became associated with the 
Patchogue Mining and Trading Company, consisting of Abel R. Briggs, Z. D.» 
Fanning, Israel Green, Edward F. Whiting, Elias P. Overton, Moses Wicks, Edmund 
Terry, Thomas W. Mulford. Leaving Patchogue on January 26, 1849, they sailed 
from New York on the 5th of February, on board the bark Keoka, James McGuire, 
Master, with thirty-four passengers bound around Cape Horn for the Land of Gold. 
On the 4th April they entered the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, leaving it on the 15th to 
recommence the tedious voyage. The varied changes from calm to storm, from day- 
light to darkness, were ever being rung, the monotonous cadence being occasionally 
varied by deck sports, or fishing for sea-birds, Mr. Briggs having been successful in 
hooking an albatross measuring seven feet from tip to tip. They eventually arrived 
in San Francisco on September 17, 1849, after a tedious passage of two hundred 
and twenty-four days. It is curious to note what Mr. Mulford's impressions of the 
Bay City were on his arrival. In a most interesting diary that he kept he states: "San 
Francisco is a city of men. It is seldom that one sees women or children. It now 
has nearly two thousand wooden buildings and as many canvas ones more. Two 
months previous to my arrival here, I am informed, there were not forty wooden 
buildings in the place. It is a city going up in a day, while every one is hurrying to 
and fro, paying attention to nothing but his own business. Things' are ver}' dear and 
wages high. Carpenters' wages are from twelve to fifteen dollars per day, and any 
man at work in the streets here can get from five to six dollars a day. But board is 
very dear — from one dollar to ten or twelve shillings per meal. A person can get 
pretty fair board for fourteen dollars per .week, with one blanket and the floor for a 
'oed. Vegetables are something out of the question, and it is seldom that they are to 
be seen on any table. Potatoes are fifty cents per pound; onions seventy-five cents, 
and frequently one dollar each." At the outset our subject embarked in the occupa- 
tion of a stevedore, but soon after crossed the bay to the Contra Costa shore and 
commenced the profitable occupation of hunting for the San Francisco market, and 
followed it until Februay, 1850. At this time Mr. Mulford determined to try his luck 
at the mines, but not meeting with encouraging success he returned to his old camping- 
ground near San Leandro, located on the land he now owns in 1851, and prosecuted 
hunting until the spring of 1853. He now, in partnership with Moses Wicks and E. 
M. Smith embarked in an agricultural, warehouse, and freighting business, and after 



950 History of Alameda Countv, California. 

fifteen years of joint farming purchased Mr. Wick's and IC. M. Smith's share in the 
concern, and has since been engaged in general farming and warehouseing on 
his property, comprising three hundred and fifty acres. Mr. Mulford has been also 
extensively engaged in the real estate business in Alameda County and in the city of 
San Francisco. Our subject from 1S57 to i860 was favorably known as the propri- 
etor of the "Estudillo House" in San Leandro. He was a very youthful looking 
landlord, and travelers who stopped at the house for the first time used to laugh at his 
beardless face. But he was one of the few young men of the country of those days 
who "knew how to run a hotel." At the same time he carried on his farm mentioned 
above, also a livery stable and various other branches of business — in other words, he 
had a great many irons in the fire, but being an expert, he managed to prevent any of 
them from burning, and succeeded in acquiring a very considerable fortune. The 
executive ability displa)-ed in his earlier life has for a number of years past been 
devoted almost e.xclusivel\- to his farm on the bay shore two miles from San Leandro. 
As before stated, this farm consists of three hundred and fifty acres, and they are 
among the best cultivated in the State of California. His barn, his agricultural 
implements, his fences, his deep ploughing, his clean fields, his large stock — everything 
in fact indicates the thorough farmer. In addition to, but at the same time connected 
with, his farming business, he is proprietor of several warehouses and wharves at what 
is known as " Mulford 's Landing," from which a line of schooners transport all the hay 
and grain of the neighborhood to San Francisco. Though popularly known not onl\' 
in the county but throughout the State, and always taking an active part in politics 
a;id public affairs, Mr. Mulford enjoys the proud distinction of never having held and 
never having asked for an office. Married, in August 1866, Miss Hannah Hudson, 
and has two children, viz.: Katie A. and Gertrude H. 

Michael Mulqueenev. — The subject of this sketch is a native of Ireland, born 
in County Clare, where he spent his youth and early manhood until twenty years of 
age, when he emigrated to Canada, and there resided tor four years. His next move 
was to the land of the free, and in the spring of 1868 he emigrated to California. 
Coming via Panama he arrived in San Francisco April 23d of the above year. A few 
weeks later we find him in Alameda Count}', and in 1869 he purchased some propertv' 
near where he now resides, and there laid the foundation for the successful business in 
which he is now engaged, adding b\- purchase from time to time until the fall of 1882 
we find him with a sheep ranch of some four thousand acres located about two miles 
from Midway. In the spring of the following year he added another four thousand 
acres to his already large estate, and has now one of the largest ranches in Alameda 
County, and is the acknowledged king of that industry in this section of the State, 
having from five to eight thousand head of sheep on his range. Mr. Mulqueeney is 
a kind-hearted and genial gentleman, and is universally respected by all who know 
him, and with his excellent wife enjoys the blessings of a happy home. They have a 
family of two children, John F. and Michael C. 

Emerv Munvan. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait a]>pears in this 
work, was born in Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut, on Christmas-da\-, 
1823, where he was educated and resided on his father's farm until he grew to man's 
estate. At this time he proceeded to Burritlville, Providence County, Rhode Island, 
where he acquired the spindle-maker's trade, and at the end of three \-ears transferred 
the scene of his labors to Milbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts, and there 
resided until making up his mind to tempt fortune on the Pacific Slopes. Sailing 
from New York May 20, 1852, in the steamer Prometheus, he journeyed via the 
Nacaragua route, and at San Juan continued the voyage in the steamer Paeific — among 
the passengers being his neighbor Edward Ross — finally arriving in San PVancisco 
June 26, 1852. He at once crossed the ba\' to what has since become Alameda 
County, first locating at Mowry's Landing, and there embarked in the cultivation of 
vegetables. Here he resided until New Year's day, 1853, when he settled on his 



Biographical Sketches. 951 



present farm, comprising twenty-seven acres, situated about one mile and a half from 
Newark, where he is engaged in general farming and fruit-growing. As a concholo- 
gist Mr. Munyan has a high reputation, his cabinet of shells indigenous to this coast 
being one of the most perfect in the State. He also possesses a remarkably fine 
collection of minerals and fossils. The gathering of these specimens he commenced 
in the year 1869, and in 1871, having built a handsome cabinet for their reception, he 
generously placed the whole in the Lincoln District School, of which he has been a 
trustee from its organization up to date. He is also a charter member of the Pioneer 
Association of Washington, Murray and Eden Townships. Possessed of a singularly 
retentive memory, Mr. Munyan is full of reminiscences of his pioneer life in this county. 
He has ever taken an active part in whatever might tend to her benefit, and his love 
of literature and brilliancy of conversation make him a most charming associate. 

Edward Murphy (deceased). — Born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in the year 
1829, and was the son of Dennis Murphy, a surgeon in the British army, who fought 
in the War of 1812. When twelve years of age he came alone to St. John's, New 
Brunswick, and subsequently moving to Milford, Worcester County, Massachusetts, there 
found employment in a general merchandise store, where he remained until the fall of 
1849. In that year, so dear to the heart of the pioneer, he started for California by 
way of the Isthmus of Panama, and after suffering shipwreck on the coast of Mexico, 
ultimately arrived in San Francisco in January, 1850. Finding employment in Marin 
County until 1854, in the spring of that year he went to Massachusetts, but 
shortly after returned to the Pacific Coast, and locating in the Bay City, engaged in 
the livery business as proprietor of the Pioneer Stable. There he remained until the 
spring of 1856, when he moved to Alameda County and pitched his tent in Washing- 
ton Township not far from the Alviso school house. There he purchased a ranch 
about two miles north of where now stands the town of Decoto, and engaged in farm- 
ing until 1863; but selling out at this time he transferred his habitation to Alvarado 
and was in business there until 1869, farming near that place for the subsequent two 
years. In 1871 he arrived in Murray Township and leased a portion of the Dougherty 
Ranch where he dwelt until March, 1876, He then moved to Dublin and engaged in 
hotel-keeping until his decease on October 23, 1881. Married, April 12, 1855, Miss 
Margaret Crowley, a native of County Cork, Ireland, by whom he left five children, 
viz.: Mary E. (now Mrs. O. R. Owens), Edward D., Francis A. (now Mrs. T. H. 
Thorndyke), Daniel J., John W. 

Frederick F. Myers. — Was born in Licking County, Ohio, June 15, 1839, and 
is the son of John and Frances (Smith) Myers. Having resided in his native State 
until the year 1856, he then proceeded to Kansas, where he was employed as an. 
express carrier in the Quartermaster's department of the Government. In 1858 he 
left Kansas with Capt. Hancock, arriving in Benicia in November of the same year, 
and the following spring accompanied Colonel Hoffman's expedition to Lower Cali- 
fornia, staying there until i860, in which year he severed his connection with the Gov- 
ernment and removed to Oregon and commenced business in Salem as a wagon-man- 
ufacturer, remaining there until 1862, when he transferred his residence to Idaho 
Territory and embarked in mining. At the expiration of one season he returned to 
Portland, Oregon, and began a livery business, in which he was engaged until 1866, 
when he left for San Francisco, coming to Alameda County after a year's residence in 
the Bay City. He now established himself in a carriage shop in the city of Oakland, 
but at the end of eighteen months embarked in the lime, plaster, and cement business, 
which he still continues at the northeast corner of Third and Washington Streets, Oak- 
land. In the year 1878 Mr. Myers was elected one of the Board of Supervisors of 
Alameda County, for the Fifth District. He married in May, 1873, Mrs. Sarah Willis 
McCann, who died April 7, 1880. 

Henry F. Nebas. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, November 20, 1830, but when fourteen 



952 History of Alameda County, California. 

years of age accompanied his parents to the United States and located in Buffalo, 
New York. When nineteen years old he commenced to learn the carpenter's trade, 
which he followed there until March, 1854, when he started for California. Proceed- 
ing by way of Panama he arrived in San P'rancisco during the latter part of that 
month and immediately went to the mines in El Dorado Count)', where he remained 
until 1856. In that year we find Mr. Xcbas in Alameda Count)-, employed in \arious 
capacities for seven years. He then leased land in the vicinity of Ha)'wards for five 
years, when he purchased his present farm, comprising about seven hundred acres, on 
which he has made many irhproveinents, and where he is engaged in general farming 
and stock-raising. Married, October 19, 1862, Miss M. A. Dood\', a native of Ireland, 
by whom he has had six children, five of whom by the most distressing accident were 
killed when returning from a picnic at the railroad crossing near Haywards on May 
2, 1882. His only remaining child Henry W., died of fever in 1883, while this work 
was in press. In Mr. Nebas we have another living example of what a life of energy 
and perseverance can do. He lives respected by his fellow-citizens. 

William Newcomb. — Was born in Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, 
December i, 1808, and is the son of Thomas P. and Hannah (Hayden) Newcomb. 
Having resided with his parents until 1836, on the iith September of that year he 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Perez and Mary R. (Pette) 
Sprague, a native of Massachusetts, who was born September 1, 181 1. He now 
settled in his native place, where he followed the boot-making trade until his coming 
to California. On P'cbruary 20, 1853, he sailed from New York to the Pacific Coast, 
and after suffering shipwreck on the Tennessee arrived in San P^rancisco during the 
last days of the month of March. He at once commenced farming in Alameda 
County, on the ranch now owned by Mr. Emery and there remained five years, at 
the expiration of which he returned to the Eastern States, but in i860, bringing with 
him his wife and family, he came back to California and settled in Oakland, where he 
has since resided. His family consists of Maria G. (now Mrs. T. L. Walker), Mary E., 
(now Mrs. J. H. Hobart), and Warren W. 

John H. Nicholson. — Was born in Sussex County, Delaware, April 1, 1820, 
where he resided until the year 1836, when he moved to Adams County, Illinois, and 
there dwelt until 1853. Emigrating in that year to California, Mr. Nicholson settled 
in San Ramon Valle)-, Contra Costa County, where he followed farming until 1878, 
when he came to Oakland and established his present business, viz. : that of a coal and 
wood merchant. INIarried, November 29, 1843, Miss P"rancis Eield, b\' whom he has 
seven children, viz.: Henry C, Isabella, John W., Mar)- D., Colder A., Martha, and 
Adenia. 

Edward Niehaus. — The subject of this memoir, whose portrait will be found 
in this work, was born in the kingdom of Hanover, Germany, December 24, 1827, 
where he received a common-school education, and resided until the year 1842. 
Being then but fifteen years of age, he bade adieu to the land of his birth, and emi- 
grating to the United States, settled in St. Louis, Missouri, where he served a three 
years' apprenticeship to the blacksmith trade, and afterwards followed it there until 
1850. In the month of April of that year he left St. Louis with mule-teams in 
Doctor Knox's company, and crossed the plains to the Land of (jold, arriving at 
classic Hangtown, now more appropriately named Placerville, September nth, after 
a not unpleasant trip of five months' duration. Until December 8th Mr. Niehaus 
tried his luck in the mines; he then came to the Contra Costa, erected a house on the 
Horner and Beard claim, put in a crop of barley and potatoes (in which he sank five 
hundred dollars), and resided there for one year, on the expiration of which he 
returned to the mines. At the end of eighteen months, he came back therefrom with 
fourteen hundred dollars in his pouch, and commenced farming in partnership with L. 
P. Gates in the Santa Clara Valley, which continued a twelvemonth, at which time 
he purchased the interest of his associate, continued farming until 1874, and then sold 



Biographical Sketches. 953 

out. Mr. Niehaus now embarked in his present business of merchant with S. Salz, 
under the firm name of Salz & Co., and has since continued it. In this gentleman 
we have one of the most whole-souled of living mortals. He is noted for his upright- 
ness in business, his strict honesty, and unswerving rectitude of character. His hearti- 
ness is infectious, his probity, unquestioned. 

J. K. NiSSEN. — A native of North Schleswig, and was Dorn November 23, 1840. 
Here he maintained a residence until the month of June, 1864, when he went to 
Hamburg, and lived there until May, 1867. At this time he emigrated to California, 
and landing in San Francisco July 29th of that year, joined his brother, who had 
been a resident of San Lorenzo, Alameda County, for two years previously. Failing 
to find employment there at the end of two weeks, he returned to San Francisco, and 
there was engaged to proceed to Mount Eden, where he worked in a store for seven 
months. Returning then to the Bay City, he was employed for three months in a 
restaurant there, when he left for the country, and after working for a short time on a 
farm, obtained a situation in San Leandro in a store, where he remained eleven 
months. Feeling dissatisfied now at working ibr others, Mr. Nissen started a peddler 
wagon with dry goods, which he found more profitable. On December 12, 1869, he 
married Claudine Buchpold, a native of Nord Schleswig, and in the fall of 1870, pur- 
chased a lot from William Meek, San Lorenzo, on which he built a small residence, 
where, after some time, he opened a store, still continuing his wagon business, leaving 
his wife in charge of the place. Both being economical and industrious, they soon 
put by a little money, which ultimately enabled him to buy a lot in the town of Hay- 
wards in 1875, on which he built a large two-story house for a store and dwelling, 
combined with a hotel. His family consists of two girls and two boys. 

Andrew J. Nor. — Was born in Germany, March 21, 1855, and there resided 
until the year 1872, when he emigrated to the United States, and settling in Living- 
ston County, Illinois, there lived for a year, at the end of which time he came to Cali- 
fornia, embarked in the dairy business in Merced County, and there continued until 
1875, when coming to West Oakland, he resided until 1878, when he entered 
into partnership with F. G. Eiben in the grocery business under the style of Eiben & 
Nor, at the northwest corner of Seventh and Campbell Streets, Oakland. Married in 
November, 1881, Miss A. S. Miller. 

Louis Nusbaumer (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this history, was born January 19, 1819, in Carlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden. 
His mother Amalia Gmehli was born in the town of Miihlheim on the upper Rhine. 
His father, George Nusbaumer, born in Switzerland, entered the army of Napoleon I. 
at an early age; serving in the medical department through all those memorable 
campaigns. For conspicuous services rendered at the grand catastrophe of the " cross- 
ing of the Beresina" he received the highest decoration of honor, at the end of the 
great historical drama. After completing his medical studies at Heidelberg, he 
established himself at Carlsruhe and subsequently became one of the most renowned 
surgeons of his time. Louis was born in the second year of their marriage; his 
mother died the year following. After passing the Lyceum and attending lectures at 
the Polytechnic Institute, Louis, at the age of seventeen, entered a mercantile house in 
Frankfort on the Main. From nineteen to twenty-one he spent on one of those large 
model farms to obtain a practical Insight of farming. At twenty-one he entered a 
jewelry establishment as book-keeper in the city of Pforzheim. At twenty-three 
years he married a young lady of that place named Elizabeth Roth, born September 
5, 1824, in Mobile, Alabama, she had returned with her parents to Germany at the 
age of five. Nusbaumer now rented a large estate on Lake Constance on the upper 
Rhine, where they lived nearly two years. Here again they met with heavy losses 
through misplaced confii.lence, and but for the constant and faithful assistance of his 
young wife the situation would have been desperate. They now turned their thoughts 
to the great country in the far West. In June, 1847, they arrived in New York, on the 
61 



954 History ok Alameda County, California. 

ship Earl of Liverpool, Nusbaumer soon obtained a situation in a jewelry establish- 
ment in Newark, N. J. In the fall of 1848, after the first exciting news from Cali- 
fornia had reached the States, Nusbaumer, like many others, was seized with the 
gold-fever. On the 20th of March, 1849, he, in company with sixty others, mostly Ger- 
mans, left the city of New York, full of hope, on their journey overland, towards the 
gold-fields of California. The organization soon broke up and Nusbaumer arrived in 
company with others at Salt Lake, October i, 1849, seven da\-s later liimself with five 
others resumed their journey westward. After traveling two hundred and fift}' miles 
in ten days on foot they fell in with Capt. Hunt's train, consisting of one hundred and 
fifteen wagons. Journeying with them ten days without much headwa}', Nusbaumer 
with several others left the train and took a random course towards " W'alker's Cut-off" 
The third day the country ahead became utterly impassable for wagons. Henceforth, 
their journey was one of continuous hardships and privations, wagons and contents 
had to be abandoned and only the most needful articles packed on their cattle. Time 
and again, they were without water and food for days; most of their cattle perished. 
On the 19th of February, 1850, the last beef was killed; four da\-s later, to their inex- 
pressible joy, they struck Capt. Hunt's trail on the Mohave River, and si.v days more 
brought Nusbaumer and two more of the original company of sixty to the first Span- 
ish ranch in Lower California, March i, 1850. They soon made their way towards 
San Francisco. During the summer he mined in the Merced River. The spring fol- 
lowing, April 5, 185 I, his wife who had made the trip by steamer via Panama had 
joined him once more. With the e.xception of some eleven months spent in a trip to 
Oregon and back, they lived in San Francisco till the fall of 1856, when they moved 
on an eighty-acre farm on Dry Creek, Washington Township in this county, bought 
by C. Duerr for Nusbaumer and himself October, 1857, Duerr and Nusbaumer 
rented the estate of John W. Kottinger, situated in Murra>- Township, embrac- 
ing the larger part of the present town of Pleasanton for a term of five years. Their 
business here consisted of merchandising and sheep-raising. At the expiration of their 
lease 1862, they bought a joint interest in the Rancho El Vallc de San Jose consist- 
ing of some three thousand acres, on part of which they made their permanent home. 
On the 25th May, 1876, Louis Nusbaumer- met with irreparable loss in the sudden 
death of his estimable wife, his life-long companion, who always encouraged and 
faithfully assisted him in their many grievous trials in their younger days. To her 
untiring industry is due a very large part of the success that finally crowned their 
efforts. From this shock Nusbaumer never entirely recovered. On the loth day of 
July, 1878, he, too, died at the age of sixty. They left four children George Louis, 
Albert, Emil, and Bertha, aged respectfully thirty-one, twenty-nine, twenty-.seven, and 
twenty years; all of whom are permanent residents of Alameda County. Personally 
Mr. Nusbaumer was a remarkable man in many ways; below medium height, com- 
pelled through near-sightedness to wear eyeglasses at all times, he was physically of 
great endurance, a great hunter, an expert shot, an accomplished rider, and an enter- 
taining compan on, warm-hearted and generous to a fault, always ready to forgive. 
His many noble qualities of heart and mind will c\'cr be remembered b_\' his many 
friends. 

Stephen G. Nye. — Was born in January, 1834 at Westfield, New York. His 
father, John Nye, was among the first settlers on the Holland Land ComiDan\-'s Pur- 
chase in western New York, when there were no roads and all was forest west of 
Buffalo, and he and his family suffered the privations and toils incident to pioneering. 
The children were two sons; one of whom met his death in the Union Arm)- in Virginia 
in 1862. The subject of this sketch received such education as the common school 
could give until the age of si.xteen, when he commenced teaching, and with his earnings 
pursued his studies until his graduation at Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, 
1 858. F'or the ne.xt year and a half he was principal of Westfield Academy, and he then 
entered the law office of Hon. T. P. Grosvenor, at Dunkirk, New York where he pur- 



Biographical Sketches. 955 



sued his studies until November, 1861, when he came to California. His first bread 
was earned by teaching the district school at Centreville in this county for three 
months. He then entered the law office of Janes & Lake as clerk in the spring of 
1862, and there remained until the death of Mr. Janes broke up the partnership. He 
was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court in April, 1862. In 1863 he returned 
to this county, where he has ever since resided. In the fall of 1863 he was elected 
District Attorney of this county, and served two years. On the resignation of Judge 
Noble Hamilton as County Judge, in August, ,1867, he was appointed by Gov. Low 
to fill the vacancy and was successively elected tliereafter to the same office until his 
resignation, which took effect September i, 1878. He then resumed and has ever - 
since continued the practice of his profession. In 1879, after the adoption of the New 
Constitution, he was elected to the State Senate, where he served in the sessions of 
1880 and 1 88 1. He was married in January, 1863, to Miss Emma M. Hall, daughter 
of Asa Hall of Westfield, New York. In 1865 they purchased a block of land in 
San Leandro, and built a house, where they have ever since resided. 

John H. Olive. — Was born at Long Point, Canada West, seventy-five miles 
south of London, September 7, 1825, where he was brought up on a farm until he 
attained the age of eighteen years. At that time he removed to London and engaged 
in the stage business until July, 1850, when he emigrated to Galena, Illinois, and 
entered the employ of Funk & Walker on their stage line from Dubuque to Iowa 
City, thence to Muscatine on the Mississippi. In this service he remained until April 
12, 1851, when he embarked for St. Louis, Missouri, and there joining Howe & Maly's 
circus with it traveled through Illinois and Wisconsin, arriving in Galena July 4th, of the 
same year. Here he severed his connection with this company, but on the 24th of 
the same month he joined Howe & Lent's circus, and with it went through the States 
of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and finally brought 
up in New York, October 19, 1851. Mr. Olive now found employment in the 
Bowery Theater, and was one of the party that brought General Kossuth, the Hun- 
garian patriot, from his ship at Staten Island, at the time that he made his first speech 
in the United States. Our subject revisited London in December, and remained there 
until June, 1852, when he once more embarked in the staging business, but in the 
month of December of the same year he proceeded to Michigan, and followed the 
like occupation. On March 4, 1854, Mr. Olive joined Captain Young's party bound 
for California. Leaving Galena in April, now commenced a series of hardships and 
adventures from which the stanchest might turn. On their weary journey across 
the endless plains they were twice attacked by Indians, on the Platte River and at 
Steamboat Springs, but exercising extreme caution and displaying no fear they made 
their way safely through the dangers seen and unseen. On June 26th, the desert was 
crossed and Ragtown gained; thence they proceeded by Beckwith Cut-off to Bid well's 
Bar, finally arriving at Sacramento, August 11, 1854. Here our subject found 
employment with the California Stage Company. March 3, 1856, he removed to 
Stockton, followed his old occupation until March, 1862, when he purchased a farm 
in Merced County, and resided there three years. At the end of that time he took up 
his residence in Stockton until 1865, when he took charge of Dooley & Co's. stage 
line until 1872, and on C. H. Sisson becoming proprietor remained with him until 
1876, when he purchased an interest in the stage line which retaining until 1879, he 
then removed to Contra Costa County, settling on the Fish Ranch, eight miles from 
Oakland. 

Luther E. Osgood. — Was born at Blue Hill, Hancock County, Maine, June 17, 
183 1, where he received his education and resided until he grew to man's estate. In 
November, -1852, he sailed from New York to Aspinwall in the Illinois on his way to 
California. On the Isthmus the poetry of travel commenced to wear away. Half of 
the journey across was performed on foot; however, the Pacific shore was attained, and 
thence taking passage on the Golden Gate, the city of San Francisco was reached 



9.5G History of Alameda County, Cai.ikornia. 

December 17, 1S52. In January, 1853, Mr. Osgood came to Centreville, found 
employment with a Mr. Torrey for one year, and sub.sequently found various occupa- 
tions in different places until November, 1857, when he returned to the scenes of his 
youth in the State of Maine, married, and in the following May returned to the Golden 
State. Coming to Alameda County at this time, 1858, he located on the place to 
which he had come in 1853, situated about three .tiiles south of Centreville, comprising 
one hundred acres. In 1874 he purchased the Morgan Ranch, adjoining his property. 
In 1880 he transferred his residence^to Washington Corners, where he purchased of 
Judge A. M. Crane the property on the San Jose road, on which he now resides. In 
the fall of 1875, Mr. Osgood was elected to the office of Township Assessor and has 
been chosen to fill that position for no less than four terms, while he is its present incum- 
bent. He is a charter member of the Washington Township Pioneer Association, and 
has been its Treasurer ever since organization. Married in Blue Hill, February 7, 1858, 
Miss Sarah P. Hinckley, a native of Maine, by whom he has had a family of two chil- 
dren, viz.: Annie E. (deceased), and Blanche A. The twenty-fifth anniversary of their 
marriage was duly celebrated February 7, 1883. 

Adam A. Over.ACKER. — Was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, May 26, 18 14. He 
resided on his father's farm until he attained the age of si.xteen years, when he accom- 
panied his parents on their removal to Lodi Plains, Michigan. Here he received his 
education and resided for fourteen years. At this time Mr. Overacker took unto him- 
self a wife, and transferring his habitation to McHenry County, Illinois, there dwelt two 
years, when he moved to Jones County, Iowa, and engaged in farming at that place for 
twenty years. In 1854 he traded his farm to a Mr. Hollenbeck for sheep in California 
— what was supposed to be a goodly herd — and forthwith proceeded to the Pacific Coast 
to take possession, but found on arrival at Centreville, that there were only five hundred 
head all told. P"or two years our subject was a resident of the Centreville district; 
he then removed to Murray Township, and in 1866 purchased his present property, 
comprising three hundred and twenty acres, situated one mile cast from Livcrmore, 
where he engaged in general farming. Mr. Overacker has held the office of Secretary 
of the Board of School Trustees for five years. Married, August 28, 1836, Miss Phoebe 
W. Patterson, a native of the State of New York, by whom there has been a family of 
seven children, five of whom survive, viz.: Horace T , George P., Mary (now Mrs. J. L. 
Weilbye), Lula (now Mrs. L. A. Summers), and Alice P. (now Mrs. Geo. Hawkins). 

Howard Over.\cker. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this work, is the son of Michael and Lucinda (Briggs) Overacker, and was born in 
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November 21, 1828. When an infant five years old he 
was taken by his parents to Sharon, Michigan, where they located, and our subject 
had his early schooling, as well as being trained to hold the plough and watch the 
season's change. Residing on a farm, he then heard the wild alarum ring that gold 
had been discovered in the tail-race of a mill in California. With such prospects 
ahead he at once made up his mind to tempt the "fickle dame," and in December, 
185 I, left Michigan for New York, whence he sailed on the steamer Daniel Webster, 
January i, 1852. Traveling by the Nicaragua route, after a voyage, unmarred by 
an)' incident of moment, our subject landed in San P'rancisco on the 15th February. 
To reach the gold-bearing sections of the State was now his chiefcst wish. He almost 
immediately proceeded to Placerville and after engaging in mining for some six 
months, with but moderate success, determined to turn his attention to farming, there- 
fore coming to Alameda County in November, 1852, he located in. the vicinity of 
Centreville, where he remained until the fall of 1855, when he visited his early home, 
bringing out a young wife. In 1856, in partnership with his brother, Michael Over- 
acker, the property now owned by the widow of the latter was purchased, and there 
he maintained a residence for four years. In i860 he revisited the home of his youth, 
taking with him his wife and chiki, returning to California in April of the same 
year. On arrival he purchased his present farm of two hundred and sixty acres, situ- 



Biographical Sketches. 957 



ated about half a mile northeast of Centreville, where he is extensively engaged in 
fruit-raising; his elegant residence was erected in 1867. Like all pioneers brought up 
on the frontier Mr. Overacker has a great love of the chase. To wage war against the 
savage grizzly was with him a passion; his scars but tell the tale of his unyielding 
pluck; a broken arm and several ribs but speak of hair-breadth escapes. As pomolo- 
gist and agriculturist he has no superior; as a genuine man he has but few peers, 
while, as a trustworthy citizen he is an honor to the community in which he resides. 
These virtues have borne their reward. In 1862 he was elected from Washington 
Township to fill the position of Supervisor, being elected four years in succession, and 
was again called upon to assume these functions in 1871, while such was the estima- 
tion in which he was held by his associates that he was called upon to assume the 
Chair, and presided during one year. In 1878 he retired from public life and is now 
enjoying a well-earned rest from official labor. Married in Jones County, Iowa, Jan- 
uary 28, 1856, Miss Dora Monroe, a native of New York, and has the following family, 
viz.: Fleda (now Mrs. John A. Bunting), Howard, Jr., Kate, Elizabeth, and Michael. 

Owen R. Owen. — Was born in the Isle of Anglesea, North Wales, March 31, 
1846, and there resided until he attained the age of eighteen years. He then emi- 
grated to California by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco April 30, 1863. 
After passing three years as shipping-clerk in the employ of Charles Clayton, San 
Francisco, he came to Alameda County, commenced farming on the Dougherty 
Ranch, and there continued until 1869, when he moved to Livermore and the place 
on which he now lives, having some fifteen hundred acres under cultivation. These 
he relinquished in 1882, when he purchased one hundred and eighty acres, and is now 
engaged in agricultural pursuits of a general nature. Married in Dublin, Alameda 
County, February 24, 187S, Miss Mary E. Murphy, a native of Alvarado, Alameda 
County, by whom he has had a family of three children, viz.: William J. (deceased), 
Edward Roland, and Owen R., Jr. 

Robert Foster Patten. — The subject of this sketch, one of the three verita- 
ble pioneers of the city of Oakland, whose portrait appropriately finds a place in this 
volume, is the son of William and Ruth (Foster) Patten, and was born in Washington 
County, Maine, February 8, 1798. In early life he learned the tanner's trade, like his 
father before him, and in 1812 accompanied his parents to Nova Scotia, where they 
had taken up their residence, and our subject resided until he attained the age of 
twenty-four years. At this period he returned to his relatives in Maine, where he 
passed the next seven years. Subsequently returning to the British possessions, in 
connection with his younger brother, he embarked in the business of carriage-build- 
ing in New Brunswick, and thus continued until making up his mind to join the 
thousands that were flocking to the mines of the Pacific Coast. Sailing from Boston, 
Massachusetts, in the ship Sweden, Captain Cotting, via Cape Horn, on March i, 
1849, he landed in San Francisco August 4th of the same year, and there joined his 
brother William, whose arrival had preceded that of our subject by about twenty 
days. In February, 1850, Mr. Patten and his two brothers crossed the bay, made up 
their minds to settle upon the place now occupied by that portion of East Oakland 
known as Clinton, obtained a lease of one hundred and sixty acres, in the following 
year acquired four hundred and eighty acres more, and there continued farming four 
years. For full particulars of the transactions of the Patten Brothers we would refer 
the reader to the history of Brooklyn Township on page 413 of this work. Here 
have the two brothers, Robert and William, resided ever since — the third brother, 
Edward C, died in April, 1852 — respected by the entire community as honest, 
upright men. The subject of our memoir never married. His brother William 
Patten, who was born December 30, 1800, married, in 1854, and has one child. 

George W. Patterson. — Was born in East Berlin, Adams County, Pennsyl- 
vania, July 26, 1822, and in early childhood removed with his parents, Henry and 
Lydia (Kimmel) Patterson, to Greene County, Ohio. There they resided on a farm 



9.58 History of Alameda County, California. 

till the fall of 1832, when thc\' moved to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and followed 
farming as before. Early in the >ear 1849 a joint-stock company was organized in 
La Fayette, for the purpose of mining and trading in California. This company was 
. composed of about twenty members, and each, of whom our subject was one, con- 
tributed five hundred dollars to the common fund. They left La Fayette March 
13, 1849; thence by steamer via New Orleans to Port Lavaca, Texas, and 
w-ith teams and pack-horses overland via San Antonio, Santa Rosa, and Durango to 
Mazatlan. The journey was made in the midst of cholera, of which one member 
(Jerry Starr) died near Durango, and was toilsome and slow from Te.xas to the 
Pacific. They remained a week awaiting a vessel, and finally sailed July 13th on the 
brig Louisa, touching there from Sydney. They were forty-seven days out, with 
barely enough water to live, and arrived in San Francisco, August 29, 1849. Here in 
the harbor were supplies that they had ordered from New York si.x months before. 
The compan}' having dissolved, the goods were divided and the members separated. 
Our subject, with four others, went to the American River mines, where they worked 
more or less successfully, and the next summer went to the Trinity mines. But with 
bad investments and heavy expenses, at the end of fifteen months he found himself 
broken down physically and financially, and came to Alameda County about January 
I, 185 I, to recuperate, engaged in farming; since he has been moderately successful. 
Was married July 11, 1877, to Miss Clara Hawley, a native of California. Has two 
children, Henry G. and William H. Patterson, aged respectively five and two years. 

Nathaniel Greene Patterson. — Was born in Greene County, East Tennes- 
see, March 23, 1820, but at nine years of age was taken b}' his parents to Greeneville 
District, South Carolina, where he attended school and resided for nine years. At 
this period of his life he proceeded to Jackson County, Missouri, and while a resident 
of that place made two trips to Santa Fe, the first journey being undertaken in 1842, 
and the second in the following year. On his return from this last expedition he 
went to a place called Pueblo, on the Arkansas River, at the foot of the Rocky 
Mountains, but he returned shortly after and made a trip to Georgia, after which he 
came back to Missouri in 1842. In 1846 he left for the then little known region of 
the Pacific Coast, and after enduring the thousand and one hardships incidental, to 
crossing the plains at that early date, arrived at the hospitable gates of Sutter's F"ort, 
Septembers, 1846. He now returned to meet his fellow-immigrants, whom he had 
left at Fort Hall, and falling in with them at the place where the town of Wadsworth 
now stands, on the Truckee River, accompanied them into the sloping valleys and 
rolling foot-hills of California, once more arriving at Sutter's Fort, in the month of 
October. He here joined P'remont's Battalion, Company C, Captain Granville Swift, 
and J. C. Baldridge, Lieutenant, and with it served until 1847, when he entered the 
quartermaster's department of the regular army, where he was civilly employed. In 
the fall of that year he was engaged by Governor Mason and Secretary of State 
Halleck to carry the United States Mail from Monterey to San Francisco, which he 
did until June, 1848. And now there was no doubt that the canons of the Sierra.s 
teemed with gold; therefore, Mr. Patterson proceeded to the American River, and 
embarked in the exciting pursuit of gold-hunting. By the fall of that year he had 
drifted down to the Tuolumne Mines, where now is the town of Sonora;but at the 
end of si.x months left to winter in the Pueblo de San Jose. In the spring of 1850 
he kept a feed and livery stable, in partnership with his brother, in Stockton, and in 
the month of March of the same year removed to the Las Pocitas Rancho of Robert 
Livermore, where he remained until March, 185 i, building a house, however, during 
1850, on the property now known as " Negley's Place," two miles from the spot now 
called Bantas. In June, 1851, Mr. Patterson returned to Missouri, and thence visited 
his birthplace in Tennessee, returning to Missouri in 1852; and there, with his broth- 
ers, A. J. and D. C. Patterson, he fitted out a freight team for Salt Lake City and 
California, where they arrived in the latter half of the same year. Having remained 



• Biographical Sketches. 959 

in the Golden State until November, 1853, at that time we find our subject once more 
returning to Missouri, where, in the following spring, he fitted out another train for 
Salt Lake and California. The journey from the first-named place was undertaken 
by way of the Sink of the Humboldt, and here commenced a series of misadventures 
that culminated in their being obliged to leave thirty new wagons on the desert 
between the Humboldt and Carson Rivers, on account of the live-stock being taken 
sick. Leaving a brother in charge of the train, Mr. Patterson pushed on to the Liv- 
ermore Valley in a wagon; there he settled and commenced operations on his present 
place in October, 1854, since when he has been engaged in pastoral and agricultural 
pursuits. Married in Independence, Missouri, April 12, 1852, Miss Kate Simpson, a 
native of Tennessee, and has had seven children, only two of whom survive, viz.: 
Charles T. and Susie (now Mrs. Davis). Those deceased are: Nellie, Lee, Frank, 
Andrew, and Willie. 

CiPRlANO Pedrini. — Was born in Switzerland, February 18, 1832, and there 
resided until the year 185 1, when he emigrated to the United States, and lived in the city 
of New York until the 7th of September, on which date he sailed for California by way 
of Panama, landing in San Francisco on October 7, 185 1. At the end of three weeks 
he went to the mines in Yuba County, but in 1853 returned to the Bay City. In the 
spring of 1854 he proceeded to Garden Valley, El Dorado County, opened a store, 
and conducted it for twenty years, when, selling out in 1877, he came to Alameda 
County, located at Temescal, and built the block in which he carries on his grocery 
business. Married in San Francisco, December 27, 1861, Miss Mary Broner, a native 
of Switzerland, and has three children, viz.: Joseph M., Louisa J., and William C. 

Thomas Hamel Pinkerton, M. D. — Was born in Middlesex County, Massa- 
chusetts, June 20, 1817, and is the son of Archibald and Frances (Walker) Pinkerton. 
At the age of nine years he was taken by his parents to Andover, Essex County, in 
the same State. At the end of three years they moved to Lynn, in the same county, 
where he resided three years more, and then moved to West Cambridge. In 1838 the 
subject of this sketch moved to Watertown, Massachusetts, whence, in 1841, he went 
to Boston and resided until 1855, in which year he entered the Harvard Medical Col- 
lege, from which he graduated in 1859. He now practiced in Boston until Septem- 
ber, i860, when he came to California by way of Cape Horn, arriving in San Fran- 
cisco January 5, 1861. After a sojourn of two weeks there, he proceeded to Virginia 
City, Nevada, and after practicing for awhile, was elected City and County Physician, 
a position he held for five consecutive years. Under his ixgime the County Hospital 
there was erected, while, about the same time, he was appointed by the Government 
United States Contract Surgeon for the State of Nevada, the functions of which he 
performed during the years 1864 and 1865. In November, 1866, he married Miss 
Mary Josephine Atwill, and moved to Oakland, where he commenced the practice of 
his profession, and where he still resides. Dr. Pinkerton was elected Physician to the 
cit)-of Oakland in 1869, and in the following year was called upon by the suffrages of 
the people to fill the position of Health Officer, an office he successfully filled for four 
years. He has been also President of the State Medical Society; was one of the 
incorporators of the Alameda County Medical Association, and was its first President; 
and, indeed, has held many high positions in medical circles. An excellent portrait 
of the Doctor will be found in this volume. 

Chas. a. Plummer. — Was born in Boston, Massachusetts, October 16, 1841, 
and there resided until December 23, 1852, when, with his mother and brother, he 
sailed on the ship Golden West, Captain Curwin, via Cape Horn, to join his father, 
who had preceded him three years, in California; and after a tedious voyage of four 
months, landed in San Francisco April 13, 1853. Mr. Plummer now went to the 
Happy Valley School two years, a low, tumble-down building on Minna, near Second 
Street, James Denman principal, and surrounded .by sand-hills, and at the age of 
fourteen years commenced the battle of life. In September, 1858, he proceeded, in 



9(30 History ok Alameda County, California.- 

the salmon-fishing trade, to Eel River, Humboldt County, where he remained until 
January, 1861. Returning to San Francisco, he entered the service of E. D. Heatley, 
with whom he remained two years in the grain-shipping business, after which he went 
into the coal and wood trade until March, 1865, when he came with his father to 
Washington Township, Alameda County, where the latter had established himself the 
year preceding, in the Crystal Salt-works, near Newark, and now suj^erintended by 
J. A. Plummer, Jr. Our subject remained on the above works until September, 1872, 
in which year he established himself where he at present resides. In November, 
1870, accompanied by his father, he returned to the Eastern States, by way of 
Panama, and after a stay of two months came back overland to his former home near 
Newark. In 1872 he established himself on his extensive salt-works, located a mile 
south from Alvarado, where, in partnership with his brother, John A. Plummer, Jr., 
he is engaged in the manufacture of salt, owning two salt-works — one near Alvarado, 
the "Turk Island " Salt-works, and the other the Cr\-stal Salt-works, near Newark — 
the firm name being Plummer Brothers. Mr. Plummer is a member of the Washing- 
ton Township Pioneer Association, and Noble Grand of the Alvarado Lodge, I. O. O. 
F. Married September 24, 1874, Miss Annie M. Miller, a native of New York, and 
has no issue. 

John Allen Plummer, Jr. — Was born in Boston, Massachu.setts, June 3, 1839, 
and is the son of John A. and Elizabeth E. Plummer. He received his education at 
the Lexington Academy, and on December 14, 1852, set sail from Boston in the 
clipper ship. Golden West, around Cape Horn to San Francisco, where he arrived 
on the 20th of April, being one hundred and twent\'-six days on the voyage. 
Here, joining his father, with his mother and brother, they took up their residence in 
San Francisco until 1858, when our subject moved to Eel River, Humboldt County, 
and engaged in salmon-fishing. In December, i860, he returned to the Bay City, 
where he became grain inspector and shipper for E. D. Headlcy until Jul)', 1864. 
Mr. Plummer afterwards went to Santa Clara, and for several months was in charge 
of a flouring-mill there. In 1866 he returned to San Francisco, at the request of I. 
Friedlander, who took him in his employ as grain inspector, shipper, and clerk, there 
remaining until March, 1870, when, resigning his position, he came to reside at his 
present home and carry on the Crystal Salt-works, which had been established by 
his father in 1864. A full history of this enterprise will be found in its proper place. 
Mr. Plummer married May 3, 1868, Miss Gertrude Blaney, and has two children: 
Crystal and Walter. 

Hermann Pohlmann. — Was born in Germany, April 10, 1855, and there 
resided on a farm until 1871, in which year he emigrated to the L^nited States, and 
settled in the State of Nebraska. In 1875 he came to California, located in San Jostf, 
and resided there six years; was in business there three years. In March, 1882, he 
took possession of the Twelve-mile House, on the San Jose Road, where he has four 
acres of ground, and at present resides. 

William Poinsett. — This old settler, whose portrait appears in this work, was 
born in Burlington County, New Jersey, February 1, 1830; there received his educa- 
tion, and resided on a farm until he attained the age of twent)'-two years, at which 
period he came to California, sailing from the city of New York on July 6, 1852, by 
way of the Nicaragua Route, and arriving in San Francisco on the 2d of August of 
the same year, the trip being made in the remarkably short space of twenty-seven 
days. A short time after landing he crossed the bay to what is now Alameda 
County, and found employment at Alvarado, but at the end of sixteen months he 
rented land and embarked in farming operations on his own account, where he con- 
tinued until the fall of 1856, when he removed to San Pablo, Contra Costa County, 
and until 1858 followed the like occupation there. He then moved, his family to 
Berkeley, where he has since made his home. Mr. Poinsett has under cultivation 
about six hundiCd acres of land, which is leased, and the thriftiness of his surround- 



Biographical Sketches. 961 



ings shows the good practical farmer that he is. He has paid out sixty thousand 
dollars as rent for land leased in fifteen years past. He has held the position of 
Town Councillor of Berkeley, but has never aspired to other public functions, being 
contented with his lot as a tiller of the soil; indeed, he has never had any other ambi- 
tion; and, strange to say, he is one of the very few that, on first arrival in the country, 
did not tempt fortune in the gold-producing regions. It is such men as he that help to 
make a country like the United States what she is. By an honest and upright course 
of action through life, he has earned the well-deserved respect of his fellow-citizens, and 
his own honesty has brought, not only a fair share of this world's goods, but the con- 
tentment only to be gained by a knowledge that he has won the praise of "Well done, 
thou good and faithful servant!" He married in Oakland, October 28, 1858, Mrs. 
Horner, adopted daughter of Joseph H. Coombs, formerly District Attorney of Ala- 
meda County, and has a family of five children, viz.: Harvey, Elwood, Alice, William, 
and Anna May. 

Richard T. Pope. — Was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, May 25, 1824, 
learned the trade of carpenter, and resided there until he made up his mind to 
face the trials of a journe/ to the newly discovered gold-mines of California. 
On March 10, 1S49, Mr. Pope sailed out of New York Harbor, on board the 
bark Mallory, via Cape Horn for San Francisco, where he arrived on the 13th 
September. He at once proceeded to the Mariposa Mines, and there was engaged 
with pans and pick until 1854, in the fall of which year he came to Alameda 
County, and located on the farm now owned by J. P. Smith, in Livermore Val- 
ley, where he followed stock-raising as an occupation, and resided for eleven 
years. Selling out in 1865 to Sanders Simpson, he moved farther up the valley and 
purchased his present property of one hundred and sixty acres, to which, however, he 
has since added, until his possessions now comprise fully three thousand acres. Mr. 
Pope is principally engaged in sheep-farming, his stock on hand numbering twenty- 
five hundred head. He was once elected to the ofifice of Justice of the Peace, but 
declined to serve; while he lives, it may be said, a happy and contented life, although 
it is one of single blessedness. 

John Proctor. — Was born in Lancashire, England, May i, 1812, and there 
resided until he attained the age of eighteen years. Then taking passage at Liver- 
pool, he sailed for the United States, and arrived in New Orleans in April, 1830. He 
at once proceeded up the Mississippi in the first steamer that ever plied on the mighty 
"Father of Waters," and settling in Monroe City, Illinois, there followed farming- 
until making up his mind to come to California. Accompanied by his wife and three 
children, he sailed from New York, and making the journey via the Nicaragua Route, 
arrived in San Francisco December 18, 1853. Coming direct to Alameda County, 
Mr. Proctor located on the eighty-acre tract on which he now resides, situated about 
two miles from CentreviUe, where he is engaged in general farming and fruit-raising. 
Married to Nancy Monks, a native of Lancashire, England, and has three surviving 
children, viz.: John T. Monks, Eliza Ann, and Alice E. 

John Harvey Prowse. — Was born near Galena, Jo. Daviess County, Illinois, 
October 12, 1843, and is the son of Thomas and Elvina (Bradshaw) Prowse. Having 
resided with his father and mother until he reached the age of twenty years, in the 
year 1S64 he emigrated to Montana Territory, and embarked in mining operations, 
stock-raising, and finally, after four years, came to California, settled on his present 
ranch of two hundred and sixty-five acres, and is now engaged in general farming 
and cattle-rearing. An excellent portrait of Mr. Prowse will be found in this work. 
Married, December 24, 1873, Miss Sophonia Jackson, and has: Ellary E., Thomas H., 
and Winnie. 

C. J. PULLEN. — Was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey, August 12, 1848, 
and there learned the trade of machinist and engineer. He left the Eastern States 
November 10, 1871, for California, and on arrival first located ii San Francisco, 



962 MisTORV OF Alameda County, California. 

where he remained working at his caUing for ten years, during a portion of which 
time (six years and a half) he was chief engineer of the cable road of the Clay-street 
Railroad Companj-. On October i, iS8i, he came to Alameda County, located in 
Livermore, leased the Livermore Hotel, added considerably to it, and has made it 
one of the best hostelries in the county. It is situated at the corner of Main and 
Lizzie Streets, opposite Mill Square. He married in San Francisco October 13, 1875, 
Miss Julia A. Barss, a native of Placerville, El Dorado County, California. 

Peter Pumye.\. — The subject of this sketch was born in Fulton County, 
Illinois, May 17, 1844, and there resided on his father's farm until coming to Califor- 
nia, in the spring of 1854, being accompanied thither by his father, mother, three 
brothers, and four sisters. A month's voyage by the Panama Route, from New York, 
landed them in San Francisco, on June 16, 1854, whence the family proceeded to 
Marysville, Yuba County, where our subject was engaged in farming until 1865. He 
then came to Oakland and entered the Brighton College for two years, when he 
returned to Marysville and became the proprietor of the New York Livery Stables, 
and there continued in that business until the year 1873. At that time he came to 
Oakland, and, purchasing an interest in the Newlands Stables, has ever since been 
one of its proprietors. In 1876 Mr. Pumyea was elected to the distinction of one of 
the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, and served with credit alike to himself 
and his constituents until 1879, being for two years chairman of that body. Thence- 
forward he gave his attention to the livery business; but knowing his capabilities so 
well, he was, on October 3, 1881, selected by his fellow-citizens to fill the responsible 
office of Chief of Police, the functions of which he continues to carry out with a 
marked degree of efficiency, making for the city of Oakland the most efficient, ener- 
getic, and in every way capable Chief she has ever had. To know Mr. Pumyea is to 
appreciate his sterling merits, while to have official and private dealings with him is to 
learn his manly worth', and recognize his unimpeachable character. He married in 
Jackson, Amador County, January 23, 1877, Miss Lovine Turner, a native of Ohio, 
by whom he had a child, now deceased. 

Jcseph Ralph (deceased). — Was born in New Jerse}-, in the year 18 19, and there 
resided with his parents until he attained the age of twenty-three \'ears, at which 
time he went into the hotel business in New Egypt, Ocean County, in the same State. 
There he remained until 1852, when he left for California, by way of the Nicaragua 
Route, arriving in San Francisco in August of that year. He immediately crossed 
•the bay to what is now Alameda Count}', and settling in Washington Township, 
opened a hotel in Union City, which he conducted until 1854, when he acquired the 
ranch of one hundred acres, near Alvarado, where he resided until his death, on May 
20, 1876. Married in New Jersey, in 1842, Miss Fanetta Horner, by whom there are 
four surviving children, viz.: William T., Ivens, George C, and Francis. 

Hon. R. a. Redman. — Flavius Josephus, the ancient Jewish Historian, says, 
in speaking of the creation of man (Book I., chap, i), that "Adam, in the Hebrew 
tongue, signifies one that is red, and the first man being made of red earth was there- 
fore called Adam." Messrs. Nott & Glydon, in their "Types of Mankind" (page 
573). admit that the word, ^/? rtJa', consists of two words, which, when applied to 
man, signify red man. The subject of this sketch, therefore, may justly claim to be a. 
direct lineal descendant of the "first family" of Eden. His American ancestry, how- 
ever, dates back to the times of Lord Baltimore, in the early settlement of Maryland. 
Dr. Joshua Winn Redman, the father, was born near the City of Baltimore, and was 
graduated in medicine, at Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, in 182 1, 
when he married Miss Jane Redman, a distant relative, and connected with the 
Breckenridges of Kentucky. About this time that portion of Missouri which had 
been ceded to the United States from Spain, as part of the Louisiana purchase, was 
attracting much attention, and Dr. Redman, with his young bride, removed to St. 
Louis, and thence to the border town of Franklin, in the countv of Howard, on the 



Biographical Sketches. - 963 

Missouri River, where he afterwards became distinguished as a physician, a man of 
fine miUtary attainments, and for many years a leading Democrat, representing bis 
county in the State Legislature, he was regarded as a man of unusual ability, an able 
debater, and of great personal courage. After abandoning the practice of medi- 
cine, which he had followed for twenty years, he took up that of the law, having 
also studied that profession in his younger days. It was said of him not long 
since, in a Missouri paper, that he was at one and the same time, a Colonel, a 
Doctor, a Lawyer, a Notary Public, a Justice of the Peace, and a Postmaster. He 
was afterwards a Brigadier-General, and commanded a brigade on the field at the 
time of the "Mormon difficulties" in Missouri. He was likewise the first County 
Judge of Santa Clara, in this State, having been elected to that office in 1850, for the 
term of four j^ears, and died in Santa Clara in 1857, having amassed a considerable 
fortune. The town of "Old Franklin" was located on the north bank of the raging 
and ever-changing Missouri River, surrounded by dense forests, filled with wild and 
savage Indians, and was the semi-annual rendezvous for Santa Fe traders, mountain 
trappers, speculators, etc. It was at this place that Rezin Augustus Redman was 
born, January 8, 1829, and where he spent his early boyhood, much of the time being 
wasted in fishing, hunting, etc., having lost his mother at the age of eight years. He 
then became an inmate of the family of his uncle, the Rev. Wm. W. Redman, then 
residing in St. Louis, for the purpose of receiving an education. After a residence 
of two years in St. Louis, he went to the Academy of Clinton, Missouri, the princi- 
pal being his cousin, A. C. Redman. Whilst here at school the discovery of gold 
in California became a fixed fact, and Dr. Redman sent immediately for his soix to 
go with him to the golden shores of the Pacific, and together they set out for the 
journey across the plains, in May, 1849, reaching the headwaters of the North Fork 
of the- American River, in the Sierra Nevada, on pack-mules, having left the teams 
to follow, on the 1st of August, 1849, when they went to work mining, with wash- 
bowl, knife, and spoon, and continued this quite successfully for three months; thence 
they went to Sacramento, and remaining a few weeks there, proceeded to San Fran- 
cisco. About this time the first Legislature met at San Jose, to which place they 
made up their minds to go and spend the winter. As they sailed out from San 
Francisco, in a small whale-boat, for San Jose, and looking towards the east across 
the bay, towards where Oakland and her suburbs now stand, with their fifty thousand 
inhabitants, there was not a single hut nor a sign of human habitation to be seen, so far 
as the eye could reach. Dr. Redman immediately entered upon the practice of the • 
Spanish law at San Jose — the son doing at the time clerical services in the office, at the 
same time studying Spanish law, and trying to fathom the mysteriesof old Spanish docu- 
ments — until, as has been seen. Dr. Redman was elected County Judge; R. A. Red- 
man was then appointed Deputy County Treasurer under the "old pioneer," John M. 
Murphy, Esquire. In December of 1850, our subject concluded to return East to 
complete his education, and then come back to San Jose. Taking leave of his father, 
he proceeded to Mexico; thence to New Granada; thence to Havana, Cuba, where he 
spent the winter; returning to Franklin, via New Orleans, in 1851, where he entered 
into the mercantile business as copartner in the firm of Powell & Redman, and 
afterwards as copartner in the mercantile house of A. Lory & Co. In 1852 this firm 
sold out, two of the partners coming to California, viz.: A. Lory, now of El 
Dorado County; and C. E. Wilcoxon of Sutter, now a member of the State Board 
of Equalization ; and Mr. Redman going to-the University of Louisville, Kentucky, 
where he attended the sessions of 1852 and 1853. At the close of the session of 
1853, in March, Mr. Redman made a tour of the Atlantic States as far west as 
Council Bluffs, and east again into Canada; thence from New York to the West 
India Islands; and thence, via Panama, to San Francisco, at which place he arrived 
in July of that year. A few months afterwards he entered the law office of Hoge & 
Wilson for the purpose of familiarizing himself with local practice. In 1854 Mr. 



964 .. History of Alameda County, California. 

Redman was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court, and in a short time opened 
an office in San Jose. In 1858 he was elected to the State Senate for the l-"ourth 
District, which then comprised Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, his term of office 
expiring December 31, i860, at which time he removed to San Francisco, and entered 
again upon the practice of the law. Mr. Redman came to Oakland to reside in 1872, 
but kept his office "over in the city" until 1874, when he was appointed Court Com- 
missioner by Judge S. B. McKee, which office he resigned in 1878, to accept that 
of County Judge of Alameda, to which he had been appointed by Governor Irwin, on 
the resignation of S. G. Nye. This office he held until b\' the New Constitution County 
Courts gave place to the Superior Courts, since which time Judge Redman has been 
engaged and still is in the practice of law. He has not been out of the State for 
thirty years, except to the Pacific Coast States and Territories; and having made 
and spent a large amount of money in that time he ma\- be truly said to have "seen 
the elephant," and being blessed with a good memory and some literary attainments, 
doubtless could furnish interesting accounts of the changes which time has wrought. 
Judge Redman ranks amongst lawyers of the first class, and stands well with his 
brethren of the bar. This sketch would be very incomplete if the following were 
left out, viz.: that he has known his wife ev-er since she was a child .seven y'ears old, 
and all that time in California, she also being a " forty-niner." They have eleven 
children He was married on the 2d day of January, i860, in Santa Clara County, 
to Miss Bettie Bascom, daughter of the late Dr. Louis H. Bascom of San Jose, and 
niece of the distinguished American orator and divine. Bishop Henr\' B. Bascom of 
Kentucky. Mrs. Redman is a native of that State, coming across the plains in 
1849, with her father, at the age of seven years. She was educated at the old 
"Bascom Institute," in San Jose — a lady of superior natural talents, highl}' culti\ated, 
and a devoted wife and mother. In religious belief Judge Redman and wife are con- 
verts to the Roman Catholic Church. An excellent and characteristic portrait of the 
Judge will be found in this volume. 

• William VV. Reid. — Was born in Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, February 13, 
1832, and there was educated in the famous parochial schools of that country. In the 
year 1852 he sailed from Liverpool to the United States, and arriving in San Fran- 
cisco in December, there remained until the following February, when he went to the 
mines in Tuolumne County and toiled in the neighborhood of Sonora and Columbia, 
as well as on Brown's Flat. Proceeding to Santa Cruz in July, 1853, he there invested 
in a crop of potatoes, but the venture proving a failure he entered the employ of 
Davis & Jordan, who were about to start a limekiln, and while with them broke the 
first ground for kiln purposes in that county. In June, 1854, he came to San Lcandro 
on a visit, and in the fall of that year returned to the mines in Tuolumne County, 
where he remained until June, 1855, when he went back to San Leandro and was 
variously employed until the fall of the year, when he once more hied him.self unto 
the mines. Mr. Reid thus continued working in the mines during the winter months 
and in summer at farming in the vicinity of San Leandro, until the fill of 1857, when 
he bought out the harness business of Edward Morgan there, where he has since con- 
tinued. He has served as Town Trustee for three years, and is the President of Union 
Hose Company No. i, of San Leandro. Married, December 6, 1857, Miss Hannah 
McKenn, and has; Celestine, William J., Emily, Charles, Clara, and Jessie, the two 
last named being deceased. 

Hilaire Remill\RD. — Was born in Lower Canada, December 18, 1833, and 
there resided with his parents until 1852, in which year he moved to Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, and there embarked in brick-making, which he followed until 1854. He then 
emigrated to California ; ia the Nicaragua route, and arriving in San Francisco 
February 17th of that year, at once proceeded to the mines in Nevada County, where 
he remained until i860. He now came to Alameda County, and at the time of the 
Idaho excitement, proceeded to that territory, but returning after an ab.sence of two 



Biographical Sketches. 965 

years, he settled in Oakland and commenced the manufacture of bricks there, an 
occupation he still follows. Married in 1868, Miss Eveline Lavoux, and has one 
child named, Eveline. 

CHARLE.S H. Rice. — Was born in Belfort, France, October 11, 183 1, and is the 
son of John J. and B. (Schodel) Rice, but at five years old was taken by his parents 
to the United States, and locating in New Orleans, there resided until 1850. In that 
year he came to California, and embarking in his trade of butcher in San Francisco, 
there continued until 1863. At this time he moved to Nevada, and followed the same 
business in Virginia City, where he remained until 1867, when, coming to Alameda 
County, he settled in the same occupation in Oakland, and, in 1872, formed a 
copartnership with James J. White, in the butcher business, the firm now doing 
business at Nos. 2 to 6 City Market. Married in January, 1857, Miss Jennie 
Francis McNamara, and has four surviving children, viz.: Octavia, Charles, George, 
and Edward. 

Edwin A. Richmond. — Was born in Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, 
December 16, 1837, and there learned the trade of machinist, and resided until 1858, 
when he proceeded to Canada, and dwelt there for two years. At this period he took 
passage at New York on board the ship Ttvillght — the only other passenger being a 
son of the world-renowned P. T. Barnum, of " wonders" notoriety — and after a 
voyage of one hundred and nine days, landed in San Francisco May 2, i860. He 
was here joined by a brother from Santa Clara County. Mr Richmond now engaged 
with L. A. Gould to proceed to Virginia City, Nevada, to set up engines, which being 
accomplished, he returned to California, and after a short stay in Sacramento, came to 
Alvarado and found employment as engineer of C. J. Stevens' grist-mill. At the end 
of three years he moved to San Francisco, and two years thereafter proceeded to the 
Black Diamond Coal Mines, in Contra Costa County, where he worked at his trade 
for a twelvemonth. Our subject ne.xt took charge of brass-finishing in H. Adam's 
shop, Sacramento, and subsequently returning to Alvarado, there took up his domicile 
and has since resided. In 1S77 he was appointed Postmaster of Alvarado, and agent 
for Wells, Fargo & Co., while he has held the office of Justice of the Peace, for the 
past six years. Married July 3, 1872, Miss Lizzie Butterwerth, a native of England, 
and has four children, viz.: William B., Edwin A. Jr., Allen B., and Ralph W. 

John J. Riser. — This pioneer of California, was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, 
June 4, 1824, and there resided with his parents until the year 183 1, when they 
emigrated to the United States, and first settled in Ohio. At the end of a twelve- 
month they fixed their residence in Richland County, in the same State, and finally, 
in 1840, located in Marion County, where our subject learned the boot and shoe 
maker's trade. In 1842 he moved with his brother to the State of Illinois, and after 
residing for a time in Hancock County, transferred his abode to Ouincy, Adams 
County. At the end of one year and eight months he returned to Hancock County, 
and in 1844 paid a visit to the Atlantic States, returning in 1845, and joining his 
brother in his labors. In the following year, 1846, on the declaration of war between 
the United States and Mexico, Captain James Allen, of the First Regiment of 
Dragoons, received instructions from Colonel Kearney, commanding the troops at 
Fort Leavenworth, to visit the Mormon camps, and accept the service for twelve 
months of four or five companies, for service in Mexico, this force to unite witln the 
Arm)' of the West at Santa Fe, and be marched thence to California, where they 
would be discharged. On July r6, 1846, five companies of over four hundred men, 
all told, were mustered into the service of the United States at Council Bluffs, Iowa 
Territory, and in the ranks of Company C, James Brown, Captain, was the subject 
of this memoir. With his enlistment commenced a series of hardships, which Mr. 
Riser encountered cheerfully, and without complaint, as became a true soldier. The 
march from Santa Fe, through what is now called Arizona, into California, was 
a continued succession of privations; the weak succumbed, only the robust sur- 



966 History of Alameda Countv, California. 



vived. During this march of a thousand miles, stragglers were many, and the 
famished not a few. On July i6, 1847, the battalion was mustered out of the 
service, and re-enlisted for eight months. At the end of enlistment, he, with 
twenty-three others, made a wagon-road to Salt Lake City in 1850. Mr. Riser 
established himself as a permanent resident of this State, although he paid a two 
year's visit to Utah between 1848 and 1850. On the iith day of April of the latter 
year, he started to cross the plains to California by o.\-team, and arrived July 7th. 
During that summer he stayed in the vicinity of Sacramento, after which he moved to 
Auburn, El Dorado County, and there remained until June, 1851, when he came to 
Alameda County and commenced farming. In October, 1854, he acquired his present 
property, comprising eighty-five acres, and situated in Washington Township, where 
he is now residing. Mr. Riser married December 25, 1848, Helen R. Allen, a native 
of the State of New York, and has: Catharine, George C, Charles W., May Belle, 
Franklin A., and Helen R. 

William Roberts. — Was born in Liverpool, England, December 3, 1830, and 
at twelve years of age commenced a seafaring life, which he abandoned on coming to 
California. Arriving in San Francisco, March 27, 1850, he went direct to the mines 
in the vicinity of Marysville, Yuba County, but finding the water too high for mining, 
he returned to the neighborhood of Sacramento, where he remained one month, 
finally going back to the Bay City, where he commenced lightering. In October, 
1850, he moved to Alameda County, and two years thereafter commenced business at 
Roberts' Landing, previously known by the name of Thompson's Landing, the land 
being purchased from the State. In 1853 he settled in San Lorenzo, where he now 
resides. Married, June 21, 1864, Miss Ellen M. Davenport, a lineal descendant of the 
Pilgrim Fathers, and has: Alice L., Andrew G., Caroline N., Ellen D., and Hattie E. 

Charles Kingsley Robinson. — The subject of this sketch, formerly Mayor 
of the city of Oakland, was born in Mount Morris, Livingston County, New \'ork, 
January 16, 1835. At the age of three years he was taken by his parents to Michigan, 
who were among the organizers of Genesee County in that State. Having resided on 
the farm with his parents until he became seventeen years old, he then entered the 
Albion Seminary, i\Iichigan, where he passed two years; he subsequentK" spent two 
years at Oberlin, and afterwards entered Antioch College, then under the famous I'ro- 
fessor Horace Mann. From this seat of learning Mr. Robinson graduated in the liter- 
ary department in June, 1857. He now essayed the difficult task of "teaching the 
young idea how shoot," and taught school for one year, after which he went to Detroit 
and studied law in the office of Howard, Bishop & Holbrook for a twelvemonth, there- 
after taking a regular course in the Ann Arbor Law School, from which, in April, 
i860, he graduated. Mr. Robinson then located in East Saginaw, Michigan, engaged 
in the practice of his profession, and resided there fifteen years. In 1861 he was 
appointed by President Lincoln United States Land Office Receiver, and performed 
the duties of the office up till the time of the President's death. He was married in 
Detroit, Michigan, July 3, 1861, to Miss Carrie M., daughter of Warren Williams of 
Connecticut, and has had a family of three children, viz.: Charles R. (deceased), Lillie 
L., and Inez L. In January, 1866, he opened a banking-house in East .Saginaw, under 
the firm name of C. K. Robinson & Co., he previously, however, having served as 
Cashier of the First National Bank of that town. He continued his bank- 
ing-house till 1872, when it was merged into the Second National Bank of East Sagi- 
naw with Mr. Robinson as President for one year, from which position he afterwards 
retired, remaining, however, on the directorate of the bank. He now concluded to 
change his location, therefore, after spending two years in winding up his business, on 
January 4, 1875, he started for the sunny slopes of the Pacific. In the same month 
he arrived in Oakland, where he has since remained, devoting himself chiefly to liter- 
ary pursuits. In March, 1882, Mr. Robinson was elected to the office of Mayor 
of the city of Oakland, a distinguished position which he filled with much credit. 



Biographical Sketches. 967 



Hon. Henry Robinson. — The subject of this sketch was born in Chesterfield, 
Hampshire County, Massachusetts. At an early age he removed with his father, Captain 
Josiah Robinson, to the adjoining town of Worthington, where he passed his youth 
engaged in farming, clerking in a store, and teaching school. He sailed for California in 
January, 1849, and arrived in San Francisco the following August. Shortly after his 
arrival he went to the northern mines, and, until 1854, was engaged in both mining and 
trading, often employing from twenty-five to fifty men in mining, and keeping one and 
sometimes two stores. Close application to business undermined his health, and he sold 
out his trade in the fall of 1854, and went east in search of health. Failing to find 
it he returned to California and located in Marysville, remaining, however, but a few 
years, and his health becoming no better he removed to San Francisco, and the follow- 
ing year to Alameda, where he engaged in farming and fruit-culture, and where he 
still resides. In Marysville in 1856 he took an active part in the Republican reform 
movement of that year, it being the first national campaign of the Republican Party. 
The second year after locating in Alameda he was elected a member of the Board of 
Supervisors to represent both Alameda and Brooklyn Townships. The following 
year he was elected to the Assembly, and in 1865 he was elected to the Senate from 
Alameda County. He was President of the Board of Town Trustees for several years 
after the incorporation of the town of Alameda in 1872. 

Jesse Robinson, M. D. — Was born in Hartwick, Otsego County, New York, 
August 28,^825, where he received his earl}^ scholastic training and resided until he ' 
attained the age of eighteen years, when he went to Woodstock, Vermont, entered the 
medical school there, and after a course extending over three years graduated there- 
from in 1846. In the fall of that year he proceeded to Lee County, Iowa, there com- 
menced the practice of his profession, and resided until April, 1849, when being led 
captive by the seductive cry of gold, which rang from the Pacific to the Atlantic 
shores, he joined a train with ox-teams, accomplished the weary and dreary journey, 
and finally arrived in California, at Lawson's Ranch, in September, 1849. After try- 
ing his luck in the mines, and traveling about the State for some time, we find him in 
December, 1850, present at the organization of Shasta County, and at the election 
held there for public officers, was chosen its first County Clerk. In the following 
summer he purchased a farm in Scott Valley, Siskiyou County, and commenced stock- 
raising. In the spring of 1853 he removed to Southern Oregon, engaged in a packing, 
saw, and grist mill business, and there continued until the fall of 1861. In this year 
he became Quartermaster of the First Regiment of Oregon Cavalry, United States Vol- 
unteers, and accompanied his regiment in the summers of 1862 and 1863, in its expedi- 
tions through the upper Snake River country and as far east as old Fort Hall; and was 
stationed at Fort Dalles, Oregon, in the winters of 1 862 and 1 863, and at Fort Vancouver, 
Washington Territory, the winter following, the balance of his four years' term of 
service being passed at Fort Boise, Idaho Territory. Having been mustered out of 
service on September 30, 1865, at which time he was Chief Quartermaster of the Dis- 
trict of Boise, he then embarked in farming operations in Jackson County, Oregon, 
until November 1868, when he came back to California, located in Oakland, where he 
engaged in various occupations until November 1880, at which time he received the 
position of Assessor of Oakland Township; was re-elected in November, 1882, and is 
the present incumbent. Married, April 27, 1854, Miss Lavinia J. Constant, a native 
of Sangamon County, Illinois, and has four children, viz.: Edward C, Chester L., 
Thomas M., and Maury. 

A. P. Rose. — Was born in Fayal, Portugal, June 13, 1830, but when thirteen 
years of age went to Brazil, South America. The next seven years he served as 
steward on board of coasting steamers, after which he engaged in mercantile pursuits 
for six years. At the end of this time he shipped in a sailing-vessel for Baltimore and 
Boston, where he landed in 1856; here he earned his living for three years as a barber. 
In 1 860 he took steamer for San Francisco, where he arrived on November 26th of that 



968 History of Alameda County, California. 

year, and after a month came to Alameda County, started a barber shop in Centrevilie, 
where he remained until 1867. In 1869 he embarked in farming and continued it six 
years, since when he has not been actively engaged in business. Is now a resident of 
Livermore, and leads a life of single blessedness. 

Frederick Rose. — Was born in Westphalia, Germany, May 19, 1826. Having 
resided with his parents until he atta::icd the age of twenty-six years, our subject 
then sailed from Bremen for the United States, and arrived in New York in October, 
1852. He afterward engaged in the grocery business in that city for five years, and in 
April, 1858, sailed by way of Panama for the Pacific Coast, arriving in San Francisco 
in the following month of Ma\-, with his brother Charles Rose. After working in a 
brewery for nine months, he returned to the Eastern States on business, but in the 
short space of twenty da\-s, his face was once more turned towards California. On 
arrival he stayed for a little time in San Francisco, when he left and commenced 
teaming from Sacramento across the Sierra Nevada to Virginia City, and was the first 
to bring a load of freight to the town of Austin, Nevada. This occupation Mr. Rose 
followed for a,bout four years, when he came to Alameda County, first located on the 
place now owned by Hon. Daniel Inman, but, November i, 1866, settled on his pres- 
ent valuable property of one hundred and si.xty acres, situated two miles and a half 
northeast from Livermore, where he is engaged in general farming and fruit-raising. 
Mr. Rose married in Livermore, Alameda Count}-, California, Miss Amy Lindermann, 
a native of Holstein, Germany, and has eight children, viz.: Frederick iJ., Williain, 
Amy, John, Rudolph, August, Albert, and George W. 

J. A. Rose. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
was born in Pico, Azores Islands, in the month of May, 1850. At the age of thirteen 
years, becoming very an.xious to make the Golden State his abode, he determined to 
leave not a stone unturned to gain this end, but at the very outset he was faced with 
a difficulty that would have deterred a less stanch heart. By the laws of Portugal 
no youth of thirteen years was permitted to leave the country or its dependencies. To 
get to California, however, Mr. Rose was determined; therefore he resorted to strategy 
to effect his purpose. At that time he had an uncle leaving for the United States, 
and him he determined to accompany, therefore, in spite of the existing enactment, 
he resolved to conceal himself on board of the vessel, when on board ostensibl)' to 
bid farewell to his relative, and not to make his appearance until well out to sea and 
beyond the reach of Government inspectors. This he was successful in accomplish- 
ing, and after a voyage of seventeen days, landed in Boston, Massachusetts, in June, 
1864. Twelve days thereafter he sailed for California, arriving in San Francisco in 
August of the same year. First settling in Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, he 
there worked on a farm for two years, after which he mov-ed to the Moraga Valley, 
Contra Costa County, and there took contracts to supply the mills with wood. In 
the fall of 1868 he moved to Hay wards Canon, where he had a number of men 
employed in cutting wood and teaming, for the above purpose. In 1871 he trans- 
ferred his residence to Murray Township, purchased from Mrs. La Grange her ranch, 
consisting of two hundred and fifty-seven acres, and subsequentlj' contracted to furnish 
the Central Pacific Railroad Company with wood, he having as many as two hundred 
and fifty men engaged in procuring it. In September, 1 874, he espoused Miss Josephine, 
daughter of Augustin Bernal, who departed this life in October, 1875, leaving an 
infant daughter, who died in April, 1876. In 1875 Mr. Rose purchased froin Guada- 
lupe Bernal a ranch comprising five hundred and thirt\--fivc acres, situated about one 
mile east from Pleasanton, which, in 1881, he subdivided into sixteen tracts for vine- 
yard purposes, many of which have been sold and planted in grapes and other fruits, 
he still possessing three hundred and fifty acres of it, one hundred and fifty acres 
being under grapes put in by himself in the spring of 1882. In June, 1881, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Sallie N. Mark, a native of Ohio, and daughter of Dr. I. 
N. M irk", of Pleasanton, whose portrait and biographical sketch are in this volume. In 



Biographical Sketches. 969 

1878 our subject purchased the property then called the " Pleasanton Hotel," which 
in 1880 he rebuilt, changed its name to the "Rose Hotel," and made it one of the 
finest hostelries in the State. Mr. Rose also owns seven hundred and fifty acres of 
the Bolsa Rancho, famous as having the richest and most prolific soil in the county. 
Thus it is that small beginnings backed by honesty, always develop into great end- 
ings. Still young and more than ordinarily energetic, Mr. Rose has a long life of 
much usefulness before him. 

Laserv Rosenberg. — Was born in Prussia, February, 1846, and is the son of 
Morris and Lena (Copenhagen) Rosenberg. When but two years of age he was 
taken by his parents to the United States, and resided in New York until 1856, when 
they moved to California and located in Oakland. Our subject now attended the 
Collegiate Institute of the late Rev. H. Durant until the year i860, meanwhile resid- 
ing with his uncle, Samuel Hirshberg, his father being at Iowa Hill, Placer County. 
In 1870 Mr. Rosenberg moved to San Francisco, attended the High School there 
until 1863, and then proceeding to Iowa Hill, there embarked in a general mercantile 
business. Remaining there until his establishment was destroyed by fire on August 
31, 1870, he then returned to Oakland, and purchasing the cigar and tobacco store of 
Walter Smith at the corner of Seventh Street and Broadway, has since continued 
operations in that branch of trade. In January, 1878, he opened his present stand at 
No. 909 Broadway, Oakland. Married June 10, 1879, Miss Sara Wolff of San Fran- 
cisco, and has two children, viz.: Herbert M. and Gladys. 

Morris Rosenberg. — Born in Prussia, May 1,1817. At the age of twelve he 
was apprenticed to the tailor's trade, and followed it until 1848, when he emigrated to the 
United States and settled in New York City, where he worked at his calling until 
1852, in which year he came to California by way of the Isthmus. After a delay of 
seven weeks in Panama, and a voyage of four months' duration, he landed in San 
Francisco and commenced working at his trade. Two years and a half thereafter our 
subject moved to Placer County and opened a general mercantile establishment at 
Iowa Hill, where he remained until the destruction of his premises by fire on August 
31, 1870. He then settled in Oakland, where he has since resided. Mr. Rosenberg 
came of a long-lived stock. His maternal grandfather died at the age of one hundred 
and fourteen years; one of his aunts lived to be one hundred and two years old; an uncle 
was ninety-seven years and six months when he died, and his rnother was called away 
from earth at the ripe age of ninety-five years and five months. Mr. Rosenberg 
married in 1841, Miss Lena Copenhagen, and has five surviving children, viz.: Jacob, 
Lasery, Charles, Theresa, and Tilla. 

Edward Ross. — Was born in Rhode Island, near the Connecticut line, June 26,, 
1822, and there resided until he attained the age of twenty-two years, when he 
commenced to learn the carpenter and mill-wright's trade, working at it there until 
starting for California. On May 20, 1852, he sailed from New York in the steamer 
Pronetheiis.'a.nd, arrived in San Francisco June 25, 1852, £?;r steamer Pacific. He then 
came to Alameda County, and settling at Mowry's Landing, there resided until 
January, 1854, when he went to the southern mines for about eighteen months, subse- 
quently returning to this section of the country and purchasing his present farm, com- 
prising thirty-eight acres, situated a mile and a half from Newark. To Mr. Ross is due 
the honor of having built the first schooner in Washington Township, the V. Alviso, 
in 1868. Is a member of the Pioneer Association of Washington, Eden, and Murray 
Townships. Married, April 26, i860. Miss Esthey A. Comstock, a native of New York 
State. 

Joel Russell. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
is the son of James and Dolly Russell, and was born July 16, 1822, in Waterford, 
Oxford County, Maine, where he resided until he attained the age of seventeen years. 
Mr. Russell then began the battle of life; going to Medford, Massachusetts, he alter- 
nated his time between his service as a clerk in the drug store of Luther Anger in 
62 



970 History of Alameda County, California. 

that place and the pursuit of his studies at Bethel Academy, in his native county, 
where he finally graduated with a gilt-edged diploma as a teacher. On October 30, 
1849, in company with a few intimate friends, among whom was his especial friend 
and shipmate, W. H. Stearns, now one of the successful and long-established business 
men of San Francisco. He sailed in the ship Henry Ware, Captain Noah Nason, 
from Boston via Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco March 13, 1850. Soon there- 
after he proceeded to Stockton, where for a short time he engaged in contracting and 
building. There he met Captain Charles Weber, whose acquaintance he favorably 
made, which resulted in his receiving a deed for one hundred and si.xty acres of farm 
land near Stockton, upon which, during the winter of 1850-51, he built a house and 
made the necessary preparations to cultivate the land, but owing to a failure of the 
early rains he abandoned his farming project, sold out and went to the Northern 
mines, where he spent one year, the history of which would be filled with startling 
encounters with Indians and other events incident to the life of the early miner; 
having traversed the mountain ranges from Humboldt Bay to the Columbia River, he 
returned to San Francisco in February, 1852. Finding himself in that "flat broke" 
condition then so common among the honest miners, he turned his thoughts toward 
the generous soil as he looked eastward across the bay, and he finall)- embarked on 
board a small sloop from which he landed the next morning at what has since been 
known as Mayhew's Landing, with his last cent having been expended in the payment 
of his fare. Near Centreville in what is now Alameda County, by dint of persever- 
ance and personal application to hard work, he managed to procure sufficient means 
to enable him to rent land and embark in the farming business. In January, 1S53, "^^ 
settled as a squatter on what proved to be a portion of the Soto Rancho. In 1856 
the title of this rancho having been confirmed to the claimants, he bought the 
title of one of the heirs, it being one-seventh of the ranch, which he divided up with 
his fellow-squatters, reserving sufficient to protect his own possessions, since which 
time Mr. Russell has been considered among the larger land-owners of Alameda 
County. During the year 1854, Mr. Russell was elected a Justice of the Peace for 
Eden Township, and served one term on the bench as an Associate in the Court of 
Sessions with Judge Crane then County Judge. His attention having been thus 
called somewhat to the law, he afterward made application, was e.xamined, and 
admitted to the practice of law in the Courts of Alameda County. Politically, Mr. 
Russell was an enthusiastic Republican at the formation of the Republican Part}', 
having cast his first vote for President for the Liberty Party candidate, James G. 
Birney, and in 1852 at Centreville precinct, adhering to his principles, he nominated his 
own electors and cast the one vote of his county for John P. Hale of New Hampshire, 
the free soil candidate for the presidency. He faithfull)- remained a Republican 
until the prime object of the party had been accomplished in the overthrow of that 
national evil, slavery. More recently he has placed his political influence in opposi- 
'■pn to what he deems the greater national evil, intemperance and the liquor traffic, 
^ \ is therefore a pronounced Prohibitionist. Mr. Russell is a man distinguished for 
pC.sonal qualities of a high order, commanding the highest respect of those who know 
him best. He married, August 3, 1856, Miss C. M. Bartlett. Their children are: 
Maud F., Thomas B., and Frederick James. 

Charles B. Rutherford. — Was born in Newburyport, Massachusett.s, Sep- 
tember 24, 1824, but at ten years of age went to Ontario County, New York, where he 
entered the Canandaigua Academy, joining it at the time that Stephen A. Douglas 
graduated therefrom. Two years thereafter he took up his residence with an uncle 
living in the vicinity of Rochester, and with him dwelt until he reached eighteen years 
of age. In the meantime his father, who was a Revolutionary soldier, served the full 
seven years and was for some time in the Government Secret Service, carrying com- 
munications between all parts of the world, and served through all the administrations 
from Washington to Jackson. In 1842 our subject proceeded to Boston, where 



Biographical Sketches. 971 



he learned the trade of painter, embarking in the business on his own account after 
two years. In 1849 he went to San Antonio, Texas, and there served as Quarter- 
master's Clerk in the Government, where he remained until July, 1852. He then 
proceeded through Mexico to Mazatlan, and there taking passage in the Mexican 
vessel Maria, arrived in San Francisco October 4, 1852. He at once found employ- 
ment at his trade, working for ten dollars per day wages, for about six weeks, when 
he removed to Tuolumne County and there engaged in business for himself for nine 
years. After passing a twelvemonth in San Francisco, and spending a short time in 
San Luis Obispo County, where he resided during the year of 1863, he came to 
Alameda County, started in his present business and for the past fourteen years has 
carried it on at No. 1014 Broadway, Oakland. Mr. Rutherford was the County 
Public Administrator for the term 1876 to 1881. Married, in Oakland, to Miss Ellen 
Trover, a native of Albany, New York, and has six children, viz.: Charles F., Mary 
(now Mrs. J. Howland), Linda (now Mrs. Samuel Stow), Nellie, Edward, and Anita. 

D. P. Sackett, a. M. (Principal of Sack'ett School). — Was graduated from Yale 
College. Soon after graduating he became head-master of Temple Hill Academy at 
Geneseo, Livingston County, New York. One year thereafter he was chosen principal 
of Leicester Academy, Leicester, Worcester County, Massachusetts. This institution 
is, excepting Phillips (Andover) Academy, the oldest endowed academy in Massa- 
chusetts. Three years later he was called to the principalship of the Female College 
of the Pacific, Oakland, California, under the presidency of Rev. E. B. Walsworth, 
D. D. In August, 1871, the Golden Gate (now Hopkins) Academy was opened with 
D. P. Sackett as Principal. The number at the beginning was ten. At the close of 
the year the attendance had increased to sixty, when Mr. Sackett resigned his position 
to spend a year in foreign travel. Since his return to this State, in the following 
year, he has baen miinly engaged in educational work, and for the past four years in 
the school that bears his name. 

Daniel Moody. Sanburn, — Was born in Lamville County, Vermont, March 
30, 1827, where he dwelt until emigrating to California. February 24, 1852, he 
sailed from New York in the Ohio, but a few days after was transferred to the Georgia, 
and after reaching Panama, thence per steamer to San Francisco, where he arrived 
April II, 1852. He immediately proceeded to the mines and there remained until 
December, 1852, when he came to Alameda County and commenced farming and 
stock-raising. In 1861 he settled on his present place comprising four hundred and 
forty-one acres. Married, November 14, 1866, Miss Elizabeth Kunz, and has one son, 
Benjamin Charles. 

A. W. SCHAFER. — Was born in Germany, September 15, 1829. When nineteen 
years of age, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he followed the carpenter's trade until 185 1, when he came via Panama 
to California, arriving in San Francisco March 21, 185 i. He immediately proceeded 
to the mines in El Dorado County, where he remained, occupied in mining for eigh* 
years. Mr. Schafer now returned to Pittsburg, where he remained until 1861, 
which year he once more turned toward the Pacific Coast, and locating in ': 1 
Francisco there resided until 1862, when he came to Alameda County and settled on 
his present farm, consisting of three hundred and thirty acres, where he is engaged in 
general farming. Married, in 1853, Miss Minnie Freck, by whom he has six surviving 
children, viz.: Amelia, Annie, Henry, Emma, Minnie, Willie, who are all residents of 
Mount Eden. 

Henry Schellhaas. — Was born in Chicago, Illinois, September 24, 1850, and 
there spent most of his time until 1872, in which year he came to California, settling 
in Oakland in the month of August, and there entered the employment of P. Schrer- 
ber. At the end of three years, he purchased a half-interest in a furniture store, and 
established the firm of Wilbert & Schellhaas. Disposing of this business two years 
thereafter, Mr. Schellhaas commenced operations at No. 408 Eleventh Street, Oak- 



972 History of Alameda County, California. 

land, and has since conducted his large store there, where his enterprise has earned 
for him a notoriety second to none in the State. 

Ives Scoville. — Is the son of Hiram and Elizabeth (Sherman) Scovillc, and 
was born in Onondaga County, New York, March 8, 1825. Having resided there 
until attaining the age of twelve years, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he 
resided until the year 1863, during which time he served his apprenticeship at and 
acquired the trade of machinist, where his father had established a business in 1837. 
In 1857 our subject severed his connection with his father and brothers, and entering 
the employ of T. W. Gates & Co., with that firm continued until 1863, when he came 
to California. Locating, on arrival, in Oakland, in 1871, he established the Oakland 
Iron Works, situated at Nos. 51 1 and 513 Second Street, which he still continues. Is 
married, and has a family consisting of two children — sons. 

George VV. Scribner. — Was born in Otisfield, Cumberland County, Maine, 
January 29, 1827, and is the son of Ivory H. and Lydia M. (Fogg) Scribner. When 
quite young he was taken to the city of Boston by his parents, and there he resided 
until he attained the age of twenty-one )'ears. In 1849 he started for California by 
way of Texas, the most part of the journey being made overland; and arriving in San 
Francisco on the 5th August of that year, heat once embarked in the butcher's trade, 
which he continued there until 1856, at which time he came to Oakland, began business 
there, and has been so engaged since. Mr. Scribner was a member of the City Council 
during the years 1858 and 1859. Married, September, 1852, Miss Mary E. Can- 
terbury a native of Providence, Rhode Island, who died in 1867. By this union there 
are five children, viz.: Mary A., Addie L., Walter B., Florence M., and Sadie J. 

Leopold Selna. — Was born in Switzerland August 5, 1841, and at eight years 
of age was taken to Leghorn, Italy, where he resided until 1856, in which year he 
came to California. His first month in San Francisco he worked in a French restau- 
rant on California Street, after which he proceeded to Stockton, and commenced 
working in a boarding-house, where he continued two months. He was for three 
months cooking for ranchers, then went back to Stockton, and began peddling fruit 
and fish, which he followed for eighteen months. We next find him cleaning saloons, 
but was soon promoted to be a bar-tender, at which occupation he worked four j-cars. 
Our subject now got employment on a San Joaquin River boat, but, after the third 
trip, left her and went to Amador County, where he became waiter in the St. George's 
Hotel, in Volcano. At the end of a year he moved to Bear Valley, Mariposa County, 
and opened a restaurant, which he conducted until 1865. From there he proceeded 
to Middleton, Fresno County, where he tended bar for a year, and in 1866 returned 
to San Francisco and served in the Syvarzas Punch F"actory until he became man- 
ager of the concern, during his continuance there opening a branch on Kearny Street 
near Bu.sh Street. In 1872 he came to Oakland, worked as bar-tender for Mr. Becht, 
and at the end of two years bought out the place, and still continues it. Married, in 
1870, Miss Mary Leonard, a native of New York, and has four surviving children, 
viz.: Etta E., Louisa, Elvira, and Leonard. 

Capt. Ludwig Siebe. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this work, was born in Bremervoerde, Hanover, German}-, January 20, 1846, and there 
resided until i860, at which time he came to the United States, .settled in Brooklyn, 
New York, and there engaged in the grocery business. In 1862 he enlisted in the 
One Hundred and Third Regiment of New York Volunteers, and after serving with 
General Banks in Louisiana, and General Sheridan in the Shenandoah Vallc)', 
remained in the field until the close of the war. Captain Siebe now returned to 
Brooklyn, re-established his former business, and continued in it until 1867, at which 
time he left for California, arriving in San F"rancisco in the month of August, and 
embarked in the grocery trade. Wliile a resident of that city our subject organized 
Company C of the San Francisco Fusileers (Second Artillery), being elected First 
Lieutenant, in which capacity he served five years, when he was elected Captain of 



Biographical Sketches. 973 



the company, and held the position four years. He was then offered the position of 
Major of the Second Regiment, but owing to business affairs, he was compelled to 
decline, and was then placed on the retired list, still retaining his rank. In February, 
1880, he leased the well-known resort of Shell Mound Park, where he has spared nei- 
ther labor nor expense in making it one of the most beautiful and attractive places of 
holiday recreation in the State. Married in San Francisco, April 20, 1870, Miss 
Maggie Hoffman, a native of New York City, and has eight children, viz.: Mary, 
Augusta, Frederick, Muryaethen, Henry, Louisa, William, and George. 

Jacob B. Sherk. — Was born in Waterloo Township, Upper Canada, July 2, 
1833, and there resided until he attained the age of eighteen years, when he emigrated 
to Jo. Daviess County, Illinois, there located, and remained until 1854. On April 
20th of that year he sailed from New York for San Francisco, via Panama, and 
arrived May 18, 1854. He at once went to mining, and followed it in Klamath and 
Butte Counties for eleven years, when he returned to the Bay City in the spring of 
1865. He was then variously employed until May, 1872, at which time he came to 
Alameda County, engaged in hop-growing in partnership with B. Benedict, and still 
continues in that business. Married and has no issue. 

James Shinn. — Born at Salem, Ohio, in 1807. Resided in his native State 
until 1836, then removed West and lived in several Western and Southern States 
until 1856, when he came with his family to California, and at once settled upon the 
place which he now occupies, near Niles, Alameda County. Mr. Shinn has pursued 
the business of general farming and fruit-growing, and for some years has been exten- 
sively engaged in the nursery business in all its branches, especially in the growth of 
trees and plants for general orchard planting. 

Manuel Francisco Silva. — Whose portrait appears in this work, to repre- 
sent the Portugese population of Alameda County, was born in the Island of Fayall, 
May 23, 1851, and there resided for the first ten years of his life. In the year 1861 
he came to California with his parents, who settled in San Pablo, Contra Costa 
County, and there our subject received his education and dwelt until 1864. At that 
time he moved to Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, where he remained until 1868, in 
which year he came to Mission San Jose, where he completed his schooling, and after- 
wards obtained employment in a store as interpreter for five years. Mr. Silva now 
entered upon a four months' course in the Pacific Business College in San Francisco, 
at the completion of which he entered the employ of H. C. Gregory, in Centreville. 
In 1879, with the intention of there remaining, he visited his birthplace; but, return- 
ing to California, he engaged with the firm of D. C. Bane & Son, who, selling out to 
Dodge & Co., Mr. Silva continued with the last-named until October isth, when he, 
in connection with W. W. Haley, purchased the interest of Dodge & Co., and the firm 
name is now W. W. Haley & Co., our subject being the junior member. 

Duncan Sinclair. — Was born in Canada East, in April, 1838. When sixteen 
years of age he emigrated to California by way of New York and the Isthmus of 
Panama, arriving in San Francisco November 2, 1855. Having passed about two 
years and a half in the mines of Tuolumne County, he came to this county, en route 
to San Joaquin, and finally returned to Tuolumne. Mr. Sinclair subsequently 
returned to San Joaquin County, where he was variously' employed until 1862, in 
which year he located at Haywards, Alameda County, and there resided until June, 
1 87 1. At this time he moved to Murray Township, located on his original farm of 
one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has since added until it now comprises five 
hundred and sixty-nine acres, on which he is engaged in general farming. He is 
married, and has three children: Duncan R., Annie B., and Robert Arthur. 

David S. Smalley. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in our 
pages, was born in Farmersville, Seneca County, New York, Novemberi i, 1829, but when 
one year old he was taken by his parents to Ovid Centre, in the same county, where 
he resided until he attained the age of twenty-three years. His father was a farmer ; 



974 History of Alameda County, California. 

he became skilled also in that most honorable occupation. Having there received his 
schooling, he was prompted, as thousands were. It was not long after that he bade 
farewell to his friends, and on December 28, 1852, he left for California; arriving in 
New York, he sailed January 5, 1853, in company with Judge Ciiarlcs Halsey, on 
board the steamer United Slates, coming by way of the Isthmus of Panama. While 
on the Isthmus Judge Halsey's family was taken sick, and he was obliged to remain over 
one steamer. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, after nine days' delay in 
Panama, put four hundred and fifty human beings on board of one of their crafts, 
unfit to carry swine, that had not made a voyage for years. When four da>s out a 
fever broke out, caused by an odor, the worst ever endured by man, from the rotten 
bilge, and death ensued in all its hideous shapes, and in less than six days no fewer 
than a hundred of those who had stepped on board with hope in their hearts were 
consigned to the vast deep, never to return until the command is gi\-en to the sea to 
give up its dead. Add to the foregoing the sufferings caused by a terrific hurricane 
that lasted seven days, four of which they were water-logged, the water putting out 
the fires — but by the great effort of all on board they were saved — and we ha\e an 
inkling of what the hardy pioneers who came to California at an early day had to 
contend with. After putting into Acapulco for repairs, and placing in position the 
large pump used several months previous in getting the North America off a sand- 
bar, one hundred miles below, the vessel proceeded on its voyage, finally 
casting anchor in San Francisco Bay. February 14, 1853, after a tedious passage 
of twenty-five days from Panama, Mr. Smalley at once came to Alameda County, and 
found employment where now stands the town of Alameda There he remained till 
the fall of 1857, when he leased land on the Peralta Grant for one year. Subse- 
quently selling out his interest there, he purchased the livery business of T. W. Mul- 
ford, at San Leandro, and in partnership with Samuel Davis, conducted that stable 
until October, 1859. At this time Walter J. Stratton acquired the share of Mr. 
Davis, and thus the association remained until 1865, at which period a liver\--stable 
was opened at Haywards by them, of which our subject took charge, his partner, Mr. 
Stratton, remaining at San Leandro. This copartnership lasted until December, 
1878, when the business association was severed, Mr. Smalley remaining at Ha}-wards, 
where he is at present engaged in that occupation. He also owns about fort\' acres of 
land within the corporate limits of Haywards, and thirty-two acres more near San 
Lorenzo. Mr. Smalley is a member of the Washington Township Pioneer Associa- 
tion. He paid a visit to his old home at the East after a lapse of thirty years, in 
1882. It ought to be mentioned that in i860 he went East on a visit to the State of 
New York, where he was married to Miss Jane S. Dunlap, a native of Ovid Centre, 
Seneca County, New York, and daughter of George Dunlap, of that place. It only 
remains for us to say that our subject is much respected by the communit}' in which 
he resides, as a man of sterling worth and honesty. His famih- consists of five chil- 
dren, viz.: Lelia M., James, Nannie, George, and William. 

George Smith. — Was born in Esopus (now Kingston), Ulster Count)', New 
York, April 5, 1822. In May, 1823, his parents settled in South Stockton, Chautau- 
qua County, New York. At the age of sixteen he graduated at the Fredonia 
Academy, and received a certificate to teach in the public schools of the county. 
July 24, 1850, he married Miss Eliza M. Fenner, eldest daughter of the late C. C. 
Fenner, of South Stockton. Mr. and Mrs. Smith removed to Genesee Count}', Mich- 
igan, in 1856, where they were both engaged in teaching until 1858, when the\- 
returned to Chautauqua County and engaged in dairy farming. April 15, 1861, Mr. 
Smith started for California by way of the plains, taking the northern route, and 
arriving at Jacinto, Colusa Count}', in August of that }'ear, where he remained until 
April, 1862, when he went to Suisun, and engaged in teaching for the ne.xt si.x 
months. Mr. Smith came to California for his health, which he had now entirely 
recovered, and being pleased with the country, sent for his wife to join him at Sacra- 



Biographical Sketches. 975 



mento, where she arrived in February, 1863. The Washoe mining excitement carried 
them with many others to Gold Hill, Nevada, where Mr. Smith engaged in transport- 
ing ore from the silver mines to the mills for the next four years. In the spring of 
1867 he settled in San Leandro, Alameda County, where he and his wife yet live. 
In 1869 the subject of this sketch was elected Justice of the Peace for Eden Town- 
ship, and served in that office four years; and after the incorporation of the town of 
San Leandro, he served a like term as Police Judge. He also served two terms as 
Trustee of the town. In 1879 Judge Smith received the nomination for the Assem- 
bly by the New Constitution Party. He is now engaged in horticulture. 

Henry Smith. — Was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, April 15, 1834, but 
when three years old was taken by his parents to Berrien County, Michigan, where 
he resided until 1846, when, losing his father, he moved with his mother and family to 
Iowa, and remained in that State two years. In 1848 he moved with his mother and 
four brothers to Salt Lake, and they took up their abode in that vicinity. In the 
spring of 1850, accompanied by his brother, Jonathan Smith, our subject started 
across the plains with ox-teams for California, and arriving at Hangtown (Placerville), 
July 10, 1850, engaged in mining for four years, save one twelvemontii he passed in 
Lower California, when he served as a soldier in Captain Fitzgerald's company, under 
General Bean. On the cessation of hostilities he returned to the mines, and in 1854 
took up his residence in San Leandro. In 1864 he moved from there to his present 
place, where he farms one hundred and sixty acres of what is locally known as the 
James G. Clark Ranch, situated one mile southeast of Decoto, where he is engaged in 
agricultural pursuits of a general nature. Married, February 27, 1857, Miss Helen 
M. Fo.x, a native of Jefferson County, New York, and has three surviving children, 
viz.: Abbie A., Minnie E., Joseph H. 

Honorable Henry C. Smith (deceased). — This well-known and much 
respected pioneer, a son of the late Major Timothy S. Smith, United States Army, 
was born at Fort Defiance, Ohio, October 25, 1824, but when two years old was taken 
by his father to South Bend, Indiana, and in 1827 to St. Joseph, Michigan. In July, 
1845, he emigrated to California. He left Fort Independence, Missouri, August 12, 
1845, and after passing through many perils and hardships, arrived at Sutter's Fort 
on Christmas Day of that year. In 1846 he entered upon military service under the 
celebrated Bear Flag, and served under General Fremont in his battalion, and 
remained in the service of the United States until peace was declared between Mex- 
ico and the United States. He was one of the first Alcaldes appointed by General 
Riley, Military Governor of California. In 1852 he was elected to the Legislature 
from Santa Clara County, and acquitted himself with much credit, and. materially 
aided in the organization of Alameda County out of those of Contra Costa and 
Santa Clara. In March, 1855, he was elected a Supervisor from Washington Town- 
ship; on September 3, 1855, he was re-elected to the Board, and on its organization, 
September 12, 1855, was chosen chairman, which position he held while he continued 
a member, to December i, 1856, when he was succeeded by Joseph R. Mason. In 
1859 he was the candidate of the Democratic Party for County Clerk, but was unsuc- 
cessful, his opponent, Joseph R. Mason, being elected by a majority of thirteen votes. 
In 1 861 he removed to the State of Nevada with his family, and remained there till 
the summer of 1864, when he returned to Alameda County. While in Nevada he 
ran for the Assembly, but was defeated. In 1867 he removed to Livermore Valley, 
where he settled on a quarter-section of Government land, and continued to reside 
there until within a few weeks of his death. He was elected a Justice of the Peace 
for Murray Township in October, 1871, and assumed the duties of his office on Jan- 
uary I, 1872. He resigned in December, 1872, and died in Livermore November 24, 
1875. Mr. Smith was a very genial and warm-hearted man, who never tired of serv- 
ing his friends and making himself useful in the community. Married in California 
in the year 1846, Miss Mary Vangorden, a native of Niles, Michigan, and left a family 



976 History of Alameda County, California. 

of four children, viz.: Julia A., Emma L., Franklin Pierce, Cliarles Henry. The eldest 
is now Mrs. F. Hargrave. 

Henry T. Smith. — Was born in Granville, Putnam County, Illinois, February 27, 
1844, and there resided and attended the common schools until 1862, when, at the 
call of his country, he enlisted in Company H, Twentieth Illinois Infantry, for three 
years, being assigned to General Sherman's division. He took part in all the engage- 
ments in which his regiment participated, through the memorable campaign of Sher- 
man's march to the sea. At the expiration of his term of service he was discharged, 
July 24, 1865. He then returned to his native State, and followed the carpenter's 
trade for two years. After a residence of eight years in La Salle County, he moved 
to Oregon, and in November, 1872, came to California, and located in Oakland, and 
followed his trade until August, 1877, when he was appointed on the city police force 
of Oakland, a position he held until January 10, 18S0, when he resigned and moved 
to Arizona, where he sojourned some eight months, and again cast his lot in Oakland, 
where he still resides, and is engaged in the insurance business, taking charge of the 
Oakland Home Fire Insurance Company of Oakland on February 4, 1882. Mr. 
Smith was united in marriage, November 14, 1867, to Mary J. Dagen, a native of 
Ohio, by which union they have three daughters: Susie M., Rubie, and Jessie B. 

Leonard S.mith. — Was born in Frederick Count)-, Maryland, September 16, 
1 8 19. Having resided in his native place until he attained the age of twenty years, 
at that time he emigrated westward, and after residing in St. Louis, Andrew, and 
Buchanan Counties, Missouri, in 1849 he came to California. Mr. Smith first located 
at Auburn, Placer County, where he mined; also at Nevada, Grass Valley, and Ophir, 
when he returned to the State of Maryland. He then removed to San Antonio, 
Texas. He found himself once more in California, and settling in Oakland in 
1872, opened a stationery, book, and variety store, under the firm name of M. S. 
Smith & Co. Married in 1864 Miss Mary S. Lyon, of Virginia, and has two chil- 
dren, twins, viz.: John Francis and Charles Leonard. 

Lewls Ca.SS Smith. — Was born in Berrien County, Michigan, August 15, 1830, 
and is the son of Major Timothy S. Smith, United States Army, one of the revolu- 
tionary heroes of 18 12, who emigrated to California in 1854, and died in Alvarado, 
his remains being buried at Centreville in 1863. The subject of this sketch, after 
having passed his earlier years on a farm, on June 4, 185 i, left for California with his 
brother, the late Hon. Henry C. Smith, and sailing from New York, made the voyage 
to Chagrcs on board the Prometheus, and thence crossing the Isthmus to Panama on 
mules, concluded the voyage in the Sea Bird. On arrival at Monterey his sister was 
so ill with fever contracted at Panama that it was thought advi.sable to land at that 
place. This was in the early part of August, 1851. After a sojourn of two weeks in 
the ancient capital, the journe)^ was continued to his brother's residence at Mission 
San Jose, where, residing but a short time, our subject proceeded to Stockton, and 
took charge of his brother's vegetable store for three months. Returning then to 
Alvarado, he engaged with Henr}' C. Smith in mercantile pursuits for a year, when 
he went to the mountains and embarked in stock-raising, an occupation he followed 
for ten years. After this he purchased his present property, comprising about five 
hundred acres, where he combines general farming with beet and vegetable growing. 
Here he has erected a handsome residence, and enjoys a state of single blessedness. 

James Dale .Smith. — W'hose portrait appears in this history, the onK- child of 
John and Elizabeth Smith, was born in the parish of Kilmars, near Kilmarnock, in 
Scotland, on the 19th of September, 1845. In 1848 his father sailed for Vancouver 
Island under contract with the Hudson Bay Company, to open and work a coal mine 
which they had discovered, but on his arrival the compan)' claimed the right to 
dictate new terms, and as with them in early times, might made right, Smith refused 
to go on with the work, but availed himself of an opportunity to come to California, 
v\hich he did in 1849, and settled in Benicia, where quite ,a number of Scotch peo- 



Biographical Sketches. 977 



pie were then located, many mechanics finding profitable employment in the machine 
shop of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Smith among the number. In 1852 
he removed with his family to San Ramon Valley, locating near where Danville now 
stands, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1864. "Scotch Smith," as 
he was generally called, and his wife, were pioneers in every sense of the word. Their 
door was always open to the needy, and no road was too long for Mrs. Smith to go 
if she could assist the suffering or alleviate their distresses. The same qualities of 
heart and mind actuated their son, who grew to manhood on the same farm located 
by his father. In boyhood the advantages for schooling were not very good, and we 
find the subject of our sketch, in 1864, at the time his parents both died, with only a 
limited education, as far as books are concerned, but thoroughly posted as to the 
qualities of a good horse. And it used to be said that if there was a wild horse that 
no one else would ride, " tak ; it to Jimmy Smith." When his parents were aware 
that they were soon to be called away, they were much concerned for the future of 
their only child, surrcunded as he was, and had been, by the influences of early Cali- 
fornia society, but on their making their anxieties known, he immediately relieved 
their concern by promising them that he would discontinue his dealings with fast 
horses, and as soon as possible would go to school, and try to make himself worthy 
of them, their confidence, love, and name. The year succeeding the death of his 
parents, we find him busily engaged in clearing off the obligations left upon the 
estate by their long illness, and the loss of stock consequent upon the drought of 
1863 and 1864; he had given his two favorite race-horses to a friend, and was ready 
at the end of the year to go to school. He became a student of the Oakland Mili- 
tary Academy, and devoted himself to study for two years, so attentively that, at the 
close of the second year, he was offered a position as instructor in the Academy. He 
accepted, and for two years taught with a success gratifying to both his Principal and 
himself It was while teaching in the Academy that he met Miss Addie Luelling, 
daughter of Seth and Clarissa Luelling, of Milwaukee, Oregon, who afterwards became 
his wife. Mr, Smith, finding his presence on the farm necessary to perfect the loca- 
tion made by his father, resigned his position in the Academy and went upon the 
farm to reside. He was soon engaged to teach the San Ramon School, which he 
could do and retain his residence upon the farm, to supervise the work. On Febru- 
ary 22, 1870, J. D. Smith was married to Miss Addie Luelling, in Oregon, but 
returned and immediately began teaching, which he has continued to do, with unvary- 
ing success, up to the present time. He taught two years in the public school in San 
Ramon, which position he resigned to accept the Princlpalship of the San Leandro 
School. This he held two years, and resigned to accept a Professorship in Washing- 
ton College, in Alameda County, which position he held for two years, and resigned 
to take charge of Livermore College. This institution he purchased from its founders, 
Mr. and Mrs. Kingsbury, in 1875, and has enlarged it from time to time to accommo- 
date the increasing patronage. Livermore College owes its success as an educational 
institution to Prof J. D. Smith's vital energy as a man, and capacity as an instructor. 
The thoroughness of his work is attested by the fact that of the manj^ who have pre- 
pared for public school work in the normal course of Livermore College, not one has 
failed before any of the county boards in their examination for teachers' certificates. 
It is worthy of mention, also, that no year passes that he does not extend a helping 
hand to some worthy young man or young woman who is striving to obtain an edu- 
cation. Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Smith have only one child, a son, Duncan L. Smith, born 
March 16, 1874. 

Thomas A. Smith. — This highly esteemed pioneer of Alameda County, and 
early resident of the town of that name, whose portrait will be found in this volume, 
was born in Sparta, Hancock County, Georgia, April 6, 1835. Having the misfortune 
to lose his father when but one year old, he was taken by his mother to different parts 
of the Union, finally at the age of fifteen years coming to California alone to seek his 



978 History of Alameda County, California. 

fortune. Sailinjj from New Orlean,s on the i 5th July, 1850, to Havana in the steamer 
Ohio, and from Havana to Chagres in the .steamer Georgia, up Chagres River to Cruces, 
and across the Isthmus to Panama, thence in the steamer California, our subject arrived 
in San Francisco August 23, 1850, three weeics before Cahfornia was admitted to the 
union of States, but five days thereafter he proceeded to the mining districts of Tuol- 
umne County, commencing his search for gold in the river of that name, not far from 
Jacksonville. At the end of two months, moving to Big Oak Flat, he there remained 
fourteen months, when, returning to San F"rancisco, he entered upon the study of' law 
in the office of Messrs. Sloan & Rhodes, but from exposure and hard work his health 
would not permit of the confinement necessary to the study of the profession. It may 
be mentioned en passant that during his residence in Tuolumne Count)', although but 
sixteen years of age, Mr. Smith was manager and cashier of the largest mining 
company in the district, said company consisting of twenty-five men from twcnt}-- 
five to sixty-five years of age. Having remained at his legal studies for sixteen 
months he crossed the bay to the Encinal of San Antonio (Alameda) to visit Doctor 
Hibbard, on account of health, who prevailed upon our subject to take up his quar- 
ters permanently there. This he did in January, 1853, when he embarked in the 
pursuit of agriculture, and was joined by his mother and sister, the former of whom 
resided with him until her death, in 1866. (This estimable lady was distinguished 
for her many virtues, and was one of the then famous committee of ladies delegated 
to receive General La Fayette at Savannah, Georgia, on his last memorable visit 
to the United States.) Mr. Smith continued farming until the year 1864, when he 
commenced merchandising, which he followed until the year 1868, when he embarked 
in his present business as real estate agent. He has also held several public posi- 
tions of trust, the duties of all of which he has discharged with peculiar efficiency. 
In 1858 he was elected a Justice of the Peace of Alameda Township, serving until 
1 86 1 or 1862, during which term he was chosen one of the last Associate Justices of 
the Court of Sessions. He was also the first Treasurer of the town of Alameda, and 
performed the functions of that office for two years, while, in 1876, he was elected 
County Recorder, in which office he introduced the present valuable system, by which 
that office is made the best and most convenient Recorder's office in the State. In 
Mr.'Smith we have a gentleman who at a very early age commenced an active life 
in our State, and has dwelt in it, an ornament to its associations, for upwards of three 
decades. He remained in California from his first arrival in 1850 until the year 1878; 
he then made a tour of Europe, and is now one of California's most respected citizens. 
It is by such a life of unswerving fidelity to his natural instincts that he has risen to 
honor among his peers. He married, January 26, 1880, Miss Alida B. Andrews, a 
native of California, eldest daughter of the now Rev. A. B. Andrews, a lady of culture 
and refinement. We find by reference to dates that Mr. Smith was onl\' a little 
over fifteen years of age when he arrived at San Francisco; and he says that he had 
not even money enough to get on shore, but had to borrow from an acquaintance, as 
there were no wharves at which the steamers could land at that time; also that he • 
walked from Stockton to the Tuolumne River. At the time he went to Big Oak Flat 
the Indians were very hostile and shot one of the company's members at night, and 
he could often see their tracks around his cabin in the morning when he got up, and 
had some lively adventures with the hostiles. As early as twelve years of age Mr. 
Smith was noted for coolness in danger, and from a notice in an old newspaper at that 
time, it was said that he saved the Belle of Red River, a steamer pK"ing on that ri\'er 
in the cotton trade, from probable loss by fire, and prevented a panic by privately 
letting the captain know the condition of his discovery, which perhaps saved many 
lives; he also saved the life of one man on the Chagres River, who fell overboard, by 
plunging after him and holding him up until both were rescued. We are informed 
that Mr. Smith's life would make an interesting book if written, but he thought that 
our province was more particularly to call attention to California Pioneers, and what 



Biographical Sketches. 979 



was connected with their Hves during their residence in the State. Mr. Smith could 
have had the nomination of the last Democratic Convention for State Senator, but 
would not consent, although earnestly requested to do so by some of the most prom- 
inent gentlemen in the county. 

Henry Smyth. — Was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in the year 1827, and 
resided there for the first thirteen years of his life. Subsequently proceeding to John- 
ston, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he there learned the trade of blacksmith, which he 
followed until the year 1850, when he emigrated to the United States, settled in Phila- 
delphia, and labored at his calling. In the year 1853 he came to California, and direct 
to Alameda County, where he established himself in his present business. Married in 
1867, Miss Mary E. Marlin, a daughter of John Marlin, and has six children, viz.: 
Eliza J., Harry T., Florence, James, Mabel, and Elsa. 

Henry J. Sohst. — Was born in Mecklenberg, Germany, February 4, 1838, where 
he was educated, learned the carriage-makers' trade, and resided until 1868, when he 
crossed the Atlantic to the American Continent and settled in New York City. At 
the end of six months he came to California and joined his brother in Oakland, and 
in the year 1873 was admitted as partner in the firm of Sohst Brothers, proprietors of 
the Pioneer Carriage Factory, northeast corner of Eighth and Franklin Streets. H. J. 
Sohst was elected in the last city election, March, 1883, as School Director from the 
Sixth Ward, for the term of two years. Married, November 29, 1877, Miss Minnie C. 
Koch, a native of Jackson, Amador County, California, and has two children, viz.: 
Sophia, born August 11, 1878, and Eddie, born April 11, 1880. 

Adolph Stein. — Was born in Poland, April 25, 1852, and there resided until 
1869, when he emigrated to the United States, and settled in the city of New York; 
there he was in the State Militia until 1873, when he moved to the Pacific Coast. In 
San Francisco he followed his trade of tailor until 1877, in which year he crossed the 
bay and established himself in the same business in Oakland, being at 916 Broadway. 
Married, January i, 1872, Miss Malvina Griepthal, a native of Prussia, and has three 
children, viz.: Bertha, Carrie, and Abraham Moses. 

Calvin J. Stevens. — Was born in Brownville, Jefferson County, New York, 
October 23, 1828. Here he resided on a farm with his father until he attained the 
age of twenty-three years, when, in May, 1852, accompanied by one sister, he started 
for California by way of the Nicaragua Route, and arrived in the State July 7th of 
the same year. Coming direct to Alameda County, our subject located in Union 
City, now Alvarado, and embarked in a mercantile and milling, forwarding and com- 
mission business, there remaining until 1858, when he transferred his merchandise to 
Centreville. In 1869 he moved his flouring-mills to Livermore, where he is now 
extensively engaged in producing flour, and grain-buying, as well as in general mer- 
cantile affairs. Mr. Stevens is also an extensive farmer, owning one hundred acres of 
land adjoining the town of Livermore, and many other ranches in the county, besides 
possessing a large property in the city of Oakland, where his family resides. Mr. 
Stevens has also served the county in the capacity of Ta.x-coUector for two years, in 
1874 and 1875, while he is recognized to be a leading;^ business man of keen percep- 
tion and rare integrity. Mr. Stevens is married and^Kas three children, viz.: Albert 
B., Mellie, and Daisy. ^\ 

Capt. Levi Stevens (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait 
appears in this work, was born at Truro, Massachusetts, May 16, 18 12, and in com- 
mon with most of the youth of that locality was reared to follow the sea, becoming 
master of a vessel while still a young man. For many years he sailed out of Boston, 
and in 1851 brought a ship from that port to San Francisco. From there he made a 
voyage to China and thence proceeded to Boston. Subsequent to this trip, which 
which was an extremely profitable one, he formed a copartnership in Boston in the 
shipping and commission business under the firm name of Stevens, Baker & Co., with 
a branch house in San Francisco, Captain Stevens taking charge of the latter, bring- 



980 History of Alameda County. California. 

ing a ship-load of goods out from Boston with which to stock the estabhshment. By 
his superior business capacity, his unswerving integrity in all his dealings, his close 
attention to details and his excellent judgment, he succeeded in establishing one of 
the largest shipping and commission businesses on the Pacific Coast, and at the same 
time making for himself a reputation second to none in commercial circles in Cali- 
fornia. He did not confine himself solely to the business of his firm, but being of an 
energetic disposition, succeeded in promoting, very materially, man\' laudable and 
important enterprises, which proved of great benefit to the communit)'.* In the course 
of time he accumulated a large fortune. He was one of the incorporators of the 
Merchants' Exchange Bank in San Francisco, and was elected its President, the bank 
during his connection with it doing a profitable and flourishing business. After he 
resigned he went to Europe, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, and traveled 
extensively. Upon his return to California, and during the great commercial depres- 
sion consequent ujoon the labor troubles, the close attention he was compelled to give 
his many enterprises produced such a strain upon his mental powers that his strength 
began to fail rapidly. He located in Fruit Vale, Alameda County, in 1864; surrounded 
himself with the comforts of as beautiful and picturesque a home as can be found in 
California. Among the many enterprises in which he took a prominent part, was 
that of the Pittsburg Coal Mine near Antioch, Contra Costa County, building an 
extensive railroad from the mine to tide-water, and was also largely interested in a 
profitable h_\'draulic mine near Smartville, Yuba County. While engaged in these 
enterprises he also found time to carry various extensive real estate transactions in 
Alameda County to a successful and profitable conclusion. His death, which occurred 
November 26, 1882, was caused by paralysis through over-taxation of his mental 
powers. He was buried on the 28th November, from the Hamilton Church, Oakland, 
with most solemn and impressive ceremonies. During his active business career he 
was noted for his enterprise, untiring industry, and firm integrity. He was pure in 
thoughts, manners, and speech; his influence was gentle, harsh words from his lips 
being unknown. He wished all his fellow-men well, never harboring or expressing 
unkind thoughts towards an)- one. He possessed a marked and active sympathy for 
all those in distress, and was for a long time a very efficient President of the San 
Francisco Benevolent Association. In his private relations he was most affectionate, 
generous, sympathetic, and kind, and indeed, in all bearings of life was one of Nature's 
true gentlemen. He married, in Boston, Massachusetts, October 15, 1837, Mi.ss Olive 
R. White, and leaves with her two surviving daughters. 

Simeon Stiver.^. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Camden County, New Jersey, July 23, 1826, but at three years of 
age he went to live with an uncle. Earl IVIarshall, and aunt. At seventeen he com- 
menced to learn the carpenter's trade, having been previously educated at the Phila- 
delphia High School. Arriving in California in 1846 he worked at his trade in Verba 
Buena (San F"rancisco), and was for the most of his time in the employ of W. A. 
Leidesdorf In 1848 he came to Mission San Jose, Alameda County, where he has 
since resided. Soon after the discovery of gold he tried mining on the American 
River, and was quite successful. Married, September 12, 1858, Miss Anna M. Jones, 
a native of Ohio, and has: Letitia M., born July 17, 1859; Simeon E., born August 
12, 1861; Charlotte J., born February 27, 1864; Samuel, born August 10, 1866; Cham- 
pion D., born August 6, 1869: Anna M., born February 4, 1S72; Mark, born January 
31, 1874; and Edward, born May 3, 1878. 

James John.STONE Stoke.S. — Was born in (.Gloucestershire, England, October 
7; 18 16, and there resided until the }-ear 1829, at which time he sailed for the United 
States, but soon returned to Old Albion's shores, and resided continuously in parts of 
England and in Merionethshire, North Wales, until 1.841, in which year he again 
crossed the Atlantic, going to Canada West, from whence he visited the cities of New 
York and New Orleans, sojourning for awhile in each; and then going North, he 



Biographical Sketches. 981 



resided for awhile in Buffalo and Sandusky City, until the fall of 1848, when, on 
learning of the discovery of gold in California, Mr. Stokes made up his mind to go to 
the New Dorado. Finding his way to New Orleans, he sailed from that port in the 
month of October, 1848, for the Isthmus of Panama, whence he voyaged to San 
Francisco, arriving in May, 1849. It may be mentioned that he was employed for 
several months by the American Consul at Panama, ere proceeding on his journey. 
Having arrived in California he at once proceeded to the mines, near Auburn, where 
he remained eighteen months, and was subsequently engaged in different places at 
various occupations, until 1859. In the year 1851 he proceeded to Astoria, Oregon, 
but returned within the year to California. In the year 1859 he came to Union City, 
Alameda County, and was engaged in merchandising there; but afterwards moving to 
Alvarado, he purchased the building adjoining his present store, which was destroyed 
by fire in December, 1 876. In the following year he built the one which he now occu- 
pies, where he is engaged in a prosperous merchandising business. Married, October 
16, 1854, ^t Brentford, Canada West, Mrs. M. S. Hart, and has ten surviving children, 
viz.: Frank R., James J., Henry H., Philip A., Edward A., Harold L., Walter S., Guy 
H., Mary E. S., and Tom. 

Leonard Stone. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Worcester County, Massachusetts, March 3, 1825, and is the son of 
Benjamin and Lucy (Wheeler) Stone. At the age of eighteen he began to work in a 
chair factory, and followed this trade until leaving for the Pacific Coast. Sailing from 
New York, by way of the Isthmus of Panama, to California, he arrived in San Fran- 
cisco, ^x steamer Golden Gate, February 21, 1851, and immediately proceeded to the 
mines, at Auburn, Placer County, where he remained prosecuting his search for the 
yellow metal until the fall of 1853. At that period he sought a place wherein to found 
a home, and being captivated by the pleasant appearance of the country around San 
Lorenzo, there concluded to locate. Here he resided until 1858, when he settled on 
his present estate, comprising one hundred and, twenty-three acres, where he has since 
dwelt, engaged in grain and fruit raising. Mr. Stone has been prominently identified 
with the political doings of the county, all of which will be found recorded in the 
chapter on Legislative History. Mr. Stone married, November, 1858, Miss Jane Mad- 
den, a native of Philadelphia, and has: Lucy, Mary, William L., Elizabeth, Sarah, and 
Susan. 

Lysander Stone. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
work, was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, July 9, 1825, and is the son of Silas 
and Susannah (Ward) Stone. Having resided with his parents until he reached man's 
estate, April i, 1847, in company with William Meek, a party of twenty families and 
forty-nine wagons, he crossed the plains to Oregon, where he arrived on the 13th of 
September, driving one of the first wagons over the Cascade Mountains, via the Bar- 
low route. Settling on the Clatsop Plains, Mr. Stone commenced farming, an occu- 
pation he followed until the spring of 1849, when he came by water to California, 
and passed the interval between April and August of that year in the mines. The 
next twelve months he followed teaming, after which he commenced dealing in cattle, 
horses, etc., in Colusa County. In the spring of i860 he came to Alameda County, 
settled on his present property, consisting of two hundred and fifty-six acres, and 
has since resided there, honored and respected by his fellow-citizens. He married. 
May 14, 1857, Miss Kate A. Barker, and has three children, viz.: Jennie F., Egbert B., 
and Andrew L. 

Mahlon Beach Sturges. — Was born in Norwalk, Huron County, Ohio, Feb- 
ruary 26, 1830, and is the son of Thaddeus B. Sturges — at one time District Attorney 
of that county for a number of years, a graduate of Yale College, and a pioneer of 
1849 to California — who died in Placerville, in 1851. The subject of our sketch hav- 
ing received his early education in the common school of his native place, and finish- 
ing at a private school at Marcellus, Onondaga County, New York, at the age of 



982 History of Alameda County, California. 

eighteen prepared to go to college, but owing to the financial embarrassment of his 
father this course was abandoned, and he took to commercial pursuits. Obtaining 
the position of book-keeper in the Franklin House, Cleveland, Ohio, he there 
remained two years, when he changed to the Durham House, and held a like position 
there until the intelligence of his father's death caused him to resign and proceed to 
California, to do which he was obliged to raise money by an insurance on his life, which 
has long ago been refunded. Coming by way of Panama, our subject arrived in San 
Francisco in March, 1852, and immediately on arrival secured a ticket for Sacramento, 
which left him penniless. On gaining that town he found it submerged. Mr. Sturges 
proceeded to the mines, in company with the late William B. Mastick of Oakland 
and Judge Carey of San Francisco. On arriving at Michigan Bar, where he found 
his brother, he engaged in mining as an occupation (Mr. Mastick and Mr. Carey con- 
tinued on to the mountains) until the fall of that year, when he embarked in the 
mercantile bilsiness. Having proceeded to Sacramento to purchase goods, as ill-fate 
would have it, his newly-bought stock was entirely consumed in the great fire of that 
season. Broke in purse, he was by no means so in spirit, therefore he once more 
faced the mocking world, and proceeded to the mountains, by way of Marysville. 
Arriving at Rabbit Creek — a place now called La Porte, in Plumas County — he cooked 
for a company of miners that winter. He ne.xt worked for wages for about one year, 
v/hen he took up claims in company with J. M. Perry and George Stowe, both of 
Illinois. After three years' toil he then sold his interest to his partners, who after- 
wards took out $64,000 worth of dust in three weeks, and in four years they took out 
over $300,000. Mr. Sturges now took up a claim for himself adjoining, and "struck 
it rich," but owing to a change of the adjoining claim it swung him off, and he lost 
all. Once more his pocket was at "bed-rock." Undeterred, he proceeded to Jamison 
City, Plumas County, and conducted a hotel for James Kitts, where he remained 
until the fall of 1856; then moving to Mariposa County, here-embarked in mining 
operations for one winter, but, the season being dry, and not meeting with much 
success, he footed it to Stockton, whence he found his way to San Francisco. He 
now accepted a position as steerage steward on board the steamer Sonom, then com- 
manded by Captain Bobbie, in which he made several trips to Panama. He now- 
returned to the Bay City, married, and went to the mines at La Porte, but soon moved 
to Richmond Hill, working for wages at anything that offered; Mrs. Sturges, in the 
first year, making on her own account $1,800. Our subject now changed his habita- 
tion to Sawpit ^\3X, where, purchasing a claim, he commenced working it, while his 
wife carried on the laundry business, at four dollars a dozen, clearing thereby from 
thirty to forty dollars per week. At the end of four years he gave up mining, and 
sold out his claims. At this period he served two terms as a Justice of the Peace 
and Notary Public under Governor Low's administration. Mr. Sturges ne.xt pur- 
chased the water rights of Onion Valley Creek, consisting of eight miles of ditches, 
which supplied the mines of Sawpit Hat and Richmond Hill with water. Two 
weeks after purchasing, the miners of Sawpit Flat struck rich pay, which made his 
purchase very valuable. In one year he made enough to pay for his purchase and 
leave a handsome balance. He continued in this undertaking until 1867, when he sold 
out on account of ill-health. He removed to San Francisco; and there he was engaged 
for a year in keeping a lodging-house, when, disposing of it in 1869, he paid a visit to 
his former home in the Eastern States for the purpose of securing a patent on an 
improved gas-burner he had invented. His intention was to settle in the Eastern 
States, but, owing to the great climatic changes between heat and cold, he returned to 
California in July, 1870, and purchased his present farm of fifty acres, situated one 
and a half miles from Washington Corners, on the main road to Centrevillc, on which 
he has made many improvements, being engaged in general farming and stock-raising, 
devoting much of his time to the rearing of thoroughbred short-horn cattle, a num- 
ber of his raising having taken premiums at the different fairs throughout the State. 



Biographical Sketches. 983 



Married in San Francisco, April 22, i860, Miss Elizabeth Kane, a native of Phila- 
delphia, of Irish parents; no issue. 

Joseph Sunderer. — Was born in Baden, Germany, February 25, 1843. On 
January li, 1866, he sailed from Havre to the United States, and arriving in New 
York on the 2Sth February, commenced working at his trade of shoemaker. Here 
he resided until July, 1867, when he sailed, by way of Panama, for San Francisco, 
arriving July 24th of the same year. In April, 1868, he left that city, and, coming to 
Mission San Jose, there established a boot and shoe manufactory. In October, 1877, 
he purchased his present residence and place of business, located on Vallejo Street. 
Married, and has four children. 

JOS^ Narciso Sunol. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found' 
in the pages of this history, was born in Pueblo de San Jose, Upper California, June 
10, 1835. His father, Don Antonio Sufiol, was one of those grand noblemen cast in 
nature's mold. His birthplace was Barcelona, in Spain, but a love for the French 
people induced him to enter their naval service, and he was present when Napo- 
leon I. surrendered as a prisoner before his exile to the island of St. Helena. 
Coming to Monterey as long ago as the year 1818, he cast his lot in the country, 
married Senora Dolores Bernal, one of its beautiful daughters, in or about the year 
1823, in San Jose, where they had long been settled. In or about the year 1839 the 
Rancho Valle de San Jose was granted to Don Antonio Sufiol and others — a vast 
tract of fertile land, embracing eleven leagues, or four thousand eight hundred acres — 
while during his life in the country he held several high offices of responsibility and 
trust. Don Antonio was born in the year 1797; he died at his residence in San 
Jose, March 19, 1865, having earned in life by his generosity the respect of the entire 
community. He left a family, five of whom are now living, viz.: Paula (Sainsevain), 
Incarnacion (Elchebarne), Jose Narciso, Antoneta (Murphy), Jose Dolores. Our sub- 
ject, the eldest son, at the age of fourteen years was sent to Europe, and received his 
education at the Lycee de Bordeaux, where he took a commercial course, and after 
five years returned to California, when he settled in the Sunol Valley, where he has 
since been engaged in farming. He married, January 6, 1858, Miss Maria Rosario 
Palomares, a native of San Jose, and daughter of Francisco and Margarita (Pacheco) 
Palomares, by which union there are six surviving children, viz.: Margarita, Virginia, 
Frances, Eulalia, Josephine, and Juanita. 

Grant I. Taggart. — Was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Decembei' 4, 
1829, and is the son of Joseph I. and Abigail H. (Smith) Taggart. Ii the year 1832 
he was taken by his parents to Morgan County, Illinois, and afterwards, in 1837, 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he resided until 1844, when he transferred his residence to 
Galena, Jo Daviess County, and there embarked in the mercantile trade, which he 
followed until 1850. At that time he came to California, and commenced business in 
Greenwood Valley, El Dorado County. In the winter of 1851-52 he removed to San 
Francisco, being engaged in the like occupation up till 1853, when he transferred the 
scene of his operations to Shasta County until 1857. Mr. Taggart now embarked in 
the stage and express business there, and carried it on until 1879, in connection with 
which he had Government contracts for carrying the United States mails from 1864 to 
1879. In 1865 he was elected County Clerk of Shasta County, a position he held for 
three terms, and, being again elected in 1869, performed the functions of the office 
until 1 87 1, when he became Clerk of the Supreme Court of California. In 1875 he 
moved to Oakland, Alameda County, and commenced a real estate business, which he 
still continues: He was connected with staging matters until 1869. Married, May i, 
i860. Miss Mary C. Metcalf, and has three children, viz.: Charles A., Joseph T., and 
Abbie R. 

John Taylor (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears 
in this work, is a native of Cayuga County, New York, where he was born in the year 
1833. Losing his parents when yet a child, Mr. Taylor lived under the care of an 



984 History of Alameda Couxtv, California. 

uncle until old enough to do battle with the world. Having worked for some time 
upon a farm, in 1852 he emigrated by way of Panama to California, and on arrival in 
San Francisco, immediately proceeded to Sacramento, where he started a vegetable 
garden in January, 1852, and conducted it for two years. Mr. Taylor now returned 
for a short time to the Bay City, and finally crossed over to Alameda County, to 
Washington Township, where he worked on a farm for about a twelvemonth. He now 
rented a ranch near Dry Creek, which he farmed for one season, when he purchased 
a tract of two hundred and fifty acres situated between Niles and Mission San ]os6, 
where he resided twenty years. He then disposed of the place, removed to the Liver- 
more Valley, and, purchasing the ranch known as the "Big Field," there resided until 
his death, on August 7, 1881. Mr. Taylor married Februarj' 15, i860, Miss Rachel 
A. Cheney, by whom there are seven children living, viz.: Alice A., Helen H., George 
K., Louisa M., Florence K., Mamie R., and Lillie. There are four deceased, whose 
names were: Thomas, Mary Ann, John, and Janie. 

Joseph H. Taylor. — Is a native of Bristol County, Massachusetts, and was 
born November 19, 1825. When but six years of age he was taken by his parents to 
Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his father engaged in farming, and our subject resided 
until leaving for the Golden .State. On November 12, 1853, he started for New 
York, and on the 19th sailed therefrom for California, where he arrived December 
24th, by way of the Nicaragua Route. The first six months in the State he passed 
in Martinez, Contra Costa County, and then coming to Alameda County, located in 
Eden Township, where he embarked in agricultural pursuits, on the place now owned 
by Mr. Stone. Here he remained until i860, when he spent a year in Sonoma County, 
and subsequently returned to Haywards, where he dwelt until 1867. In that year he 
removed to the Townsend Ranch in Murray Township, where he farmed twelve hun- 
dred acres for eleven years. He afterwards lived for two years on the farm now 
occupied by Mr. Robinson, and in 1880 took up his abode in Livermore. where he 
now resides. Mr. Taylor has held the office of Justice of the Peace for VAen Town- 
ship. He is married, and has a family of three sons, viz.; Edwin, Joseph B., and 
George V. 

Dr. William Stewart T.vylor. — The subject of this biography was born 
June 24, 1847, in Saltsburgh, Indiana County, Penn.sylvania. His parents and grand- 
parents were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, of Scotch-Irish parentage. 
During his boyhood his father was engaged in the mercantile business, but this being 
foreign to the aspirations of the son, he was kept more or less regularly at school, with 
a view of studying theology. But maturer years, with a better judgment, led him to 
choose an occupation requiring less eloquence. At the age of twenty, leaving school, 
he engaged in the service of a civil engineer, on the Southwestern Railroad, in Ten- 
nessee, then under construction, where he remained nearly a year, when the railroad 
company failed financially and suspended operations. Having a desire to follow the 
business, he sought employment elsewhere, but failing to find a position for immedi- 
ate employment, he returned home and resumed his studies, continuing at the same, 
with the exception of one year, when he was employed as Principal of the public 
school in his native town, then of about one thousand inhabitants, until the sjiring of 
1871, at the age of twenty-four, when he began the study of medicine, under the care 
of Dr. J. L. Crawford. He attended medical lectures during the sessions of 1871-72 
and a portion of 1873, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. In the spring of 1873 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Martha E. Dickie, of a neighboring county. After studying and prac- 
ticing under the supervision of his preceptor during the summer of 1873, he went to 
Philadelphia, where he graduated from Jefferson Medical College on March 11, 1874. 
He at once entered into partnership with his preceptor, which, however, was of brief 
duration, owing to the latter engaging in politics, and leaving the newlj'-fledgcd Doc- 
tor to his practice. After a year's practice he found it necessary to relinquish a good 
and flattering introduction to practice, for a less vigorous climate. Con.sequently, in the 



Biographical Sketches. 985 



spring of 1875, he came to San Francisco, locating on the corner of Sixth and Harri- 
son Streets, where he remained until September ist, when he returned to Pennsylva- 
nia on account of family sickness. Remaining at home a short time, he went to New 
York and Brooklyn, where he remained until June, taking special instructions in med- 
icine. In June of this, the Centennial Year, at the public commencement of Wash- 
ington and Jefferson College, the degree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him. 
In the early fall of 1876, with his wife and son, he returned to San Francisco. Find- 
ing his old corner taken, and with a family, and a somewhat depleted pocket-book he 
sought a field offering immediate returns, and that proved to be Livermore — intend- 
ing, however, to return to the city. But a large practice, if not a very lucrative one, 
with faith in the future, a glorious climate, and good health induced him to remain, 
where he now practices his profession. 

Daniel M. Teeter. — Was born in Pope County, Arkansas, September 5, 1838, 
and there farmed and worked in his father's saw-mill until he attained the age of 
nineteen years. On the 7th day of May, 1857, he started for California, by way of 
the plains, with ox-teams, three wagons, and a drove of cattle (fourteen hundred head), 
and, after a long and tedious march of nearly four months, arrived at Salt Lake City; 
and, after enduring many hardships during the winter, the journey was resumed. 
On the 13th day of April, he, with twenty-seven others, started afoot for California, 
a distance of eight hundred miles; and after the fatigues and hardships met — such 
as crossing large bodies of snow, and being scantily clad, and exposed to the 
wild savages, and living on flour alone — he ultimately arrived at Danville, Contra 
Costa County, in June, 1858. Here he found employment and remained 
until October, 1861, when he moved to Alameda County, engaged in farming for 
three years on a portion of the Dougherty Ranch, and then moved to the Bernal 
Ranch, near Pleasanton, where he remained two years. Having been engaged in 
farming and teaming, he was entirely uneducated, and so he then took an eight- 
een months' course at the college at Alamo, Contra Costa County, after which he 
engaged in teaming and freighting to Washoe for two years with moderate success. 
Subsequently he leased a farm on the Bernal Estate, which he occupied until 1874, 
in which year he purchased his present place, comprising two hundred and fifty acres, 
situated in close proximity to the town of Livermore, where he is engaged in general 
farming and stock-raising. Married at San Leandro, Alameda County, June 20, 
1870, Miss Caroline E. Arnett, a native of Missouri, which was a happy and prosper- 
ous union until the 15th day of December, 1882, when, after a long and wasting 
attack of consumption, she departed from this world, leaving to mourn her loss .him- 
self and two children, a boy and a girl, named Franklin and Flora Elizabeth. 

George Thom. — Merchant, and Postmaster of the town of Newark, Alameda 
County, is a native of New York, and resided in that and the adjoining State of New 
Jersey until about the year 1872, when he came to this State, where he has since 
resided. Mr. Thom first settled in Sacramento, and afterwards removed to Oakland, 
where he resided until commencing business in Newark, in 1880. C. J. Thom, mem- 
ber of the Board of Education of Alameda County, is a son of Mr. Thom of Newark. 

Philip Thorn. — Was born in Bavaria, Germany, September 6, 1832. When 
but a little over three years of age, he was brought by his parents to the United States, 
and locating in New York, here our subject grew to man's estate, and learned the 
trade of baker. On February 19, 1852, he sailed from that city by way of Panama to 
California, and arrived in San Francisco after an unusually long voyage of four 
months, on June 27th. Mr. Thorn at once commenced working at his trade, and 
followed it in different places until 1855, when he opened a bakery and restaurant in 
Alvarado, Alameda County, in partnership with Conrad Hensel. Here he remained 
until 1858, when he engaged in business in the Bay City, but after a year he returned 
to Alvarado, and purchased the "Old Home" Hotel, which he conducted until 1864. 
At this period he went back to San Francisco, opened a bakery, and followed that 
63 



9S6 History of Alameda County, California. 

enterprise until the fall of 1866, when he once more crossed the bay to Alameda 
County, and resided for six months in Washington Township, at the end of which time 
he moved to Murray Township and settled on the place now owned by the Clark 
Brothers; subsequently, however, he removed to a farm situated about half a mile 
east of Livermore. In the fall of 1868 he sold out, reiiurned to New York, and, after 
a visit of six months, came back to California and took up his residence on the farm 
he now occupies, situated four miles north from Livermore, and comprising one 
hundred and sixty acres. Married, June 14, 1857, Miss Barbara Link, a native of 
Bavaria, Germany, and has four children, viz.: Margaret E., George A., William P., 
and Joseph E. 

M. K. Thornburgh. — Was born in Jefferson County, Virginia, near Harper's 
Ferry, December 22, 1829. When he had attained the age of twenty years, he pro- 
ceeded to Louisville, Kentucky, where he resided five jears, then moved to St. Louis, 
Missouri, for twelve months. At the expiration of that time he went to West Point, 
near Kansas City, and thence, with three companions, started to cross the plains to 
the Pacific Slope. After a trip of four months our subject arrived in Sacramento, 
the day being September 15, 1853. He proceeded at once to Marysville, Yuba 
County, but remaining there only a short time, he transferred the scene of his oper- 
ations to Caiion Creek, Sierra County, and engaged in merchandising. Two years 
thereafter he returned to Marysville, and obtained employment in the Sheriffs office, 
with his brother, but subsequently proceeded to Bear River and embarked in stock- 
raising, an occupation he followed for two years more. He then undertook the 
management of the hotel at the well-known "Johnson's Ranch," for a couple of years. 
Thence he moved to Lincoln, and engaged in mercantile pursuits for six years, finally 
establishing himself in the produce and commission business in San Francisco. There 
he dwelt until making his home in Oakland in 1875, when he established himself at 
the corner of Eighth and Chester Streets. 

RlCH.\RD Threlfall. — This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this book, is 
a native of Saint Clair County, Illinois, and was born November 23, 1829. At the 
age of two years he was taken by his parents to Monroe County, and there he received 
his education, and resided until he reached man's estate. He then emigrated to 
California, sailing from New Orleans in the month of February, 1852, and after a 
delay of some forty days on the Isthmus, trying to secure a passage up the coast, he 
finally arrived in San Francisco by the steamer Oregon, April 6, 1852. Mr. Threlfall 
at once crossed the bay to Alameda County, and after a short sta}- moved to the San 
Mateo redwoods, where he worked as a teamster for four months, after which he 
returned to Alameda and worked in the harvest-field till October, at which date he 
went to the mines on the Yuba and Feather Rivers on a prospecting trip. Returning 
to Marysville he purchased teams, came to Alameda County and settled (December 
1852) in Washington Township on a portion of the Band & Horner tract. The years 
1863 and 1864 he spent his time between Sacramento, Folsom, Virginia City, and 
Austin, and, in 1865, located himself in Livermore Valley, and embarked in farming, 
which he continued until 1870. In 1869 he purchased a tract of twelve thousand six 
hundred and forty acres in Stanislaus County, to which he has since considerably 
added. His possessions in that county are seventeen thousand five hundred acres of 
land, stocked with twelve thousand head of sheep, four hundred head of cattle, and 
one hundred and twenty-five head of horses and mules, as well as some carp ponds 
which are prolific in their yield. Mr. Threlfall's residence is in Washington Township, 
where he has a model farm. It is no species of flattery to say that our subject is 
regarded by his fellow-citizens in the light of an honest, upright man, whose word is 
his bond, and whose integrity is undisputed. He married, October 16, i86i,Miss 
Helen Rix, and has four children, viz., Charles H., Nellie A., Angle M., and George A. 

Ivan J.AMES Tifoche. — Was born in France, July 27, 1833, and there resided 
for the first ten years of his life. He then commenced a sea-faring life, which he 



Biographical Sketches. 987 

followed for twelve years, sailing in the meantime to all parts of the world. In April, 
1852, he entered the Golden Gate on board of the ship Five Brothers, and immediately 
proceeded -to Nevada County, where he engaged in mining for ten years. Returning 
at that time to San F"rancisco, in August, 1862, he crossed the bay and located himself 
in Washington Township. Here he was variously employed until October, 1878, 
when he purchased the interest of George Forbes, and in 1882 made many extensive 
improvements. Mr. Tifoche is engaged in the liquor trade on Main Street, Centre- 
ville, where he also has a billiard parlor. Is unmarried. 

David Tisch. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in this 
work, is the fourth child of Michele and Madelaine (Saver) Tisch, and was born in 
southern Bavaria, Germany, March 24, 1 849. Having attended the day school of his 
native place until he attained the age of twelve years, he then was placed under the 
tutorage of Professor Carl Presler, of Dresden, for a term of two years. Mr. Tisch now 
began practical working in the various branches of floriculture, and was so engaged 
for a further term of two years. When sixteen years old he emigrated to the United 
States, and locating in St. Louis, there found immediate employment in the botan- 
ical gardens of Henry Shaw, such were the high recommendations he had brought 
with him. In 1872 he emigrated to California, and was quickly employed by James 
Hutchison as foreman of his nurseries, where he remained some three years, at the 
expiration of which time he took the management of W. F. Kelsey's place, which 
prospered under his skilled hands and energetic surveillance. June i, 1879, Mr. Tisch 
established himself in business at 479 Seventh Street, as nurseryman and florist, where 
we are happy to say his business blossoms as gaily as his most rare exotics. It may 
truly be said of Mr. Tisch that he is the right man in the right place. Married in 
Chicago, April 16, 1872, Miss Sophia A. Gootz, a native of Berne, Switzerland, who 
died September 8, 1882, by which union there are four daughters, viz.: Madelaine, 
Ada, Stephanie, and Daisy. It should be mentioned that Mr. Tisch is an active 
member of the State Horticultural Society, in which he takes a deep interest, while he 
is one of a committee of five appointed by the Association, to see to the advancement 
of floriculture. In 1875 he received from the Mechanics' Institute, the first premium for 
fine plants, etc., an honor which has been bestowed upon him on several occasions, 
both on this coast and at the East. Though young in years, Mr. Tisch has had large 
experience in his profession, and yet has a long and brilliant career before him. 

Charles O. Trask. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait will be found in 
this work, was born in Somerset County, Maine, September i, 1817, and is the son of 
Stewart and Mary (Owen) Trask. Under their tender guidance he grew to man's 
estate, having labored on his father's farm during the season, and in winter attended 
the common school of the district. In the year 1838 he started out to face the cold 
world. Proceeding to New Brunswick, he there embarked in the lumber business, but 
at the end of five years returned to Maine, and took up the same occupation in 
Aroostook County, where he resided until determining to try his luck in California. 
Starting in 185 1 for San Francisco, via Panama, he there arrived on the 5th of May, 
in the steamer Northerner, but he at once moved on to Sacramento, where then 
was centered all the mining trade, and commenced teaming to the mountains, which 
he continued three years. In 1853 he established a mercantile business in Red Dog, 
Nevada County, but shortly thereafter transferred the scene of his operations to Iowa 
Hill, Placer County, and there dwelt until 1862. In that year he removed to Beaver 
Head County, Montana, and after mining for a short time established a general mer- 
cantile, teaming, and lumber business, which he carried on until 1879, when, on account 
of ill-health, he sought the genial climate of Brooklyn Township, Alameda County, 
and made his residence at Seminary Park, where he enjoys a well-earned retire- 
ment after a long life of much activity. Married, in the year i8z(4. Miss Mary Ann 
Harvey, a native of Maine, and daughter of H. C. Harvey, and has had a family of 
six children, only one of whom survives, viz.: E. M. Trask, of Butte City, Montana. 



988 History of Alameda County, California. 

William Tyson (deceased). — The following sketch of thi.s pioneer, whose por- 
trait appears in our work, was written for the Rural Press at the time of his death: 
" One after another those hardy and enterprising men who helped to found our State 
are passing from our midst. Their lives of toil and wonderful adventure along the 
cloudy Sierra and in forgotten mining-camps, and over plains now smiling with 
golden harvests, had a freshness and a sense of delight which few of their children 
can ever know. Everything concerning our pioneers is of such interest that we 
narrate a few ev-ents in the life of W'm. Tyson, who died at his residence at Niles, on 
the first of last July. The surroundings of a man's childhood do much to form his 
character, and it is pleasant to know that Mr. Tyson's earlier life was [massed among 
historic scenes. In the extreme northwestern corner of England, separated from 
Scotland by the Cheviot Hills, lies the county of Cumberland, whose county town is 
Carlisle. Once forming a part of the kingdom of Northumberland, it became later 
the scene of border life and frontier adventure in the days of Percy and of the Scottish 
marches. Peopled by a brave and hardy race of miners, mountaineers, and farmers, 
the Saxons mingled with the Normans less here than elsewhere, and the blue eyes 
and brown hair of the Saxons are oftenest seen. The Tyson family was one of 
worth and respectability in the rugged portion of Cumberland. The\- possessed the 
old fair-haired Sa.xon type, and both sons and daughters were remarkable, even in a 
sterner age, for bodily strength and health. William was one of eight children — five 
boys and three girls — and was born on the 5th of December, 1820. Dairj-ing was 
the family occupation, but as William grew up, he began to show a painstaking 
industry and a taste for the use of tools, and his mother dying when he was thirteen, 
he was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade, after the thorough wa)- of those good old 
times, when trades were well learned. The earnest lad was always busy and patient, 
going on from step to step until he became a good house carpenter, joiner, and 
wagon-maker before he was twenty-one. In 1841, at the town of Maryeport, he 
became an Odd Fellow, and ever after kept up his connection with that Order. This 
was the time when much interest was felt in America among the middle and )-eo- 
manry classes. So, in the fall of 1841, following out a long-cherished plan, he came 
to the United States, and, going West, settled in Columbus City, Louisa County, 
Iowa. In 1846 he moved to the town of Grand View, arid pursued his trade of 
wagon-making. The following year he married Emmeline Morrison, and removed to 
the little town of Port Louisa, where he remained until the gold excitement in Cali- 
fornia. On the 15th of March, 1849, Mr. Tyson, his wife, and infant son, with his 
brother-in-law. Wm. Morrison, started for California. By the 6th of May a company 
of nineteen wagons had been organized, for the sake of comfort and protection; but 
after traveling together four days, Mr. Tyson and two others left the company, and 
continued in advance, being able to travel faster. Game was abundant and easily 
obtained, Mr. Tyson being the crack shot of the party. He shot the first buffalo 
seen, and afterwards, whilst near Donner Lake, killed five pheasants at one shot. The 
party made a new trail along the Truckee, and it is remembered with some amuse- 
ment that they crossed that river twenty-seven times in one day. They saw the sad 
remembrances of the Donner party, and soon after began the wearisome ascent of the 
Sierra Nevada, using ten or twelve pairs of oxen to pull each wagon up, and letting 
them down on the western slope with heavy ropes. The 12th of September brought 
them safely to Sacramento, the only sad event of the journey having been the death 
of their child, William Perry Tyson. The earl\' pioneers did not loaf The Tysons, 
young and hopeful, went to Hangtown (now called Placervillc) in El Dorado County, 
and opened a boarding-house. But in three weeks Mr. Tyson and his brother-in-law 
bought a claim for three hundred dollars, took out over one thousand dollars, sold the 
claim, and began work in loose diggings which paid sixteen dollars per day. Hearing 
of better places they started to find them, but the floods prevented their going be\'ond 
Georgetown, and they went to Sacramento for a load of groceries to start a store. 



Biographical Sketches. 989 



but on their return the mining-camp was almost deserted. With his capital tied up 
in heavy groceries Mr. Tyson's energy did not fail him, and, with the aid of his faith- 
ful wife, he packed his goods to Bird's Valley, and again kept boarding-house. In the 
fall of 1850, whilst in Sacramento, he received a letter from his brother-in-law. Perry 
Morrison, then in San Joss Valley, which decided him to realize a long desire, and 
become a farmer. Closing up his business he came to the Mission San Jose, and 
bought a settler's claim to a beautiful tract near the Alameda Creek. Here he 
brought his family; here he lived a quiet, useful life, universally respected and loved 
for his genial temper and uprightness. His boys and girls began to cluster around 
him, and the cares of life perplexed him, but he was always the same cheerful phi- 
losopher. His friends wanted him to run for office, but he always refused. As an 
instance of his probity, we may mention the fact that when the county treasury at Alva- 
rado was robbed, two of the four bondsmen failed to appear; but Mr. Tyson and his 
brother-in-law, the remaining two bondsmen, paid the county's claims without ques- 
tion. In 1872 Mr. Tyson and his loving wife celebrated their silver wedding, and it 
was a great occasion in the neighborhood. In the same year his eldest son, William 
Henry, married Miss Jennie Bonner, an old schoolmate. In 1874 his eldest daughter, 
Clara, married Mr. Martenstien, of San Francisco, and they have one child. In all 
Mr. Tyson left six sons and three daughters living. He loved home so well 
that he traveled but little. He went over the northern counties, however, with the 
publishers of the Rural -Sind others this spring, and his mining stories, jokes, and wise 
sayings were a treat to us all. His years sat lightly, and none of us dreamed of his 
sudden departure. He was especially sorrj^ that he 'could not see A. J. Loomis, of 
Red Bluff, his old companion across the plains. Upon the little mound where lies the 
man we loved, we can only lay a leaf of memory and of respect for his qualities as a 
friend, a father, a citizen. May peace rest upon the house of mourning, and may his 
sons be manly and noble, as was their father. Such quiet, untroubled lives as his are 
the best hope of the nation." 

Captain Calvin Valpev (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose por- 
trait appears in this work, was born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, on the loth day of 
March, 1806. When quite an infant, his father, who was a seafaring man, and master 
of a small vessel, was wrecked on one of the Tusket Islands, and lost with all his crew. 
At the age of seven years he was apprenticed to a sea-captain, with whom he lived 
and faithfully served during his apprenticeship. His first voyage at sea was made 
when twelve years of age, and from that time he continued to follow the sea, as boy, 
able seaman, and officer, until the year 1832, when he first took charge as captain. In 
the year 1833 he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Gardner, the eldest 
daughter of the then late Captain Reuben Gardner, of Yarmouth. After his marriige 
he principally followed the sea; but having purchased some property in the country, 
he sometimes occupied his time in farming. On the 9th day of November, 1850, he 
left Yarmouth in the schooner Eagle for California, and, passing through Magellan's 
Straits, he arrived at San Francisco on the 20th day of April, 185 1. For some years 
after his arrival in California he followed several occupations, such as bqating, mining, 
merchandise, etc., but principally boating from the Warm Springs Landing, of which 
place he was the original proprietor. In the year i860, his wife and children having 
arrived in California, he purchased .the property at Harrisburgh, where he resided until 
his death, which occurred September 12, 1880. He leaves a wife and six children, 
three sons and three daughters, all of whom, e.xcept one daughter, are residents of the 
Pacific Coast. Their names are: Emma, Calvin, Horatio, Lizzie, Charles, and Alice. 

Hon. Henry Vrooman. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in 
this volume, was born at Litchfield, Hillsdale County, Michigan, July 25, 1844. At 
the age of eight years he accompanied his mother to Oregon, and after a short stay in 
Portland, located on a farm on the east bank of the Willamette River between Mil- 
waukee and Oregon City, where he resided four years, attending school at Forest 



990 History of Alameda County, California. 

Grove during six months of that time. In the month of October, 1856, he came to 
San Franci.sco, and from there went to Neal's Ranch on Butte Creek, Sutter County, 
where, though only twelve years of age, he commenced to work as a farm laborer. 
Subsequently proceeding to Dog Town he there drove a logging team for a time, 
afterwards herding cattle and driving them from the valleys to market. In the fall 
of 1858 he found himself at Harris' Ranch, Sutter County, about a mile and a half 
from Marysville, where he was variously employed for two years. In the fall of i860 
he commenced mining in Tuolumne County, which he abandoned in the following 
spring for wood-chopping at Kincaid I-^lat, hauling the result of his labors into Sonora 
for sale. In the autumn of 1861 we find Mr. Vrooman at Shaw's Flat starting an 
apprenticeship to the blacksmiths' trade, which he there followed for two years, when 
he moved to the town of Sonora and prosecuted that calling until 1865, save a few 
months passed in mining on the Stanislaus River, and a trip to the State of Nevada. 
During the month of April of that year he changed the scene of his labors toTomales, 
Marin County, afterwards proceeding to Sonoma County, and working at Bloomfield 
and Lakeville, in the latter place opening a blacksmith shop. In the spring of 1867, 
selling out, he came to San Francisco for a time, and in April of that year located in 
Oakland and commenced working at his trade in a shop then situated at the corner 
of Eleventh Street and Broadway, and there continued until the fall of the \'ear. At 
this time Mr. Vrooman entered the Pacific Business College, from which institution he 
graduated in January, 1868, when he again betook himself to the sledge antl anvil. 
He now determined to still further prosecute his studies, therefore he commenced 
attending the Brayton School, but in a year's time was compelled to go to work again. 
He then moved to Vacaville, Solano County, and after toiling at the forge for some 
time, came back to Oakland and remained until the spring of 1870. Strength of pur- 
pose and close application appear to be Mr. Vrooman 's chief characteristics; we have 
seen how, when a mere lad, he launched forth alone to do battle with the world; we 
have watched him acquire the art of a skilled mechanic; and we have observed him 
dip into the mysteries of scholarly lore, but his present eminence among the learned 
was not entirely obtained in the halls of academic training. It was founded at the 
forge; and while his brawny arm welded the heated bars of iron, his cool brain drew 
inspiration from a tarnished leaf from out a classic tome as it was fastened against the 
wall in front of him. In such a way did he find himself accompanying Ca;sar acro.ss 
the Rubicon, revel in the higher mathematics of Euclid, and sing the rhythmed verses 
of good old Homer. In the spring of 1870 our subject left California for the East, and 
entering Cornell University at Ithica, New York, there remained till the close of that 
year's term, but finding that the climate of the Atlantic Coast did not agree with him 
he returned to the genial shores of the Pacific in the month of December. On his 
return Mr. Vrooman entered the office of T. J. Arnold, City Engineer of Oakland, as 
chainman, and in the summer of 1871 accompanied a survej'ing party to Eassen 
County, re-entering the office of Mr. Arnold on his return to Oakland. In the follow- 
ing summer (1872) he went to Humboldt County, but later, returning to Stockton, 
was employed, as superintendent of construction of a levee on Rough and Ready 
Island. This work completed he came back to Oakland and was appointed Engineer 
of Phcenix Fire Engine Company No. i ; worked at the same time in the City 
Engineer's office, and was engaged in writing for the Home foiinial, a paper published 
in the town of Brooklyn, being for a portion of the time in editorial charge of it. In 
these last few years Mr. Vrooman had dipped into the mysteries of legal learning, but 
in the year 1873 he commenced the actual study of law as his future profession, and 
with such closeness and efficacy that on January 12, 1874, he was admitted to i)rac- 
tice in the Supreme Court of the State, while to such a high standard of knowledge 
had he attained, that four days thereafter, on January i6th, he was appointed Deputy 
District Attorney by A. A. Moore, a position he occupied until 1876. In the mean^ 
time, in March, 1874, he had been appointed Deputy City Attorney, the functions of 



Biographical Sketches. 991 



which latter office he performed in conjunction with those of the former. Indeed it 
had become a matter of notoriety that all the duties of the City Attorney had 
devolved upon him; therefore, it is not to be wondered at that at the elect'ion in 
March, 1876, he was chosen by his fellow-citizens to fill that onerous position. During 
Mr. Vrooman's term as Deputy and City Attorney, he mapped out for the Council a 
plan of reform, which was adopted, and resulted in wiping out the floating indebted- 
ness of the city, reducing taxation to the lowest figure ever known in the history of 

the City Government, and placing the business affairs of the city upon a cash basis 

and when he retired from the office there was in the General Fund of the City Treas- 
ury a surplus of forty thousand dollars. During his term of office he also managed, 
unassisted, some of the most important suits in which the city has ever been inter- 
ested, and that successfully — no judgment was ever obtained against the city during 
his administration of the office of City Attorney. In September, 1877, he was 
elected District Attorney of Alameda County, and entered upon the duties of the 
office the following ist of March, resigning the position of City Attorney. His 
administration of the office of District Attorney was highly commendable, and gained 
for him an enviable reputation as an a'ble lawyer. His office began to be flooded 
with private practice, and finding that to attend to a tithe of the legal business 
offered him, he would be forced to neglect that of the county, or intrust it to a dep- 
uty, he determined to resign, and did so after holding the office for one year. He 
was immediately offered and accepted the Attorneyship of the Oakland Bank of 
Savings, which position he still retains. Among the important cases which our sub- 
ject has successfully conducted for the city of Oakland, we may mention that of the 
Main Lake Sewer Bond litigation; the successfully defending in all the courts the 
license ordinance passed by the City Council fixing the license for liquor saloons at 
fifty dollars, which was contested by the liquor dealers; and also the suit of Hawes 
against the city of Oakland and others, which was tried in the United States 
Supreme Court, in which Court he was admitted to practice. At the general election 
on November 7, 1882, Mn Vrooman was elected to the distinguished position of 
Senator from Alameda County, and at once took a leading position in that 
august body. No question of vital importance to the State was passed by him with- 
out comment and able argument. His speeches are among the most exhaustive that 
were made in the session of 1883, and will be long remembered for their ability and 
display of general knowledge. Among the best known of the bills, which can only 
be mentioned here shortly, which he introduced were: The Vrooman Street Act; a 
bill authorizing the redemption of lands sold to the State for delinquent taxes; to 
provide for the classification of municipal corporations; to provide an industrial 
department for Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Asylum; to create a permanent Code Com- 
mission; to amend the Constitution so as to allow the State to provide text-books for 
common schools. Indeed it was said of him that Henry Vrooman, of Oakland, 
would be numbered on the fingers of the first hand in a count of the ablest men in 
the Senate. Senator Vrooman carries the impress of a well-balanced mind of great 
vigor, and is a valuable legislator. He is the author of the Street Improvement Bill, 
and of several other measures of important legislation, and devotes especial attention 
to matters pertaining to municipal corporations. He is an open defender of the rail- 
road company, and made an exhaustive speech in its defense on the Del Valle reso- 
lution, containing many strong statements of fact that remain unanswered. Mr. 
Vrooman, as a lawyer, has been more than ordinarily successful, and for the reason 
that he is a worker, always preparing himself in every case he undertakes. No man 
in the city of Oakland has burned as much midnight oil as he has. This preparation, 
with his tireless energy, is the secret of his success. 

William Wales (deceased). — Was born in Cornish, York County, Maine, 
November 28, 1827, and resided there and in Massachusetts until 1852, when he 
came to California. On arrival he immediately proceeded to the mines for two years. 



992 History of Alameda County, California. 

Subsequently, coming to Alameda County, he worked at the Mission San Jose for 
Mr. Beard; and finally, in 1862, purchased the forty-six-acre farm now occupied by his 
widow. Mr. Wales died December 17, 1880. He married, October Ji, 1852, Miss 
May Kelly, a native of Ireland, and left a family of nine children, viz.: Olive, born 
December 6, 1S59; William, born December 16, 1861; George, born September 10, 
1865; Abbie, born June 10, 1867; Maggie, born June 4, 1869; Jura, born June i, 
1871 ; May, born May 2, 1873; Anna, born October 23, 1876; Harry, born August 5, 
1878. 

Jared Tuttle W.\LKER. — The subject of this personal narrative, whose like- 
ness finds a place in this history, was born in South Bristol, Ontario County, New 
York, June 20, 1822, and there resided on his father's farm until he arrived at man's 
estate. He was educated at the common school of the district. In 1843 he proceeded 
to Michigan, accompanied by two sisters, where he was subsequentl}- joined by his 
parents, and there engaged in farming for nine years. Mr. Walker, then, in April, 1852, 
determined to emigrate to California. In that month he took up the line of march 
from St. Louis. to Fort Leavenworth, where he followed the emigrant trail across the 
plains. Accompanied by seven companions — two of whom died of cholera, tv/ route— 
and horse teams, our subject arrived at classic Hangtown (now Placerville), August 
29, 1852. Here he engaged in mining until December, when he was forced to lay 
aside the pick and rocker, and succumb to typhoid fever, to be, on recovery three 
weeks after, prostrated with small-pox; thus, in his instance, fully exemplifying the 
adage that misfortunes never come singly. Having regained his strength, and in 
consonajice with the physician's advice, he abandoned the search for gold in the mines, 
and looked to gain it from the fields of golden grain; he therefore came to Alameda 
County, and pitched his tent on the two hundred and ninet\- acre farm he now occu- 
pies, situated about one mile from Washington Corners. Here he has effected many 
valuable improvements, until, to-day, he owns one of the very finest farms in the 
country. In the year 1863 Mr. Walker was elected Township Assessor, and performed 
the functions of that office until the fall of 1866; and is now the President of the 
Pioneer Association of Washington, Murray, and Eden Townships. Married in Cal- 
houn Count}', Michigan, March, 1S60, Miss Jane A. Converse, a native of New York, 
and has: Nellie I., Pitt M., De Witt D., Roxie L., and Jaredna E. 

Otis Webb. — A California pioneer, whose portrait appears in this work, was born 
in Lj'nn, Massachusetts, October 27, 181 3. Commenced his career as a sailor upon 
a whaling ship at the age of eighteen. At the age of twenty-four he took command 
of a ship, in December, 1848, making several successful whaling vo\-ages. After the 
discovery of gold in California, he and his brother Hiram chartered and loaded 
the bark Carib, on their own account, for California, he sailing as master. Left 
Boston the last day of December, 1848; said to be the first vessel leaving Bost(5n for 
California, after the discovery of gold. On the voyage out, stopped at Valparaiso, 
and took on a deck-load of lumber; arrived at San Francisco, June 20, 1849. Imme- 
diately on their arrival erected a store, that had been framed upon the vessel, at the 
corner of Webb and Sacramento Streets. Afterwards sold the store building to 
Collins, Cushman & Co. Took an active part in the suppression of the "Hounds," so- 
called. During the latter part of 1849, and early part of 1850, erected several frame 
buildings, which were burned at the large fires. Afterwards sailed up the Alameda 
Creek as far as Alvarado, and from there walked to the San Jose Mission, where he 
took up a piece of land, but proved to be an unsuccessful squatter. In 1852, with 
others, purchased and fitted out the ship Nile for a whaling vo)'age, sailing on her 
as master to the Arctic, making a very successful voyage; Moore & Folger, agents. 
Returning to the Eastern States, spent several years there, and two years in Europe, 
occasionally visiting California. In 1878 returned to California and settled on his 
farm, at San Lorenzo, Alameda County, which he had purchased several years previ- 



Biographical Sketches. 993 



ous, which had been improved by his son, Edward O. Webb, where he now resides with 
his family, highly respected by all. Married Deborah A. Cory in 1836, and has 
three children living: Mary, Edward, and Hattie E. 

John Nelson Webster. — Was born in Sharon Springs, Montgomery County, 
New York, April 15, 18 14, and is the son of John and Salina (Philipps) Webster. 
Having resided at his birthplace until he attained the age of sixteen years, during 
which time he received a common-school education. He then went to Albany, and, 
entering a dry-goods establishment, remained for nine years in that employ. Mr. 
Webster now moved to Fonda, Montgomery County, where he entered a drug and 
grocery business on his own account, and there remained until he determined to pro- 
ceed to California. Early in the month of March, 1849, he sailed from New York, in 
the bark Henry Hoiibeck, via Cape Horn, for San Francisco, where he arrived on the 
17th September. After a short stay in that city he set out for the mines, but being 
taken ill on his way to Stockton, he returned to the bay, and in San Francisco, in 
partnership with a fellow-passenger, H. P. De Graaf, started in a ship chandlery busi- 
ness, under the firm name of Webster, De Graaf & Owens, on board an old vessel 
in the harbor. Having paid a visit to the Eastern States in 185 1, in the next year 
he returned, bringing his wife with him, and resumed business. In December, 1853, 
he sold out, but continued his residence in San Francisco until June 4, 1854, when 
he removed to Alameda, located on the place where he now resides, but still did busi- 
ness in the city for some sixteen years, thereafter doing business at 506 Montgom- 
ery Street; and built the house he now occupies, around which he has made many 
and varied improvements. Mr. Webster owns, besides, fifteen lots and four residences 
in the town of Alameda, and has retired from business. Is married, and has three 
children, viz.: Edgar W., Jane E. (now Mrs. George Sturtevant), and Morris Case. 

Conrad Weller. — Was born in Germany, November 13, 1836, and there 
resided with his parents until the year 1852. Being then sixteen years of age, he 
emigrated to the United States, first settling in Baltimore, Maryland. Having in that 
city, and others of the Southern States, worked at his trade, in 1 861, at the breaking 
out of the Pvebellion, he made up his mind to proceed to California. Starting for 
New York, and experiencing much difficulty in passing through the Confederate 
lines, he sailed from that city to the Isthmus of Panama, finally landing in San Fran- 
cisco, August 26, 1861, where he at once commenced working at his trade. In 1874 
he purchased his present property, comprising some thirty-eight acres, situated three 
miles from Mission San Jose, where he has since been engaged in a general viticult- 
ural business, having about thirty acres laid out as a vineyard. Married, November 
18, i860, Miss Babetta Gsell, a native of Alsass, and has one child: Loretta C. W., 
born in San Francisco, California. 

Thomas D. Wells. — Was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, September, 
2, 1828. In 1839 he was taken by his parents to Mississippi, where he learned the 
trade of blacksmith, and resided until March, 185 1, when, in company with James W. 
Dougherty, he sailed from New Orleans by way of Panama, for San Francisco, where 
he arrived May 3, 1851. He went direct to Amador County, engaged at his trade, 
and resided there until the fall of 1868, when he came to Alameda County, leased his 
present farm, near Dublin, and carries on a general blacksmithing business. Married, 
December 31, 1854, in Amador County, Mi.ss A. L. Fritze, a native of Baltimore, 
Maryland, and has six children, viz.: John, Charles, Lee, Edmund, Thomas, and 
Grace. 

William Whidden (deceased). — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait 
appears in this work, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, July 8, 1822, where 
he learned and followed the blacksmith's trade until 1847, when he moved to Exeter, 
and worked at his calling until April, 1850. At this period he came to California, 
followed mining for a short time, and located in Stockton, and engaged at his trade. 
In 1851 he returned to the Eastern States, but in the month of November came back 



994 HisTORV OF Alameda County, California. 

with his family and recommenced work. In August, 1852, he moved to San Fran- 
cisco, and opened a blacksmith shop on Pine Street, between Montgomery and San- 
some Streets, where he continued until 1855, when he once more visited the Kast, 
being accompanied by his friend, Henry Vesey. In October, 1855, the two compan- 
ions returned, and passed the following winter in the mines at Alpha, Nevada. In the 
spring of 1858 he came to Alameda County, and engaged in farming near Centreville, 
but a few years after purchasing the Eighnbrodt Ranch near Alvarado, he took up 
his residence there for some years, being associated with A. E. Crane. Subsequently 
proceeding to Haywards, he resided there for three )^ears, and while there was Justice 
of the Peace. In 1878 he removed to Alameda, where he resided until his death on 
September 10, 1882, leaving a widow and three sons. During life Mr. Whidden was 
distinguished for his many excellent qualities, and his numerous charities to the poor. 
In death he is remembered as the kind husband and parent, the good friend and the 
excellent neighbor. Mr. Whidden was a member of the Board of Trustees of 
Alameda, and a member of high standing in the Masonic and Independent Order of 
Chosen Friends Lodges of that city. Married, August 14, 1845, Sarah H. A. Kennan, 
by whom there is a family consisting of George A., William G., and Myron A. 

Charles Carroll Wheeler. — Was born in Waterville, Kennebec Count)-, 
Maine, June 17, 1834, and is the son of Heber and Sarah B. (PuUon) Wheeler. Hav- 
ing resided at his birthplace until he attained the age of nineteen years, during which 
time he attended school and lived on a farm, in April, 1853, he launched forth to battle 
with the world. At this period of his life Mr. Wheeler, in compaiu' with a sister, his 
brother-in-law John W. Hilton, and a cousin, W. P. Wheeler, now a resident of Oak- 
land, sailed from New York for Australia, arriving in Melbourne about the middle 
of August, 1853, and immediately proceeded to the mines, where he remained for 
upwards of three years, and meeting with fair success. Upon the expiration of that 
time he returned to his native place, but si.x months subsequently, in November, 
1856, he took passage to Panama on board the Il/iiiois, and on the Pacific side in the 
steamer Jo/in L. Stephens, and arrived in San Francisco in the latter part of Decem- 
ber. Four days later he proceeded to the mines in Tuolumne County, and there 
remained five years, when, disposing of his mining interests, he came to Alameda 
County, making the city of Fruit Vale his home in April, 1862. He there embarked 
in an express business with C. R. Stetson, between the towns of San Leandro, San 
Lorenzo, Alameda, Brooklyn, and the cit_\' of San F'rancisco, which he followed until 
1867, and in the fall of that year selling out, he transferred his residence to Vacaville, 
Solano County, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. Between three and four 
years thereafter Mr. Wheeler transplanted his business to Healdsburg, Sonoma 
County, and there resided until 1876. At this date, after an absence of twenty \-cars, 
he visited his birthplace, six months thereafter returning to California, taking up his 
residence in Alameda County, and in January, 1877, leasing the Winsor House, in 
Oakland, which he has since managed with much success, demonstrating the fact that 
he can "keep a hotel." The Winsor House is a first-class hotel, and is located at the 
corner of Ninth and Washington Streets. Mr. Wheeler married in Columbia, Tuol- 
umne County, April 17, 1859, Miss A. G., daughter of William Stetson, a native of 
Kingston, Massachusetts; and has three children, viz.: William R., Charles S., Ger- 
trude P. 

Hon. George Edwin Whitney. — Was born at Phillips, Franklin Count)-, 
Maine, on the 19th day of September, 1836. His ancestors were English, and 
settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1632. FVom this source, it is believed, 
has sprung most of those bearing the family name in the United States. His father 
was George W. Whitney, a man well known in his county for his intelligence, integ- 
rity, and public spirit. He held many m.inor positions of trust in the township gov- 
ernment, and also was elected County Clerk in 1848, as a F"recsoiler, in a county that 
had always been Democratic. After the expiration of his term he continued to reside 



Biographical Sketches. 99c 



in Farmington, the county seat, engaged in mercantile business, until his death, in 
1866 His wife, who still survives (1883), was the daughter of Capt. Peter Haines, a 
sterling pioneer of Livermore, Maine, the companion and neighbor of the Washburns, 
since distinguished in American affairs. The subject of the present sketch pursued 
his preparatory studies at Farmington Academy, and his collegiate course at the 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut (class of 1857). His mother desired 
to make him a Methodist preacher, to which denomination both his parents were 
staunch adherents; but, although always respecting the teachings and sincerity of this 
powerful body, he never could be brought into the fold of its communion. Having 
in his junior years chosen to attend the Protestant Episcopal Church, with which he 
has ever since been identified, a free scholarship conferred by the Maine Conference 
out of respect for his parents, and intended to be reserved for candidates for the min- 
istry, was, on the recommendation of the faculty of the college, transferred from him 
to another more likely to devote his talents to the holy calling. After graduation he 
passed one year as assistant librarian of the Free Library of Boston, and one year as 
local reporter on the Boston Courie?-, after which he returned to Maine, and read law 
in the office of Hon. Robert Goodenow, at Farmington. He had already seen too 
much of the world to be content to settle in a quiet country town, and as soon as he 
was admitted to the bar he left for California, in May, 1861. The Civil War had then 
just commenced, but its extent was not foreseen. In April an application had been 
made to Governor Washburn on behalf of the patriotic young men of Franklin 
County, Maine, to furnish a company for the war. Of the seventy-five thousand vol- 
unteers called out by President Lincoln, two regiments were assigned to Maine; but 
Governor Washburn, willing to show the loyalty of his native State, had authorized 
the formation of ten regiments, eight to be held in reserve. This was at a time when 
the lumbermen were returning in the spring from the logging-camps; they eagerly 
embraced the opportunity, and immediately filled the regiments, so that when the 
application made on behalf of Whitney and others to furnish a company was received 
there was no longer any opening in this direction. Under these circumstances it 
was, upon consultation with his friends, determined that there existed no reason for 
deferring his departure for California. He left New York May 21, i86i,on the North 
Star, and arrived in San Francisco June 13th on the steamer Sonora. After visiting 
several interior towns, he returned to San Francisco and entered the law office of 
Hon. Edward Tompkins (Tompkins & Compton), with whom he remained until near 
the close of the year, when he commenced the practice of his profession on his own 
account. In 1862, while law partner with C. H. Parker, under whose name the 
work was done, Mr. Whitney employed much time in annotating " Bancroft's Practice 
Act," the first work upon the Code of Civil Procedure published in this State. The 
final revision was almost wholly done by him. In 1865, believing himself sufficiently 
established to justify the step, he married Miss Mary L. Swearingen, formerly of St. 
Louis, Missouri, but. then residing in San Francisco with her mother and her sister, 
the wife of Justice Stephen J. Field. In 1867, upon the nomination for Governor 
of Hon. GeorgS C. Gorham, who for some time had held the office of Clerk of the 
United States Courts for the District of California, that position being considered an 
important and lucrative one, was urged upon Mr. Whitney. Apprehensions for his 
health, affected by close application to a business becoming important, induced him to 
make a choice which, under other circumstances-, would have been unwise, involving, 
as it did, withdrawal for a time from the law, at a point in a professional career 
attained only after years of labor, and which, if once relinquished, is even more diffi- 
cult to regain. In the Clerk's office there was plenty of work, if of a different kind. 
In it were collected the records and papers of the United States Circuit Court, those 
of the late Southern and Northern District Courts, and all the records from the Land 
Commission to ascertain and settle the Mexican land grants throughout the State. 
These had been kept by different clerks through a series of years, at different places, 



996 History of Alameda County, California. 

and according to their various notions, and were in a state little different from one of 
confusion. These papers and records were all carefully scrutinized, arranged, and 
systematized, so as to be easily traced and found. The system then adopted has ever 
since been continued, both in the Circuit and District Courts. At the end of 1869 
the new Circuit Courts had been organized, the clerks' offices of the Circuit and Dis- 
trict Courts separated, and the appointment vested in different judges. Upon his 
retirement from office in 1870, Mr. Whitney spent one year in travel through the 
United States, Canada, and Europe, returning to California in 1871. Becoming 
impatient at the difficulty of rebuilding a practice in San Francisco, he went to 
Salt Lake City, which was then about entering upon a period of great prosperity 
on account of the mineral discoveries then being made in Utah Territory. He 
remained there, in an important and lucrative business, until the speculative 
period had passed. Desiring to give his growing family better advantages than were 
attainable at that place, he returned to Oakland, where he has remained ever since, in 
the practice of his profession. While residing in Salt Lake City, he was a careful 
observer of the enormities, both political and moral, practiced b\' the Mormons, under 
the cloak of religion. In 1874 he prepared a bill intended to meet some of the most 
pressing evils. It was introduced by Hon. Luke Poland, of Vermont, and is usually 
known as the "Poland Bill." Although subjected to some hostile amendments, it 
became a law at that session, and was the first practical remedial measure to be passed 
by Congress. Some of the features embodied in the more recent Legislation were also 
suggested by him, especialh' the provision of lodging all matters pertaining to elec- 
tions in a Commission appointed by the President. Mr. Whitney has always been a 
Republican, and has taken an active interest in political affairs. He was Chairman 
of the E.xecutive Committee of the Republican County Committee of Alameda 
County, in the Garfield campaign, when the county gave a majorit)' of two thousand 
for the Republican electoral ticket. In 1882 he was elected to the State Senate from 
Alameda County, and served in that capacity in the Twent)'-fifth Session of the Leg- 
islature. While the Legislature has too recently adjourned to speak particularly of 
the work of its members, it is not too much to say that Mr. Whitney was recognized 
by his colleagues of both parties as a careful and safe Legislator, whose voice and 
opinions alwa3's commanded attention and respect. Among the measures introduced 
by him were the following: An Act to provide for the separate custody of insane 
criminals; an Act on irrigation and water rights; an Act for the prevention of gam- 
bling by public officials and persons holding fiduciary positions; an Act to secure a 
representation of the industries and resources of California, at the International Expo- 
sition at Amsterdam; an Act providing for the support of aged persons in indigent 
circumstances. 

Edw.VRD Wiard. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
was born in New Haven, Connecticut, March 10, 181 5, there received his education, 
and resided until 1835, in which year he proceeded to Georgia and engaged in steam- 
boating on the different rivers in that State, as engineer, until 1850. He then came 
to California, by way of Panama, arriving in San Francisco in the m?)nth of August 
of that year, but shortly thereafter proceeded to the mines in Mariposa County, where 
he remained three years. At the end of that time Mr. Wiard commenced mining on 
his own account, at which he continued until September, 1859, when, coming to Ala- 
meda County, he bought the place where he now resides, at the Oakland Trotting 
Park. The one hundred and fifty acres he then purchased, all of which he still owns, 
has located upon it the famous resort called Shell Mound Park, as well as the Oakland 
Trotting Park; while the principal portion of his property is laid out in gardens and 
rented, the picnic-grounds being leased to Captain L. Siebe, the "track" being under 
his own personal superintendence. Married in .San Francisco, July 10, 1867, Mrs. 
Mary Jane Colcord, a native of Maine, and has one child, named George Edward 
Wiard. 



Biographical Sketches. 997 



Moses Wicks. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this work, 
was born in Rising Sun, Dearborn County, Indiana, August 28, 18 19, and is the son 
of Zephonia and Catharine (Hetfield) Wicks. When eight years of age he went to 
Long Island, there learned the blacksmith's trade, and resided until the year 1840, 
after which he worked as a journeyman until sailing for California. Leaving New 
York in the fall of 1 848, he took passage around the Horn, and arrived in San Fran- 
cisco, after a tedious voyage of over nine months. Accompanied by Messrs. Mulford 
and Smith, both residents of Alameda County at the present time, he crossed the bay 
to what was then known as the Contra Costa shore, and commenced killing game for 
the San Francisco market, until April i, 1850, when he proceeded to the mines, but 
only remaining some eight months, returned to his former occupation of killing wild- 
fowl on the shores of the San Francisco Bay. In 1852 he settled permanently in 
Alameda County, and in 1853, in partnership with Mr. Mulford, embarked in farming 
operations, which were continued for fifteen years, when, selling his interest, he retired 
from active participation in business affairs, and is now enjoying the comforts of a 
well-spent life. Married in 1845, Miss Catharine Terry, and has one surviving child, 
Jane A., now Mrs. Morgan. 

John P. Wonderlich. — Was born in Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylva- 
nia, November 5, 1830, where he was educated and resided until the year 1850, when 
he came to California via Panama, arriving in San Francisco in April. Soon there- 
after he went to Coloma, El Dorado County, there engaged in mining until the fall 
of the year, when he bought an interest in a steam saw-mill — the first steam power 
introduced into that county. It was located at White Oak Springs. This enterprise 
he conducted at that place until 185 1, when it was transferred to Spanish Dry Dig- 
gings, where it was operated until 1859. Mr. Wonderlich now turned his attention to 
farming, at the same place, an occupation he followed until 1862, when he opened the 
Pennsylvania House, on the Carson Road, about twenty miles above Placerville. 
There he remained until 1865, when he moved into Placerville, and commenced a 
truck and teaming business, which he carried on until 1876, when he came to Alameda 
County and embarked in a saloon, which, however, he abandoned in 1877, and pur- 
chased the Newport Baths in Alameda, a history of which appears in this work. 
Married, October 14, 1852, at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Miss M. B. Gould, a native of 
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and has five children, viz.: Katie (now married to J. B. Bran- 
don), Ella M., Samuel G., Byron W., and Jessie P. 

Thomas S. Woods. — Was born in Lewis County, Missouri, in August, 1854, on 
the farm of Latney Woods. At three years of age he was taken to Russia by Tom 
Colwell, with whom he resided until he became nineteen years of age, being chiefly 
employed in tobacco-raising. In 1872 he went to Galveston, Texas, with Joseph 
Colwell, and remained a year, engaged in attending to his horses after their purchase. 
Thence he proceeded to Salt Lake City, and two months afterwards started to Cali- 
fornia by railroad, where he arrived in 1873. Finding employment with Mr. Spates 
in Yolo County for a time, he subsequently was engaged in herding sheep for Mr. 
Culvertson. After this he spent a year in Sacramento, and then came to Oakland, 
worked for Mr. Sawyer, thereafter five years for Joseph Alexander, and then took up 
one hundred and sixty acres of good land on the line dividing Contra Costa from 
Alameda County, where he is making many improvements. Unmarried. 

Gideon Woodward.— Was born in Windsor County, Vermont, November 22, 
1880, and is the son of Erastus and Sarah (Gilson) Woodward. Here he resided 
until the year 1842, during which time he fitted himself for a course in Dartmouth 
College, but did not proceed to that seat of learning. In the last-mentioned year he 
moved to Pike County, Illinois, and there commenced teaching school, but at the end 
of a few months he embarked in a general trading business, which he continued one 
year. In the fall of 1848 he moved to Natchez, Mississippi, where he became tutor 
in the family of Doctor Ogden. During the two years he was with this family, Mr. 



998 History of Alameda County, California. 

Woodward commenced the study of medicine under Doctor Davis. Two years there- 
after he entered Dartmouth College, where he attended a course of medical lectures, 
which he continued in New Orleans on his moving thither in 1X45; thence he pro- 
ceeded to Terre Bonne Parish, in the south of Louisiana, where he farther prosecuted 
his medical studies, finally graduating in New Orleans in the fall of 1847. Returning 
now to Terre Bonne Parish, he there practiced his profession until the month of 
December, 1848, when he came to California 'i'in Panama, where he remained ninety 
days, and thence in the ship Hiiinboldt, anchoring in the harbor of San Francisco 
after a tedious passage of one hundred and two days. Mr. Woodward at once pro- 
ceeded to Sacramento, whence he went to the north fork of the Yuba River, and there 
mined until the winter of 1849-50, when he returned to Sacramento, and in the 
spring removed to Vole mo Bar, and Sandy Bar, with James \\'. Shanklin. In the 
fall of 1850 he was joined by his brother Erastus Woodward, when they embarked in 
a general trading business, and gold-dust exchange, which they found very profitable. 
In the fall of 1852 our subject removed to San Prancisco, where he engaged in the 
flour and grain trade for a year and a half F"rom here he transferred the scene of his 
operations in 1854 to Marysville, Yuba County, and there conducted an hotel until 
the year 1861. Now, having accumulated several thousand dollars, Mr. Woodward 
returned to the Bay City, and in the spring of 1861 returned to the Eastern States 
for the purpose of visiting his father and mother. The fall of 1861 saw him once 
more in the Golden State, located in the Santa Clara V^alley, and interested in the 
Bank of Gilroy, Hollister, and .Salinas. In 1875 he removed to the city of Oakland, 
Alameda County, where he now resides, having earned the comforts of a well-spent 
life. Married, December 28, 1853, Bertha Dufficy, who died October 2, 1882, by 
whom he had a family of eight children, viz.: Sarah T. (now Mrs. O'Brien), George, 
(now in Me.xico), John A. (a resident of Marysville), Alice M., Michael E., Jennie L., 
Josephine, and Bertha. 

John Woollev. — This well-known resident of Berkclej- is a native of Cheshire, 
England, born February 25, 1827, and resided until twent)' \-ears of age, in the mean- 
time learning the trade of boiler-maker. In 1847 he emigrated to America, locating in 
Philadelphia, where he found employment at his trade until January 14, 1852, when 
he concluded to seek his fortune in the Golden State, arriving in San F'rancisco on 
the i6th of the following June. Mr. Woolley first found employment in Sacramento, 
and afterwards in San Francisco, until the Centennial \'ear, when he came to Oakland, 
and in 1880 established his present business. Married in 1860 to Miss Mary J. 
Mellon. 

J. B. WvM.\N. — Business manager of the Oakland Times, was born at Olmsted, 
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, June 12, 1841. Was educated at Baldwin University, Berea, 
Ohio. He went to Chicago in the spring of 1859, and from that time down to 1877 
he was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Chicago, Kansas, and Texas. He came to 
Oakland in October, 1877, purchased the Oakland Transcript, January 8, 187S, had 
the name changed to the Oakland Daily Times, which under his able management 
has gradually grown in importance, until it now fills the first place in the journalism 
of Alameda County. 

Watkin William Wynn. — Was born in the west of England, August 27, 
1827. At the age of twenty-three years he emigrated to the United States; first 
settled in Ohio, and resided in the town of Pomeroy, Meigs County, in that State. 
Engaged in the grocery business until he started for California. On April 9, 1852, 
he turned westward, to Independence, Alissouri, where, joining a train, he crossed the 
plains, and after many hair-breadth escapes, arrived at Yreka, September 21st of the 
same year. His first three years' residence in this State were passed in the mines; 
he afterwards embarked in the cattle trade, proceeding to Oregon to purchase beeves, 
and driving them into California. In 1859 he drove a band of steers through the 
Livermore Valley to Hayvvards, and settling on the place now owned by David 



Biographical Sketches. 999 

Thomas, better known as the Boomer Ranch, there resided until 1866. In that year he 
disposed of his property, and took up his residence in Livermore Valley, leasing land 
for which he paid a sum total of $30,000. In 1881 Mr. Wynn purchased his present 
farm of three hundred and twenty acres, situated five miles east of the town of 
Livermore, where he is engaged in general farming. He never married. 

John Yule. — Was born in Yorkshire, England, November 30, 1845. At a very 
early age his parents removed to Jo Daviess County, in the northern part of Illinois, 
where our subject grew up, attending the common schools of the district for two or 
three months each winter. In the spring of 1862, in company with several of his early 
acquaintances, Mr. Yule left his father's house, intending to try his fortune in gold 
mining in Cariboo in British America. Arriving in San Francisco, however, the 
news from Cariboo was so discouraging that the party separated, some returning 
home, some going to Washoe, Nevada, and others to Nevada County, in this State. 
Mr. Yule joined the party going to Nevada Couhty, where a few days after his arrival 
he obtained work with Messrs. Gregory & Borines, who then owned a large saw-mill 
among the timber lands, between Nevada City and Red Dog, in Nevada County, 
where he continued to work until the mill was shut down for the season. The follow- 
ing winter he obtained employment in the mines at Red Dog, working for the Mallery 
Brothers at that place, where he continued to work until the following spring, when 
he transferred the scene of his operations to Plumas Count)^; there he followed min- 
ing for several years, meeting with the ups and downs, but principally the downs, and 
the kindred experiences of a miner's life. Having saved some money, however, and 
feeling the need of a better education than he then possessed, in the year 1864 he 
entered the University of the Pacific, at Santa Clara. After spending some eighteen 
months in the University he again returned to Plumas County, and engaged in min- 
ing. In the fall of 1S67 he came to Alameda County, where he engaged in teaching. 
In the following year he was elected Principal of the Grammar School at Haywards, 
which position he held four years, resigning the same to accept the position of Deputy 
County Clerk, under J. V. B. Goodrich, which position he likewise held under Charles 
G. Reed. While acting as Deputy County Clerk he began reading law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1877.- In the fall of that year he was elected to the office of 
Justice of the Peace of Oakland Township, for a term of two years. In 1880 he was 
elected Police Judge of the city of Oakland; and in the spring of 1882 Mr. Yule was 
elected City Attorney of Oakland, which office he now holds. Married Miss Sarah 
S. Beach, a sister of Capt. C. W. Beach, of San Francisco, in 1882. 



1000 History of Alameda Countv, California. 



ADDENDA. 



The following biographical sketches were received too late for insertion in their 
proper places: — 

Ed.son Adams. — The subject of this sketch, whose portrait appears in this 
history, was born in Fairfield Count)-, in tl.e State of Connecticut, on the iSth da\- of 
May, 1824. He is a descendant, on the paternal side, of Edward Adams, who settled 
in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1640, and on the maternal side, of Kdward Nash, 
who settled in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1654, these ancestors being among the pio- 
neers of New England. At an early age Mr. Adams engaged in trade, and continued 
therein until he sailed for California in January, 1849, arriving at San Francisco in 
July of the same year. In the following September he went to the mines, returned 
to San Francisco in March, 1850, and proceeded to e.vamirie the countr\- around the 
bay of San Francisco for a suitable point at which to lay out and establish a town; 
and finally, on the i6th day of May, 1850, he located permanently at a point now 
known as the foot of Broadway, Oakland. The place was a wilderness, no inhab- 
itants being then on the Encinal of Temescal, afterwards known as the town of 
Oakland. Here he located one hundred and sixty acres, then supposed to be 
public domain. His location lay on either side of the present Broadway, and 
extended from the Estuary of San Antonio northerly to about where Fourteenth 
Street now runs. Afterwards Andrew Moon located one hundred and sixty acres on 
the west, and later came H. \V. Carpentier, who located one hundred and si.xty acres 
on the east of Mr. Adams. Others soon followed and located, until the whole coun- 
try around was occupied by settlers, and so remained in their exclusive possession for 
years, with a few isolated exceptions. These early settlers of Oakland and vicinity, 
as a class, were young, intelligent, and energetic. In the latter part of i85i,Mr. 
Adams, with Carpentier and Moon, employed Julius Kellersberger and others to sur- 
vey, lay out, and set the stakes, and make maps and plats (which included the three 
locations above named) of the town of Oakland. Mr. Adams was elected to fill 
various offices, and served to the satisfaction of the then residents of Contra Costa 
and Alameda Counties. A few of these enterprising young men determined on 
founding a town, possibly a city, and time has proved the wisdom of their foresight, 
notwithstanding the disadvantages experienced b\' them during the first few years, 
on account of the few families then in California, as most of those who came here 
were either single, or had left their families behind them. The inducements at that 
time to follow trade and mining, also prevented many who otherwise would have 
located in Oakland from doing so. The want of proper ferry communications 
between Oakland and San Francisco was a great drawback to the building up of the 
town. By great exertions, steamboat owners were induced to make occasional 
excursions from San Francisco to the proposed town, then called Contra Costa. At 
last a company was induced to establish ferry communication, at least a round trip a 
day. The fare at first was a dollar each way, but it was soon reduced to fifty cents 
each way, with the chances of being detained, by foggy weather, five or si.x hours on 
a trip. Mr. Adams has been, and now is, engaged in various enterprises on the 
Pacific Coast. On May 3, 1855, he was married to Miss Hannah J. Jayne, their 
issue being Julia P., Edson F, and John C. Adams. Mr. Adams still resides in Oak- 
land, surrounded b)- his family. 



Biographical Sketches. 1001 



Rawdon Arnold, M. D. — Was born in Romeo, Michigan, July 4, 1830, and 
is descended from the good old Puritan stock, his parents being both the offspring of 
English people, whose genealogy is traced to the days of long ago. Having received 
his preliminary education in the Armada High School, and the Michigan Normal 
School, he subsequently, in 1S57, graduated from the Medical College of St. Louis, 
and at once entered upon the practice of his profession in the State of Missouri. In 
1864 he embraced Homeopathy, and has since devoted himself to it, without once 
regretting the change from Allopathy. In 1 87 1 he came to California, and after 
practicing with much success in Marysville, in 1877, moved to Oregon, located in 
Portland, and was in practice there till October, 1881, in which year he returned to 
California, and settled in Brooklyn, Alameda County. In iS82'Dr. Arnold returned 
to the East, attended a course of lectures at the Kansas City Hospital Medical Col- 
lege, arid in February, 1883, returned to Oakland, and opened his present office at 
No. 1068 Broadway, making a specialty of nervous diseases. On the breaking out of 
the war Dr. Arnold was a resident of Missouri. He lost at the time all his property 
and had to begin life again with nothing. He entered the army, and followed the 
fortunes of the Federal forces till the' close of hostilities. He has been twice married. 
Firstly, in 1859; and, secondly, in 1870, to Miss Martha A., daughter of Charles 
Fergusson, of Mexico, Missouri, and has four children, viz.: Edwin M., Charles A., 
Leona A., Nellie Custer. 

Solomon M. Babbitt. — Was born in Austinburgh, Ashtabula County, Ohio, 
August 7, 1824, and is the son of David and Eunice (Curtis) Babbitt. Having been 
taken by his parents to Saybroak, in the same county, he there resided until 1837, in 
the spring of which year he accompanied his parents to Naperville, Du Page County, 
Illinois, where he lost his mother, after whose death he concluded to come to Cali- 
fornia. Traveling by way of the plains he reached Hangtown, where he engaged in 
mining for a year, then returned to Illinois, purchased his father's farm and that 
adjoining, which renting he established himself in business in Algonquin, McHenry 
County, in the same State, and during the Rebellion served as United States Marshal 
there. He now added the lumber trade to his other affairs, and followed it until 1869, 
when he moved to Elgin, Kane County; but in November, 1874, once more came to 
California, bringing his wife and family with him. Locating in Oakland, he estab- 
lished himself as a wholesale commission merchant, and is now the senior partner in 
the firm of Babbitt, Manuel & Gilpin, at No. 471 Eleventh Street. Mr. Babbitt was 
elected to the City Council of Oakland for the Second Ward, in March, 1883. 
Married, in Naperville, Miss Lucinda Balch, and has two children, viz.: Mary (now 
Mrs. Z. T. Gilpin), and Hattie. 

Samuel K! Hassinger. — Was born in Newark, New Ca.stle County, Delaware, 
April 27, 1826, where he resided until he reached the age of twenty-two years, his boy- 
hood having been passed on his father's farm. He then learned the carpenter's trade 
and followed it until 1849. In the month of March of that year he emigrated with 
his wife and family to Marion County, Missouri, where, working at his trade, and farm- 
ing, he resided three years. In April, 1852, accompanied by his wife, he started with 
ox-teams across the plains to California, arriving at Stockton six months afterwards. 
Here Mr. Hassinger located for about three years and a half, subsequently removing 
to where now is-the town of Copperopolis, and there engaged in mining for about a 
year, at the end of which he transferred the field of his operations to Knight's P"erry, 
there mining also. While a resident of this place, in 1857, he held the office of Justice 
of the Peace, being afterwards Deputy Sheriff. In 1862 he left the place for San 
Francisco, and followed his trade until 1867, when he came to Oakland, where he now 
resides. Mr. Hassinger has filled the office of Deputy Township Assessor under the 
administrations of Messrs. Whetcherand Robinson, and in October, 1881, was elected 
to the position of Sanitary Inspector of the Health Office, which he held for eighteen 
months. His present residence, No. 611 Seventeenth Street, he built in 1872. 



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